This Classic Cruise Ship Has Everything From Black-tie Galas to Fjord Kayaking Excursions – Read Our Review

Cunard's new Queen Anne is based out of Southampton, with plans to sail much of Europe — including the fjords of Norway.

From the damp seat of my sea kayak, the specks falling from the edge of the fjord were nearly imperceptible. There goes one, then another, then another. Suddenly, their parachutes opened. What I thought were leaves or maybe stones knocked loose by a hiker turned out to be wingsuit flyers careening down the rock face at nearly 100 miles an hour. As I paddled back to the beach, more jumpers flew over the edge before gracefully gliding to a safe landing.

I’d come to one of Norway’s adventure capitals thinking that a couple of hours paddling through a fjord would be quite the adventure. It turns out that adrenaline can always go higher.

Of course, that’s why people head to Norway’s fjordlands in the middle of summer, to soak up the sun and get the blood pumping. I’d only just arrived in Flåm aboard the Queen Anne, the newest cruise ship from the storied line Cunard, a favorite of Travel + Leisure readers.

Flåm is the sort of place where you might see, like I did, a hitchhiker carrying a sign that reads “next town” or two dozen souped-up #vanlife rigs parked along the edge of the fjord. It’s filled with kayak outfitters and bike-tour operators and serves as an adventure hub. While it’s possible to road trip yourself — the drive from Oslo takes around five hours — it’s almost certainly more comfortable and convenient to get here by ship. And, if you come by ship, you’re guaranteed a hot shower, a nice meal, and a bit of evening entertainment after a hard day of paddling.

The Queen Anne has 1,498 cabins that accommodate nearly 3,000 guests — bigger than the kinds of ships I tend to enjoy, but I was pleasantly surprised by all the space available on board during my week-long trip.

I’d met the ship in Southampton, England, and after a day crossing the North Sea, we landed in Bergen for a bit of sightseeing around Norway’s second-biggest city. Then, the drama really picked up as Captain David Hudson and their team charted a course through the fjords to Flåm. The dizzying cliffs that hemmed in our course were like nothing I’d ever seen — and, indeed, were all the more stunning from the sundeck.

“Norway is a very popular cruise destination,” said Captain Hudson as we departed. “But sailing along a World Heritage fjord on a sunny, clear evening very close to the summer solstice is an experience few people get to have.”

In these far-northern reaches, the sun would shine for 18 or 19 hours a day, and as the ship sailed away from Flåm, several dozen passengers and I enjoyed the twinkle of the piano in the Commodore Club, with a view of the rocky islets of the Sognefjord. By breakfast the next day, we’d reached the village of Olden, where e-biking, paddling, and hiking were among the adventure activities on offer.

Another scheduled stop, Haugesund, was skipped due to heavy winds. Our resourceful crew instead charted a course into the Hardangerfjord, where we spent the day slowly cruising past salmon farms, waterfalls, and villages that, from the ship, appeared to be delightfully charming bases for glacier hikes.

All the while, back on board, my fellow passengers and I could count on the sort of big-ship amenities many cruise passengers expect. The pool deck, spa, fitness center, and Golden Lion pub seemed to hum at all hours, and a series of variety shows (including a popular murder mystery called Noir) were well attended by many. The bars and lounges were often full but not overly so, and a general sense of stately calm seemed to permeate the ship, as you might expect from a line that channels British heritage — and had a sizable number of U.K. guests on board.

Like all Cunard ships, Queen Anne retains one maritime tradition in the form of a class system. There are four main categories of travel, in ascending order of opulence: Britannia, Britannia Club, Princess Grill, and Queens Grill. Each class of service has a corresponding dining room; the top two tiers also have their own lounges and outdoor terrace spaces. While all passengers are welcome in most areas of the ship — including its alternative restaurants, many of which come at extra cost — guests in lower-category classes can’t access the high-end amenities. The “ship within a ship” setup is roughly equivalent to what’s available in premium areas on other lines — the Yacht Club of MSC, the Haven on Norwegian — though, on Cunard, the premium passengers have fewer just-for-us amenities than top-class guests on those competing lines.

