Around 1,000 brand partners, trade guests and the teams behind the creation of Cunard’s Queen Anne this week got a feel for the line’s first new ship for 14 years – the first time since 1999 Cunard has had four ships in simultaneous service.
Arriving in her homeport of Southampton for the first time on Tuesday (30 April), Queen Anne on Friday (3 May) became the 249th ship to sail under the Cunard flag after departing on her maiden voyage – a seven-night Lisbon sailing via La Coruna.
The 3,000-guest ship will sail the Mediterranean, Scandinavia, the Canary Islands and Norway’s fjords during its maiden season, visiting more than 60 destinations across 16 countries.
Cunard’s decision to base Queen Anne in Southampton will be a sales boon for agents, and its manageable size puts it in a very comfortable space between smaller-scale ultra-luxury ocean brands and big-brand mega ships, with one of its key USPs being Cunard’s massive attention to detail, quality and its own tradition.
It’s testament to the excitement around Cunard and the trade’s faith in the historic brand that Queen Anne’s maiden voyage is sold out, but there are still spaces on the naming cruise around the British Isles from 24 May to 7 June.
Large numbers of agents will also get to see the ship as part of the Clia conference later in May, while the official naming will be hosted by TV personalities Matt and Emma Willis – despite no godmother yet having been announced – on 3 June in Liverpool, the city seen as “Cunard’s spiritual home” (and is also the actual home of its archive).
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That archive was intensely searched by the ship’s interior designers. Creative leads from respected design studios, such as Lewis Taylor of David Collins Studio; Sybille de Margerie, Sybille de Margerie Paris; Fiona Thompson from Richmond International; and Melita Skamnaki of Double Decker, shared their creative process with an audience onboard the ship during an overnight taster experience, along with the ship’s creative director Adam D Tihany.
Aranya, the Indian restaurant by chef Surjan Singh, is a new concept, as is Tramonto for Mediterranean-inspired cuisine. As with all Cunard ships, Queen Anne offers dedicated restaurants depending on accommodation category (Queens Grill, Princess Grill or Britannia Club) but other alternative (with charge) dining options include further exciting new venues such as Aji Wa for contemporary Japanese cuisine and Sir Samuel’s Steakhouse & Grill for prime cuts and seafood.
At the heart of the ship are social spaces such as an old Cunard favourite, the Golden Lion pub, brought up to date with some eclectic art and a shimmering bar, making it probably the poshest pub at sea and sure to be a popular spot.
Two Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux hosted an intimate Q&A in the Queens Room during the taster event, with the chef having created an exclusive gala menu for the Queens Grill restaurant and a new menu for the Golden Lion. Roux will also orchestrate two culinary Le Gavroche residencies at Sir Samuels on the ship in August and September.
The result of all this culinary development is that Queen Anne offers more dining options than ever before on a Cunard ship.
