Queen Anne is a brand new ship (only began operating 3 months ago) so the furnishings and fittings are obviously in very good condition.
However, one of the ship’s propellor pods broke on the first day resulting in the itinerary having to be altered due to a slower speed and the first port call had to be cancelled – the problem was fixed 6 days later (in Barcelona) and thereafter the cruise itinerary was maintained.
As a general comment the ship doesn’t appear so well built as other Cunard ships, for example there was one lift that kept breaking down and going out of order.
Also in another lift the handrail broke off (they appear to be quite flimsy and not solid).
Plus, the Library (which is meant to be a quiet area) suffered from very loud noises from the sports deck above – apparently a design fault due to there not being proper deck insulation.
There were several bars, lounges and deck areas, so the large number of passengers (more than QM2) didn’t really cause a problem.
However, the ship was confusing to get around and on some decks you had to go up or down a deck to progress from end to end – it may be designed that way to split up the large numbers of passengers and stop them congregating in one or two areas, but it isn’t so easy to get around as QM2 or the Victoria and Elizabeth.
As this was a special celebration we booked Princess Grill class, and this was a disappointment in four ways….
First, the cabin although very pleasant seemed to have a very small balcony for a Grill class cabin (from the map it appears the same as a Britannia class cabin).
Secondly, the Grill class restaurant was overcrowded.
Our table was so close to the next table that there was only about 4 inches between chair backs when seated – so the waiters had to lean over my plate to serve as they couldn’t get round to serve me from the side.
This is really not good in any restaurant (even in a cheap cafe) but in a Grill class restaurant it is unacceptable.
Thirdly, the serving staff were not up to standard and sometimes we had to wait 20-30 mins for a course or a cup of coffee (certainly way below Grill class service).
Fourthly, the quality of food was not up to previous Cunard ships and sometimes it was served lukewarm instead of hot.
Overall, having sailed on all other Cunard ships, Queen Anne is the worst experience……and rather than ‘Cunard White Glove’ service the overall standard is more like P&O (which is not to denigrate P&O but Cunard is meant to be a more upmarket cruise line).
This may have something to do with the fact that the Hotel manager and some staff have only worked for P&O previously (and this standard is all they know).
We like Cunard as a cruise line, but given the choice would prefer to sail on any other Cunard ship in the future.
If we did sail on Queen Anne again, it does not seem worth the extra money for Grill class and we would recommend Britannia class for this ship.