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Monday April 5, 8:50 am ET
Current Queen Victoria Under Construction is Transferred to P&O Cruises
MIAMI, April 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Cunard Line announced today that it has placed an order for a new, luxury ocean liner, to be named Queen Victoria, and has transferred the Queen Victoria currently under construction in Italy to its sister line, P&O Cruises. The new 85,000-ton, Panamax vessel will accommodate some 1,850 passengers and will enter service in January 2007. She will be built by Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani SpA, at its Marghera (Italy) shipyard, and is expected to have an all-in cost of approximately EUR 390 million.
The tremendous success of Queen Mary 2, particularly the demand for its suites and junior suites, has prompted Cunard Line to make these changes to its plans. "The design of the new Queen Victoria will be more consistent with the grand ocean liner style of Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth 2," explained Pamela Conover, Cunard's president. "It is clear that the traditional elegance of Cunard has broad appeal among discerning travellers worldwide, and we want to be sure that our new ship has all the luxurious Cunard attributes our clients expect."
In addition to increasing the number of suite and mini-suite accommodations, the enhancements will focus on providing passengers with Cunard's classic culinary experience in a variety of dining venues. The ship will feature a Queens Grill and Princess Grill, an impressive two-storey Aquitania Restaurant, as well as alternative dining options, including a Todd English restaurant. Other Cunard hallmark facilities will include a grand ballroom, an authentic British pub, and a classic library.
For more information contact 1-800-7-CUNARD or visit our website at www.cunard.com.
Cunard Line has operated the most famous ocean liners in the world since 1840. Its vessels have a classic British heritage and include Queen Mary 2, QE2 and Caronia. Cunard is a proud member of World's Leading Cruise Lines, an exclusive alliance that also includes Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Costa Cruises, Windstar Cruises and The Yachts of Seabourn. Sharing a passion to please each guest, and a commitment to quality and value, member lines appeal to a wide range of lifestyles and budgets. Together they offer exciting and enriching cruise vacations to the world's most desirable destinations.
This is good news!!!
[ 04-05-2004: Message edited by: CGT ]
quote:Originally posted by CGT:So it seems then that the QE2 should be in service until at least 2007 and the new ocean liner QUEEN VICTORIA will take over the world cruises!!!This is good news!!![ 04-05-2004: Message edited by: CGT ]
I seriously doubt the new QV will be an "ocean liner" in the true sense of the word. Cunard likes to call all their ships "ocean liners", regardless. More PR bang for the buck that way. I do think QV will remain a cruise ship but will be better suited for Cunard's luxury image and for world cruises. She might even remain a Vista Class ship but reconfigured with more suites? Hopefully that is not the case but we don't know otherwise at this point.
Ernie
quote:Originally posted by eroller:MIAMI, April 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Cunard Line announced today<snip bit>"The design of the new Queen Victoria will be more consistent with the grand ocean liner style of Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth 2,"
quote:Originally posted by PamM:I await to see the design; but think this and the tfr of the yet to be finished Vista Class ship, as Arcadia to P&O is an excellent move. Seems Cunard have been taking note of passengers' comments?Pam
I have a feeling that the new QV will just be a reworked Vista Class. More suites, lower capacity, different layout, etc. It will still be an improvement over the old QV.
What is interesting is how easily interchangeable these ships are. Seems the old QV, which is quite far along now, will easily fit in with P&O and it seems P&O needed the capacity more than Cunard which I think is the key here.
Will this "Queen Victoria 2" be an even MORE modified Vista Class ship like the old Queen Victoria was to be a modified version of Zuiderdam ?
[ 04-05-2004: Message edited by: Ðraikar ]
Carnival have obviously realised assembly-line ships are not the way forward for the Cunard brand; mind you we have all been telling them this from the outset!
Press releases make me laugh with there use of language. For example, nowhere does it mention that they made a very ‘serious mistake’ with the original design! For fun, I’ve corrected the wording of the press release:
“The design of the original Queen Victoria was totally inconsistent with the grand ocean liner style of Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth 2,” explained Pamela Conover, Cunard’s president. “It is clear that the traditional elegance of Cunard has broad appeal among discerning travellers worldwide, and our original design did not have all the luxurious Cunard attributes our clients expect.”
Joking aside, this move raises more questions than it answers:
*I can see a Vista class ship, with British style decore, complementing P&O’s Aurora and Oriana, better than the two Princess ships, do. However, this will give P&O a fleet of five ships. I have been wondering how they are going to fill four, let alone, five, with the increasing competition at UK ports, some coming from Cunard’s QM2!
*So will P&O keep all five ships? Maybe Adonia and/or Oceana will be transferred or sold?
*Will Cunard simply modify the public rooms and cabins of a Vista class, which seems to defeat the object really, or effectively design a whole new ship? Maybe only the hull will be the same? Alternatively, will the new QV have an Ocean going hull or are we still talking ‘cruise ship’?
