My Date With A Queen!

On the 24^th October I was extremely fortunate to be invited on board the Queen Victoria and what a day it was. I have heard lots of different views on Cunard and also on the Queen Victoria recently.

As you will know I am very fond of Celebrity Cruises and although I shouldn’t I do end up comparing the different cruise lines with Celebrity – especially when they are in the same league. Some of you may have seen the Oceania reviews.  Oceania do compare and say they are similar to Celebrity.  In fact, they place themselves in-between the likes of Regent/Silversea and Celebrity/Cunard.  Don’t get me wrong, the Oceania product is fantastic and the food is to die for but if I had a choice of Oceania or Celebrity I would sail on Celebrity however I know there are people that would disagree with me on this one.

 What I will try and do soon is a write up on the Celebrity Eclipse to give you a guide to the Eclipse, although I must say I was really surprised by the Queen Victoria, she had an air of elegance and grace to her and I just wanted to take you on a virtual tour of the ship. I will leave out the Princess and Queens Grill as I covered this in the ‘Take a Bite from the Grill on Queen Victoria’ write up.

As normal I went to the Town Quay, to see the Queen Victoria in all her beauty from a distance.

So as we boarded we joined the ship on the lowest passenger deck. Here you are greeted by the Grand Lobby, which may I say is simply stunning, with a grand piano and flower displays. It is so elegant and sophisticated but at the same time effortless. You also have the Pursers office and the Tour Office down in this part of the ship with an ok sized Internet café and connexions here.

There is a majority of staterooms on this level, all with a good midships position. At the front you have the Royal Court Theatre, on the lower level. This is an impressive looking theatre, again so effortless but looks beautiful, the sort of thing you would get in a top London Theatre. It even has boxes on the upper levels! These are reserved normally for Grill Passengers, but should they not get all taken you can ask to have on.

I think if you are going to go up and down the deck of the lower part of the ship it is definitely worth walking to the middle of the ship and taking the Grand staircase up to the next level.

So now you are on deck 2, on the very back you have the lower level of the Britannia Resturant, fairly similar concept to the Moonlight Sonata on Celebrity although the upper balcony is more on the first half of the restaurant making for a very open feel. The back part of the restaurant is enclosed and does not benefit from the open balcony above however it still feels very bright and airy and this way they can have more room to space the tables out avoid cramped areas.

The restaurant itself is stunning, with the open balcony it gives for a really elegant feel. I suppose again fairly similar to the Wine Tower on Celebrity, this is the main centre piece and focal point in the restaurant. There are a couple sets of spiral staircases to take you up to the higher level. The colours are lots of reds and it feels a bit art deco in here.

Next up you have the Chart Room. Here there is seating and a small bar. There is also a show case of Cunard History. Now there is a place on board called ‘Cunardia’ which takes you back in time over the Cunard history which I will come to shortly, but there’s also a lot of old pieces of Cunard history some even dating back to the 18^th Century.

Down from here you have a charming little place called Café Carinthia, this is the place to come for a nice cup of tea or if you are feeling in the mood for something a little bit stronger head one door down to the Champagne Bar. Here they serve Veuve Clicquot Champagne from Reims in France, again another beautiful little bar, this area does also have the benefit of overlooking the Grand Lobby below.

A new addition for the Queen Victoria, and in place of the Old Todd English restaurant is The Verandah. This is one of the speciality restaurants on board, again another lovely little restaurant if you want a more intimate meal of an evening.

Across from The Verandah restaurant is the library. The Queen Victoria has something I have really missed on many of the ships I have seen recently, even on the bigger ships, so its not down to the fact she’s a big ship as to why she’s ike it – It’s the open levels and this is also be found in the Library which houses a beautiful spiral staircase which is a must see even if you don’t want to borrow a book. There is a large seating area and then upstairs there is a balcony effect looking down on the lower level and a lot – and I do mean a lot of books to take your fancy.

So further along deck two we reach Cunardia which is a lovely area, showcasing the history of Cunard and I think this is lovely as it really does show that they care about where ‘White Star Line’ originated and how they became ‘Cunard’ as we know them today, preserving the history for future generations.

There is also a small shop in this area selling a selection of treats, from sweets to spirits and also a selection of goods from Harrods in London.

Now for one of my favourite rooms on the entire ship, the Queens Room. This is outstanding and as you can see utterly beautiful. There is a large amount of comfy seating, they have the main dance floor and they do provide gentleman hosts for the single traveller and well for anyone who’s other half does not want to dance. These are carefully selected and have to prove they can dance to a high standard before Cunard will even consider employing them. You will also find fencing, yes fencing classes in here too! There is a big stage at the front and two giant chandeliers that grace the ceiling. That’s the thing with Cunard, they do have huge hanging chandeliers! Just one would have complemented the room in a more graceful manner.

As we leave the Queens Room we have the English Pub on board. This is called the Golden Lion which is found on all three of the Cunard ships. This is an enclosed area, which I thought was nice and traditional so those that want the pub atmosphere can have it, but it doesn’t take away from the grandeur of the ship or the Queens Room down the corridor. The pub has a very warm feel, with lots of dark wood, leather and televisions dotted around for watching live sports.

Another fantastic area of the ship is outside the pub and can be seen from the windows housing the pub and that is the bottom of the Grand Arcade which has a fantastic but simple staircase with a large street clock in the middle which can be seen from the upper level of the Royal Arcade which I will touch on in a bit, but the history behind the top level will explain the reason for the clock.

