QM2 10th Anniversary:
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In lists of Britain's monarchs, you
sometimes see Lady Jane Grey listed as one of Britain's Queens. Lady
Jane was proclaimed queen after the death of King Edward VI in an
effort to prevent Edward's Catholic sister Mary Tudor from succeeding
to the throne. This effort proved futile and Lady Jane only reigned
for a few days. While she was never officially crowned, some
historians recognize her as having been a queen, albeit for a few
days, and thus include her in the list of British monarchs.
Like Lady Jane, Arcadia was a Cunard queen but only for a brief moment. The ship was originally ordered for Holland America Line. However, after Carnival Corporation's acquisition of Cunard, a plan was developed for Cunard to compete against P&O Cruises in the British market with a new fleet of cruise ships. As part of this plan, the unfinished Holland America ship was transferred to Cunard and given the name “Queen Victoria.” But the ship was only a Cunard queen for a briefly. In late 2003, P&O Cruises came under the Carnival umbrella. Since Cunard and P&O Cruises were now sister companies, it no longer made sense to build Cunard a series of cruise ships with which to compete against P&O Cruises. Therefore, the still unfinished Queen Victoria was again transferred, this time to P&O Cruises and renamed Arcadia. Thus, although she never sailed as a Cunarder, Arcadia was once a Cunard queen. It therefore can be argued that there were actually four Cunard queens in Southampton for the QM2 10th anniversary celebration |
Arcadia arrived in Southampton at first light and proceeded to the turning basin where she executed a 180 degree turn before docking at Mayflower Terminal.
Below: The once and current Queen Victorias. |
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Cruise ship feature - - Cunard Line / P&O Cruises - - Queen Mary 2 / Arcadia - -The Fourth Queen