In 188 years, Cunard has never once managed to get all of its Queens in the same place at the same time. That changes on 16 May 2028 — and not at Southampton, but in Liverpool, where the whole story started in 1840.
Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Victoria and Queen Anne will gather on the River Mersey for the first-ever meeting of the full four-ship fleet. Cunard’s president Katie McAlister calls it “a rare and incredibly special moment,” and for once the PR isn’t overselling it.
The bit that matters if you’re not booking anything
You can watch the whole thing for free. When three Queens met on the Mersey for Cunard’s 175th in 2015, more than a million people turned out along the waterfront. This one is bigger — four ships, a city celebration around it, and Liverpool in full show-off mode.
The timing isn’t accidental. 2028 marks 20 years since Liverpool was European Capital of Culture, and the city is throwing a year-long programme around it — with Euro 2028 matches in town the same summer. We’ve already covered one cruise line building a sailing around the football; expect plenty more of 2028’s cruise calendar to orbit Liverpool.
The bit that matters if you are
Each Queen gets there a different way, and each is a bookable voyage.
The headline is Queen Mary 2: her arrival will be her first-ever transatlantic crossing from New York to Liverpool — and the first eastbound Atlantic arrival from New York into the city by any Cunarder in more than 61 years, since RMS Sylvania in 1966. A liner arriving in Liverpool off the Atlantic is the whole of Cunard’s history in one image.
Queen Anne opens her 2028 Scandinavia season with an overnight stay in Liverpool for the celebrations. Queen Elizabeth sails from Southampton via Le Havre to join the gathering. And Queen Victoria arrives off a scenic British Isles voyage taking in Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
The bottom line
Cruise lines announce “historic moments” weekly. This one actually is: the full fleet, in the founding city, with a liner coming in from New York the way liners used to.
If you want to be aboard, the four celebration voyages are the way in — and two years’ notice means the choice cabins are the prize. If you don’t, be in Liverpool on 16 May 2028 with a good spot on the waterfront. That bit costs nothing.