So on the opposite side to the pub is the Casino, again a nice bright space. I did like the glass effect lights in here. There is a large selection of gambling tables and machines should you fancy a flutter.

So as we get to the front of the ship we reach the middle, yes middle tier of the Royal Court Theatre, so in total there are three levels and I think this alone is quite spectacular considering we are on a ship, but this is what Cunard are about bringing the elegance and sophistication to you at sea.

So as we go up a level at the very front of deck three we have the upper tier to the Royal Court Theatre. This is where you will find the Royal Boxes and the Grand Circle to the Theatre. The great thing is that you can get a huge amount of people in here so you should always get the showing you want of the evening entertainment.

Next door you have the Royal Arcade. This is designed around the famous Burlington Arcade in London, hence the street clock found on the lower level, but this is all a balcony up here looking down on to the Casino and Golden Lion pub below. You have a wide range of shops stocking clothing and jewellery to the more bizzare bits and pieces. For all you know you could really be in London!

As you leave the Royal Arcade you have a small Art Gallery, then you walk through the top level of the Queens Room. There are a couple of seats up here to take in the view, again this is just simply stunning.

As we leave the Queens Room Balcony we reach the Cunardia Gallery, showcasing pieces of Cunard art from over the years, again another lovely little touch to look at and enjoy and to start a conversation with people over. You never know who you might end up talking to.

From here you have a Book shop leading on to the Midships Lounge. This again is complete with seating and has more stunning views down over the Grand Lobby.

Across the corridor you have the upper level of the library again with a vast range of books to choose from, or remember there is the spectacular spiral staircase to admire from here. There is also a large card room and another little touch is a large brass bell, with Queen Victoria 2007 which has been with the ship its whole sailing life.

From here you have another bar area before you walk the hall of fame. This is called images where you will find all the pictures taken on board for sale.

On the back of this deck you have the upper level of the Britannia Restaurant, again beautiful as you can see.

It is also worth noting that the promenade on this deck does run the whole way around the ship so you can do a couple laps after dinner, perfect for burning that extra few calories so you can have an extra desert.

So as we go up a deck to deck four, this is an accommodation deck, as is deck five. Here you will find the CA Grade which are the obstucted balcony staterooms. I will run over these later however it is worth noting that there is only about 20 of these. Other than that decks five, six, seven and eight are complete accommodation decks.

Now on to my favourite part and I have left it to last and that is the Pool decks. Deck 9 is the main pool deck. On the back you have the Lido Pool. There is also three whirlpool spa’s and a large amount of relaxing space. Edging the pool area is a Lido Pool Grill and the Lido Pool Bar, so you can grab a nice cocktail and bite from the grill to tantalise the taste buds.

The whole of the back of this level is a very spacious and bright Lido Resturant which is called the onboard buffet which runs across both sides of the ship which makes for lots of seating. You could quite happily have a large amount of people in here and still not feel packed in. There was a very nautical feel in here with blues and whites, with a large buffet to choose from. You are truly spoilt for choice!

Next up on this deck we have the Winter Garden. This is like a conservatory, but the roof is retractable so on hot summer days it’s opened. There is a very informal and casual feel in here. There is a lovely garden feel in here as you can see.

As you leave this area you go out on to the Pavilion Pool area, here it is very nicely finished, with lots of teak wood, with a couple whirlpools. There is a bar which we I will touch on later on looks directly over this. There is a large amount of sun chairs here to take in the beautiful sunshine which you should have on your cruise, there is also the Pavilion Bar, where you can grab a drink or a light bite.

As we approach the front of the ship we have the Spa and Fitness centre, one of the lovely parts of the spa, the Hydro-pool. This is an inside whirlpool with hot water jets. There is lots of little windows in here that let the lights in. Along with this there is lots of sun loungers so you can sit back and relax with the sound of flowing water.

Down from here you have the Thermal Suite. This is a lovely little room with about eight heated beds with a view out of the window and a couple of stream rooms, the perfect place to wind away on a sea day.

At the front of the ships you have the Cunard Royal Spa and fitness centre. There is also an aerobic area but I will let the pictures do the talking for this.

Deck 10 is one of the highest general passenger decks, on the front you have the Commodore club, a fantastic place with amazing views out to sea. They will have a relaxed form of entertainment in here so you can just sit back with a drink and take in the amazing views. You do have another part of the Royal Spa up here tucked away.

Down the corridor from here you have Churchill’s Cigar lounge, this is one of the only places on board that you can actually smoke cigars inside. This is a lovely themed room around Winston Churchill.

Just down the corridor from the Commodore Club you have Hemispheres. This is a lovely bar which looks out over the below pool deck. It’s a relaxed little bar which in the evening turns in to the on-board night club. Directly above this area you have an additional sun terrace and sports court.

Then, as you lead outside the deck is opened up for sun bathing areas with views out to sea one way and over the pool deck below the other. As you go further back you have the kids clubs with The Play Zone for the younger children and The Zone for the teens. Both have their own outside play areas so the kids can take in the sea air whilst socialising with people their own age.

The back of this ship has an open area for sunbathing, a perfect place to sit and take in the amazing views. Other than that the other parts of the ship is exclusive for the Princess and Queens Grill.

So I am going to tie this up here so I can get this posted for you all to see. I will do another one shortly going over the staterooms on board but any questions in the meantime please do not hesitate to contact me and I will always be happy to help.

So have you travelled with Cunard? Maybe been on the Queen Victoria? What are your thoughts?

I look forward to hearing from you.

www.tomstravels.co.uk – 0800 408 6143 – [email protected]