Yeah, but if you picture the bridge wings being enclosed on the QM you get a very similar appearance, which suggests they did try for a retro look to the thing. Of course the QM2 still lacks the elegance of the QM but it is a bit better than most of the floating cubes around today.
Also I'm pretty sure the idea was to "attack" a British ship. I mean there's just no other reason to be there, with that, at that time. Even without the potential terrorist attack perception by observers, being around an operating ship underwater is just damn stupid what with all the suction and discharges from various machinery.