What are your thoughts on the renderings released for the Royal Court Theatre on Queen Anne?

[abdullahhoneymoon]

 

• "Echoing the elegance and grandeur of great art deco concert halls, Queen Anne’s Royal Court Theatre ushers in a glamourous new act of live performance. One that puts storytelling back at centre-stage. Even the approach inspires anticipation. Ushering you along a moodily lit corridor, adorned by life-size portraits that spring unexpectedly into motion with clever lenticular illusion." 
• "With cascading chandeliers that frame the action to perfect sightlines and velvety seats, this incredible venue really will put storytelling at center stage."

 

I haven't seen any discussion on this and I can't imagine why it's not a larger point of contention! 😅 Frankly, I'm not seeing grandeur, elegance, art deco... It looks rather corporate to me. It also doesn't appear to have balcony seating. I actually love the renderings of other areas aboard Queen Anne, but this one leaves me nervous! What are your thoughts?

[WantedOnVoyage]

Oh I don't know, it seems quite in fitting with the rest of QUEEN ANNE inside and out from everything I've seen and read of it.

 

  

 

 

[Victoria2]

Maybe the ba

13 minutes ago, abdullahhoneymoon said:

 

• "Echoing the elegance and grandeur of great art deco concert halls, Queen Anne’s Royal Court Theatre ushers in a glamourous new act of live performance. One that puts storytelling back at centre-stage. Even the approach inspires anticipation. Ushering you along a moodily lit corridor, adorned by life-size portraits that spring unexpectedly into motion with clever lenticular illusion." 
• "With cascading chandeliers that frame the action to perfect sightlines and velvety seats, this incredible venue really will put storytelling at center stage."

 

I haven't seen any discussion on this and I can't imagine why it's not a larger point of contention! 😅 Frankly, I'm not seeing grandeur, elegance, art deco... It looks rather corporate to me. It also doesn't appear to have balcony seating. I actually love the renderings of other areas aboard Queen Anne, but this one leaves me nervous! What are your thoughts?

Not sure what you mean by balcony seating but the plans show the theatre span decks two and three. Would deck three count as balcony?

[BigMac1953]

Not sure if the "artist's impression" is entirely correct. Seems to look like a town council recreation hall.

[D&N]

I would guess the picture is supposed to be looking from rear of deck two.  The ceiling forming the floor of the deck three section.  If it's accurate it probably wouldn't include any boxes.

It may be a design to get maximum capacity.

[paulco]

Fifty shades of beige much like the rest of the ship!

[PORT ROYAL]

Reiterating one’s thoughts and observations months ago.. 

Ship capacity say 3000 pax - Theatre maximum capacity 835 pax = 4 shows per evening.

Do the Math on timings, including troop recovery period between shows.  With the first show say at 19.00

 

[Oahucruiser]

Uninspiring brown.  Nothing to take your breath away.

[NE John]

Theaters usually have soaring ceilings so this RC Theater seems cramped compared to the other Queens. Losing revenue too by not offering higher priced box seating. Hmmm…

[Queenvee]

Looks like a conference room in a mid-grade convention hotel.  Colors are bland and certainly doesn't read "glamour" or "anticipation".  I had already decided that QA is not for me, since I've sailed on her sister HAL ships and experienced the lack of a decent promenade deck and other issues for me.

[Victoria2]

Whilst I'm prepared to hold fire on bouquets and/or brickbats until we have actually experienced Queen Anne for ourselves, the colour palettes in the pictures of public rooms have not inspired me to go 'wow' so far. I'd say bland at the moment but hopefully, the reality will be less so.

[LadyL1]

One only has to look at the deck plans to realise that the image (I think first posted by Cunard last Nov) bears absolutely no resemblance to what the theatre is actually likely to be visually. 
A quick trawl of the web, shows some stunning imagery of QA theatre on other TA websites. It looks as if the marketing team are inept and have shot themselves in the foot by uploading something that looks more an upmarket town cinema.

I am very disappointed that there is so much negativity about QA, even before she arrives in Southampton. Years ago there was much condemnation of QM2, being compared with QE11,  but times move on, and this is a ship for the next 20+ years. Perhaps, once we have sailed on her, then criticism would be more appropriate. We all have our likes and dislikes, and she may not appeal to all: there are other more expensive lines, if you want lesser passengers. We enjoy these, and know the experience is very different.
We have 2 cruises booked QA, and there are some features that I think will be very welcome indeed. It seems we will be sailing with her because of the ease of round trip from Southampton, and understand she is bigger than QE&QV, so will take what we have signed up for in our stride.

[Victoria2]

LadyL1, we have quite a few more than that booked on her ,'24 and '25  and come what may, we WILL enjoy our holidays but although I ignore any negativity, especially if it comes from those who say they'll never set foo aboard her, I will be objective in my comments and that includes  minuses as well as hopefully, loads of pluses.

 

 

[tacticalbanjo]

I'm on the maiden and also have a trip booked for 2025. I'm happy to wait until I get on board to judge. I expect the renders to bear little resemblance to the finished product. And actually, a lot of the things I like about Cunard are to do with the service and formality of the evenings rather than the actual decor.

[cook68]

I have my doubts it will look anything like this. Cunard are not daft, they know they have to compete with all the other new ships. I'm sure it will look more modern than we are use to, but your local cinema won't be the look they end up with. I may still keep my fingers and toes crossed though and let you know in August. 

[Guest SilverHengroen]

I recall discussing this when the rendering was first released, I can only say hopefully in person the room won't seem so low/ claustrophobic due to the height:area ratio. There is indeed no balcony level, what the deck plan shows is the floor sloping down from deck 3 to deck 2, the back half of the seating is shown on the deck 3 plan, the forward on deck 2. Seems they were determined to reserve the deck 1 space below for the spa and fitness centre so they could squeeze more balcony cabins in at the front end of deck 9, otherwise it could have been triple height with a balcony level as on QE/QV. It's one of a few very questionable decisions they've made for this ship, but as with others I won't condemn until I've seen it first hand. 

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

I am booked on the Queen Anne's 2025 World Cruise (98 days from New York to Southampton) and I am optimistic about the ship. I have greatly enjoyed sailing aboard the QM2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth. Also, I recently cruised aboard Holland America's Rotterdam (built on the same platform as the Queen Anne) and was very pleased with the ship. For what it's worth, the World Stage on the Rotterdam (comparable space as the Royal Court Theatre) did not feel claustrophobic. Also, I walked around Rotterdam's promenade deck every day. Although it is narrow (and much of it is behind lifeboats), I was still able to do a decent amount of walking. However, I will admit that the promenade decks on the three current Cunard ships are much better. 

 

I am looking forward to the new Queen Anne. 

 

Chuck