The Queen Mary 2 entered service in 2004, many years after the retirement of her predecessor, the Queen Mary, which is now a hotel and museum permanently docked in Long Beach, California. Known colloquially as the "QM2", this grand luxury liner is 1,132 feet long and has 14 decks. She carries 2,620 passengers and 1,253 crew. Staterooms range in size from the standard Britannia stateroom, at 161 square feet, to the Queen's Grill Grand Duplex, at 2,249 square feet. The QM2 also boasts the only planetarium at sea. Ports of call include stops throughout Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, Canada and the United States. She also makes one round-the-world cruise each year.
The Queen Victoria entered service in 2007, and is smaller than the Queen Mary 2 at 964.5 feet and with twelve passenger decks. She carries 2,000 passengers and 1,003 crew, and like the QM2 sails from Europe and the Mediterranean to North America and around the world. Amenities include the Royal Court Theatre, featuring musical productions and the only luxury box seats at sea. Staterooms range from the 152 square foot Britannia inside standard to the Grand Suite at 2,131 square feet.
Two ships have born the name "Queen Elizabeth" in the history of Cunard. The first ship to bear the name entered service in 1940 but was quickly commandeered by the British government for use as a troop carrier in World War II. The Queen Elizabeth 2 was christened in 1969 and decommissioned in 2008. The latest ship to bear the name, christened simply the "Queen Elizabeth", is the sister ship of the Queen Victoria, with her maiden voyage taking place on October 11, 2010. The Queen Elizabeth accommodates 2,068 passengers and 996 crew. Staterooms and suites are comparable in size to her sister ship, the Queen Victoria, and the Queen Elizabeth also features her own Royal Court Theatre. Her claim to fame, however, will likely be her distinctive art deco staterooms, intended to reproduce the 1940s era look and feel of the original Queen Elizabeth.
