Queen Anne

Loved the Ship!

Maiden transatlantic crossing-relaxing, good food, lots of variety, great service in Britanica Club dining room, sometimes slow in other areas but always pleasant. Loved the observation deck and the commodore club. We particularly enjoyed Bright Lights in the evening and the folk duo. Speakers not so much! Could have used a naturalist and historian. Drinks are expensive, the salon was well managed, embarkation went smoothly and getting off in New York was super speedy. Hard to get a seat in the library, the game room was well stocked and provided a wonderful view of the sea. A winter trip in the North Atlantic was all that you might expect...at least a once in a lifetime voyage. The shower with door is a great improvement! Laundry facilities were crowded and insufficient for the number of passengers on the ship. It takes a day or so to get comfortable with the layout of the ship. I would go again!

Great Transatlantic crossing

Queen Anne’s first transatlantic from Hamburg Jan. 7. Rousing sendoff leaving Southampton Jan. 9, with dress military band on board and major fireworks show. Fun. The ship and whole experience were great, even though I have a soft spot for QM2 crossings. The ship design and layout were very well conceived: despite 2900 passengers it never felt crowded. Fast internet. More contemporary than her sisters, as intended QA has high quality finishings, fittings and furnishings—crisp and new and shouting “Cunard.” Our Princess Grill cabin was narrow, but super comfortable and functional. The Royal Court Theater is the best and most comfortable I’ve experienced on any Cunard ship. Loved Noel Coward’s play Brief Encounter. I thought the intimate Brite Lights cabaret (a great concept with huge potential) would be a little edgier. Our dining room team was all you’d hope for: attentive, professional, engaging. Menus included some relaxed and updated offerings, many vegetarian, as well as the Grills classics I love so much, like Châteaubriand , Dover sole, and duck à l’orange. Lots to like on the wine list, including plenty of English bubbly (Gusbourne is great) and even some Madeira, thank God. Just one lament about the substantially higher “drinks included” fares: Cunard should be less stingy with the wine choices. Included drinks are capped at $12, with no bottle options for groups, severely limiting possibilities. If you want anything besides entry level by the glass (you should because it’s a nice list) you have to foot the full additional bill. Really? But that’s just a detail, if important to me. Overall, Queen Anne deserves a big thumbs up.

Our New Favourite Ship

Just getting off QA after 4 nights and, despite many cruises under our belt, this has probably been the best one yet. Negatives were main dining room and Indian restaurant. Everything else was great! Food and staff in Sir Samuel’s (twice) was excellent. Golden Lion was great for lunch despite the orders being wrong every time! Bright Lights Society was so good we went twice. In fact is wasn’t only good it was probably the best show I have ever seen. Loved, loved, loved it! Our cabin steward was better than any butler, Commodore Club was perfect with great views to the front of the ship, something which newer ships only allow suite passengers to see. We were even invited to a party in the top suite on the ship last night and have come off the ship desperate for more. This ship may have had teething problems but she’s certainly our favourite!

A New Ship, Same Service

Thoughts on the cruise We had an excellent cruise on Queen Anne, she's a beautiful ship and has many things about her to like as well as a few "niggles" shall we say? Pros The weather was fantastic for this cruise, you couldn't have asked for better, there was a little movement on the first night, but after that we had a flat calm for the whole cruise. The sun shone relentlessly and although not cozzie weather, it was warm in the sun ranging to hot when on the balcony and out of any wind. The outside space is wonderful, loads of deck area for sunbathing and plenty of loungers available. There's lots of little hide-aways where you can escape the crowds if required. There are a lot of bars on the ship, a varied selection from the sophistication of the Commodore Club and Chart Room  to the fantastic views of the Sky Bar.  The power/charging options in the stateroom are now in the 21st century with bedside USB chargers (both USB A and C) as well as US and UK power sockets. The lighting was also very good with lots of different ways to light the room. Also the swipe card entry was easier to use than the other Queens The stateroom now has a fully interactive TV system, the interface is a  bit clunky, but everything is there. You can see your bill in real-ish time, the ship's position, weather forecasts and loads of onboard information. There's a lots of movies and boxed sets available as well as the usual live TV and recorded insights lectures. The only thing I couldn't find was the live stream of the evening show  from the theatre. The PG shower is a revelation, as a walk-in shower it was a massive improvement on all the other Queens The Pavilion was an excellent area, I was dubious about the giant screen, but it worked well for both silent showings (headphones provided) and for showing of concerts, both Queen and The Who (no headphones). The Gelateria was a massive temptation and the Grill provided an excellent selection of burgers and dogs. I can't comment on the Wellness Cafe as I never tried it, but it seemed to be well used. The seating around the Pavillion also provided comfortable seating. Bright Lights, I thought this was brilliant nonsense, I'm not sure I'd revisit it once seen, but I think it's a must for the first time on Anne. Insight lectures, as always, are both entertaining and informative. I'm usually not a fan of the celebrity chats but both Darren Campbell and my new bestie Nicki Chapman were excellent. Cons In the PG stateroom the hanging space was inadequate, even for a 14 night cruise. Everything was squashed together and all of my shirts came out of the wardrobe creased. The balcony was very small and wasn't easy for two people to sit in the sun unless it was fully in front of the balcony. There were also no coat-hooks, which meant my outside coat took up more of the inadequate space in the wardrobe. Seating in general is awful, uncomfortable chairs throughout the ship, usually too upright, but sometimes with a sloping back which slid you off the seat, always too low. Don't even get me started on the Grills Lounge, dark & gloomy during the day with no view and some of the most uncomfortable seats on the ship. What were they thinking of, putting school hall chairs in the Queens Room The Grills Terrace blocks the flow of traffic getting from the very busy Panorama Pool area to the Sky bar and forward deck areas when travelling over the upper deck. This necessitates going down two decks and across to get to your destination. You can't even get there via deck nine and the Artisan Buffet as there some blockage at Ali Waj/Sir Samuels The cocktail menus in each bar only lists themed cocktails for that bar and not all of the available ones, so you are never sure if the barman can make what you want, or what it will cost and if you like to peruse the list before deciding that option is not available to you. Also no coffee menu in the Carinthia Cafe, I didn't understand that at all. All of the cons are minor and things like hanging space can be mitigated by putting unused clothing back in your suitcase under the bed but the pluses are quite major improvements on the other Queens. Food and decor are all subjective, but I loved the food especially in the Princess Grill restaurant, probably a little too much Service was very good, it could be a little slow at times, as there were some technical issues with the waiters tablets, but in the main we were very happy.