New ship

[Jimmys Chippy]

[molecrochip]

12 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

I'm glad this is finally in the open. You heard it here first!

 

8 hours ago, eroller said:

 

 

It's pretty much a 100% certainty the HAL K-Dam (KONINGSDAM/NIEUW STATENDAM/ROTTERDAM) design is being used for the new Cunarder.    Keep in mind this design is essentially a Vista on steroids, so it's an evolution of QV/QE just like it was an evolution of EURODAM/NIEUW AMSTERDAM for HAL.  Lets hope Cunard tweaks the interior and makes it their own like they did with QV and QE.  Personally I feel QV/QE are vastly superior to their HAL counterparts both in design and layout, and hope the same will be true of QA or whatever she will be called.   The K-dam Class has the theater in the round which I thought was cool (Celebrity Edge Class does too), but it's probably not suited for the more traditional Cunard style shows, so I expect the design to be tweaked.  

 

Funny you mention that aft cabin.  I had one on NIEUW AMSTERDAM which is a Vista Class (same as QV/QE).  Lots of movement and even while docked, the waves would smash against the flat bottom hull and cause vibration and shuttering.  My husband who is prone to seasickness did get seasick in that cabin, so no more aft cabins for him.  I've had aft cabins on other ships and never felt motion and vibrating as much as NIEUW AMSTERDAM.  

 

 

100% it is a Pinnacle class ship. HAL's Koningsdam was first followed by Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam. The new Queen is stretched and bigger all round.

 

Interior is being designed for Cunard rather than using the HAL spec.

[eroller]

32 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

I'm glad this is finally in the open. You heard it here first!

 

100% it is a Pinnacle class ship. HAL's Koningsdam was first followed by Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam. The new Queen is stretched and bigger all round.

 

Interior is being designed for Cunard rather than using the HAL spec.

 

Thanks for confirming.  It comes as no surprise. One look and you can tell it’s the same design as the new HAL ships.  Plus we all know Carnival Corp likes to reuse ship platforms across multiple brands to save $$.  
 

I do hope the interior (both design and layout) does Cunard proud and is true to the brand. 

[bluemarble]

27 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

I'm glad this is finally in the open. You heard it here first!

 

Yes we did and thanks for that heads-up even if you did have to be just a bit cryptic about the exact date.

 

28 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

100% it is a Pinnacle class ship. HAL's Koningsdam was first followed by Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam. The new Queen is stretched and bigger all round.

 

Interior is being designed for Cunard rather than using the HAL spec.

 

I wonder if they will designate a new class name for this stretched and bigger version of the Pinnacle class. This "Carnival Shipbuilding" image borrowed from one of @eroller's posts from October 2018 indicates that internally at least Carnival was designating the new ship as the first in the Halifax class. I'll be interested to see if that name sticks.

 

 

 

[eroller]

16 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

 

Yes we did and thanks for that heads-up even if you did have to be just a bit cryptic about the exact date.

 

 

I wonder if they will designate a new class name for this stretched and bigger version of the Pinnacle class. This "Carnival Shipbuilding" image borrowed from one of @eroller's posts from October 2018 indicates that internally at least Carnival was designating the new ship as the first in the Halifax class. I'll be interested to see if that name sticks.

 

 

 

Funny I forgot all about that post.  It does appear Carnival Corp may consider it a different class (Halifax) but not sure I do.  I don’t necessarily consider a tweaked design an entirely new class of ship.  For instance Celebrity has the Edge Class. The 3rd ship CELEBRITY BEYOND is tweaked and larger, but they are not classifying it as a new class of ship, and I think rightfully so.  Same with MSC’s Seaside Class. Later versions of the platform have been enlarged and reworked, but they still consider it the Seaside Class but added EVO to the class name which is fair enough.  Carnival Cruise Lines like to add a 1/4 deck to a design and suddenly it’s a new class of ship.  They did this countless times with the Destiny Class.  Marketing hard at work making something appear new that really isn’t.  

