8/31/2008

PAINTINGS OF THE QE2 (1)



This is "Winter Sunset Maiden Departure", Port of Miami, November 15, 1997, by James A. Flood.

It seems that Mr. Flood was invited by Mr. Jay Black, along with noted ocean liner aficionado Dr. Richard Gotleib to view this famous liner aboard Mr. Black's boat, on a crisp and lovely Saturday in the early winter of 1997.

It was on this occasion the artist was commissioned by Mr. Black to portray this magnificent ship.

INSIDE THE QE2 (2)



Picture of the Library on the Quarter Deck, by Ian Boyle 2005

QE2 PODCASTS (1)





Gary Gembridge's fantastic blog includes gems like this podcast about a QE2 crossing.

Seat down, relax, listen and enjoy.

THE BEST PICTURES OF THE QE2 (5)



Last April 22, 2008 at the New York Pier.

VIDEO-MEMORIES ABOUT THE QE2 LAUNCH



Scotland Television has an excellent three-part video-memory about the WE2 launch.

Whatch them here: video 1, video 2, video 3

And listen the wonderful Scottish accent of some of the speakers.

Well done!

LIVERPOOL PREPARES A GREAT FAREWELL PARY FOR THE QE2



The Liverpool Echo reports:

An emotional farewell party will take place when the QE2 docks in Liverpool next month.

The most famous liner in the world will sail into the River Mersey on October 3 for a 10-hour stay in the city.

Last year, thousands of people flocked to the waterfront for a glimpse of the ship, which officially opened the new cruise liner terminal at Prince’s Dock.

Cunard bosses today said they expected at least as big a reception in October, when people will have their final chance to see the 41-year-old liner before she sails to her new home in Dubai.

The day-long visit will end with a giant firework display as the ship slips her moorings at 10pm.

Following last year’s successful event, passengers and crew are expected to pack Liverpool Cathedral earlier in the day for a celebratory concert.

Speakers at this year’s concert will include former QE2 captain Robin Woodall, who lives in Wirral, Liverpool’s Dame Beryl Bainbridge, and Falklands War veteran Simon Weston...

A spokesman for Cunard said: “The concert is primarily for our 1,700 passengers, but we hope to have some tickets available for members of the public.

“We are talking to the Culture Company about how we could do that and the final details are yet to be decided.”

Opera singer Natasha Marsh, the RLPO and the Welsh Guards will also take part in the cathedral event.

The Cunard spokesman added: “October 3 is the QE2’s ninth visit to Liverpool and this will be her farewell.

The Northwest Regional Development Agency anounced a few days ago that
Liverpool’s new cruise liner terminal will be officially opened as the QE2 makes a 40th birthday visit to the city.

HRH the Duke of Kent will unveil a plaque to formally open the terminal on Friday September 21.

The ceremony will be attended by Margaret Hodge, the Minister for Culture and Tourism, Carol Marlow, President of Cunard Line, and representatives of the organisations involved in developing the terminal.

Margaret Hodge said: "Liverpool has a rich history and is recognised internationally as a thriving creative and cultural centre.

As it gears up to become Capital of Culture, bringing thousands of visitors from around the world, it is fitting that Liverpool will be able to welcome cruise liners in style."

The £19m terminal will allow the world’s great cruise ships to return to the Mersey on a regular basis. A total of 23 vessels with more than 25,000 cruise passengers are already confirmed over the next 18 months.

WHERE IS THE QE2 TODAY?















According to this image, from the bridge camera, in Cagliari, Italy.

A VIDEO TRIBUTE TO A LEGENDARY LINER



This is a nice video tribute to the QE2 done by Around The World Cruises & Tours.

Has excellent and emotional music.

Well done!

THE UNEXPECTED METAMORPHOSIS OF THE QE2 IN DUBAI




In Rob Lightbody's blog you can see images like these ones about how the QE2 will be docked in Dubai as a hotel.

He is right, the artist must have a lot of imagination or, yes, they are planning to add more decks and make serious surgery.

As Rob says:

I thought it all sounded good - a luxury marina development with the QE2 as its central focus, and the QE2 does appear to be floating.

