The top two items on my bucket list were to cruise with Cunard and to visit Reykjavik. So when the new Queen Anne was launched this year offering a 14-day itinerary taking in Iceland and the British Isles, it was an opportunity too good to miss, writes SeaView editor David Simpson.
Over a 40-year career in Fleet Street I was fortunate enough to travel with and write about a good many cruise lines, taking me to the far corners of our planet. But, apart from briefly boarding the QM2 at her launch in March 2003, I had never cruised on any of the celebrated Cunard ships.
So did my July voyage successfully tick both of my bucket list boxes? Reykjavik, and the whole Iceland experience, certainly did, but I am sad to say that the Queen Anne didn’t.
She was, of course, sparkling new and nice enough in most respects, but for me it didn’t live up to the expectation of Cunard being among the most luxurious cruise lines in the world. Once upon a time maybe, like 50 years ago when my wife sailed on the brand new QE2 which rightfully claimed to be the finest ship in the world. But today there is fierce competition for such titles.
On the plus side, our Queen Anne stateroom was excellent. We decided to splash out on a larger Princess Grill suite offering a spacious seating area and it was a good investment. Princess Grill guests also enjoy an upmarket dining experience in a panoramic restaurant and I will admit the cuisine, and the service, was first class.
Our spacious Princess Grill suite and, below, the Princess Grill restaurant where the cuisine and service was first class
Grill suite guests, be it in the highest level Queen’s or the Princess accommodation, also share their own exclusive lounges, and deck areas that will no doubt come into their own on a cruise to the sun rather than the midnight sun.
Of several alternative dining options, all of which attract a substantial supplement, we tried the Sir Samuel’s steakhouse and the Aji Wa Japanese restaurant. Sir Samuel’s was disappointing and seemed somewhat irrelevant, struggling even to reach the standard of the Princess Grill. Aji Wa, on the other hand, was to die for. We ate there twice, which says it all.
The Aji Wa’s alternative Japanese dining experience was so good we ate there twice, at the sushi bar and in the restaurant. Below: the tucked away Cunard merchandise shop which didn’t impress us
Entertainment is a personal thing, so I won’t go there other that to say the live audience with BBC news presenter Clive Myrie was a bonus. I suppose shopping is too, but I will go there. The shops themselves were attractive and nicely laid out, but despite doing the rounds several times, we left virtually empty handed.
Their own Cunard merchandise shop, which was tucked away virtually unseen, was the most disappointing. We usually return home from a cruise laden with branded T-shirts, polo shirts, hats etc. On this occasion my wife only managed to buy a red Cunard cap, almost out of sympathy for the salesman who looked thoroughly fed up.
And I found this something of a recurring theme. Smiles were very thin on the ground, (the exception being our restaurant staff), which doesn’t exactly raise the spirits, especially in the expansive top-of-the-ship Commodore Club lounge with its wonderful views of the ocean wake and beyond. But barely a waiter in sight.
The expansive Commodore Club boasted wonderful views but was let down by the service when we visited
Early one evening we waited 15 minutes for a miserable-looking lad to arrive and then, as we sat, dressed for dinner and sipping our wine, all we could hear from the opposite table was the noise of casually dressed guests playing mahjong. Didn’t they know there was a games room? We tried the lounge twice and gave up on it.
As for the six ports of call, the first couldn’t have got us off to a more dismal start. Of all the places we have visited by ship, the once flourishing but now completely run-down Scottish Highlands town of Invergordon was by far the worst.
Fortunately next stop was Kirkwall, the largest town in the Orkneys set amidst the most stunning landscapes. I popped into the wonderful Highland Park store in the High Street just out of interest and emerged 30 minutes later as a whisky convert. And our scenic tour of the mainland was a winner, taking in the historic waters of Scapa Flow and the beautiful Italian Chapel, built by Italian POWs during the Second World War.
After two days of sunny skies and surprisingly friendly seas we arrived in Reykjavik ready to explore. We boarded our bus for a nine-hour Golden Circle tour of Iceland and, by the time we were back on board, Invergordon had become a distant memory.
To finally behold Iceland’s barren but green landscape, stripped of trees through the ages, its towering hills and pounding waterfalls, such as the two-tiered Gullfoss as it plunged 100ft into a narrow deep canyon, took my breath away.
I could feel the ground juddering as we stood beside Iceland’s Gullfoss waterfalls. And our Golden Circle tour, althoug quite pricey, provided us with one dramatic view after another
The following day we had plenty of time to explore the capital city of Reykjavik, its streets lined with upmarket shops and cafes, overlooked by stunning Hallgrímskirkja, the 244ft tall Lutheran church with its majestic organ that boomed over an awe-struck audience.
And our Icelandic adventure came to a close with a day-long stop at Akureyri, the flourishing port-cum-fishing centre and gateway to the north’s spectacular beauty.
Travelling and the sights you see are all a matter of perspective. And its is only fair to say many guests spoke enthusiastically about Queen Anne, her stunning Britannia restaurant and Grand Lobby, the vibrant nightlife and wide choice of venues. The list goes on.
Guests we met enthused about about the glittering Britannia Restaurant, above, and Grand Lobby, below.Images curtesy of Cunard
The sentiment of other guests we chatted with, and who were regular Cunarders, seemed to be that Queen Anne, while offering a more modern feel, didn’t, for most of them, match up to the grander, more traditional experience to be found on Queen Mary 2, in particular, but also on her sisters, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria.
So could it be I picked the right cruise but the wrong ship?
Maybe I’ll add a QM2 Atlantic crossing to my bucket list to find out.
FOOTNOTE: From cabin to car in just over 20 minutes. That’s how long it took to disembark the Queen Anne. Must be some kind of record!