Queen Anne has sailed from Southampton on her 110-night circumnavigation, which features several port calls across South Africa, underscoring the country’s expanding role in global cruise itineraries.
The 3,000-guest vessel, the newest in the Cunard Line fleet, is scheduled to call at three South African ports, including Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and Durban, during the African leg of the voyage, positioning the country as a central gateway on one of the most extensive cruise deployments of the coming year.
The programme includes an early morning arrival in Cape Town on January 30th, 2026, followed by a late-departure call in Port Elizabeth on February 2nd and a further stop in Durban on February 4th, before the ship continues eastward across the Indian Ocean. This will mark Queen Anne’s second call to South Africa after her 2025 season.
Cunard has described the voyage as focusing on overnight stays in destinations such as Cape Town, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney, and Los Angeles, as well as extended evening departures from selected ports including Port Elizabeth, Colombo, and Honolulu.
The prominence of South Africa within that group reflects a broader industry shift in which the country has become an increasingly strategic component of long-haul cruise itineraries linking Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas.
Following departure from Southampton on January 11th, the Queen Anne heads south through the Atlantic, calling at the Canary Islands and Cape Verde before reaching the African coast in Namibia and then continuing to South Africa.
After completing her South African leg, the vessel proceeds to island destinations in the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia, and East Asia, before crossing to Australia and the South Pacific, ultimately returning to Europe via the Americas.
The voyage spans five continents and more than 30 ports of call, forming one of Cunard’s most geographically expansive deployments in recent years.
While world cruises have long been a feature of the line’s winter programme, the scale of the Queen Anne’s 2026 itinerary reflects changing patterns in global cruise planning, as lines seek to diversify itineraries and distribute capacity beyond traditional Mediterranean and Caribbean routes.
This is the first World Cruise for Queen Anne, which entered service in 2024. Departing alongside Queen Anne was Cunard’s flagship Queen Mary 2, on her own 108-night world cruise for the 2025–26 season.
Together, the two ships represent Cunard’s largest simultaneous global deployment in recent years, reinforcing the cruise line’s long-term commitment to extended, destination-focused itineraries.
Categories: Cruise News, SA Cruise News
