Everything you need to know about Cunard’s Queen Anne | Cruise | Travel

The identity of Queen Anne’s Godparent was a closely guarded secret, with speculation that it might be King Charles, Princess Anne or rock royalty Sir Paul McCartney.

But in the end the honour fell to the city of Liverpool, although “Liverpool Icons” Spice Girl Melanie C, Olympic heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thomson, Jayne Casey who founded Liverpool’s Cream nightclub empire, local community leader Ngunan Adamu and restaurateur Natalie Haywood pulled the lever to smash a 12-litre bottle of Champagne on to the ship.

“Cunard is an iconic company and Liverpool an iconic city and we could think of no better place to christen our new ship,” the new Cunard president Katie McAlister announced, in recognition of the city’s role as the birthplace of Cunard. Its first transatlantic crossing started in the Mersey in 1840 and the christening took place within view of the Cunard Building, its former HQ, built in 1916.

What’s it like on board?

Queen Anne brings Cunard’s current fleet up to four – now known as The Four Queens – and there’s definitely a regal air on board – many of the 3,000 passengers are committed “Cunarders” who wouldn’t dream of sailing with any other cruise line.

But Queen Anne is a new generation of Cunard ships, designed to encourage a new wave of passengers who like grandeur but not formality.

So it’s goodbye to wood panelled rooms with Art Deco styling and hello to light-filled spaces with discreet Art Deco details that you almost don’t notice until after a few days, when you start to appreciate the gorgeous carpets, elegant light fittings, retro-looking lifts and colourful panels around the ship – all inspired by Cunard’s golden age cruise liners.

What’s obvious immediately, though, are the modern surroundings with plenty of deck space and loungers for everyone, outdoor bars for sunset drinks and impressive indoor lounges for daytime relaxing and evening entertainment.

The WOW factor

There’s been a quantum leap in the type of entertainment on offer on Queen Anne, compared to other Cunard ships, with three cleverly adapted plays to see in Royal Court Theatre and a completely new cabaret venue – Bright Lights Society – that offers an exciting hour of music, dance and burlesque in three different shows.

I saw Pride & Prejudice* (*Sort Of), a fast-moving and very funny reworking of the Jane Austen classic with a cast of just five women, and Brief Encounter, which made full use of the theatre’s remarkable technical facilities so that you felt like a steam train had arrived on stage even though it was only a projection.

The Bright Lights Society production of Fizz was also exceptional with larger than life characters such as the host Monsieur Laurent and the will-she won’t-she (strip off) star Mademoiselle Chantelle.

And some of the Cunard Insights guests were superb. We had In Conversation sessions with Midge Ure of Ultravox and actress Celia Imrie in the theatre, which was so full it was standing room only.

Lifestyle Cunard passengers range from glamourous party people to normal everyday folk who just want to let their hair down for a week or two (with an early night half way through and a lie- in on sea days).

This is partly because of Cunard’s unique class system: Queens Grill for those with deep pockets, Princess Grill for those who would like to have deep pockets, Britannia Club for those in the know and Britannia for most people.

There are separate dining rooms and stateroom perks for each category but, except for a small Grills bar with concierge service, everybody has the same experience on deck and in the public spaces so mostly everyone rubs shoulders with everybody else, which works quite nicely.

During the day most passengers will be on excursions or exploring the ports of call but if you choose to stay onboard – and especially on seadays – there are plenty of things to do beside sitting around the two pools.

You can attend guest lectures in the theatre, play deck games – there’s golf putting and a mini tennis court – pub quizzes, art talks, watercolour classes, exercise classes as well as the free gym, dance classes, bridge, fencing, or you could treat yourself to few hours in the spa.

Staterooms

Queens Grill suites are exceptional, with a separate living room space while Princess suites are much longer than Britannia Club staterooms, which are slightly more spacious than Britannia staterooms.

Each type of cabin comes with broadly the same facilities but with less storage the smaller they get and while Queens Grill suites have bath tubs as well as separate showers in elaborately tiled bathrooms, even Princess Grill suites only have compact bathrooms with glass cubicle showers. Very nice but quite small.

A kettle for tea and coffee are welcome touches, while the large wall-mounted TV offers access to everything that’s on Cunard’s MyVoyage app (which is a godsend if you don’t like phone apps), so you can book speciality dining restaurants, the spa, excursions and check your account – as well as watching live news and sports channels plus recorded TV series and films.

Britannia staterooms come in three categories: balcony, ocean view and inside, all sumptuously decorated, very comfortable and with king-size beds that can be set up as two large singles.

Queens, Princess and Britannia Club guests all have access to private lounges, too.

