Cunard Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth: The Two Vista-Platform Queens, Ship Guide

Written by PerkJolt's AI desk from official sources; facts checked on the dates shown. We may earn a commission from links; it never changes what we recommend.

At a glance

• Ships: Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth, two of the four Cunard Queens .
• Size: Queen Victoria lists 2,079 guests and 980 crew ; Queen Elizabeth lists 2,074 guests and 911 crew .
• Both are 964.5 ft long .
• Class: Vista platform, built by Fincantieri, Queen Victoria entering service in 2007 and Queen Elizabeth in 2010, per Wikipedia, unverified on cunard.com.
• Dining tiers: Britannia, Princess Grill and Queens Grill are named on the Queen Victoria page .
• Representative week: a 7-night Southampton round trip to the Norwegian fjords (representative, not a published sailing).
• UK entry: many visitors need an ETA, which costs £20 per person .
• Trip length: 7 nights typical for this sample; long Mediterranean and world voyages also exist.

Who this class suits, and who it does not

Suits: travelers who like a ship that feels like a classic liner, with a ballroom, a library, afternoon tea and evenings that lean dressy. Also suits Britons and Americans who want a Southampton start with no flight over water. Does not suit: families expecting a big kids' program (Not confirmed on https://www.cunard.com/en-us/cruise-ships/queen-victoria as of 2026-10-16), anyone who wants waterslides and mega-ship rides, or travelers who dislike dress codes.

PerkJolt in your inbox

Get the free Points Trip Planner

Join the Daily Jolt and get a printable trip worksheet after you confirm your email.

Subscribe

The ships in one paragraph

Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth are sister ships of the Vista platform, per Wikipedia, unverified on cunard.com. The line lists a Queen Victoria refit in Rotterdam from 17 October to 5 November 2026 with new staterooms, refreshed Grill Suites, a reimagined Queens Room, a refined Grand Lobby and a new Pavilion Wellness Café . Queen Elizabeth is shown with an extended Caribbean season from Miami in 2026, Mediterranean cruises in 2027 and a World Voyage in 2028 .

Cabins in about 150 words

Cunard typically sells cabins by dining tier. Typically the lowest tier is Britannia, then Britannia Club on ships that offer it, then Princess Grill and Queens Grill suites with their own restaurants. The Queen Victoria page names Princess Grill and Queens Grill restaurants and Grill Suites . Britannia Club is not named on either ship page; per Wikipedia, unverified on cunard.com, Queen Elizabeth has it, and Wikipedia's two ship pages disagree about Queen Victoria. Deck plans list Decks 1, 2 and 4 to 8 for Queen Elizabeth . Typical advice holds: mid-ship low decks move least; avoid cabins directly under pool decks or next to theatres. Check the exact cabin on the deck plan before you book.

What is included and what is paid

Typically included: your restaurant tier, theatre shows, library, many lounges. Typically paid: specialty dining, spa, shore excursions, drinks, Wi-Fi and gratuities or service charge. Prices and exact inclusions are Not confirmed on https://www.cunard.com/en-us/faqs as of 2026-10-16 — confirm there or in your booking.

Sample week

lesund before two sea days and a morning return. Queen Victoria's page shows an image captioned "Queen Victoria in the Norwegian fjords" , but no Southampton itinerary is stated there, so build your plan from the cruise search at https://www.cunard.com/en-us/find-a-cruise.

Three free or low-cost things

1. Queens Room afternoon tea ritual: the page lists Afternoon Tea, dance classes and Gala Evenings in the Queens Room .
2. The library: the page lists a Library , and it has two levels, per Wikipedia, unverified on cunard.com.
3. Bergen's Bryggen waterfront on foot from the pier, usually free to wander.

How to choose between the two

Start with the sailing, not the hull. Both ships are the same length per the line's pages , and the guest counts differ by only a handful (2,079 vs 2,074 ). What really differs is where each ship is sailing in the months you can travel and, for Queen Victoria, whether the sailing falls after the 2026 refit. Open the cruise search at https://www.cunard.com/en-us/find-a-cruise, filter by ship, and compare the exact dates, ports and cabin categories you can afford.

Before you go: three checks

1. Entry: decide whether you need a UK ETA, and apply only through the official gov.uk route; the page warns about sites that imitate government services .
2. Evenings: read the dress-code page and plan one or two dressier outfits; the rules are Not confirmed on https://www.cunard.com/en-us/the-cunard-experience/dress-code as of 2026-10-16, so confirm there.
3. Arrival: Southampton has five cruise terminals, so confirm which one your boarding pass names before you book a taxi .

Cunard sells the ship as an experience of ritual and ease, not of thrills. Plan the money in three buckets: the fare, the items added on board, and the trip around the ship. Only the third is easy to pay with points.

Points primer

Cruise fares are usually cash, so points help most on the trip around it: flights to London and a hotel night before sailing. Per our transfer chart, checked 2026-10-08, Chase, Amex and Capital One each move to British Airways at 1:1, and Chase moves to Hyatt at 4:3 (4 Chase points to 3 Hyatt points). Compare cash against points on your own dates.

Safety and entry

United Kingdom: [read 2026-10-16, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html — Level 2, issued 09/09/2026]. Norway: [read 2026-10-16, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html — Level 1, issued 07/06/2026]. UK ETA: "An ETA (electronic travel authorisation) costs £20" and each traveler, including children, needs one if required ; whether cruise passengers are covered is Not confirmed on that page as of 2026-10-16.

Related: /guides/cruises/cunard-queen-mary-2/, /guides/cruises/cunard-queen-anne/, /guides/cruises/norwegian-fjords-southampton/.

This is the free lite guide. The full day-by-day guide, with maps, photo stops, rain plans and the points playbook, is part of PerkJolt All-Access.

Good to know before you go

Facts here were checked on 2026-10-16. Fares, fees, itineraries and onboard policies move often, so confirm them on Cunard's official pages or in your booking and the line's app before you pay or pack.

PerkJolt in your inbox

Get the free Points Trip Planner

Join the Daily Jolt and get a printable trip worksheet after you confirm your email.

Subscribe