She’s drop-dead gorgeous.  A month after entering service Cunard Line’s newest ship, Queen Victoria, visited New York yesterday with her sisters, Queen Mary 2 and the elderly Queen Elizabeth 2 in her last year of service.  Since QE 2 has always underwhelmed me and QM 2’s decor is a bit spartan, I didn’t expect to be wowed when I boarded Victoria.   This ship is my pick for the most beautiful vessel afloat.

Carnival Corp., which owns Cunard Line, pulled out the stops when designing Queen Victoria.   Throughout the vessel,  walls are paneled with light mahogany which conveys rich, understated elegance.   Variations of soft beige, Wedgewood blue and cranberry are the ship’s color scheme in carpets and room furnishing.  Chairs in many lounges and Victoria’s two level library are buttery leather and floors in public rooms are marble. 

Passengers first enter the ship in the three-story atrium, elegant with floating staircases between floors.   Each level has low-key bars and lounges including the Veuve Cliquot Lounge (a glass of the bubbly is $13.25, a bottle $66) and a half-dozen other elegant cocktail lounges.  A pianist adds to the glamor of sailing aboard a stately ship that is more reminiscent of the guilded liners of the past than any other ship I’ve visited.

Highlights include the Royal Court Theatre, classically elegant with burgundy chairs, carpets and walls with a cruising first:  16 multi-levered private boxes with an additional charge of $25 per person.  The Grand Conservancy adjacent to the pool boasts lush foliage, a ceiling fan and comfy rattan chairs beneath a retractable glass roof.  The ship’s two-story library, which holds 6,000 books, is second in size only to the same facility found on Queen Mary 2.

While the Queen’s Room is smaller than one finds on Queen Mary 2, it is still a highlight of the Cunard experience.  In the afternoon, formal tea is served in the two-story high room and at night, a live orchestra performs for ballroom dancers.  Church’s is a cigar bar and there is a large pub.  You can tell the ship is primarily built for English passengers since the casino is small but the ship’s Red Lion Pub is enormous.

Passengers in Princess and Queen’s Grill accommodations really do have a private cruise experience aboard Victoria.  While the two private restaurants are nearly identical in decor (beige, white and gold curtains), there is also a private courtyard for alfresco dining and a large amount of private deck space plus a lounge with concierge. 

Where Carnival Corp. cut back is staterooms, which are much smaller than one finds aboard Queen Mary 2 and, unless you’re in one of the Grill-category suites, have insufficient storage space.  Inside cabins range from 151 to 243 sq. ft., outside from 180 to 208, balcony from 242 to 472 sq. feet. 

The Cunard Royal Spa huge facility with every pampering treatment under the sun.  However, much of it comes high cost. For example, the charge for using the Thallosatherapy pool is $35 per day, facials start $169, massages are $115.  There is a teeth whitening program available which I do not recommend since it isn’t done by a dentist (there have been horror stories of people leaving a ship with dental problems after one of these procedures.  The gym (free) is enormous, with treadmills, bikes and all the stretching and pulling equipment one could want. 

Queen Victoria is 90,000 tons and carries 2,000 passengers while Queen Mary 2 is 150,000 tons with a passenger compliment of 2,592.  While Queen Mary 2 will make 40 transatlantic crossings in 2008, Queen Victoria, which set off on her first 110-day World Cruise yesterday, will cruise the Mediterranean the remainder of the year.  And, while Queen Victoria physically resembles a liner she is really a cruise ship.

Yesterday, the three Queens were in New York at the same time, a Cunard first.  They lined up together at the Statue of Liberty and were saluted with fireworks.  And this is appropriate, since 2.5 million immigrants have reached the United States aboard a Cunard Line ship since the company was founded in 1840.

I recommend taking a virtual tour of Queen Victoria at Cunard’s web site. 

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