Dining

Separate dining rooms are probably the main benefit for Queens Grill, Princess Grill andBritannia Club guests because they are likely to get their meals served faster than at the main Britannia dining room, which is useful if you’re trying to get to one of the evening shows.

These guests can eat at any time when their restaurants are open and the Grills restaurants offer some pretty extraordinary dishes free of charge, although they have to be ordered in advance – the chateaubriand is as good as anything you can get in the speciality steak house and crepes suzette doused in brandy and cooked at your table is quite spectacular.

But although the suite dining rooms are more intimate and much quieter there’s a lot to be said for joining in the bustle of Britannia, which has its own glamour – magnificent gold columns soar two decks high between what looks like a gold-thread canopy high above the white linen-covered dining tables.

Other complimentary dining options are the light-filled Artisan’s Foodhall, both sides of deck 9 between the open-air pool deck at the back of the ship and the Pavilion pool deck in the mid-forward section.

The Pavilion is two decks high and has a free Pavilion Grill serving burgers, fish & chips and hot dogs, while the Pavilion Wellness Café is on the mezzanine looking down over the pool and offers vegetarian and vegan breakfasts and all-day plates. Both are complimentary.

There’s also complimentary light bites for breakfast and lunch in the Carinthia Lounge on deck 3, overlooking the atrium, where you can also buy speciality tea and coffee, and the Golden Lion on deck 2 serves complimentary pub lunches.

Paid-for restaurants includes Sir Samuel’s, serving really excellent steak and seafood dishes for dinner at $65 a head cover charge. This has been moved to deck 10 and is next to

Japanese restaurant Aji Wa, also $65 a head, and a la carte Aji Wa Sushi Bar, where guests are served at a sit-up bar.

The other paid-for restaurants are on deck 9, discreetly sectioned off from the Artisans’ Foodhall and only open for dinner. Aranya is $35 for Indian cuisine, while Tramonto costs $20 for Mediterranean favourites.

The other must-do food experience is the daily Queens Room afternoon tea, when a parade of waiters serve a selection of finger sandwiches, cakes and scones to guests at linen-covered tables. It’s free but you have to get there early or queue.

Bars and lounges

Traditional Cunard style is most evident in the lounge bars, particularly in the Commodore Club on deck 12 with wraparound observation windows, dark crimson and navy blue armchairs and a bronzy-gold low ceiling.

The Chart Room on deck 3 at the heart of the ship, is equally clubby with large windows,lacquer-finish dark walls and a circular bar dripping with crystal shards that match the chandeliers. It’s perfectly placed for a drink before or after dinner.

There’s an unusually lovely bar in the casino, too, which is a smallish space with a couple of blackjack and roulette tables but thankfully few slot machines.

And fans of Cunard’s Golden Lion pub will be pleased to know it’s larger than its namesakes on other Cunard ships, which is good news for those who like its quizzes or watching football, tennis and other sports coverage. All major tournaments are usually screened live.

New for Cunard is Queen Anne’s Pavilion, a pool deck with a retractable roof where there’s also a bar for daytime cocktails while you lounge. The area is also used for evening events including films on a giant screen, and there are several properly outdoor bars.

These include the Panorama Pool Club on deck 9 next to the second pool and hot tubs,which are fully open to the sky; Cabana, at the back of deck 11 among a large area set aside for loungers and – my favourite – Sky Bar on deck 14 with a lovely seaside atmosphere.

Entertainment

Cunard has partnered with award-winning producer David Pugh to bring two West End shows on board Queen Anne: Brief Encounter and Pride & Prejudice* (*Sort Of) – not crowd-pleasing musicals but an authentic drama anda very clever farce.

These are ground-breaking productions, brilliantly staged and very popular but they’re not going to be for everyone and that’s why the alternatives of genuinely funny comedians (Liverpudlian John Martin when I was on), classical music such as entertaining violin duo Elektra and live bands including, in our case, The Beatles Experience, who were excellent.

The Bright Lights Society is the other stand-out evening entertainment venue, with three productions in an intimate lounge theatre, although you’ll also find silent discos, pianists in some lounges and more live music in the Golden Lion pub.

Fact box

Queen Anne will be based in Southampton for 2024 for return-trip itineraries to include the Norwegian fjords, Iceland and the British Isles, northern Europe, the Iberian coast and the Canaries. On January 9, 2025, the ship sails its first maiden voyage, crossing the Atlantic to New York, with legs of the cruises available all the way to Australia, when Queen Anne returns to its Southampton base for the spring and summer season.

*14-night The Canary Islands cruise return from Southampton departing December 1, 2024,

from £1,279 (cunard.com).