I was traveling as an entry-level Britannia guest, but I still felt plenty pampered on several occasions, particularly at Sir Samuel’s, an at-extra-cost steakhouse. Yet there were other moments where I must admit, I felt a bit like guest number 2,756 on board, whether trying to flag somebody down for a cappuccino at Carinthia Lounge or when the Wellness Café, which makes a point of having cold-pressed juice, was out of several menu options.

Still, the thrills off the ship made up for many of these minor flubs, some of which might have to do with how new the Queen Anne still is. After all, Cunard carries the weight of 180 years of seagoing tradition, and its ships still host black-tie gala evenings twice a week. Being the crew aboard the newest vessel in that line must be as intimidating as, well, wingsuit flying.

Here’s a closer look at the new Cunard cruise ship Queen Anne's amenities, restaurants, staterooms, and services.

Queen Anne

• Queen Anne is a well-appointed, 1,498-cabin ship with endless options for things to do, plentiful dining choices, and comfortable public spaces.

• Interesting itineraries travel to places like the fjords of Norway or sailing the coast of Spain — and would be hard to replicate any other way.

• There are some high-end dining choices, including Sir Samuel’s, and a stacked wine cellar with many impressive a la carte bottles.

The Staterooms

With 1,498 cabins, Queen Anne has a wide variety of choices. The entry-level rooms inside cabins without so much as a window are hyper-efficient and aggressively priced. By contrast, high-end Princess and Queens Grill suites come with butler service, balconies, and all sorts of extras. (A half-dozen Queens Grill Grand and Master suites are among the finest in Cunard’s fleet.)

About half of the rooms on board, though, were like mine, a Britannia Balcony cabin with a touch of art deco in the design. Besides the balcony, my favorite feature of room 8156 was the bathroom, which had a spacious-for-a-ship shower stall and plenty of storage and light. The rest of the room, including hanging storage and a small desk that also housed a petite minibar, was functional and clean, if not exactly breathtaking in terms of the overall vibe. One additional note: I found the onboard Wi-Fi to be pretty fast and reliable, even in the middle of the North Sea, though I did have to reload a sign-in splash page every morning.

Bars and Restaurants

Bring an appetite because Queen Anne is filled with fantastic dining venues and several excellent bars. Each category of travel — Britannia, Britannia Club, Princess Grill, and Queens Grill — has its own main dining room with a corresponding name, with either set dining times or open seating, depending on guest preference. While the menus in each are ever-changing — and, at the high end, are stuffed with decadent dishes such as lobster thermidor — the overall tenor of the cuisine is continental, with heavy British influence. On my trip, meals in Britannia were multi-course affairs, served with an old-school flourish by a capable, pleasant team. An extensive buffet called Artisans’ Foodhall seemed to have almost anything you could want at virtually any hour.

Elsewhere on board, several specialty restaurants were available at an extra charge. Among my standouts were Golden Lion, a traditionally styled pub open for lunch and pints, and Sir Samuel’s, an elevated steakhouse with extraordinary raw-bar platters. Other options include Aranya, an Indian restaurant; Tramonto, a pan-Mediterannean spot; and Aji Wa, for sushi and other Japanese fare. While I loved the concept of the Wellness Café, which overlooks the pool and has a long menu of pressed juices, smoothies, and bowls, I found the execution of dishes a bit lackluster over several visits.

The cocktail bars and lounges, however, were consistently on point, with a variety of themes, whether the classic Chart Room, with Champagne and martinis; the casino bar, which specializes in Negronis; or Cabana, a rum joint with dozens of selections but, to my disappointment, limited hours. Throughout the ship, non-alcoholic options were also widely available, with NA cocktails listed on many menus.

Where Queen Anne Sails

For the time being, Southampton, England, is Queen Anne's home port. Weeklong trips to places such as Norway, the Iberian Peninsula, and the Canary Islands are among the routes available. A couple of particularly compelling itineraries for 2025 include a two-week sail from Southampton that travels around the British Isles and a 12-day itinerary that explores the fjords of Norway, which will be pretty similar to the route I traveled.

