Cunard Line took delivery today, April 19, from Fincantieri on its first new cruise ship built for the storied brand in 14 years. The new Queen Anne (114,000 gross tons) also marks the next to last of Carnival Corporation’s pre-pandemic orders as the world’s largest cruise company looks toward a slower pace of growth going forward.
The oldest operating shipping company in the world, Cunard traces its origins to 1840, but became a niche luxury brand after being acquired by Carnival Corporation in the late 1990s. Reinvigorated under the new ownership, the brand added three ships between 2004 and 2010 as it maintained its traditional summer trans-Atlantic crossing and expanded its cruise operations.
During the delivery ceremony today in Marghera, Italy, the brand’s president Katie McAlister highlighted it will be the first time since 1999 that Cunard Line has had four ships in simultaneous service. They also highlighted that she is the 249th ship to sail under the Cunard flag.
Queen Anne is the third Cunard cruise ship built in Italy (Fincantieri)
The new Queen Anne at 1,508 feet in length (322 meters) becomes the second largest ship in the company’s fleet. She has a capacity for 2,996 passengers as well as 1,225 crew. The design is based on a Carnival Corporation platform developed for Holland America Line and customized to Cunard. The company highlights that the ship continues many of the Cunard traditions including Grill Room accommodations and an English pub but also boasts the widest selection of fitness, beauty, thermal, and spa facilities on a Cunard ship.
The order was placed in 2017 with the first steel cut coming in October 2019. The pandemic slowed the construction schedule for the vessel which was originally due to be delivered in 2022, with assembly instead beginning in September 2022 and float out in May 2023. She is scheduled to depart Italy in the coming days for her homeport in Southampton, England where the first revenue cruise will depart on May 3. The naming ceremony is set for June 3 in Cunard’s historic base of operations in Liverpool during a special celebratory cruise around Britain.
Queen Anne is the second new cruise ship delivered by Fincantieri recently to Carnival Corporation and the last that the cruise company is scheduled to receive this year. Carnival has one more cruise ship on order with Fincantieri due for delivery in 2025 to Princess Cruises. The corporation recently also ordered two cruise ships with Germany’s Meyer Werft for its Carnival Cruise Line brand. The corporation has said going forward it expects to add one to two new cruise ships a year across its brands.