[canoncruiser]

It’s clear that there is a lot of speculation about the new ship as to external appearance and interior amenities and whether there will be a ‘proper promenade’. A couple of years ago Stephen Payne told a group of us that the hull for the Vista Class ships for Cunard -QV and QE HAD to be lengthened 30 feet as there HAD to be a Queens Room. I  expect that there are substantial modifications in order to achieve the Cunard look and style.

As to sea-keeping questions, a friend and I where on a QE westbound crossing to New York; the sea was very rough and Commodore Warwick and his wife were with a large table at the very back of the Britannia restaurant. We were in a following sea and waves were crashing up against the windows. The stewards were have great difficulty with trays and service dishes . It was so rough that sections of ceiling panels broke away in the corridor outside the Club restaurant , and also in the Commodore Club later that evening.The Captain came on with words of reassurance when it looked like this brand new ship was coming apart. 

 

So we’ll see😃

 

 

 

[molecrochip]

10 hours ago, bluemarble said:

 

Yes we did and thanks for that heads-up even if you did have to be just a bit cryptic about the exact date.

 

 

I wonder if they will designate a new class name for this stretched and bigger version of the Pinnacle class. This "Carnival Shipbuilding" image borrowed from one of @eroller's posts from October 2018 indicates that internally at least Carnival was designating the new ship as the first in the Halifax class. I'll be interested to see if that name sticks.

 

 

 

How things change!

XL is Excellence Class. This has two sub classes Excel (XL) and Helios and an expanded order of 9 ships.

RP is Royal Class. The P standard for Princess who has 6/7 ships.

Koningsham Class is Pinnacle Class.

Halifax Class is also Pinnacle Class - but the next incarnation of the Class.

 

The Cunard Ship is known internally under the Halifax project name. Whilst this may be a subclass designation, it will officially be Pinnacle Class.

[57eric]

16 hours ago, TheOldBear said:

 

Why not both? How about Queen Bodicia ?  🙂

There seem to be several possible spellings for the name.

There was an earlier cruise ship MV Boudicca - so possibly Cunard rejected the name as not original.

"Earlier" being up until 18 months ago.

[johnnylikely]

Does anyone have any idea of the sort of sailings/prices will be for the initial ones??

I would love to go on one as I've been on the other 3 queens a lot, but I have a feeling they may be quite pricey... Is it better to book as soon as released or wait and maybe the prices will drop...

[david,Mississauga]

22 hours ago, eroller said:

 

 

...  Personally I feel QV/QE are vastly superior to their HAL counterparts both in design and layout, and hope the same will be true of QA or whatever she will be called.  

...

 

 

I feel the same. Although the exteriors of the QE & QV are not attractive to me, when I first sailed in QE I was impressed with the interior. Two years later we cruised to Alaska in HAL's Noordam and I was immediately wishing that Cunard did Alaska cruises. Of course, they did a few years later.

 

I can think of only one aspect of the HAL ship that was better than the QE - that was the four midship lifts with a sea view. That was it. What HAL calls an atrium was laughable.

[bluemarble]

7 hours ago, canoncruiser said:

... A couple of years ago Stephen Payne told a group of us that the hull for the Vista Class ships for Cunard -QV and QE HAD to be lengthened 30 feet as there HAD to be a Queens Room. ...

 

This brings up another Simon Palethorpe quote from the October 2018 Cruise Critic article about the new ship. While guests they had spoken with were okay with changes to the design of the theatre, not so much when it came to the Queens Room.

 

"Passengers said don’t touch the design of the Queens Room. They love the Queens Room and the ambiance that it creates, the afternoon tea and the dancing. We will have a wonderful Queens Room and it will have a fantastic design."

[eroller]

53 minutes ago, david,Mississauga said:

I feel the same. Although the exteriors of the QE & QV are not attractive to me, when I first sailed in QE I was impressed with the interior. Two years later we cruised to Alaska in HAL's Noordam and I was immediately wishing that Cunard did Alaska cruises. Of course, they did a few years later.

