BREAKING: Cunard’s Queen Anne to Move to P&O Cruises in 2029
Cunard’s newest ship, Queen Anne, is to leave the fleet and join P&O Cruises in 2029 in a major shake-up of Carnival UK’s cruise brands.
In a surprise announcement today, Carnival UK confirmed that Queen Anne will transfer from Cunard to sister brand P&O Cruises after completing her 2028/29 World Voyage.
She will then be extensively reimagined and renamed before entering service with P&O Cruises in May 2029.
The move comes just five years after Queen Anne joined the Cunard fleet in 2024.
At the same time, P&O Cruises has confirmed that Arcadia will leave its fleet and transfer to Holland America Line in 2029.
The two moves represent a significant reshaping of the fleets operated by Carnival UK’s British cruise brands.
Queen Anne will become a P&O Cruises ship
Queen Anne will continue sailing under the Cunard flag for the next few years, including her scheduled 2028/29 World Voyage.
After completing that voyage, the ship will leave Cunard and undergo extensive design changes before entering service with P&O Cruises in May 2029.
She will also be given a new name (yet to be announced).
Exactly what the new P&O Cruises ship will look like has not yet been revealed.
Carnival UK says the reimagined ship will introduce a new class of ship to the P&O Cruises fleet, offering guests a different scale and style of onboard experience from the existing fleet.
The company has not yet announced the ship’s new name, future itineraries or the full details of the changes that will be made during the reimagining.
Why is Queen Anne leaving Cunard?
The decision is particularly striking because Queen Anne is Cunard’s newest ship.
She entered service in 2024, completing Cunard’s four-ship fleet for the first time in many years.
Carnival UK president Paul Ludlow said the decision followed a review of the company’s portfolio and where the individual strengths of its ships could best support guest demand and the future direction of Cunard and P&O Cruises.
Queen Anne was designed as a more contemporary expression of Cunard, with modern public spaces, a wide choice of dining and entertainment and a different approach to the traditional Cunard experience.
Carnival UK believes those characteristics give her a natural affinity with the modern P&O Cruises holiday experience.
Following her reimagining, she is expected to occupy a distinct position within the P&O Cruises fleet rather than simply becoming another version of an existing ship.
Cunard will return to a three-ship fleet
Queen Anne’s departure means Cunard will return to a three-ship fleet.
The remaining ships will be:
Queen Mary 2
Queen Victoria
Queen Elizabeth
Carnival UK says the move will give Cunard a more closely unified fleet centred on these three Queens.
Queen Mary 2 will remain Cunard’s flagship and its unique ocean liner, continuing to operate regular transatlantic crossings.
Cunard is also investing in Queen Mary 2, with a major upgrade planned for the flagship.
The company has stressed that the Queen Anne transfer does not represent a change in its commitment to Cunard or its future.
Queen Anne still has an important Cunard programme ahead
Despite today’s announcement, Queen Anne is not leaving Cunard immediately.
There are several significant events still ahead for the ship.
One of the most important will be the Four Queens celebration in Liverpool in May 2028, when Queen Anne is expected to play a central role alongside Cunard’s other three Queens.
Her final period with Cunard will then include her final World Voyage in January 2029.
Carnival UK says the seasons ahead will provide an opportunity to celebrate Queen Anne’s time as a Cunard Queen before she moves to P&O Cruises.
So anyone booked on Queen Anne’s currently published Cunard cruises does not need to assume that those sailings are affected.
All currently published voyages before the respective transfer dates are expected to operate as planned.
What will happen to Queen Anne’s restaurants and venues?
This is likely to be one of the biggest questions for Cunard and P&O Cruises passengers.
Queen Anne currently has a number of features closely associated with the Cunard experience, including its dining venues, bars, entertainment spaces, wellness facilities and Cunard’s distinctive service style.
However, Carnival UK has deliberately described the change as an extensive reimagining rather than simply a change of branding.
That means passengers should expect significant design changes.
At this stage, however, there is no confirmed list of which Queen Anne venues will remain, which will disappear or what new venues will be introduced.
It would therefore be premature to assume that any particular restaurant, bar or public space will definitely survive the transfer.
More details are expected as P&O Cruises develops the new ship.
What will Queen Anne be called?
We don’t know yet. Carnival UK has confirmed that Queen Anne will be renamed when she transfers to P&O Cruises, but the new name has not been announced.
That is likely to become one of the biggest talking points among P&O Cruises fans.
The name will also provide the first major clue about how the new ship is intended to fit into the P&O Cruises fleet.
For now, she remains Queen Anne.
What does this mean for P&O Cruises?
The arrival of Queen Anne gives P&O Cruises a ship unlike anything currently in its fleet.
At around 3,000 passengers, she is considerably smaller than P&O Cruises’ two largest ships, Iona and Arvia, while being larger than some of the line’s older vessels.
However, it is important not to assume that Queen Anne will simply slot into an existing category.