But then I looked closely at the artists impressions of the ship and realised to my horror that the entire superstructure appears to be rebuilt in the style of the QM2 - many extra decks added on top.

This might just be because the artist got the 2 ships confused when doing his impression or they could be going to entirely rebuild the ship.


Anyone with more information about this unexpected metamorphosis of the Gran Dame of the Seas?

THE QE2 LAST CROSSING BLOG IN WORDLE


Wordle is an amazing software that shows you the key-words of any website.

As you can see, the QE2 is more than anything a GREAT SHIP!

Well, if I may say, the GREATEST one.

And I am sure that all you will agree with me.

8/30/2008

A FAREWELL POEM FOR THE QE2



The Great Ship


"In Clydebank the crane jibs are lifting and swinging

In the yard, builders' hammers on steel plates are ringing

All over the hull, welders' torches are glowing

Out on the slipway the great ship is growing

The hull is complete and the launch day is nearing,

Her name is revealed now, as thousands are cheering,
The ritual bottle breaks on her bow plating,

There on the slipway the great ship lies waiting

At first, on the 'ways, she seems doomed to remain there

Then, anxious to leave, as the drag chains restrain her

She enters the water, her proud stern lifting

On Scotland's great river, the great ship is drifting

Silver the moonlight upon the sea flashing

Hard 'gainst her bows the great ocean is crashing

Like great Queens before her, her power is unfailing

'Cross the Atlantic the great ship is sailing

Far to the southwards the war hounds are baying

Already the ships of the task force are sailing

Her country has called, flames of war are igniting,

The great ship responds, and sets sail for the fighting

Decks crowded with troops she comes back to her home port

The soldiers' homecoming, their families to comfort

Wives, sons and daughters, their hearts filled with yearning,

laughing and crying. The great ship's returning

To the fjords of Norway, the warm Caribbean,

To far distant islands, around the Aegean,

Her passengers savour what soon they'll be losing,

On the seas of the world, the great ship is cruising

Regally, stately she moves from the quayside,

Away down the Solent she slips on the ebb tide,

Heart-rending and poignant her siren's last crying,

Her faithful are weeping - the great ship is dying.

Her faithful are weeping - the great ship is dying."


(By Cruachan via the Cruise Critic's QE2 Memory Book)

READERS AND FANS FROM AROUND THE WORLD


I can tell you.

They are not readers of this blog.

They are fans of the QE2.

So, in just its first 72 hours this blog has readers and QE2 fans from more than 26 countries!

Thank you my friends!

UPDATE: one day later, they re from 33 countries.

WHERE IS THE QE2 TODAY?















Click here to refresh the image from the QE2 bridge camera.

8/29/2008

THE QUEEN AND THE QE2 (2)

















The Queen aboard the QE2 in Southampton, last June.

(Picture by Getty Images)

THE BEST PICTURES ABOUT THE QE2 (4)

















Looks like a painting but it's real.

(Via Senhwei)

QE2 TRIVIA (1)

You will see that many times the QE2 is presented as the RMS QE2

RMS is a designation used since 1840 by a large number of companies, but is often associated in particular with the Cunard line and Royal Mail Lines, which held a number of high-profile mail contract business.

QE2: THE BEST PICTURES (3)
















The QE2 leaving Rotterdam.

QUOTES ABOUT THE QE2 (3)











"Without question, QE2 is legendary. 
One of the most beloved ships in our 169-year history, we anticipate a good showing of QE2 enthusiasts in each of her final ports.

She has been a hostess to royalty, celebrities and the most noted personalities from all over the world. 
In addition, she has been a witness to history, serving magnificently as a troop carrier in the Falklands Conflict.

Adored the world over, she is, quite simply, irreplaceable,"
Carol Marlow, president of Cunard.

(Picture by John Clifford)

QUOTES ABOUT THE QE2 (2)

















"For nearly half a century, the QE2 ruled the open waters as a reminder of an era gone past -- when people sailed instead of flew, when they packed steamer trunks instead of wheeled suitcases."

Josh Briggs.

(Picture by John Clifford)

QUOTES ABOUT THE QE2 (1)






The right word.