 

I can think of only one aspect of the HAL ship that was better than the QE - that was the four midship lifts with a sea view. That was it. What HAL calls an atrium was laughable.

 

 

Cunard did a very good job with their Vistas (QE & QV).  The opened them up, created several two-level spaces, and made the decor much lighter yet still elegant.  The HAL Vistas feel very dark and closed in to me, with very few two-level spaces and not enough light.  

 

I think even HAL realized this as with the Pinnacle Class they really changed things up.  The brightened up the decor and also created a lot of two level spaces.  The ships feel nothing like the Vistas and are a huge improvement in my opinion ... but no, they don't have those exterior glass lifts which funny enough many people never even discover.  

[eroller]

22 minutes ago, bluemarble said:

 

 

"Passengers said don’t touch the design of the Queens Room. They love the Queens Room and the ambiance that it creates, the afternoon tea and the dancing. We will have a wonderful Queens Room and it will have a fantastic design."

 

 

They probably won't have to do much in regards to the Queens Room with the existing HAL Pinnacle Class design.  HAL already added a two level ballroom style lounge which they initially called The Queen's Lounge or something to that effect.  Now they call it Lincoln Center Stage.  See attached pics from NIEUW STATENDAM.  It's a lovely space but will need to be a little larger on the Cunard version, so the added length of the ship should enable Cunard to lengthen this lounge as well.  It's located in the same spot as the Queen's Room on QV and QE.  

 

 

[Lanky Lad]

3 hours ago, eroller said:

 

 

They probably won't have to do much in regards to the Queens Room with the existing HAL Pinnacle Class design.  HAL already added a two level ballroom style lounge which they initially called The Queen's Lounge or something to that effect.  Now they call it Lincoln Center Stage.  See attached pics from NIEUW STATENDAM.  It's a lovely space but will need to be a little larger on the Cunard version, so the added length of the ship should enable Cunard to lengthen this lounge as well.  It's located in the same spot as the Queen's Room on QV and QE.  

 

 

Thanks for the pictures. That room reminds me of the Grand Lounge on QE2.

[roscoe39]

On 1/21/2022 at 8:21 PM, molecrochip said:

Andy only a couple of weeks until the name is announced.

well after todays announcement by the Queen, I vote it will be Queen Camilla!!!!

 

 

 

[daisybel]

good one, Roscoe. Hope not!

[richard_london]

Remembering back to when they announced Adam Tihany would be leading the design and what he said:

 

"passengers can expect a 'much lighter, contemporary feel, but crucially it will still feel like a Cunard ship"

 

" [Cunard] it has always been a forward-looking brand. It has a classic image but actually each ship has been innovative for its period. We want to continue this tradition and move the brand forward "

 

"The new ship will celebrate Cunard’s British heritage but with a whisper, not a shout. Everything a guest expects to see on a Cunard ship will be there, but in a different way to the other three [ocean liner Queen Mary 2 and sister vessels Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria].'"

 

(Source https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news-headlines/tihany-leads-interior-design-cunards-2022-newbuild)

 

We only have a few days to wait, but if these comments are an accurate reflection, she might look quite different and closer to the HAL ships than the Cunard QV/QE.

 

I expect the Art Deco styling will be toned down a lot, hopefully it will still be distinctive, otherwise it will seem like an anonymous land-based hotel.

[majortom10]

7 hours ago, roscoe39 said:

well after todays announcement by the Queen, I vote it will be Queen Camilla!!!!

 

 

 

Not a chance and if it is I wont step foot on it.

[Guest SilverHengroen]

2 hours ago, richard_london said:

Remembering back to when they announced Adam Tihany would be leading the design and what he said:

 

"passengers can expect a 'much lighter, contemporary feel, but crucially it will still feel like a Cunard ship"

 

" [Cunard] it has always been a forward-looking brand. It has a classic image but actually each ship has been innovative for its period. We want to continue this tradition and move the brand forward "

 

"The new ship will celebrate Cunard’s British heritage but with a whisper, not a shout. Everything a guest expects to see on a Cunard ship will be there, but in a different way to the other three [ocean liner Queen Mary 2 and sister vessels Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria].'"

