I enjoyed the cruise – my fourth on Cunard.
The itinerary was one I had taken many times before, during my 60 years of cruising, and included three ports in Croatia which is one of my favourite countries.
Being new, the ship was in excellent condition, the food was excellent and the weather was very kind.
However, there were several things that I found unfavourable on a Cunard ship.
On embarkation I went out onto the promenade deck to find a very narrow track, no chairs and the view completely blocked by the lifeboats.
Who could design a ship where there is no view from the promenade deck? Consequently, that was my only time on the so-called promenade deck during the 19 night cruise.
My inside cabin was the most cramped inside cabin I have ever seen on a ship.
If two people had been sharing they would have been falling over each other.
I always have twin beds, but these could only be separated two inches apart through lack of space.
There was just one small chair which, when pulled out from under the desk, touched the bed and it was difficult to squeeze onto it as space between the desk and bed was minimal.
Wardrobe space was also minimal and I cannot imagine two people’s clothes finding hanging space.
These inside cabins are only suitable for one person and should just have one single bed.
But the bathroom was spacious, with the most fabulous shower.
Unless one wanted to sunbathe around the swimming pools, there was very little sunbathing space, and very few sunloungers with no space to move them around when the sun changed direction.
What Cunard have done is to cram a further 1000 guests onto Queen Anne, which is not much larger than Queens Elizabeth and Victoria.
The public rooms were pleasant and spacious, although the Queens Room ballroom floor was only half the usual size in order to provide seating to accommodate the larger number of guests.
Perhaps I’m being picky, but I know what I like, and it’s a shame that a new, beautiful ship should have these design flaws.
I love Queens Elizabeth and Victoria and I will be cruising on Queen Mary 2 next February, which I think will be fabulous.
