Queen Victoria heads home to Southampton, with a 19-day refit before its winter season and world cruise

The trip home

Cunard's Queen Victoria has finished its summer in the Mediterranean and is sailing back to Southampton, according to Cruise Industry News, which reported the move on October 13. The repositioning voyage is 16 nights long. It left from Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, and calls at:

• Palma de Mallorca
• Cartagena
• Málaga
• Lisbon
• La Coruña

From there the ship heads north to the UK. Repositioning trips like this one are often good value, because they are long and fall between two seasons. This one is already underway, but the pattern repeats when the ship moves between home ports.

A refit before winter

Before its winter season, Queen Victoria will spend 19 days in drydock in the Netherlands. Cunard has not published the exact dates in the reports we have seen. The work covers several areas guests will notice:

• A new Pavilion Wellness Café
• Upgraded suites in the Cunard Grills, the line's top accommodation tier
• A refresh of the Grand Lobby and the Queens Room, the ship's ballroom
• Eight new Britannia staterooms, adding standard cabins

If you are booked on one of the first sailings after the refit, it is worth asking Cunard whether any work will continue on board. New venues and refreshed rooms sometimes open in stages after a ship leaves the yard. If you booked a Grills suite, ask whether yours is one of the rooms being upgraded, and when the work on it will finish.

Winter from Southampton

After the refit, Queen Victoria will sail round trips from Southampton. Its fall and winter program covers Northern Europe, the Canary Islands, the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco. For UK travelers, that means no flight to reach the ship. For travelers from the US, Southampton is about 80 miles from London, so plan the transfer.

Through the year, from May to December, the ship offers cruises of three to 16 nights across Europe, the Atlantic islands and North Africa. Shorter trips are a low-cost way to try Cunard before committing to a long voyage.

The 111-night world cruise

The big event comes in early January. Queen Victoria's annual world cruise leaves Southampton for 111 nights. It visits the Caribbean, North America, Hawaii, Australia, Asia and Africa. It is the longest voyage in Cunard's 2026-27 winter season.

Many guests do not sail the full loop. World cruises are often sold in segments as well, so you may be able to join for a few weeks between two ports. Ask Cunard about segment pricing if the full trip is too long or too expensive.

Changes to the fleet

Queen Victoria will keep sailing from Southampton after the world cruise. Next year, Queen Elizabeth takes over Cunard's Mediterranean fly-cruise program, the role Queen Victoria filled this summer.

Bigger changes follow later. Carnival Corporation plans to move Queen Anne from Cunard to P&O Cruises in 2029, as part of a reshuffle across its brands. That would leave Cunard with Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, three ships that each carry fewer than 3,000 guests.

See Queen Victoria's ratings and deck plans.