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Real life: “I definitely didn’t think I’d get to 70″

For former Coronation Street actor Liz Dawn, celebrating a milestone birthday onboard Queen Mary 2 on a transatlantic voyage was about more than just plain sailing, says Anisha Patel

PHOTOGRAPHY BY TINA HILLIER

For Liz Dawn, better known to most of us as the brash but loveable Vera Duckworth from Coronation Street, sailing to New York was a lifelong dream come true: “I’ll never forget that moment we first got to New York. It was early morning, so still quite dark, and I walked over to the balcony and saw the outline of the Statue of Liberty. Honest to god, I was so overcome. I just couldn’t believe it. You know, I’ve seen ships sailing past it so many times in films and documentaries, but seeing it in person… that really did it for me.”

The voice is unmistakable, although Dawn looks far more polished than the character that captured our hearts for over three decades. In fact, at the moment she looks phenomenally relaxed and rested after a 19-day transatlantic voyage to celebrate her 70th birthday, which also skimmed the East Coast towns of New Port, Boston and Bar Harbour, as well as Canada and Nova Scotia. Her hair is fashionably coiffed and she’s sipping a chilled glass of white wine as she recalls the highlights of the voyage.

Dawn is a firm fan of Cunard’s traditional and elegant liners. “The first cruise ship I went on was Queen Elizabeth 2, but Queen Mary 2 is easily my favourite,” she says. “I’m always amazed by the splendour of it. As soon as you step onboard, it’s mind-blowing.”

She dined at the Captain’s table and dressed up to the nines for drinks receptions in the Queen’s Room, but what Dawn really enjoyed most on all those sea days was observing her fellow cruisers. “I’m a real people-watcher, so I loved just sitting on the deck and watching people go by. I don’t know what it is about cruisers, but they’re always happy.”

Of course there was her big birthday, too, which was an incredible milestone for the screen queen, who was diagnosed with emphysema six years ago.

“By the time I went to see the doctor, only a third of my lungs were working.

I was in a really, really bad way,” says Liz, who has always been incredibly candid in talking about her illness. “I definitely didn’t think I’d get to 70, so it was a big deal for me. I have my good days and my bad days, but when I get on that balcony and get that sea air… Oh, it’s absolutely gorgeous. It really does me good.

“I’ve never spent my birthday away from my family, so I did miss them on the actual day, especially because it was my 70th. But it was such a memorable one. I was completely spoilt the whole day with gifts, cards and phone calls from home.

“We had a lovely birthday dinner and Nicholas Oldroyd, the executive sous chef, and a dear old friend of mine, had arranged a few surprises, including a special Indian curry. Don [her husband] and I used to visit his restaurant in East Yorkshire years ago and it was one of my favourite dishes on the menu. But the real surprise was when the chefs came out singing ‘Happy Birthday’ with – listen to this – a perfect model of the Rovers Return Inn made out of white chocolate and sponge cake. It even had little pigeons sitting on the rooftop! I couldn’t believe they had done it all for me. Vera would have been proud. I’ll never forget it.”

Since quitting the Street in 2008 in an emotional scene watched by millions, Dawn’s retirement has allowed her to indulge in more time with her growing family, religiously tune into Coronation Street (she watches all of the soaps now, as she no longer has to spend her evenings learning lines) and see the world the way she loves best – on a cruise ship.

Already a veteran of cruising, Dawn has been on no less than seven cruises in the past two years and has such a colourful cruising history, she’s lost count of her total number of voyages (‘Don’s my memory now’, she laughs). She tells me she’s been “all over the place”, which turns out to mean, literally, all over the place, from the Bahamas to the Baltic (a favourite), the Canaries to the Caribbean and the Med to Mexico.

“I’d advise anyone to go on a cruise.

It’s all very well going on a plane, but it’s easier for me, especially now, to get on a ship at Southampton. I’m already thinking about my next one,” she confesses. “I wouldn’t mind going back on Queen Mary 2. When the weather’s good, nothing beats having breakfast on your balcony with the sea stretching out for miles ahead of you.”

While Dawn might have had her fair share of fans onboard the very British 2,620-passenger vessel, the soap legend couldn’t even escape the limelight in the midst of New England. “In Boston, we were sitting on a bench in Quincy Market. I was wearing Don’s cap and a pair of dark sunglasses. No one would have ever recognised me. As soon as we sat down on a bench, this lady asked me, ‘Do I know you?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, do you?’ She thought about it a bit and said, ‘It’s Vera Duckworth!’ I had to laugh. Here I was, in Boston, practically in disguise, yet this lady, who happened to be over from England visiting family, spotted me!

“People know me as Vera, don’t they? Thirty-four years as a character is like a lifetime. But I don’t miss it. I got my life back after quitting the Street. I don’t have to learn lines, I don’t have to worry about how I feel or if I’m well enough to work. That’s why going on cruises is perfect for me. You can do everything in your own time. You can even get room service if you don’t feel like doing anything. I intend, god willing, to have many more cruises.

“My focus now is on having a good time and doing what I want, when I want. I want to spend more time with the family. I’m also hoping to do another four cruises next year. Right now though, I’m just glad I got to 70.” So are we, Vera.

To pre-register for Cunard World Cruises, let a consultant know who will contact you when they go on sale, call 0800 916 3233, visit www.cruisethomascook.com, your local Thomas Cook or Going Places store, or tune in to Thomas Cook TV Sky Channel 655

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