 

(Source https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news-headlines/tihany-leads-interior-design-cunards-2022-newbuild)

 

We only have a few days to wait, but if these comments are an accurate reflection, she might look quite different and closer to the HAL ships than the Cunard QV/QE.

 

I expect the Art Deco styling will be toned down a lot, hopefully it will still be distinctive, otherwise it will seem like an anonymous land-based hotel.

I'm thinking look no further than the Queen Victoria's Britannia Club and adjoining corridor. If you squint you can perhaps see a couple of Art Deco nods, in the carpet, the light boxes on the wall and the indirect lighting, but overall it runs much closer to modern generic luxury hotel styling (i.e. looks a lot more like every other cruise ship in this market segment). Not that I'm a massive Art Deco fan, but generic would probably be worse. 

[richard_london]

1 hour ago, SilverHengroen said:

I'm thinking look no further than the Queen Victoria's Britannia Club and adjoining corridor. If you squint you can perhaps see a couple of Art Deco nods, in the carpet, the light boxes on the wall and the indirect lighting, but overall it runs much closer to modern generic luxury hotel styling (i.e. looks a lot more like every other cruise ship in this market segment). Not that I'm a massive Art Deco fan, but generic would probably be worse. 

 

Yes, I hadn't thought of that now you come to mention it, as it was added later.  I do actually like the Britannia Club, but it doesn't quite fit with the overall feel of the rest of the ship.  Probably then, the refit of the QM2's Carinthia Lounge, which I also like, might be more the style they have gone for.  The new P&O mega ships are more in line with generic land-based hotels, and it's not a style that I would associate with Cunard so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

[SummmerInKefalonia]

https://uspto.report/TM/88829267

Latest trademark that was re-registered by the company is Queen Elizabeth 2.

So along with the Queen Anne's, Queen Isabella's, Aquitania's, Mauritania's and King Jame's trademarks comes the Queen Elizabeth 2 one. It should be one of those and most likely the QE2 (only one that has a short shorthand trademark https://uspto.report/TM/88829250).

[majortom10]

3 hours ago, SilverHengroen said:

I'm thinking look no further than the Queen Victoria's Britannia Club and adjoining corridor. If you squint you can perhaps see a couple of Art Deco nods, in the carpet, the light boxes on the wall and the indirect lighting, but overall it runs much closer to modern generic luxury hotel styling (i.e. looks a lot more like every other cruise ship in this market segment). Not that I'm a massive Art Deco fan, but generic would probably be worse. 

I like the Britannia Club restaurants on QV/QE but would never book one because dont like position of the staterooms.

[richard_london]

2 hours ago, SummmerInKefalonia said:

Latest trademark that was re-registered by the company is Queen Elizabeth 2.

So along with the Queen Anne's, Queen Isabella's, Aquitania's, Mauritania's and King Jame's trademarks comes the Queen Elizabeth 2 one.

 

They have painted themselves into a corner by naming the current three Queen X.  I suppose Queen Victoria was never an original Cunard liner name, so I doubt using a historic name matters more than calling the new ship a Queen.  I imagine most passengers don't know the names of all the famous Cunarders of the past, so they can just choose a name that fits. 

 

Queen Anne just doesn't sound like the name of a ship, more something you would hear on the Antiques Roadshow.  Reading the Wikipedia page of Queen Isabella, do they really want to use that name?  Plus if the abbreviate the name like the other three she would be the QI, which immediately makes me think of the BBC quiz show.

[canoncruiser]

Queen Anne was the name of the liner in the Astair and Rogers movie-“Shall We Dance"😊

[LittleFish1976]

17 hours ago, roscoe39 said:

well after todays announcement by the Queen, I vote it will be Queen Camilla!!!!

 

 

 

 

Camilla - such a regal name...