New ship

[eroller]

54 minutes ago, richard_london said:

 

They look further up because in these computer generated images the funnel doesn't have the air scoop at the base that the other Queens (going back to the QE2) have. 

 

The funnel looks squarer at the back too.

 

I think they are further up and it’s not just an illusion.  But we will know for sure when we see other renderings.  

[bluemarble]

Getting back to @richard_london's question from Friday, would anyone like to speculate what that white tower structure might be that appears forward of the funnel in the somewhat higher resolution rendering of the new ship found on the Cunard website? Click on the image to enlarge it.

 

 

Just as an aside, I notice the URL for this image refers to the Halifax project name we've discussed before.

"...cunard/marketing-assets/ships/halifax/Queen_Anne_..."

Edited February 8, 2022 by bluemarble

[Solent Richard]

4 hours ago, Bell Boy said:

And an  e.  😉

Would that be an 'e' as in 'Underwhelmed' Bell Boy? 😂😈

[Solent Richard]

5 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

Getting back to @richard_london's question from Friday, would anyone like to speculate what that white tower structure might be that appears forward of the funnel in the somewhat higher resolution rendering of the new ship found on the Cunard website? Click on the image to enlarge it.

 

 

Just as an aside, I notice the URL for this image refers to the Halifax project name we've discussed before.

"...cunard/marketing-assets/ships/halifax/Queen_Anne_..."

I'd guess it would  serve the same purpose as the two similar structures on Queen Mary 2, i.e. Exhaust uptake for the galley and incinerating plant..

 

Personally I can't wait to sail on her as I've never felt 'underwhelmed' on a Cunard ship. 

[Tonopah]

I think she’s beautiful and wish her fair sailing. Have they announced her captain yet?  Wish I could afford to experience that “new ship smell”.  

[etruriaguy]

Just loved the reveal today.   I used to get so excited when QE2 went for her refits to see what new style and amenities would be onboard. So this new ship really does bring that feel back especially since it’s 12 years and counting since their last launch with QE.  
 

love the interior shots and noticed some chairs on the upper deck that are reminiscent of chairs that were on the original QE.  Similar to ones that were shown in a video cunard released about the design concepts and ideas of this new ship before the pandemic hit.   So I think she will certainly have the cunard feel in her interiors.   And it’s the details that make it when your onboard.  You just know where you are.  Can’t wait. 

[BrisbaneR]

I'm happy enough with the name - not remarkable but consistent. A bit like Cunard itself.  I wonder if they will ask Olivia Colman to christen her or at least be a guest on the maiden voyage? 

[majortom10]

2 hours ago, Tonopah said:

I think she’s beautiful and wish her fair sailing. Have they announced her captain yet?  Wish I could afford to experience that “new ship smell”.  

Not been built yet and over 2 yrs away from first sailing so think it will be a long time before they announce the Captain.

[seacruise9]

Hi, 

 

As a big Cunard fan, I am looking forward to this new ship. Because it is slightly longer and larger than the Pinnacle Class ships, it will be interesting to see what changes are incorporated in the Queen Anne. New Cunard ships are a rarity compared to most cruise lines. I hope that the new ship features some historical references to past Cunarders.

 

Chuck

[richard_london]

Various articles on the usual cruise news websites (with the same wording, so assume a press release) say "The Queen Anne's maiden season program will go on sale in May, with the ship's first sailings in early 2024."  So not long to wait to see where she is going.  I suspect the maiden voyage will sell out within hours.

[eroller]

3 hours ago, bluemarble said:

Getting back to @richard_london's question from Friday, would anyone like to speculate what that white tower structure might be that appears forward of the funnel in the somewhat higher resolution rendering of the new ship found on the Cunard website? Click on the image to enlarge it.

 

 

Just as an aside, I notice the URL for this image refers to the Halifax project name we've discussed before.

"...cunard/marketing-assets/ships/halifax/Queen_Anne_..."

 

Probably an additional galley exhaust.  What is interesting is that HAL’s Pinnacle Class ships don’t have this exhaust.  I’m guessing Cunard had to add an additional galley for the Grills, and that is what this is for.  
 

I also see in this rendering the black funnel striping is much closer to the top of the funnel and not spaced evenly as on current Cunard ships.  So it doesn’t appear to be an optical illusion and is probably one of the subtle livery changes.  

[Lakesregion]

4 hours ago, bluemarble said:

Getting back to @richard_london's question from Friday, would anyone like to speculate what that white tower structure might be that appears forward of the funnel in the somewhat higher resolution rendering of the new ship found on the Cunard website? Click on the image to enlarge it.

 

 

Just as an aside, I notice the URL for this image refers to the Halifax project name we've discussed before.

"...cunard/marketing-assets/ships/halifax/Queen_Anne_..."