The ship is scheduled to sail a 111-day world cruise in the upcoming winter months, departing Hamburg, Germany, in January 2025. It will cross the Atlantic Ocean, transit the Panama Canal, sail the Pacific, and visit ports in Asia and the Middle East before traveling through the Suez Canal and back to Hamburg.

Shore Excursions

For all the amenities on board, Queen Anne is also a compelling way to explore interesting destinations: On my sail to Norway, Cunard had arranged numerous activities in every port, ranging from simple city-center walks to full-day active adventures to splurge-worthy excursions like a helicopter flight over a glacier. While shore excursions on Cunard come at extra cost, I found the process of choosing and booking them online very easy; compared to other cruise lines, Cunard did an excellent job of describing the tours, the activity level, and the value prop of every activity.

During my trip, I was particularly thrilled with the experience of e-biking in Olden with a local guide who took our group of 12 to his own family’s lakeside farm, where we ate wild strawberries and heard stories about rural life. Then, there was the excellent morning of kayaking alongside several paddling guides, who steered a group of about 20 passengers to a secluded beach before we turned back and saw those wingsuit fliers. Truly high-end adventures, such as an overflight of the Briksdal Glacier, are, predictably, expensive, but most of my tours were priced competitively compared to third-party options.

Amenities and Entertainment

Cunard excels at keeping guests entertained. At any hour, there are countless things to do, whether card games, trivia competitions, archery lessons (seriously), dancing, live music, shopping, high tea, lectures, fitness classes, pickleball, minigolf, and so on. One daily program from my trip listed at least 69 different activities during a sea day when we had no stop in port scheduled. Among the highlights for me were the competitive rounds of trivia held in the Golden Lion and the sounds of live piano that filled the ship’s many bars and lounges every evening. Of course, this being a Cunard ship, there were also big band–style tunes at the Queens Room, particularly on the black-tie Gala Nights, of which there are two on week-long itineraries. Live performances in the Royal Court Theater included several musical reviews and stage shows that, as is common on ships, had brief runtimes.

The ship’s spa and fitness area were very popular on my sailing, and most passengers I spoke with were satisfied with the treatments and amenities. The wellness areas, most of which are on a lower deck, forward, didn’t have much in the way of views — but that didn’t make them any less popular. One exception is a Wellness Studio, located under a pergola near the pool, that hosted yoga and other movement classes in the fresh air. Nice.

Queen Anne has a fantastic main pool deck called the Pavilion, with tons of loungers, an excellent array of food and drinks, and a glass roof that allows for all-weather enjoyment. The outdoor Panorama Pool Club is an alternate swimming pool with views over the stern of the ship. (Princess and Queens Grill guests have their own terrace, with twin whirlpools, which I was sadly unable to visit.) As is becoming standard on new vessels, there’s also a pickleball court, along with other more traditional sun-deck sports, including minigolf, shuffleboard, and table tennis.

Family-friendly Offerings

Cunard may have a buttoned-up, black-tie reputation, but I saw many families and groups traveling on my sailing. It makes sense: This ship offers so much that anybody can dial in what they’re looking for. (And despite the formality sometimes required in the restaurants and entertainment venues in the evenings, several spots on board are casual around the clock.)

A few kid-specific, age-appropriate hangouts are on board: the Play Zone is for those 2 to 7; the Kids’ Zone is meant for tweens; and the Teen Zone welcomes older children. Depending on the day, they’re staffed for several hours, with activities and games. Cunard also offers a Night Nursery service for very young ones, 6 months up to 2 years of age, so that parents can have an evening “out.” The main pool also welcomes all ages. Suites, in particular, have plenty of room to accommodate families, and there are 100 connecting staterooms on board.

Accessibility

Cunard is well-suited to individuals with limited mobility, and I noticed that many guests on my sailing used mobility aids. The line keeps a detailed guide to its many accessibility policies and procedures online. On Queen Anne, there are 33 cabins and suites designated as accessible.

On my sailing, many announcements were made over a public address system, and it wasn’t immediately apparent what alternative accommodations may have been available.

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