Cruise & Cruise Line

Cunard's Queen Mary 2 Debuts Following A $132 Million Restoration Project

Image: PHOTO: Cunard's Queen Mary 2. (photo courtesy of Cunard)
Image: PHOTO: Cunard's Queen Mary 2. (photo courtesy of Cunard)
Michael Schottey
by Michael Schottey
Last updated: 12:30 PM ET, Thu July 7, 2016

The Queen Mary 2 just got a significant facelift.

Cunard's luxury liner sailed into its Brooklyn home after a massive restoration project that took 25 days of round-the-clock work and cost more than $132 million. The new features include contemporary interior designs and guest experiences, many of which take their design inspiration from the original Queen Mary.

Chief among the restoration was a redesign and refurbishment of the Queens Grill and Princess Grill suites and restaurants, as well as the Britannia staterooms-a work still in progress and to be completed later in the year. The ship will add 30 Britannia Club staterooms, 15 Britannia single staterooms and five Britannia inside staterooms

The ship also got a massive 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 specialty restaurant, and the complete refresh and restructuring of the Kings Court, the ship's popular buffet area

As the only passenger vessel to carry dogs and cats, Queen Mary 2 also expanded its kennel service as well-doubling their number of kennels to 24 and adding an owner's lounge, pet playground and a larger outdoor area featuring transcontinental-themed pet potty areas of both English lampposts and American fire hydrants!

The ship also underwent a complete repainting of the exterior and received significant technical enhancements and structural changes to bring Queen Mary 2 up to par with the rest of Cunard's fleet.

The refit was conducted in Hamburg's Blohm & Voss Shipyard, which is one of the only shipyards in the world large enough for Queen Mary 2.

Following the debut in Brooklyn, the ship immediately set sail for Southampton, an iconic journey that has been enjoyed over the years by the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Clark Gable and Winston Churchill, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President George H.W. Bush, filmmaker Wes Anderson, actress Tilda Swinton, James Taylor, and many others.

The unique magic of Cunard's Queen Mary 2 is found in allowing guests to lose themselves in a world of glamour, sophistication and luxury that cannot be matched. Cunard is the only shipping company that can boast seven of its commodores have been knighted, and that level of excellence filters down to the entire staff, from personal butlers, concierge teams, sommeliers and wait staff-Cunard's team aboard Queen Mary 2 cater to the needs of every guest with top-tier service.

Following this massive redesign, the trip just got all the more glamourous.


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Michael Schottey

Michael Schottey

Editor true 9234 14744 Michael Schottey is ASTA's Vice President of Membership, Marketing & Communications. Schottey lives in Florida with his wife and two boys. 5255 Editor

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