Compared with the older Queens, which had two engine rooms and four propellers, the newly designated "Q4" would be smaller with one boiler room, one engine room and two propellers, which combined with automation would allow a smaller engineering complement. Despite producing 110,000 shp, she was to have the same service speed of as previous "Queens" which needed 160,000shp, while its fuel consumption would be halved to 520 tons, which was expected to save £1 million a year in fuel bills. The "Q4" would also be able to transit the Panama Canal and Suez Canal and her draught of 32 feet, which was seven feet less than her predecessors, would allow her to enter ports that the old "Queens" could not, and so compete with the new generation of cruise ships.