Being old school when it comes to passenger ship design, you can paint it any way you wish and call it what ever, but this looks so much light an overloaded container ship. Sorry fans my opinion.

[bluemarble]

1 hour ago, richard_london said:

Various articles on the usual cruise news websites (with the same wording, so assume a press release) say "The Queen Anne's maiden season program will go on sale in May, with the ship's first sailings in early 2024."  So not long to wait to see where she is going.  I suspect the maiden voyage will sell out within hours.

 

Yes, that wording is from a press release. I have been remiss in pointing to the official press release about the new ship. Here's a link to that press release as found on the Carnival Corporation website. It's also on the Cunard website but it's hard to point to individual press releases there.

 

QUEEN ANNE. THE NEXT IN A FINE LINE.

 

The wording I find particularly interesting is about how "Queen Anne will feature ... the introduction of new guest experiences within dining, culture and entertainment". That piques my interest concerning the specifics of those new guest experiences.

[Guest SilverHengroen]

Queen Anne - as fully expected, though maybe a little disappointing. It locks them into cycling the same half a dozen names or so endlessly. Thinking 10 years down the line, Queen Victoria and Elizabeth will be nearing the end of their service lives, and presuming Cunard is still thriving will need replacements. Do they go with a new Queen Victoria (2) and yet another Queen Elizabeth? Do they scrape the barrel for another couple of obscure royals from centuries long past? Queen Alexandra may be reasonably well known, a Queen Catherine will likely be a few years off from a modern revival, but Queen Charlotte? Queen Isabella? Queen Adelaide? (though I guess the last may be more popular for an Aus based ship?). This gets worse if they want to expand the fleet beyond 4 ships in the intermediate time. 

 

The interiors definitely look bland from the couple of renders they've released. It's difficult to render lighting and reflections/ metallic surfaces though so I will reserve judgement for live photos or an in person look. I quite like the livery, the fake sheer line only looks good on Queen Mary 2, and the almost entirely black bow reminds of the Mauretania or Aquitania (the very small white strip on the bulwark excluded). The white on black name is similar to pre-Queen Mary ships, the capitalised name is similar to pre-QE2 ships. I think the CUNARD lettering should stay in Cunard-red, and they should consider adding a third black stripe to the taller looking funnel, like some of the earlier ships had. 

 

Biggest concern now is lack of available deck space. The promenade/boat deck is already lamented, but it looks like she will have even less up top than Koningsdam, with the Grill restaurants (and presumably a reserved Grills deck), and the (hemispheres/ yacht club?) aft of the funnel. That on a more populous ship makes it sound like finding a deck chair might be a challenge. Particularly if you don't want one poolside. 

[Lakesregion]

13 hours ago, bluemarble said:

 

Yes, that wording is from a press release. I have been remiss in pointing to the official press release about the new ship. Here's a link to that press release as found on the Carnival Corporation website. It's also on the Cunard website but it's hard to point to individual press releases there.

 

QUEEN ANNE. THE NEXT IN A FINE LINE.

 

The wording I find particularly interesting is about how "Queen Anne will feature ... the introduction of new guest experiences within dining, culture and entertainment". That piques my interest concerning the specifics of those new guest experiences.

Very interesting tease from Corporate. Bold colors (ala Royal Carib?) new livery (Maybe without jackets to make the passengers more comfortable?) and just for the truly mod new passenger a dodgem car track. Who knows what mystery lurks in the minds of the 20-30 year olds now running corporate.

[PORT ROYAL]

21 minutes ago, Lakesregion said:

Very interesting tease from Corporate. Bold colors (ala Royal Carib?) new livery (Maybe without jackets to make the passengers more comfortable?) and just for the truly mod new passenger a dodgem car track. Who knows what mystery lurks in the minds of the 20-30 year olds now running corporate.

For Millennials why not add a ‘Slammer’ Bar, so they can subsequently indulge in a technicolour yawn competition, as witnessed in Carnival, but Cunard will be more dignified by insisting a jacket will be required.

 

 

[foodsvcmgr]

The wide range of opinion is nothing new or unexpected.

Cunard will find detractors whatever path they take.

For those interested in history, read about the Carinthia and Sylvania quartet of the mid 50’s.

A couple of the ships were very traditional, one even taking on some second hand furnishings from Aquitania. Some said too stodgy.

The others were decorated in a more daring modern style and roundly criticized as well!

[PORT ROYAL]

Reading various releases, posts from different social media sites, it appears the new ship could be a no jacket required HAL, PO, Princess and Carnival mongrel.  With possibly a price point to suit.
This will be good for true Cunarders, because the new “casual only” clientele will finally have the Cunard ship they have coveted for years, thereby leaving the current three true queens alone. Also ending the casuals’ ad nauseam Cunard Dress Code discussions on CC.

