Tomorrow marks the completion of Queen Victoria’s first year in service since Cunard’s newest Queen embarked on her Maiden Voyage in December last year – a day after being named by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall with HRH The Prince of Wales in attendance. Since then Queen Victoria has sailed 111,828 miles, made 222 port calls and carried 54,827 guests, many of whom enjoyed the experience so much that they have travelled several times with the ship already. She will spend her first birthday in her home port of Southampton before heading to the Caribbean for Christmas.

Queen Victoria has also become one of the most celebrated ships to be introduced in recent years and has quickly established herself in the Cunard fleet continuing in style the line’s traditions established nearly 170 years ago.

In 2008 Queen Victoria completed her maiden World Cruise as well as several voyages to the Mediterranean, Northern Europe and the Caribbean. In 2009 Queen Victoria will sail her second World Cruise and then be based in her home port of Southampton with voyages to the Mediterranean, the Baltic and an inaugural 24-night voyage to Canada and New England.

While she is the second largest Cunarder ever built (after the line’s flagship Queen Mary 2), Queen Victoria is not about size superlatives – she is about style. When the designers of Queen Victoria began to consider the ship’s interior public spaces, they drew on the well-recorded and rich history of previous Cunard ocean liners to set the tone. From the ship’s double and triple-height spaces – a design feature of grand liners of the past – to rooms imbued with an elegant yet understated British charm, the overall effect is both contemporary and classically historic with some exciting innovations. These include the first traditional West End-style private viewing boxes at sea in the Royal Court Theatre. In fact, when the Royal couple were on board prior to the naming ceremony, they unveiled a plaque in one of the boxes giving Queen Victoria the only “Royal Box” at sea. Other “firsts” include the first Cunardia exhibit display at sea, housing Cunard artifacts and memorabilia and the first two-storey library at sea featuring an elegant spiral staircase. The ship also features the line’s celebrated Grills accommodation and dining, further enhanced on Queen Victoria with exclusive deck terraces and an al fresco dining option.

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