"The crossing on the QE2 from Southampton to New York or vice versa is not to cruise - traditionalists bristle at the term and rightly insist on calling it a crossing"

Benjamin S. B. Lyons

THE QUEEN AND THE QE2 (1)
















It was the Queen who named this ship in The Clyde on September 20 1967 and since she has become a record breaking ocean liner and probably the world’s most famous passenger ship.

This picture is from June 2008.

If you help me, I will post more pictures of the Queen with the QE2.

QE2 : THE BEST PICTURES (2)
















The QE2 passing the Statue of Liberty at the New York harbor.

In our October 16 last crossing, the QE2 will get the last salute from many newyorkers, including the farewell of this iconic lady.

THE QE2 AS HOTEL IN DUBAI (1)














As you know, the QE2 will be retired after 40 years of glamorous seafaring.

She will become a luxury hotel in Dubai, at the Palm Jumeirah resort.

I have been many times in Dubai during the last two years.

INNOVATION, my company, works for the Arab Media Group (AMG) and I witnessed the incredible boom of Dubai.

I am sure that the QE2 will be treated there like she deserves.

Work is about to start on a new berth for the cruise ship at a palatial pier which will stretch 1,000 feet into the Arabian Gulf.

Johann Schumacher, director of Palm Jumeirah, said:

“The arrival of QE2 is one of the most anticipated events of the year and we are proud to be the custodian of such a historic treasure. The world’s most famous ocean liner will form the focal point of an exciting new development that will be a spectacular and must-see attraction on Palm Jumeirah.”

Watch here a video about the Palm Jume¡rah development.

8/28/2008

QE2: THE BEST PICTURES (1)























The QE2 must be the most photographed ship in the world history.

And there are amazing pictures like this one three years ago sailing the Geirangerfjord in Norway.

As you know, this fjord is one of Norway's most visited tourist sites and has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Please send me your "best" ones.

QE2: THE LAST PICTURES (6)
















Cyndi Messimna reports from Norway:

On August 9th, the Queen Elizabeth II left the port of Stavanger for the last time.

There was a lot of other old steam-powered water vessels. It was pretty neat.

A lot of Stavangerites (totally make that term up but it sounds right) were on hand to wave off the ship as it was escorted out of the port with several ships by its side.

There was also a fire truck parade and some old cars on display.

Please send me your pictures and reports from the last QE2 ports of call.

GOOD NEWS FROM WMPH AND CUNARD: WE HAVE BEEN UPGRADED!















Deanna Lombardo,  a gracious lady from We Make People Happy (WMPH), the travel agency that handled our bookings, called me a few minutes ago with great news:

We have been upgraded to a Queen Grill Stateroom.

I am sending a thank you and appreciation letter to Don Walker, one the owners of this travel agency in Delray Beach, Florida.

Mrs. Lombardo has been our guardian angel and she wanted to deliver this wonderful present to Tam David, our son, that will celebrate his 8th birthday aboard the QE2 on October 18, 2008.

Thank you Deanne, WMPH and Cunard!


CUNARD FIRSTS





















Cunard was the first company to take passengers on regularly scheduled transatlantic departures (Britannia, 1840).

Cunard introduced the first passenger ship to be lit by electricity (Servia, 1881).

Cunard introduced the first steam turbine engines in a passenger liner (Carmania, 1905).

Cunard introduced the first gymnasium and health center aboard a ship (Franconia, 1911).

Cunard held the record from 1940-1996 for the largest passenger ship ever built (Queen Elizabeth, 1940).

Cunard is the only cruise company to sail regularly scheduled transatlantic service year-round (Queen Elizabeth 2).

Cunard was the first cruise line ever to offer three different around-the-world cruises at the same time (QE2, Royal Viking Sun, Sagafjord, winter/spring 1996

The Children’s Playroom on the Arabia (1852) was the first room of its kind to go to sea.

Pianos first went to sea with Cunard in the Music Rooms of the early Cunarders.

Bathrooms made their first appearance at sea on the Abyssinia and Algeria in 1870.

The Bothnia also featured three ‘firsts’:
• the first lounge for women
• the first Library at sea
• the first system of electric bells

Ice boxes date back to 1856. Refrigeration came into use in the Campania and Lucania in 1893.

