Cunard’s latest ship, Queen Anne may very well be Cunard’s finest ship but. A number of thought went into the design as a result of it’s a balancing act between preserving the normal and showing to future generations.
Rating: 96/100
There shall be many articles written about Queen Anne, Cunard’s first new ship in 14 years – 4th within the fleet and 249th within the firm’s historical past. How does it measure up in ten classes?
Boarding and disembarking. Getting 3,000 folks onto the ship will all the time be an issue. The traces moved fairly rapidly as a result of everybody checks in weeks upfront. Your bank card is on file. Identical together with your photograph. This makes boarding simpler, making much less time than it did just a few years in the past. Disembarkation was clean, though it was sophisticated by a medical emergency on the onshore escalators. Cabins are to be vacated by 9:00 AM. Everybody ought to be off the ship by 10:00 AM. Individuals carrying their very own baggage can get off about 7:00 AM. We booked the shuttle to the airport and have been off about 8:10 AM. Rating: 10/10.
Well being. This has develop into routine and is dealt with properly. The Artesian Meals Corridor idea means you can not contact meals that is perhaps touched by others. Employees put together your plate for you. The fabric towels within the restrooms are gone. Paper towels take their place. There are sinks within the Meals Corridor entrance and hand sanitizer stations in all places. Rating: 10/10.
Ship design. The ship rides properly. The ship is about 100 ft longer than the Queen Victoria, but carries 1,000 extra folks. (2,996). This may indicate it’s crowded. The ship is about 25% heavier than the Queen Victoria and 10% wider. Mixed with the added weight, this makes a distinction, including more room. The ship doesn’t really feel crowded. They’ve made some considerate choices. The Brittanica Membership restaurant is adjoining to the Queens Room. If all of the seats are taken at tea, the Britannia membership eating room can be utilized for overflow seating. Very sensible. The Brilliant Lights Society venue provides a nightclub to the choices. Rating: 10/10.
Stateroom. We had an inside cabin, roughly 148 sq. ft. It was advantageous. The lavatory had a glass walled bathe, an enchancment to the bathe curtains on different ships. There was one chair, making seating for 2 folks troublesome. We requested for one more chair, they usually discovered one. I feel they shaved just a few ft off the cabin widths, however I can’t complain in regards to the lodging. Rating: 10/10.
Procuring. They’re attempting. Along with the jewellery and fragrance outlets you’d anticipate, they’ve a luxurious items resale store. Additionally they promote iconic British manufacturers. The Cupboard of Curiosities is a brand new idea, showcasing one-of-a-kind items. I purchased flowers for the cabin on the purser’s desk. They’ve a sheet to position your order, however no footage of what the preparations seem like. This is perhaps out there on-line. Rating: 9/10.
Meals. There are 4 specialty eating places. All serve dinner, just one additionally serves lunch. There are surcharges on all. Sir Samuels steakhouse is superb. The menu within the Britannia primary eating room was good. Michel Roux is the consulting chef. It featured premium dishes like beef Wellington, rack of lamb and lamb Wellington. Nonetheless, the eating room choices felt light-weight at occasions. There are not any hors d’oeurves within the Commodore Lounge or the Chart room, simply nuts and chips. Rating: 8/10.
Drink. Cunard does an ideal job on this class. Drinks are fairly priced. There are many wines on the record priced at or under $45/bottle. The corkage payment is affordable in case you carry your favourite bottles. The wine record was acquainted from different Cunard ships. Rating: 10/10.
Leisure: in my view, the standard was excessive. This was the naming ceremony cruise, which could have been a purpose to present the whole lot a lift up. Frank Bruno, Britain’s most cherished boxing nice, was a Cunard Insights speaker. Celia Imrie, a well-known British actress, was a speaker too. The brand new nightclub venue, the Brilliant Lights Society, is perhaps the closest folks can get to a cabaret environment. The performs staged within the Royal Court docket Theater have been launched by the West Finish producer himself. Rating: 10/10.
Ports: This was a 14-night cruise across the British Isles. It stopped in seven locations. These are thrilling to us Individuals, much less so to British folks, since most are in driving distance of their properties. Edinburgh was a young port. The ship docked in any respect the others. There have been loads of shore excursions on supply. Rating: 10/10.
Employees attentiveness. The ship is new. Our cruise was the third one. It seems many employees have been introduced in from different Cunard ships, however many crew members appeared new. We heard anecdotally just a few hundred are returning to their earlier ships. I assume this implies Cunard is graduating a coaching class that can exchange them. Add within the unfamiliarity when you find yourself getting used to one thing new. We’ve discovered Cunard employees match into three classes. The overwhelming majority are glorious or excellent. A couple of are enough. Our cabin steward match into the final class. Everyone seems to be getting used to crusing on a brand new ship. Rating: 9/10.
