Cunard has reported its first day of bookings for new ship Queen Anne drove the busiest booking day for the cruise line in a decade.
The maiden voyage, a seven-night sailing from Southampton departing 4 January 2024, sold out and demand for Grill Suites proved especially strong across each of the 10 published new voyages.
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Queen Anne‘s nine other sailings unveiled in the ship’s inaugural program of just four months include return Transatlantic sailings and multiple voyages from Southampton. The schedule comprises the following options;
- 16-night Canary Island sailings operating roundtrip from Southampton on 11 January;
- 12-night Westbound Transatlantic from Southampton to Fort Lauderdale on 27 January
- 13-night Caribbean, roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale, departing on 8 February;
- 10-night Eastbound Transatlantic from Fort Lauderdale back to Southampton, departing 21 February;
- 14-night Canary Island, starting and finishing in Southampton, beginning 2 March;
- 13-night Norway and Northern Lights, roundtrip from Southampton, sailing on 16 March;
- 16-night Western Mediterranean, ex Southampton, departing 29 March, and;
- 12-night The Fjords of Norway, also roundtrip from Southampton, on 14 April.
For guests seeking an all-encompassing Caribbean sailing, Queen Anne offer a 35-night Eastern Caribbean journey, roundtrip from Southampton, departing on 27 March 2024.
Katrina McAlpine, Commercial Director Australia and New Zealand, Cunard said “an incredible number” of Australian and New Zealand guests were securing berths within the first couple of hours of Queen Anne‘s debut season going on sale at 10 pm on Tuesday night last week, despite the time.
“Australia is the third biggest booking market for Queen Anne, and this demonstrates the continuing appeal for cruising in Australia and further cements the importance of our industry in the lead up to welcoming ships back to our local waters at the end of this month.
“A very special thanks goes out to our dedicated trade partners for staying up late to ensure their clients’ cabins,” McAlpine said.
The three busiest booking periods for Cunard in the last decade have now happened since March 2021, with the launch of the UK sailings as the brand returned to service, the launch of the summer 2023 program and now the launch of Queen Anne‘s maiden program.
Meanwhile, bookings have opened today [24 May 2022] for Cunard’s 2023/2024 sailings which include Queen Elizabeth‘s homeport season down under.
For the 2023/24 program, guests can choose between two fares at launch, the Cunard Fare giving guests greater flexibility and priority and the new Early Saver Fare offering a reduced fare for the cost-conscious travellers during the launch period.
Across the new itineraries, the four-ship fleet comprising of Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Anne, will call at 126 unique ports in 51 countries, with voyages ranging from two-night city breaks to a 108-night world voyage.
Queen Elizabeth will be positioned in Australia and New Zealand for 105-days, starting her Australian residency with a 6-night voyage from Fremantle on 27 November 2023 before embarking on a series of short break and roundtrip voyages from Melbourne and Sydney totalling 47 ports of call.