Refurbished Queen Mary 2 returns to the ocean

Cunard’s flagship liner Queen Mary 2, the world’s only transatlantic ocean liner, has set sail on her first voyage following a £90 million refurbishment.

The refit is one of the most significant refurbishments undertaken by the famous passenger shipping line, and on 23 June the remastered liner sailed into Southampton Water flanked by fleet royalty Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, to be greeted by a host of high-profile guests.

The vessel then set sail for New York, continuing her schedule of iconic Transatlantic crossings, a unique journey that has been enjoyed across the decades by famous personalities from the Golden Age of Ocean travel including Audrey Hepburn, Clarke Gable and Winston Churchill to political figures and luminaries of today such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President George H.W. Bush, actress Tilda Swinton, James Taylor and others.

The luxury liner has been lovingly remastered with new contemporary interior designs and guest experiences, many of which take inspiration from the original Queen Mary that launched at the height of the art-deco movement in the 1930s. Cunard’s investment, marking 80 years since the original liner launched, has ensured every detail from the carpets to the curtains recalls that iconic vessel which became a symbol of British elegance.

The remastering features:

• Redesign and refurbishment of the Queens Grill and Princess Grill suites and restaurants, as well as Britannia staterooms, the latter to be fully complete by the end of the year
• The addition of 30 further Britannia Club staterooms, 15 Britannia single staterooms and five Britannia inside staterooms
• Redesign of key public spaces and restaurants, including the transformation of the former Winter Garden into the Carinthia Lounge, the introduction of The Verandah as the ship’s new speciality restaurant, and the complete refresh and restructuring of the Kings Court, the ship’s popular buffet area
• 10 additional kennels, complete with a lamp post from Liverpool and a fire hydrant from New York to make dogs feel at home in the world’s only transatlantic kennel service
• And as befitting the flagship of the Cunard fleet, a complete repaint of the ship exterior and significant technical enhancements and structural changes.

The Queen Mary 2 in New York

Over one million man hours has gone in to the refurbishment, over a 25 day period, 55,200 square metres of luxurious new carpets (the equivalent of 10 football pitches) has been laid, 4,000 new framed pictures have been brought on board and over 15,000 litres of paint have been applied to the ship’s hull – are just a few examples of the sheer size and scale of these refurbishments.

Simon Palethorpe, senior vice-president, Cunard said: “Cunard’s passion for delivering a service and experience that both meets and exceeds guest’s expectations is transforming the way we travel by sea. Remastering Queen Mary 2 honours the heritage and iconic status of our magnificent ship to take our passengers forward into a new era of ocean travel.”