All hail the new Queen Anne
Cunard’s latest £500m cruise ship set sail this week – and we were the first on board
QUEEN Anne’s reign may have lasted only 12 years in the early 18th century but Cunard still felt she was worthy of having a ship named after her.
Or was it more a case of running out of English queens, given that the company already has the Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria? This 3,000passenger, £500 million ship — with 1,225 crew — is Cunard’s first new-build in 15 years.
Its maiden voyage this week is from Southampton to Portugal, to be followed by a trip to the Canary Islands. Initial sailings will all be within Europe including Scandinavia, although it is expected to conduct transatlantic routes on later dates.
My fellow passengers included the likes of Angela Rippon, the actor Tony Robinson and comedian Rory Bremner.
The overall look is certainly regal, with a blaze of deep purples and blues and flashes of lustrous golds at just about every turn (even in the lifts). One of the highlights is its swanky 835seater Royal Court Theatre, with purple velvet seating, and due to feature productions including Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter and Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen.
Elsewhere, The Pavilion catches the eye: a glamorous blue-andwhite tiled pool area with wellness studio, ice cream parlour, bar, grill, stage for live music, large screen for open-air theatre and cinema, plus a balcony for drinks and people-watching.
Passengers have a choice of 15 restaurants including Le Gavroche at Sea by two- Michelinstarred chef Michel Roux, and Aranya – Cunard’s first Indian restaurant. There’s also Aji Wa, a Japanese restaurant, the Sir Samuel’s steakhouse and Mediterranean-inspired Tramonto.
The showstopper, though, is the two-tiered Britannia Restaurant, complete with murals based on Greek mythology and central columns with golden starbursts.
Pints and packets of crisps are available at the Golden Lion pub, while the most expensive bottle of wine on board (a Chateau Petrus) will set you back £ 3,600. It’s expected that no fewer than 4,500 bottles of champagne will be put away on the maiden voyage. Judging by my all-balcony Queens Grill Suite, the cabins are very good. It’s double the size of an average cruise ship cabin with a bar area, feature wall, comfortable bed (with the softest duvet and pillows), marble bathroom with bath, walk-in shower and separate toilet.
A butler delivers champagne and canapes, and arranges for my dress to be pressed ready for evening cocktails — served in the three-level Grand Lobby, where images on a six-metre golden mural change from every angle. Celebrities are being invited to give talks during sailings. Former boxer Frank Bruno will be discussing the highs and lows of life in the ring including his battles with Mike Tyson. Other guests will include musician Midge Ure and actress Celia Imrie.
Cunard, established by Samuel Cunard, a war veteran and timber merchant, in Nova Scotia in 1840, has long attracted the great and the good: passengers have included Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill, Frank Sinatra and Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson.
In charge of Queen Anne’s first sailing to Portugal is Captain Inger Klein Thorhauge, Cunard’s first woman master at the helm.
The ship will be officially named in Liverpool on June 3 — the new queen anointed, more than 300 years since she first took the throne.