 

 

 

[Wjm989]

I think we can safely assume that the updated livery - and lets be thankful that it is a fairly minor one - will be rolled out across the rest of the fleet. What will be interesting is if they wait until QA debuts before doing that, or if they roll it out next time the current fleet are in their (bi)annual overhaul periods.

IIRC Carnival announced their new livery as part of the Mardi Gras announcements, but then actually debuted the new livery before Mardi Gras was even delivered. If that's the case, does anyone know when the current trio are due for some time out? 

Alternatively, the changes are so minor that we might end up seeing them implemented as and when, which of course P&O did a few years ago.

As unimpressed and disappointed with the name, I can get on board with the full caps bow name - which of course harks back to the original Queens Mary and Elizabeth. I also can't decide if the funnel looks massive simply because the windscoop has been omitted, or if they have indeed scaled it up a bit. The midships exhaust is a shame because it interrupts the classic liner look but hey ho, it'll be required.

The lobby is a bit P&O but done well I'm sure will be lovely. If that 2nd space is the Queen's Room......

 

[bluemarble]

3 minutes ago, Wjm989 said:

... does anyone know when the current trio are due for some time out? ...

 

There's a gap in QE's 2023 schedule for a refit at Singapore during March 17-April 3, 2023. QE's previous refit was at Brest during November 2018.

 

There's a gap in QM2's 2023 schedule during October 22-November 16, 2023. She ends a cruise in Hamburg on October 22 and is scheduled to be back in Southampton on November 16. QM2 completed a drydock in Brest this past August-September but there is that gap in her 2023 schedule for an additional refit.

 

QV is due for a drydock since her last refit was at Palermo during May 2017. QV is currently serving as a support ship in the Caribbean with a scheduled return to service on April 22, 2022. The word is that she will be doing a drydock at some point before her return to service.

[elmsliebev]

Re the name - I think Elizabeth, Mary, Victoria and now Anne were/are monarchs in their own right, rather than as the spouse of a King. I like it. I'd have loved Eleanor as she's a bit of heroine of mine but of course she's French! 

[JPMoore]

35 minutes ago, elmsliebev said:

Re the name - I think Elizabeth, Mary, Victoria and now Anne were/are monarchs in their own right, rather than as the spouse of a King. I like it. I'd have loved Eleanor as she's a bit of heroine of mine but of course she's French! 

My problem with this is that Cunard are rewriting their own history. Queen Mary and Elizabeth were named after Queen consorts, with QM2 and QE2 named simply as the second ship of that name. Queen Victoria is their only ship named after a Queen Regnant.

[Guest SilverHengroen]

27 minutes ago, elmsliebev said:

Re the name - I think Elizabeth, Mary, Victoria and now Anne were/are monarchs in their own right, rather than as the spouse of a King. I like it. I'd have loved Eleanor as she's a bit of heroine of mine but of course she's French! 

Queen Mary - the ship now in California - was very definitely named after Mary of Teck, wife of King George V, and likewise Her running mate Queen Elizabeth was very definitely named for Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, The Queen Mother, and wife of George VI. 
 

It gets a little contentious with QE2, when naming her, the Queen said Queen Elizabeth the second, and appears to have been referring to herself, as her mother and grandmother named the previous two queens after themselves. As she is the first Queen Elizabeth in Scotland though, the official line Cunard put out was she was simply the second ship called Queen Elizabeth. The same logic seems to have been applied to Queen Mary 2.

 

Queen Victoria, and now Queen Anne, are named after the Queens regnant, which leaves Queen Elizabeth. My presumption on that one is she is simply the third ship to use the name, so is indirectly named after The Queen Mother, but I have seen some people argue she is named for the Queen herself, finally. Maybe as something of an apology for the QE2 situation all those years ago. As far as I can see Cunard doesn’t have an official line on this one. 

[deck chair]

Hello:

 

It's nice to read all these comments about the name of the new ship.  It's clear from the drawings that she is not going to have a proper promenade deck so it matters not at all to me and no doubt many others what the name is.  This is not a ship I will be sailing on without that important feature.  All the best.

Deck Chair.  (40 plus sailings on the Queen Mary 2.)

 

 

 

 

[david,Mississauga]

4 hours ago, SilverHengroen said:

... which leaves Queen Elizabeth. My presumption on that one is she is simply the third ship to use the name, so is indirectly named after The Queen Mother, but I have seen some people argue she is named for the Queen herself, finally. Maybe as something of an apology for the QE2 situation all those years ago. As far as I can see Cunard doesn’t have an official line on this one. 

 

The current Queen Elizabeth was indeed named for our Queen. On my first voyage on this ship we purchased a DVD which included a portion of the naming ceremony.  In a previous discussion I quoted the words spoken by Peter Shanks, then MD of Cunard. I'm not going to look for that again to quote it, but the gist of what he said was, amongst other comments: this, Your Majesty, is your ship.