Cunard’s Queen Victoria Left Drydock With Cabins That Didn’t Exist Before

Cunard’s Queen Victoria is back in service after about three weeks at Damen Shiprepair in Rotterdam, and the work went beyond a fresh coat of paint. The 2,000-guest ship emerged with a refreshed Grand Lobby, a redesigned Queens Room, new furnishings in its Grill suites and restaurants, and eight staterooms that were not there before. On November 11 the ship hosted more than 50 travel agents in Southampton before setting off on a 16-night voyage to Portugal, Spain and Morocco.

The Queens Room, the ship’s ballroom, gets the most visible change. New floral borders take their cue from the Royal Palaces and from Queen Victoria’s own orange-blossom jewellery, and the space continues to host afternoon tea, live music and gala evenings. Upstairs, the Queens Grill and Princess Grill suites and their restaurants have new furnishings, and the Grill Suites Lounge and its lift lobby have been redesigned. Cunard has also added the Pavilion Wellness Café, serving breakfast, lunch and daytime dining with a plant-based focus.

That café completes a set. Queen Victoria is the third and last of Cunard’s Queen-class ships to receive the Pavilion concept, after its sisters. The eight new Britannia staterooms include three in a new Britannia Deluxe Oceanview category with floor-to-ceiling windows, giving guests a brighter option without moving up to a balcony grade. Those cabins are on sale for voyages from November 11, 2026, onward. The refit follows the same playbook Cunard used on its other Queen-class ships: modest structural change, but enough new and redesigned public space that returning guests will notice the difference from the moment they board.

The ship’s winter programme sails round trips from Southampton to Northern Europe, the Canary Islands, Iberia and Morocco, before a 109-night world voyage departing January 10, 2027, which Cunard describes as its longest of the season. Its 2027 calendar then turns to the Mediterranean, the Norwegian fjords and the Canaries. Guests already booked will find the core of the ship familiar, but anyone choosing a cabin now should look at the new Deluxe Oceanview grade, which is limited to just three rooms.

Sources: Cruise Industry News, Cunard