Lois : 𝙽𝚘 𝙲𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕

5 of my favourite areas aboard Cunard’s Ship, Queen Victoria.

1. The Library
2. The Royal Arcade
3. The Promenade deck
4. The Queens Room
5. The Royal Court Theatre

Cunard’s Queen Victoria is a Vista-class Cruise Ship, she was built by Fincantieri , launched in 2007 and joined Cunard Line as its smallest ship with a GT of 90,049. She was named by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, unfortunately the first bottle of Champagne didn’t smash, which is a bit of a bad omen in the nautical world, though luckily the back up bottle smashed!I sailed aboard Queen Victoria to the Canary Isles and Madeira last October and plan to sail up to Norway to chase the Northern Lights later in the year. I immediately fell in love with Queen Victoria. She is quite simply fabulous, stunning , a beautiful traditional ship.It was hard to whittle down my five favourite areas aboard her. They are in no order and I could have easily chosen every single part of this ship! Let me know which places are your favourite!

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1. The Library aboard Queen Victoria.

I have never seen a Library at sea quite like Queen Victoria’s. It is breath taking. Even if you are an avid Kindle convert, you must go in to the library to marvel at the design. It’s the type of Library I dream of in my Lottery Winner house!It has a two storey design , with fabulous traditional wooden panelling. Ensure you look up at the fantastic stained glass in the ceiling. Take a careful walk down the wooden spiral staircase then spend some time to sit at a desk in the window gazing out of the ocean. And don’t forget to borrow a book. There are plenty of travel books on board to research whichever fabulous port you are sailing towards!

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2. The Royal Arcade.

The Atrium aboard Queen Victoria is gorgeous, on embarkation we walked into the atrium with a string trio playing, it was quite the Cunard welcome I imagined. Then I walked into the Royal Arcade. Well, wow! The Royal Arcade clock is centre stage of this area of the ship, beautiful sweeping staircases wrapping round it beg for formal night photographs to be taken! Explore the bottom deck of the arcade, maybe have a little flutter in the casino, then head over to the Golden Lion to drown your (casino loss) sorrows, does anyone ever win?! Have a stroll around the upper deck of the Royal Arcade. Browse the the shops, maybe you fancy some new diamonds or a watch and do not forget to pop in to the Cunard brand shop for those important souvenirs!

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3. The Promenade Deck.

If a Ship has a Promenade deck, it is usually one of my favourite places aboard. The Queen Victoria prom deck does not disappoint. I love a stroll around at any time of day, dawn, noon and night. The cushioned Cunard loungers are a wonderful addition, very inviting for a laze mid walk. Take time relaxing and gazing out over the Ocean, a sure fine way to wind down your brain to a Cruise pace of life . As you may well know, I love taking photographs, there are so many parts of Queen Victoria’s Prom deck to frame a photo of the sea, land or parts of the ship. I love Prom decks at the aft end of the ship, I can stand or sit for ages and just watch the wake, I find it so relaxing!

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4. The Queens Room.

How can I talk about favourite areas on a Cunard Ship and not talk about the Queens Room? The elegant Queens Room is ‘the’ place to visit on your cruise! It is Grand, it is Magnificent, it is Stately, you get the gist, you must visit! Anyone not impressed by its charm, is either lying or a misery. There are two main times of the day you need to visit. Firstly, Afternoon Tea, the most grand of Afternoon Tea’s, Cunard do not disappoint. Enjoy being spoilt with delicious finger sandwiches, fabulous teas and scrumptious cakes. You must also visit the Queens Room after dinner, either glance over from the mezzanine level, or boldly join fellow passengers on the dance floor. Whichever takes your fancy, you will thoroughly enjoy the atmosphere of the big band playing, the fabulous dancers swirling around the dance floor. Who needs Strictly, when you have the Queens Room!

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5. The Royal Court Theatre.

Finally and most definitely not least, the Spectacular Royal Court Theatre. A glorious West – end style theatre, you will certainly forget you are on Ship. Take a seat during the day to attend a talk, listen to a seminar or discussion from a selection of historians, experts, explorers etc. On Board I enjoyed listening to a fascinating gentleman chronicling the history of the Middle East and Dickie Arbiter talking about his time as the Queens Press spokesman. You must return to the Royal Court Theatre at night, after dinner, to enjoy a West End style production show, a comedian or a Cabaret Artist. I love the Royal Boxes in the theatre, I wouldn’t pay to use one , but you can sit there for free during daytime entertainment and non Theatre company productions.

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Let me know which parts of Queen Victoria are you favourites?