P&O Cruises has described her as introducing a new class of ship to the fleet.
Her final design, onboard experience and itineraries will only become clear once the line releases more information.
Arcadia will also leave P&O Cruises
The fleet reshuffle does not end with Queen Anne. P&O Cruises’ Arcadia will also leave the fleet in 2029, transferring to Holland America Line.
The Vista Class ship will become the 12th ship in Holland America’s fleet and will undergo the line’s Evolution transformation programme. The move is particularly significant because Holland America already operates four other Vista Class ships.
It means two familiar P&O Cruises ships will be changing brands as part of the wider Carnival Corporation reshuffle: Queen Anne moves into P&O Cruises, while Arcadia moves out to Holland America Line.
We will be looking at what Arcadia’s move means for both P&O Cruises and Holland America Line in a separate article.Cruise line
| Cruise line | Ship | 2029 change |
|---|---|---|
| Cunard | Queen Anne | Transfers to P&O Cruises |
| P&O Cruises | Queen Anne | Reimagined and renamed |
| P&O Cruises | Arcadia | Transfers to Holland America Line |
| Holland America Line | Arcadia | Joins the fleet |
A surprisingly short Cunard career
Queen Anne’s transfer is particularly noteworthy because of how recently she joined Cunard.
She became Cunard’s newest ship in 2024 and completed the line’s four-ship fleet.
Her planned Cunard career will therefore last only around five years before she begins a new life with P&O Cruises.
That makes today’s announcement very different from a conventional retirement or disposal of an ageing cruise ship.
Queen Anne isn’t being sold out of the Carnival Corporation fleet.
Instead, she is being transferred between sister brands, with Carnival UK believing that her characteristics are better suited to the future direction of P&O Cruises.
What happens to existing Queen Anne bookings?
For passengers with a currently published Queen Anne cruise before the transfer, today’s announcement does not mean that the sailing is being cancelled.
Carnival UK has confirmed that currently published voyages before the ships’ respective transfer dates will operate as planned.
Queen Anne will continue to sail as a Cunard ship through her existing programme and into her final World Voyage.
The significant changes will come later, when she leaves Cunard and undergoes her transformation for P&O Cruises.
What we still don’t know
Today’s announcement leaves plenty of questions unanswered.
What will Queen Anne’s new name be?
P&O Cruises has confirmed she will be renamed, but has not yet revealed the name.
Which restaurants and bars will remain?
No detailed post-reimagining venue list has been released.
Will Cunard signature venues survive?
There is currently no confirmation of which individual Queen Anne venues will remain.
Where will the new P&O Cruises ship sail?
Her future itineraries have not yet been announced.
When will P&O Cruises open bookings?
No booking programme has yet been announced.
How extensive will the transformation be?
Carnival UK has confirmed extensive design changes, but the full scale of the reimagining has yet to be revealed.
Those details could ultimately make this one of the most interesting P&O Cruises ship launches in years.
The Lowdown
This is a genuinely surprising move.
Queen Anne is Cunard’s newest ship, and she has only been sailing under the Cunard flag since 2024. Yet in 2029 she will leave the fleet and begin a completely new career with P&O Cruises.
For Cunard, the move marks the end of the four-Queen era and a return to a three-ship fleet built around Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth.
For P&O Cruises, it is potentially an even bigger development.
Queen Anne will arrive as a completely different type of ship for the brand, and Carnival UK is promising an extensive reimagining rather than a simple change of name and livery.
There is therefore plenty still to discover.
What will Queen Anne become when she emerges as P&O Cruises’ newest ship in May 2029?
That’s the part of this story we don’t know yet - and it could be very interesting.
Cruise Lowdown will update this article as P&O Cruises reveals the ship’s new name, design, onboard facilities and future itineraries.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Queen Anne joining P&O Cruises?
Yes. Cunard’s Queen Anne will transfer to P&O Cruises in 2029 after completing her final Cunard programme. She will be renamed and extensively reimagined before entering service with P&O Cruises.
When will Queen Anne join P&O Cruises?
Queen Anne is scheduled to join P&O Cruises in May 2029. She will complete her final Cunard programme before transferring to her new cruise line.
Why is Queen Anne leaving Cunard?
Queen Anne is transferring to P&O Cruises as part of changes to the Carnival UK fleet. Her departure will leave Cunard with three ships: Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth.
What will Queen Anne be called when she joins P&O Cruises?
Queen Anne will be renamed before joining P&O Cruises, but her new name has not yet been announced.
Will Queen Anne be renamed and redesigned?
Yes. Queen Anne will be extensively reimagined and renamed before entering P&O Cruises service. Details of the changes to her restaurants, venues and onboard facilities have not yet been announced.
Will existing Queen Anne bookings be affected?
Queen Anne’s published Cunard cruises before her transfer are expected to operate as planned. She will complete her final Cunard programme before moving to P&O Cruises in 2029.