Cunard Tells All On New Queen Elizabeth Ship : Kathika Travel Website

By Amanda Kendle

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Cruise ship lovers might have been salivating this week in anticipation of the release of details of the next Cunard cruise liner – the ship that will replace the recently retired Queen Elizabeth II ship.

New Cunard Ship Details Unveiled

The big news was released at the Cruise Shipping Miami convention on Tuesday, a fitting place to discuss the new ship because this convention is probably the biggest around for the cruise industry. At a press conference, Cunard staff explained details of the ship which will be starting service in 2010, making it the third new Cunard cruise liner to set sail within three years.

The Queen Victoria, as the new ship will be named, will weigh over 90,000 tons and will be able to take 2,092 passengers. It is similar in some ways to the other most recent ship, the Queen Victoria, but Cunard staff were quick to say that it is “not a carbon copy”. In fact, the design is intended to remind cruisers both of the very original Queen Elizabeth ship as well as the recently retired Queen Elizabeth II.

Special Features of the Queen Elizabeth

Unique to the Queen Elizabeth will be six suites designed to connect the six Cunard commodores who have been well-respected enough to have been knighted, spanning a history of two hundred years. There will also be a special private dining area for premium balcony cabin passengers, called the Britannia Club.

Another unique feature will be the first open-air dance floor on a Cunard ship, part of a Supper Club. Another open area will be covered with fake grass and used for activities like lawn bowling.

If you want to travel on the first voyage of the Queen Elizabeth, scheduled for October 12, 2010, then get ready soon because the bookings open on April 2 this year, and the maiden trip is expected to be a fast sellout. This first trip will sail from England to the Canary Islands, a relatively short trip, and the lowest priced cabins will start to sell from $2,995 per passenger. Interestingly, though, Cunard is predicting that their premium balcony cabins – the ones connected to the private Britannia Club dining area – will be the cabins which sell the fastest on the ship.