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Cunard postcard: Queen Anne sets sail
Unveiling a new era of luxury cruising — inspired by the past but built for the future
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Stepping into the Grand Lobby aboard Cunard’s newest ship, Queen Anne, is like a trip to the past. The ship’s sweeping glass staircase, polished walnut handrails, Art Deco-inspired marble floor and white-gloved bellhops transport guests back in time — but not quite.
There’s also something very modern about this space, like the three-storey brass-panelled mural by Canadian artist Ian Kirkpatrick, which reveals three stages of a Cunard journey as you walk across the Grand Lobby.
Queen Anne (the fourth in Cunard’s current fleet) has taken inspiration from the past but reimagined its signature style in a more contemporary context.
Cunard’s story started in 1840 when Sir Samuel Cunard, a Canadian businessman from Halifax, secured a contract with the British government for steamship mail service. From there, Cunard Lines was born and soon became synonymous with transatlantic crossings—for those emigrating from the Old World to the New and then for pleasure cruising.
During the 1950s, often referred to as “the golden age of cruising,” transatlantic crossings were glamorous social events. It wasn’t unusual to bump into a famous face in the Art Deco halls, like Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra or Elizabeth Taylor.
Queen Anne, which made her debut this May, is the 249th ship to fly the Cunard flag, joining three other Queens currently in service: Mary, Victoria and Elizabeth. Like all Cunard ships, Queen Anne embraces tradition (like afternoon tea). But, unlike the rest of the fleet, her design bridges styles from past and present.
A living museum
Instead of hiring a design studio to create Queen Anne’s interiors, Cunard hired a team of designers from competing studios (some of whom had never designed interiors for a cruise ship before) to bring a different feel to Cunard’s signature style. David Collins Studio, Richmond International and Sybille De Margerie brought their unique perspectives to Queen Anne under the direction of creative director Adam D. Tihany.
The design process started at the Cunard Archive housed within the University of Liverpool, a treasure trove of historical photographs, artifacts and business records spanning more than 180 years. Details on everything from fabrics, patterns and textures helped the design team reimagine and reinterpret Cunard’s iconic Art Deco interiors.
“It was an incredible design resource to have. It informed our design in so many different ways,” said Lewis Taylor, design director of David Collins Studio, during a preview of Queen Anne in early May at the port in Southampton, England. “It was important to us that all the design codes we put into this new ship had their DNA in the references we found in the archive.”
These references can be found throughout the ship, from the gold braiding on the chairs in the Commodore Club, which pays homage to the epaulettes on a commodore’s uniform, to the 3-D paper-cut Art Deco frames in the cabins, which reference patterns from Cunard’s history.
However, the designers didn’t want to create a pastiche of what’s come before. The idea was to be inspired by the past but to avoid clichés and move forward. So, while Cunard is associated with the Art Deco era, the designers didn’t want to create an Art Deco-themed ship.
“Art Deco can be very contemporary or very, very old-fashioned,” said Taylor. “So we very carefully selected those Art Deco motifs and reinterpreted them [in a contemporary context].” For example, in the Princess Grill Restaurant, you’ll find embroidered floral walls, but upon closer inspection, you’ll discover the trailing arbutus flower of Nova Scotia.
The Queen Anne also claims to have the world’s largest floating art collection, curated by Double Decker. It includes about 4,300 works by 3,000 painters, photographers and illustrators (including a few pieces in the art gallery from Banksy and Mr. Brainwash).
Along with established artists, Double Decker commissioned pieces from up-and-coming talent courtesy of London’s Royal College of Art, Central Saint Martins and New York’s Parsons New School (all of whom had access to the Cunard Archive), resulting in an eclectic collection of contemporary art. It’s not just there as décor; it’s part of the onboard experience.
Art isn’t just on the walls. In collaboration with the British Film Institute (BFI), Cunard is also offering a curated programme of shorts and feature-length films, shown on a massive LED screen in The Pavilion, a tiered piazza that serves as a beach bar by day and entertainment venue by night.
The BFI has a mandate to preserve the nation’s screen heritage, support new British filmmakers and champion wider film culture in the U.K. “I’ve tried to apply that [mandate] to the selection of films that we’re making available on the Queen Anne,” said James Rocarols, BFI’s head of online programming, who curated the Cunard program with a theme of ‘New Beginnings.’
It seems fitting that Queen Anne is bringing the silver screen to the high seas since Cunard has hosted its fair share of Hollywood greats over the decades, from Charlie Chaplin to Meryl Streep. It was even the first cruise line to host a movie premiere, with The Greatest Showman in 2017.
Life on board
Cunard is also known for its Insights Enrichment Program, which offers lectures by celebrated historians, explorers, diplomats, scientists and other experts. To date, Queen Anne’s lineup includes historian Dan Snow, sports presenter Clare Balding and foodie aficionado (and MasterChef judge) Gregg Wallace. In the fall of 2024, Queen Elizabeth, Cunard’s sister ship, will also host two speakers from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, David Gray and Joseph Frey.
Helmed by Captain Inger Klein Thorhauge (Cunard’s first female captain), Queen Anne may be a departure from her sister ships, but some things remain the same: There will still be afternoon tea and themed balls, where women dress to the nines and men don their tuxedos. The tiered service levels also remain the same, with exclusive areas for Princess Grill and Queen Grill guests.
However, the layout is more like a cruise ship than an ocean liner, featuring 14 decks and 15 dining venues, with a capacity for up to 3,000 guests. There are also new-to-Cunard dining experiences, including Aji Wa (Japanese cuisine) and Aranya (Indian cuisine).
Also new is a partnership with two Michelin-starred Chef Michel Roux, who worked alongside Cunard’s culinary development team to create a gala menu for the Queens Grill restaurant on Queen Anne and a new menu for the Golden Lion pub across Cunard’s fleet.
Another departure for Queen Anne is its stylish (and ample) outdoor space. Historically, sturdy Cunard ocean liners were designed for transatlantic crossings, going “through the fog to America,” said creative director Adam D. Tihany, whose design credits include The Beverly Hills Hotel and Belmond Hotel Cipriani. So, there weren’t exactly a lot of outdoor spaces.
Tihany was already deep in the design process when the pandemic hit in 2020, but he decided to switch gears anyway. “It was an important moment—we are moving forward, we are doing innovative things, so let’s bite the bullet and try to create additional outdoor spaces that the customers are highly connected to,” he said, adding that this is part of the “evolutionary process” of the Cunard brand.
The Pavilion pool deck, for example, is an oasis with scalloped balconies, yellow loungers, coral terrace furniture and a navy checkered floor—a colour palette inspired by Cunard’s menu cards from the 1920s and 30s. But, if there happens to be a chill in the air, the space is protected by a retractable glass dome designed in collaboration with architect Martin Francis (who engineered the Louvre Pyramid in Paris).
So, while Queen Anne evokes a sense of nostalgia, she’s contemporary to the core—and that’s by design.
Queen Anne’s maiden season will see her sail to the Canary Islands, British Isles, Norwegian Fjords and Western Mediterranean, while in 2025 she will embark on a worldwide program.
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