This page clockwise from top: Golden Lion Pub. Princess Grill Suite. The Verandah restaurant. Facing page: The centerpiece for the staircase in the grand lobby is a marquetry ocean liner created by David Linley, nephew of Queen Elizabeth. and I enjoyed such choices as chilled fruit soups, lobster thermidor, bouillabaisse, braised lamb shank, guinea fowl breast and milk-fed pigeon. In two weeks I don’t think we saw the same dish offered twice; traditional favorites like beef Wellington, poached salmon (Norwegian, of course), veal scaloppine (topped with sweetbread fricassee) and rack of lamb were all there, and much more. There were plenty of other dining options aboard ship ranging from traditional pub fare such as shepherd’s pie or bangers and mash at the Golden Lion, to Indian curries and Asian, South American and Mexican menus in a section of the Lido restaurant that was transformed nightly into a specialty dining room with waiter service for a $10US charge. While many cruise lines have abandoned formal nights, Cunard sticks to tradition. On this 14-night cruise, there were no fewer than five formal nights, five semi formal nights when jacket and tie were required and just three nights when gentlemen could omit the tie. On formal nights there was a ball in the beautiful Queens Room. Not every guest participated, of course, some chose to stay informal, dine in the Lido and spend their evening in the Golden Lion or other lounge with entertainment, or enjoy a play, sometimes a singer, comedian or production show in the splendid Royal Court Theatre with its rows of boxes for guests willing to cough up $50US a couple for bellboy service, champagne and snacks. Traveling on a ship of this size, after a day or two one tends to mark out a territory. For me it embraced my stateroom, the private grills section of deck 10 with the Princess Grill for meals, the grills lounge/bar, and a private sundeck space during the days, the theater for entertainment and lectures and the stylish Commodore Club or Golden Lion Pub for pre- and post-dinner drinks and music. Blissful days in the fjords opened up a summer world of steep pastures glowing green in the early morning sun, orderly rows of fruit trees, tiny farms clinging to scraps of land cleared from the forests of spruce and birch, trim and isolated houses perched improbably on the hillsides, keeping their distance from all neighbors. And over them all towered the inescapable mountains of Norway ranging in height from 5,000 to 16,000 ft. These justifiably famous stretches of water are kept ice-free and pleasant by the Gulf Stream that swings along this coast. Visits ashore ranged from small cities such as Tromso, Stavanger and Trondheim, with its surprising Norman/ Romanesque/Gothic Nidaros Cathedral as well as Norway’s second largest city, Bergen, where we took in the well preserved open air museum of Hanseatic wood houses, rode the Floibanen funicular to a mountain top for an amazing panoramic view and visited the summer cottage of composer Edvard Grieg to hear a recital of his works in an exquisite mountain-top location. We delighted in charming fjord-head villages such as Flam and Olden with surroundings of incomparable beauty. Both provided opportunities to admire the mountainous countryside, see some of the multitude of waterfalls and even indulge in a little adventure on a glacier rafting expedition. Unquestionably a voyage to enjoy nature at her most spectacular. To learn more about Queen Elizabeth and Cunard Cruise Line, call your Cruise Holidays cruise expert. 30 CRUISE HOLIDAYS