Vessel Number 4 on horizon for Cunard
New addition aims to be modified sibling to Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth ships
Just a few weeks ago, I was writing about some of the exciting itineraries Cunard Line (cruise. center/cunard) has in store for its three-ship fleet for the next few years. Now, the line has just announced more exciting news: the addition of a fourth Cunard ship, set to debut in 2022.
Carnival Corporation & plc — parent company of Cunard Line — recently announced it inked an agreement with Italy’s Fincantieri shipyard to construct a new, as-yet-unnamed cruise ship to join the line’s existing fleet, which includes the iconic Queen Mary 2, and the smaller but no less attractive sisters, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth. When this new ship debuts in 2022, it will mark the first time since 1998 that Cunard has had four ships in service.
“Cunard continues the legacy of our liners with the commissioning of a magnificent new ship. It’s an especially fitting time with the recent 50th anniversary of the beloved Queen Elizabeth 2 marking the occasion. We are proud to share Cunard’s enduring luxury liner experience with future generations to be enjoyed the world over,” says Josh Leibowitz, senior vice-president of Cunard, North America.
Queen Elizabeth 2, or The QE2 as she was popularly known, was withdrawn from service in 2008, prior to the debut of Queen Elizabeth in 2010. Cunard’s new, unnamed ship will continue on the line’s proud oceangoing legacy, becoming the 249th ship to fly the Cunard flag since the line’s founding by Samuel Cunard in 1839.
This new ship won’t compete with the massive Queen Mary 2, but will instead be a new, modified sibling to Cunard’s Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth. Cunard plans to dole out exact information and features of this new ship over the next few years, but from the initial news release, the line confirmed the ship will be 113,000 GRT (gross registered tonnage), and will carry 3,000 guests. By the time she debuts, she’ll be the first new ship added to the Cunard fleet in 12 years. So why is this noteworthy? For Cunard fans, the addition of a fourth ship is a very big deal, as it will allow the line to expand into regions that were formerly off-limits. With Queen Mary 2 primarily focusing on her initial world voyages and transatlantic crossings, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth have had to do the heavy lifting for the more traditional cruise itineraries to the Mediterranean, Northern Europe and beyond.
The new Cunard ship will allow the line to expand and offer cruises to other destinations worldwide.
If the renderings look familiar to you, it is because this new ship will be based off of a similar design developed for Holland America Line’s Koningsdam, which launched last year. Of course, she’ll be heavily tweaked and adapted to be able to handle the transatlantic crossings that Cunard is famous for, along with the line’s quintessentially British on-board atmosphere and amenities, like white-gloved afternoon, multiple live music venues, and some of the best-designed libraries at sea.
No word yet as to what itineraries this new ship will sail, or when those will be available for booking. You can bet that I’ll be writing about them in this space, though, once they are announced, so stay tuned.
If you can’t wait until 2022 to sail with Cunard, the line has a couple of interesting voyages lined up for the remainder of this year.
Queen Victoria is sailing her Big Band Ball itinerary out of Southampton, England, on Nov. 13. Just five nights in duration, this is a great itinerary to add onto a couple of days in London to make a quick weeklong getaway to the U.K. In addition to offering up some amazing music over the course of the cruise, sailing V726 also stops in some pretty fantastic ports of call, including Zeebrugge for Bruges, Belgium; Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Cherbourg, France, where full-day tours to Paris are possible.
For a real adventure, stay one night in Southampton following the end of the Big Band Cruise and then catch Queen Mary 2’s Westbound Transatlantic Crossing to New York on Nov. 19 (sailing M743).
Why fly across the Atlantic when you can sail across it in comfort? Happy cruising.
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