MS Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria at Station Pier, Melbourne
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Queen Victoria |
| Owner: | Carnival Corporation & plc |
| Operator: | Cunard Line |
| Port of registry: |
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| Route: | Transatlantic, Europe or global |
| Ordered: | 3 December 2004 |
| Builder: | Fincantieri Marghera shipyard, Italy |
| Cost: | UK£270 million (approx.) |
| Laid down: | 12 May 2006 |
| Launched: | 15 January 2007 (float-out) |
| Christened: | 10 December 2007 |
| Completed: | Final Quarter of 2007 |
| Acquired: | Final Quarter of 2007 |
| Maiden voyage: | 11 December 2007 |
| In service: | Final Quarter of 2007 |
| Identification: |
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| Fate: | none |
| Status: | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Vista-class cruise ship |
| Tonnage: | 90,049 GT |
| Length: | 964.5 ft (294 m) |
| Beam: | 106 ft (32.3 m) waterline, 120 ft (36.6 m) extreme (bridge wings) |
| Height: | 205 ft (62.5 m) keel to funnel |
| Draft: | 26.2 ft (8.0 m) |
| Decks: | 16 total, 12 passenger |
| Installed power: |
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| Propulsion: | Two ABB Azipods (2 × 16.7 MW) |
| Speed: |
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| Capacity: | 2,014 passengers |
| Crew: | 900 |
MS Queen Victoria (QV) is a Vista-class cruise ship operated by the Cunard Line.
Queen Victoria is the running mate to Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth. Until November 2008, she also operated alongside Queen Elizabeth 2. Queen Victoria is of the same basic design as other Vista-class cruise ships, though slightly longer and more in keeping with Cunard's interior style. At 90,049 GT, she is the smallest of Cunard's ships in operation and is named after the British monarch Queen Victoria.
QV's facilities include seven restaurants, thirteen bars, three swimming pools, a ballroom, and a theatre.
Queen Victoria does not carry mail and thus will not carry the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) status. Also unlike many previous Cunard ships, Queen Victoria is not a true ocean liner as she does not have the heavy plating throughout the hull nor the propulsion system of a dedicated transatlantic liner. However the bow was constructed with heavier plating to cope with the transatlantic run, and the ship has a high freeboard. The recently completed Queen Mary 2 had cost approximately $300,000 US per berth, nearly double that of many contemporary cruise ships, so Cunard made the economical decision to base Queen Victoria on a modified Vista-class cruise ship, and Queen Elizabeth retains the same design with some minor changes. Nonetheless, Ian McNaught, who was Queen Victoria's captain in 2009, has asserted that the ship is a liner based on her classic decor. Queen Victoria is nonetheless named after the 19th century monarch of Britain's vast Empire, Queen Victoria.
Originally destined to be an addition to the Holland America Line fleet, the order for a Vista-class vessel put into Fincantieri was soon transferred by Carnival Corporation & plc (parent company to Holland America, Cunard, and P&O) to Cunard with the intent that the vessel would become the MS Queen Victoria. The keel was laid down at the Fincantieri ship yard in 2003. However, due to restructuring within Carnival Corp., as well as a later decision by Cunard that modifications should be made to the design to bring in certain aspects which had proven successful on Queen Mary 2 (such as decor, junior suites, dining alternatives, promenades, etc.), the hull was then designated to become the P&O ship MS Arcadia. A new Queen Victoria was subsequently ordered with Fincantieri in 2004, which was 11 meters longer, 5,000 tons larger, and with an increased passenger capacity of 2,000.
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