Five Friends, One Ship, Zero Regrets: Our Queen Victoria First Girls' Trip

The moment we stepped into the atrium of the Queen Victoria, I knew this trip was going to be different than anything we'd planned. Sarah literally gasped. Like, an audible, hand-over-mouth gasp. "Oh my God," she whispered, staring up at the soaring three-deck atrium with its ornate railings and that incredible crystal chandelier catching the light. "This is not what I thought cruise ships looked like." None of us had expected such elegance. Somehow, when we'd booked this girls' trip six months ago—five best friends from college finally doing something just for us—I'd pictured something more... I don't know, tacky? But Cunard's Queen Victoria felt like stepping into a refined British boutique hotel that just happened to float. We were all turning 35 this year, and instead of doing individual parties, we decided to do one epic trip together. Me (Jessica), Sarah, Michelle, Amy, and Danielle had been friends for nearly fifteen years, and life had gotten complicated—kids, careers, marriages, the whole thing. We barely saw each other anymore, which made us all a little sad when we really thought about it. So we'd made a pact: one week on the Queen Victoria, Caribbean itinerary, and no…