*Stephen Payne himself has apparently said, off the record, that he would not be surprised if Cunard/Carnival ordered a second proper ‘Ocean Liner’ type vessel in the future. Did he mean another QM2 style ship, or something nearer to the QE2’s size, maybe 85,000 tons? What will €390 million buy, anyone?
It certainly looks like the QE2 has a stay of execution, anyway! However, obviously Cunard will be back down to a two ships fleet, until 2007.
[ 04-05-2004: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]
I'm not convinced either that the "new and improved" QV will be anything more than another Vista Class ship with a Cunard positive spin put on it. No doubt she will be improved with a lower capacity and more suites, but in the end she might still be just another Vista Class ship.
I know Carnival's Technical Services team has been busy with new designs for Holland America and Carnival Cruise Lines, but I've heard nothing about Cunard. Given the time, money, and effort put into QM2, I think it's doubtful they have come up with a completely new design for Cunard on such short notice. I think some other Carnival Corp. brands have a greater need for a new design (mainly Carnival itself), and I think this is where a lot of the design efforts are allocated. I certainly could be wrong, but something tells me the "new" QV won't be much different then the old QV, otherwise Cunard probably would have been touting the fact she is a prototype, rather then just "improved".
quote:Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:Joking aside, this move raises more questions than it answers:...*So will P&O keep all five ships? Maybe Adonia and/or Oceana will be transferred or sold?
quote:Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:What will €390 million buy, anyone?
quote:Originally posted by eroller: The fact *we* think a Vista Class ship seemed ill suited for Cunard seems unlikely.
Ernie, don’t shatter my dreams! I’m sure Carnival do make these multi-million dollar decisions, mainly based on cruisetalk posts.
Mind you, I can't think of a newbuild that has had so many negitive (or sceptical at the least) comments from the troops on the ground!
I didn't think the name Queen Victoria, was fitting for a vista-class hull. Vista-class is a cruise ship not a liner hull. Only a liner should be given the distinction of a Queen name. I can, however, see a cruise ship hull called something like Mauretania, or Aquitania.
quote:Originally posted by Barryboat: I didn't think the name Queen Victoria, was fitting for a vista-class hull. Vista-class is a cruise ship not a liner hull. Only a liner should be given the distinction of a Queen name. I can, however, see a cruise ship hull called something like Mauretania, or Aquitania.
Well, unfortunately the "new" QUEEN VICTORIA is also being built on a Vista Class hull. No change there and the Vista Class is certainly no "liner".
Trying to be ever the optimist here, the article from Seatrade Insider says the "new" QV will be based on a Vista Class *hull* only. Does that mean the superstructure has to be the same? Couldn't it be a Vista Class hull with a more liner like superstructure? And if this "new" QV will be doing the World Cruise, could they not outfit her with more powerful and faster engines?
quote:Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:Maybe the powers that be can plop a nice superstructure on the Vista class hull?? She could come out looking at least like a near "cousin" to QM2. I know the cost is prohibitive, but a nice long bow and attractive stern would be nice!
Yes, that would be nice but I don't think it's going to happen. Too much money to expend on a design that has proven itself to Carnival Corp. time and time again. Also, Micky Arison is almost fanatical about BALCONIES! QM2 was *required* to have a minimum of 7 balcony decks, and Payne gave Micky 8. He was very pleased. I wish I could say those condo-style balcony decks were going to disappear, but it's very unlikely they will not. Even so, I think overall the Spirit/Vista Class ships are not bad looking. In fact I think they are rather pleasing compared to much of what else is out there. Unfortunately they are not World cruise ships now matter how many times you tweak them.
I'm just tired of all these Spirit/Vista Class derivatives. I guess the only thing new I have to look forward to now are the new HAL designs and a what reported to be a spectacular new design for Carnival Cruise Lines.
What a fantastic development. Royal has found a decent new home as the victoria replacement in P&Os fleet and the dreary old Adonia is being shucked off - good.
does this mean that caronia will get an exstended run with Cunard? And does the rethink about QV mean that Cunard is trying to differentiate its brand from P&O?
Depressing though that everyone feels obliged to slag off the new QV - come on boys, everyone had derided her when she was Vista class and surely any rethink on Cunard's part has to be good news? At least they are trying to tailor whatever the ship turns out to be to the profile of a genuine Cunarder????
OK I am stupid.
quote:Originally posted by mec1:Wow!!!!!!What a fantastic development. Royal has found a decent new home as the victoria replacement in P&Os fleet and the dreary old Adonia is being shucked off - good.does this mean that caronia will get an exstended run with Cunard? And does the rethink about QV mean that Cunard is trying to differentiate its brand from P&O?Depressing though that everyone feels obliged to slag off the new QV - come on boys, everyone had derided her when she was Vista class and surely any rethink on Cunard's part has to be good news? At least they are trying to tailor whatever the ship turns out to be to the profile of a genuine Cunarder????OK I am stupid.
QV2 is still a Vista Class, so nothing has changed there. No reprive for CARONIA as she has already been sold to Saga.
quote:CGT posted:Someone do a Photoshop of a Vista Class hull with a liner like superstructure on top in Cunard livery.
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