Our new ship, Queen Elizabeth was ready to take us on to the warmer south. It was freezing cold in New York having suffered from a heavy snowfall the day before we arrived, but the sunshine was bright but the wind was cold.

We had lunch after some Macy's shopping at Stage Deli with Robert and Lucy, knish and stuffed cabbage (like Toojays), YUM and monster size New York deli sandwiches, (thank you to John and Leeanne for introducing us to this New York deli, we just love it!)

The Queen Elizabeth is the very latest of the Cunard ships, it is only two months old, so everything is very beautiful and new and most of the passengers we have met so far are very friendly although a little older than us, maybe we'll get some younger Floridians to join us in Fort Lauderdale!

At 6.30 pm the Queen Elizabeth, Mary and Victoria all lined up in a crescent curve at the side of the Statue of Liberty for a huge 4th of July style firework display, to celebrate the first meeting up of all the three Queens in New York and at 7.30 pm we set sail.

We had a lovely first night dinner in the Britannia Restaurant and entertainment was a wonderful tenor Chris Riggins. We continue south now for the next two days before we can feel like we're back home already ... in Florida.