On Monday, October 11, Cunard announced that Her Majesty will name the third Cunard ship to bear her name, Queen Elizabeth, at Southampton, England, reported the Daily Mail.
At close to 1,000 feet long from stem to stern and home to 1,046 staterooms, workers have been busy putting the finishing touches on the ornate detailing of the state–of-the-art cruise ship. Built in Trieste, Italy, the ship is making its way to its home port in Southampton for a visit with the Queen of England.
The ship weighs 90,000 tons and can accommodate 2,092 passengers and 1,021 crew who together annually consume 119,400 bottles of champagne, over 1.5 million eggs, and almost 1 million tea bags, among other refreshments.
Monarch of the seas from 1967 to 2007, its predecessor, Queen Elizabeth II, now lies quietly docked for retirement in Dubai.
The first voyage of the new QE3 will be a ten-day jaunt around the Mediterranean, and scheduled later in the year, a 23-night tour of the Caribbean.