Cunard Announces Major Refit for Queen Elizabeth Ahead of 2025 Season (Including Before and after Images!)

I travelled onboard Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth for a 14-night cruise that saw me go from California to Florida, through the Panama Canal. I can really proudly say that this was one of the best cruises I’ve ever taken, for so many reasons, one being how much I adored the ship. She was absolutely beautiful, and so I was delighted to hear that Cunard have now announced a refurbishment programme for her, in order to spruce her up ahead of her upcoming Alaskan and Caribbean seasons.

Before I tell you about the refit that’s planned, if you’d like to see more from onboard Queen Elizabeth, here’s my full ship tour over on YouTube - just click here! while you’re there, remember to hit SUBSCRIBE!

In this post, I’ll fill you in on some of the key features of Cunard’s upgrade to Queen Elizabeth, so that you know what to expect if you cruise onboard in the future.

Up first, let’s talk about the Queens Room!

The Queens Room is a beautiful ballroom onboard Queen Elizabeth. It has a large stage at the far end of the room, seating all around, and a massive dance floor under two glittering chandeliers. There’s a few curved balconies upstairs, which come off of one of the shopping corridors, providing people the opportunity to look down on the various goings on in this stunning venue. Here’s some photos of the Queens Room from my cruise:

As part of this upgrade, Cunard have committed to this space being fitted with a new dance floor in addition to upgraded soft furnishings and furniture. Personally, I think this will really elevate this space - when you compare the below image with the above, you can see that the furniture in here is looking pretty old fashioned and a little tired.

It also looks as though there’s going to be some lovely changes to the carpets, and also the stained glass in the upstairs section of the Queens Room - well done, Cunard!

Next, let’s talk about the Commodore Club.

The Commodore Club is an extremely popular venue with any loyal Cunard cruisers. You’ll find one of these on every ship in the fleet, and it’s a wonderful venue to soak in the views on a day ‘at sea’, and also a lovely environment for a cocktail after the sun goes down. Again, let’s start with photos from my time onboard to show you what the Commodore Club looks like right now…

I really enjoyed how traditional this space felt - it always felt so sophisticated and luxurious to relax in here, day or night.

Cunard haven’t released too many details of what’s going to change in here, but one image that’s been released suggests an overall modernisation of the space.

Let’s now move to look at the Grills Terrace!

If you’re fortunate enough to book a Princess Grill or Queens Grill Stateroom (in other words, the suites) onboard Queen Elizabeth, you’ll be treated to a brand new revamped terrace as part of the refit. Up first, here’s what it looks like at the moment…

Now, here’s the render of the Terrace post upgrade works, which promises to elevate the already luxurious environment that Grills guests are treated to up here.

Looks great, doesn’t it?

In addition to the Terrace being upgraded, the Grills Suites and Lounge will also be getting an overhaul, so the Grills experience is about to get a whole lot more indulgent and opulent!

What else is being upgraded as part of the refit?

So, I’ve provided a brief summary above of some of the key changes, but there are other improvements taking place onboard! These include the upgrading of the Pavillion Pool area, the installation of a ‘Wellness Cafe’ (this is already on Queen Anne, so must be going down well to now come across to Queen Elizabeth), and upgrades to staterooms.

One very welcome upgrade to passenger staterooms that I’ve seen is the installation of USB charging points - it’s about time these were commonly available everywhere, in my opinion!

Want to be among the first to experience Queen Elizabeth following her upgrade? Here’s how…

Queen Elizabeth will have her refit completed from February 25th 2025 to March 13th 2025 in Singapore, and so you’ll need to cruise on her after this point to see the ‘new’ ship for yourself. If you’re from the U.K., that’ll mean a long haul journey, as she’ll be kicking off with some Japan cruises, before heading to Alaska and then the Caribbean.

While I was onboard, I fell in love with Queen Elizabeth, and I expect that these upgrades are only going to strengthen my feelings - my first impressions are really positive. Now, it’s over to Cunard - let’s see what they deliver!

To read more of my posts sharing my experiences of cruising with Cunard, click here!

To book your cruise onboard Queen Elizabeth, click here to go straight to Cunard’s website!