Rebecca Tobin
I've been lucky enough to meet a few British queens over the years. I've seen the Queen Mary 2 a number of times. I even managed to catch a glimpse of the Queen herself from the balcony of the Queen Mary 2. I've seen the Queen Elizabeth 2. And now I've toured the Queen Anne twice.
My first visit to Anne, Cunard's first new Queen ship in more than 12 years, was last summer, when I saw the ship under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard outside Venice.
It's always interesting to see a ship in a shipyard, as you get a sense of the immense planning and skilled work that goes into building a massive cruise ship, and how all that engineering capability is hidden behind carefully selected carpets and plywood-paneled walls.
So when I had the opportunity to spend about 18 hours aboard the Anne after it was completed in Southampton, England in May, my main goal was to see as much as I could and compare it to the vision Cunard had in the shipyard. Here are some points that stood out to me, and perhaps to your clients too:
Grills
I dropped off my overnight bags in room 8092, a mini-suite that qualified me for entry to the Princess Grill, and quickly set off for a self-guided tour.
The first public space I visited was on the top deck, an outdoor zone reserved for Princess and Queen's Grill passengers, where Anne's suite passengers can relax and sunbathe, while one deck below is home to lounges and restaurants.
When we saw the sun deck in October, we saw a giant circle cut into the floor, with a steel box inside where the infinity edge hot tub will eventually be installed.
The finished Anne is filled with sturdy rattan furniture with turquoise and red cushions and hedges in Cunard-red planters. The box is made to look like a hot tub, with a circular glass dome on top.
Beneath the dome is a golden maple tree that serves as the focal point of the Grillz lounge area.
“Throughout the event, designers and executives spoke about marrying Cunard's signature look with a new, contemporary take on luxury. I thought the Grills was a great example of this. The Grills concept is a long-standing Cunard tradition, but the décor looked fresh and new.”
Speaking of Maple Tree, if your clients can afford to splurge, I would recommend the Grill level cabin just for the lounge. It's bright, there's plenty of comfortable seating, a bar and a dedicated concierge, and Maple Tree is just beautiful. It's a good place to lounge during the day and wouldn't be a stretch as a pre-dinner get-together spot.
The Queen Anne's Commodore Club is a spacious forward lounge and a Cunard staple. Photo by Rebecca Tobin
Commodore Club
To see what's in store for the rest of the ship's passengers, and for Grill guests with rooms with views forward, I hurried to the Commodore Club, another highlight of Cunard ships and where we began our yard tour last fall, but back then we had to use our imaginations as our guide, Francis Fred, pointed out the raised footprints and space that would later become the circular bar.
It now has a bar, but what's really striking about the Commodore Club is how spacious and expansive it is — perhaps even more so than when it was just empty space. Jamie Paiko, Cunard's vice president of sales, told me before the tour about Cunard's vision for “playful luxury.”
The Commodore Club has a great example: their bar menu features six pages of sketches of Cunard's captains (called Masters or Commodores), complete with short, fun bios and cocktail suggestions that reflect each one's style. The bar also stocks four varieties of Cunard-branded gin: Elizabeth, Mary, Victoria and Anne.
The Chart Room Bar in the Queen Anne's Atrium. Photo by Rebecca Tobin
Public and private spaces
During our tour last summer, Fred had mentioned that Ann had a newly expanded area that guests could reserve for medium-sized private gatherings, and the outdoor terrace, located just off the Commodore Club, is exactly what he described then: perfectly sized for a reception of around 20-30 people, with light grey seating and an Instagram-worthy love seat custom made for newlyweds.
I would have liked to have seen the wellness area above the pool deck in the pavilion, but there was still scaffolding in place underneath the sunshade so I could only peer inside to see – the wellness area did exist.
Fred took us to the Chart Room on Deck 3 to explain the concept in more detail: it would consist of three or four interconnected rooms in beautiful dark panelling and rich jewel tones, with each room gradually becoming more vibrant until you reach the circular bar and atrium.
On the night I spent at Ann's, the concept was just as Fred had described it: In the first room, people sat and had friendly conversation, but by the time I arrived at the bar, there were two or three in line, the bartender was bustling about, and servers were constantly making the rounds at neighboring tables.
These rooms might be nice places for a book and coffee in the daytime (the atrium coffee bar was also busy), but I could see another use for them: a medium-sized group could easily occupy one of these rooms for their own get-together, without bothering others who just popped in for a drink, whether impromptu or arranged.
Queen Anne Library. Photo by Rebecca Tobin.
Public areas: socialize and relax
Fred said Cunard wanted to encourage “connections” among its passengers, and when completed, Anne will have several areas for passengers to socialize: the chart room, a room dedicated to board games on Deck 2, tables around the Pavilion Pool Deck, and a canopied, shaded area on Anne's forward upper deck that we imagine will become the setting for an adjacent pickleball court.
We can't leave out the places where passengers can relax without chatting: the Anne has a very luxurious library with plenty of books and places to sit and read.
Of course, there's the Golden Lion Pub, another Cunard fan favourite. This large room has plenty of places to gather at tables, although I wish Cunard had installed a round bar here too. No doubt a few screens will be in place, showing football, or rather soccer, matches. It also features a pub menu curated by celebrity chef Michel Roux; UK President Katie McAllister raved about the cheese toastie, although I still miss the curries that were on the QM2 menu circa 2016.
A sushi chef behind the counter at Aji Wa Japanese restaurant in Queen Anne. Photo by Rebecca Tobin
Dining at Queen Anne
There are 15 restaurants on board, so it was not possible to try them all. I ate at the Japanese restaurant Aji Wa, one of four dedicated dinner venues. McAllister and Matt Greaves, vice president of commercial affairs for Cunard North America, told me they were most excited about this restaurant. I sat at the sushi counter, and the fish was super fresh. There was a good selection of sake on the menu. Prices are a la carte.
Aji Wa menu. Photo by Rebecca Tobin
If I had more time, I would have visited the Indian restaurant Aranya because I really liked the decor and I had a great Indian dinner at QM2 a few years ago.
Britannia's dining room, which serves most of the ship's passengers, is as magnificent as ever.
We also had some delicious fish and chips at the Lido buffet and then savored some very nicely cooked eggs Benedict on the Princess Grill before departing the ship for the transfer to Heathrow Airport on a rainy Southampton morning.
