Cunard Shares Design Details For Upcoming Renovation of Queen Mary 2
Cunard‘s Atlantic-traversing ocean liner Queen Mary 2 will be getting a facelift! The vessel is set to undergo a significant renovation next year, emerging with new interiors in May 2027.
The cruise line is calling the design theme of the renovation Cunard Deco. Rooted in Cunard’s transatlantic history, Cunard Deco brings the cinematic glamour of Hollywood’s golden age together with the grandeur of Cunard’s regal lineage.
The renovations will include new Grill Suites, elevated wellness offerings, and refreshed guest spaces.
“Queen Mary 2 holds a unique position within our fleet and remains one of the most recognisable ships in the world,” said Paul Ludlow, president of Cunard. “Our focus is on protecting and celebrating everything that makes her so special, while making considered enhancements that will further elevate the onboard experience. We are confident these improvements will ensure Queen Mary 2 continues to set the standard in luxury ocean travel for years to come.”
Cues From Two Continents
The design process began at Cunard’s archive in Liverpool, where designers looked at original drawings, ornate schemes, and artworks from the 1936 RMS Queen Mary, transforming the decorative arts of the 1930s into a modern design language.
The redesign will cover every accommodation category on the ship, from Britannia staterooms to the Grand Duplex Queens Grill Suites. It will also touch the Princess Grill and Queens Grill restaurants, along with the Grill Suites Lounge.
AD Associates, the London-based design studio who has designed the new interior spaces, approached the ship as a tapestry woven between two continents. When the threads cross, stories emerge in custom carpeting, wallcoverings, screens, and artwork, many drawn from the 1936 liner.
Each Grills Suite space has its own story, united by a scallop shell motif that’s a historic emblem of safe passage across the sea. Its fanned shape takes a different form in each space: the bow of QM2 cutting through the Atlantic in the Queens Grill Suites, a symmetrical design inspired by the Manhattan skyline in the Princess Grill Suites, and a peacock fan-inspired design in the Grill Suites Lounge. The lounge design draws on the social promenade aboard the original Queen Mary, known to guests as “Peacock Alley.”
Embroidery and original artwork add further layers of storytelling. In the Princess Grill Suites, embroidered headboards depicting cityscape silhouettes share the subtle stories of transatlantic travel, while printed panels in the bathrooms reinterpret Leslie MacDonald Gill’s map of the Atlantic, which hung in the first-class dining room of the original Queen Mary. Gill’s map included a working clock, and the hands in the new artwork are stopped at 4.33pm, the moment Queen Mary first left Southampton in May 1936.
Queen Mary 2 will go into dry dock at Damen Shiprepair Brest in France on March 31, 2027. It’s scheduled to return to service on May 9, 2027.
