Launched and christened just eight years ago, MS Queen Victoria is still a young lady by cruise ship standards. It seems, however, that Cunard Line was keen to keep up with the times and ordered an intensive 20-day overhaul ahead of her next epic voyage.
Just a few days ago, Queen Victoria sailed beneath an array of fireworks in Southampton, UK, to mark the start of her 2015 World Voyage, while flaunting her new look to the passengers on board.
The refurb added nine all-new staterooms as well as a general refresh to existing furnishings and enhancements to outdoor spaces.
Around 2,000 contractors from 30 different countries worked a total of 600,000 man-hours to replace all 20,000 square metres of carpet in the passenger areas - as shown in the video above. The team also renewed all of the 3,167 mattresses on board and replaced over 1828.8 square metres (3.75 miles in length) of pipe work insulation. In addition, 2,695 gallons of paint were used inside and out, which is enough to coat a total of 54 Boeing 737s.
The redesign and fanfare also comes as Cunard marks its 175th anniversary. The company was founded in 1840 as the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company – founded by Samuel Cunard – and has endured as only shipping company to operate a scheduled passenger service between Europe and North America. Its fleet also includes luxury ocean liners Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth
"We are delighted to incorporate their wish for more outdoor space with enhancements to the Upper Grill Terrace and additional areas for sunbathing,” explained Rick Meadows, president of Cunard, North America. “We also provided more single staterooms for our single travellers. It's this commitment to our passengers that keeps Cunard's 175 year heritage going strong.”
A host of fireworks illuminated the sky as Queen Victoria set sail just a few days ago (pictured above). The ship's first call will be Ponta Delgada in the Azores before she presses on to the Caribbean, traverses the Panama Canal and calls at Hawaii ahead of Sydney, Australia (main picture).