Queen Anne Ship Tour: Cunard's Newest Ship, Every Space Explored

Queen Anne is the newest addition to the Cunard fleet, and carries more passengers than any other Queen before her. Having spent 107 nights aboard her on the inaugural World Voyage, plus over 100 nights on Queen Mary 2 and many sailings on Victoria and Elizabeth, this tour comes with genuine comparisons throughout, where Queen Anne improves on her sisters, where she doesn't, and the more controversial talking points among passengers on board.

Queen Anne holds 2,996 passengers plus 1,225 crew. She has 15 dining venues, the highest in the Cunard fleet, the largest curated art collection at sea, and is the only ship in the world with onboard archery.

Stepping aboard, Queen Anne feels like a genuinely fresh approach from Cunard, distinct from Queen Mary 2, Victoria, and Elizabeth in decor and styling while still unmistakably Cunard. The Grand Lobby runs from Deck 1, home to the Purser's Desk, World Club Lounge, and seating for coffee and drinks, up through Deck 2's Chart Room bar and Club Britannia Restaurant, to Deck 3's Carinthia Lounge and shopping boutiques, a good spot to people watch and orientate yourself before heading further into the ship.

Regular dining runs through the Britannia Restaurant or Britannia Club Restaurant for anyone not in a Grills suite, available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Britannia Club offers a set table within a flexible arrival window, while Britannia itself runs to set times, but remains, in our view, the grander of the two spaces, bigger and more special feeling than Club's nicer-restaurant vibe.

The Artisan Food Hall, the buffet, runs from breakfast through to midnight snacks, no dress code, self-service, and often features local delicacies tied to the itinerary. The Wellness Cafe, new to Queen Anne, serves healthy, made-to-order food, a good reset between heavier meals. Four speciality restaurants carry an extra charge: Aranya for Indian food, Tramonto for Mediterranean, Sir Samuel's for steak and seafood, and Aji-Wa, a completely new concept for Cunard, sushi and tempura prepared in front of you, the clear highlight of dining on Queen Anne and comparable to genuinely good sushi restaurants on land.

Worth addressing directly: a creative career on land means never wearing a suit by choice, yet Cunard's tradition and grandeur, the sense of the golden age of ocean liners, is part of what makes the experience what it is. Most nights allow a more relaxed choice at the pub or buffet if a suit isn't your thing, and if it's genuinely not for you, that's a fair reason to choose a different line. First time cruisers shouldn't stress over packing for it, it's far more relaxed in practice than it sounds.

The Royal Court Theatre is the ship's largest venue, lectures and matinees by day, live music, dance, and headline acts by night. The Queens Room on Queen Anne is smaller and less grand than her sister ships' version, a genuine point of comparison among passengers on board, but the live music and dancing still make it worth visiting regularly. The Golden Lion remains a strong all-rounder, pub quizzes, live music, no dress code.

The Commodore Club on Deck 11 is a real win for Queen Anne, bigger and brighter than Queen Mary 2's version, a strong spot by day and for piano and lounge vibes at night. Bright Lights Society is a new, more intimate show bar format with audience interaction, genuinely different to anything else on board, though some shows may now carry an extra charge where they didn't on our World Voyage. The Casino, while not something we used personally, is a striking, well equipped space.

The Panorama Pool Club at the rear of the ship, off Deck 9, is the main outdoor hub, live music, sun loungers, and the ship's primary pool. Deck 10 adds more loungers and pool views, and Deck 11 holds a quieter space under the ship's red funnel, loungers, a bar, and outdoor games, our preferred spot to relax. Elsewhere, golf, pickleball, and archery, plus an observation deck that came into its own during the Panama Canal transit. The Sky Lounge is a hidden gem, cold beers and relaxed views, looking down onto the Pavilion below.

The genuinely controversial point among passengers: Queen Anne has no real promenade deck. Where Queen Mary 2's promenade offers 360 degree views, wooden loungers, and a mobile drinks service, Queen Anne has more of a walking track, still useful for steps and fresh air, but a real gap for more experienced Cunard travellers making the comparison. As with several areas of the ship, this comes down to what you personally value, Queen Anne outdoes her sisters in some respects, Queen Mary 2 still wins in others.

The Pavilion serves as a central meeting point, home to the Wellness Cafe, a burger and hotdog station with its own gelato, cinema screenings, and the ship's second pool, a shallow one, better suited to a dip than actual swimming. Around it sit a wellness studio for yoga, table tennis, and hot tubs with film screenings. Elsewhere, the art gallery, the Chart Room for coffee or cocktails, and the library, one of our favourite spots on the ship for a quiet read or a scenic place to work. The games room serves the ship's bridge players, and boutiques cover everything from handbags to emergency toiletries. The spa and thermal suite, sauna, steam, whirlpool, sit alongside a well equipped gym and treatment rooms.

We stayed in a Club Balcony stateroom for the World Voyage, room, bed, and storage all solid. The bathroom is a real upgrade on previous ships, a proper glass shower cubicle replacing the older fabric curtains. The balcony remains the highlight, a private space returned to throughout the day, sometimes for a minute to check the weather, sometimes for hours with a pot of tea watching the world go by.

Wifi is genuinely excellent but expensive, the top Starlink package supports video calls and streaming but at real cost over a long voyage. Excursions booked through the ship were a mixed bag, roughly a 50/50 success rate across five or six booked directly with Cunard, a stark contrast to AmaWaterways' included, well run excursions on our recent Danube river cruise. Our own rule of thumb: book the official excursion when the ship is docked far from where you want to go, so the ship won't leave without you, and take the more adventurous, independent route when the destination is closer to hand.

The newest ship in the fleet, yes. The best Cunard ship, maybe. The best food lineup, yes. The best entertainment, probably. Our favourite Cunard ship right now, yes.