Excessive factors
- Stability of the ship. The ship rides properly. It was quiet.
- Wi-Fi. The ship has Starlink web service. The connectivity and velocity are fabulous. There’s a value, however “poor internet service” ought to not be a criticism.
- Films on television, high quality of sign. Veterans of earlier Cunard voyages through the years will keep in mind there was little choice on the TV. At this time, you may have lots of of flicks. You possibly can cease watching and choose up the place you left off later.
- Brilliant Lights Society. It is a new, closed door leisure venue. It’s a nightclub! They placed on nice performances with singing and dancing. In case you keep in mind movies like Cabaret or Victor, Victoria, it’s like being within the viewers. The exhibits are interactive, however they’re cautious to ask viewers members first in the event that they want to take part.
- Overflow for afternoon tea. An issue on Cunard ships is the recognition of Afternoon Tea. Why is it an issue? If everybody needs to hitch in, they will attain full capability. On the Queen Anne, the Brittania Membership eating room is adjoining to the Queens Room. This enables for extra seating throughout pear intervals, so nobody must be turned away.
- Pavilion as massive occasion area. The Queen Anne has an enormous pool space with a retractable roof within the middle of the ship. It options an enormous display screen, much like a drive-in. (Anybody keep in mind them?) This is a perfect all-weather occasion area.
- Not feeling crowded. Though there are moments when many individuals need to go someplace (shore excursions) the ship doesn’t really feel crowded, usually talking. You could find seats in cocktail venues. We heard the Commodore Lounge is double the dimensions of the identical venue on the Queen Mary 2. The theater seats just below 1,000 in comfy chairs with loads of legroom.
- Cunard visitor choir. This is perhaps distinctive to Cunard. We’ve seen it on each voyage. The employees asks for volunteers, they usually observe on sea days. They carry out on the final sea day. There have been 50+ folks singing on this voyage.
Areas for enchancment:
- Chair in room. We booked an inside stateroom with a king-sized mattress. Clearly, there have been two of us. When breakfast arrived one in every of us wanted to take a seat on the mattress, consistently holding their espresso whereas the opposite used the chair. We did ask for one more chair and obtained one.
- Reaching your cabin steward. There isn’t a button for the steward in your telephone! Calling the Purser’s workplace put us into the “Your call is important to us…” loop just a few occasions. We heard there ought to have been a card within the room introducing our steward together with a telephone quantity the place they may very well be reached. We heard our steward ought to have greeted us on arrival. None of this occurred.
- Lunch in specialty eating places. There are 4 specialty eating places. Sir Samuels, much like the Verandah Restaurant on the opposite ships together with an Indian, Japanese and Mediterranean restaurant. Solely Sir Samuels serves lunch and solely on sea days. We wished to attempt the trio of specialty eating places however couldn’t discover the time as a result of we have been engaged with our actually nice tablemates at dinner. They need to supply lunch on sea days.
- Wine lunch and be taught. That is one in every of my favourite onboard actions. Think about a multi course lunch, paired with a number of wines, lasting 2+ hours. It’s an $80 value I’m glad to spend. I requested about it on day #1. “We don’t know if we are doing it.” I requested once more later. “We are doing it, but it is fully booked.” That shouldn’t occur.
- Officer cocktail celebration. This often occurs through the voyage, generally on a proper evening. It’s a perk for the 2 larger World Membership tier members. We didn’t get any phrase if one was taking place.
- Captains welcome cocktail celebration. We notice this may need been eradicated submit pandemic. It’s a nice alternative to mingle. Whether it is held on a proper evening, you see folks in black tie alongside folks in kilts, standing close to folks in conventional gown distinctive to their nation. This showcases the range and inclusiveness of the passengers onboard.
- Non secular companies. There are sometimes non secular companies on weekends. If they don’t seem to be performed by a priest or minister, there’s an interdenominational service performed by the Captain. The turnout is sweet, and the singing is commonly wonderful. This didn’t occur, though there have been unhosted day by day gatherings.
- I all the time order flowers for the cabin on the primary day. After I visited the Purser’s Workplace, they’d a type and will take my order, however the type didn’t have footage of the preparations. You need to know what it would seem like before you purchase it.
There may be very a lot to love about Cunard’s latest ship, Queen Anne. They’ve just a few kinks to type out. I feel it has the potential to be one of the best ship within the fleet.
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Cowl photograph: QUEEN ANNE AT SEA, CREDIT CUNARD
