The Queen Mary 2, the flagship ocean liner for Cunard, as made its return to New York this week, docking in the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook following an approximate $132-million overhaul. Drawing inspiration from the design of the original Queen Mary, the luxury ship now shows off a contemporary look from London-based maritime consultancy SMC Design.
The refitting took place in Hamburg’s Blohm + Voss Shipyard, where a team of more than 5,000 completed the revamp over the course of 25 days. In addition to internationally sourced furniture and materials, 594,000 square feet of new carpet was installed, and 4,000 new framed images grace the walls. The ship’s hull received a completely updated paint job with more than 3,900 gallons of paint applied.
Thirty Britannia Club staterooms, 15 single staterooms, and five inside staterooms were added to increase the ship’s capacity to 2,961 guests. Key public spaces like the Kings Court eatery have been refreshed, while new spaces like specialty dining room the Verandah and the Carinthia Lounge (the former Winter Garden) have debuted.
The only passenger vessel allowing cats and dogs, the Queen Mary 2 also expanded its kennel during the multimillion-dollar renovation. The ship has doubled its kennels to 24 and now features an enlarged area equipped with a lounge for owners, a pet playground, and a large outdoor space featuring a historic English lamppost and an American fire hydrant to accommodate dogs from either side of the Atlantic.