Rooms ‘en suite’ were first introduced in the Servia in 1881.

The Aurania (1893) was the first ship to have a Bridal Suite.

The Mauretania (1907) was the first ship the have a Regal Suite comprising two bedrooms, dining room,
drawing room, pantry, bathroom and toilet.

The Cunarder Lucania had the distinction of introducing wireless to the ocean. Marconi experimented
with his new invention in June 1901.

Mauretania was the first ship to have a dark room for photographers.

The Laconia undertook the first World Cruise in 1922.

The Caronia was the first passenger ship to be painted green.

Queen Mary is the first merchant vessel to be launched by a member of the Royal family (Her Majesty
Queen Mary).

QE2 - The first ship (and still the only ship) to sail 5 million nautical miles

OCTOBER 7: THE QE2 "SPECTACULAR" SEND-OFF IN SCOTLAND AND THE FAREWELL TO THE BRITISH ISLES
















The Scotsman reports about the plans for a "spectacular and fitting" send-off for the QE2's final voyage in Scottish waters:

The liner will make her last voyage in Scotland on October 7 and large crowds are expected to gather on the coastlines of Edinburgh and Fife. The Firth of Forth send-off will include a fly-over from RAF Leuchars, tugs with a water display and a flotilla of yachts. The events are being organised by Edinburgh and Fife councils, the Forth port authorities, and Cunard. Edinburgh Lord Provost George Grubb said: "The competition we are running will provide a great opportunity for people of all ages to go on board this historic vessel. "We are planning a spectacular and fitting send-off for the QE2 and one which everyone in Edinburgh can come out and enjoy." The liner will berth in the Forth estuary in the morning and leave that evening for Southampton before her final voyage to New York, and then Dubai. There she will be de-commissioned and berthed at a pier at the world's largest man-made island to begin a new life as a luxury floating hotel, retail and entertainment destination. Built at Clydebank and launched by the Queen in 1967, the QE2 has been the flagship of the Cunard line for 40 years.

And Dr. James Wilkie, a reader from Vienna wrote yesterday:
I was at the launch of this magnificent vessel, the last of the superliners.

The much larger cruise ships that are being built nowadays have something of the character of pontoons (or in some cases fish boxes) with engines, whereas the QE2 was built to double as an express liner in the transatlantic tradition.

She has the lines of a racing yacht, with hardly a flat plat in her.

I believe that Clydebank put in a bid for her, but the oil sheikhs could not be beaten.

Still, when the oil runs out and Scotland is filthy rich on renewable energy, who knows? - we might get her AND the Queen Mary back again.

In the map, the 10 Night QE2 Farewell to the British Isles.

THE QE2 41 YEARS AGO
















Last year, the QE2 celebrated in Southampton (UK) its 40th anniversary.

The BBC has this old footage of the Queen launching the QE2 in 1967.

This video has no sound.

In the September 20 1967 picture, the Queen Elizabeth II and John Rannie at the launching of the QE2 in Clydebank, Scotland

Photograph: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis

8/27/2008

QE2 : THE LAST PICTURES (5)



The Queen Elizabeth II (QE2) ship enters Port Phillip on February 29, 2008 in Melbourne, Australia.

(Photo by Robert Prezioso/Getty Images News)

INSIDE THE QE2 (1)











This is a magnificent reproduction model of the Mauretania outside the Caronia Restaurant on the Quarter Deck.

The RMS Mauretania ("Maury") was an ocean liner built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, and was launched on 20 September 1906.

At the time, she was the largest and fastest ship in the world.

QE2 CAPTAINS (1)

















Britain's Queen Elizabeth II poses with former captains of the QE2 during her final visit June 2, 2008.

From back row left, Capt. Keith Stanley; Capt. Robert Arnott; Capt. Robin Woodhall; Capt. Nicholas Bates; Capt. Roy Heath; Capt. Laurence Portet; Capt. Peter Jackson and Capt. Roland Hasell. Front row left, Commodore John Burton-Hall, Capt. Ian McNaught, Capt. David Perkins and Commodore Ron Warwick.

I will post more pictures of all of them, but your own remembrances, pictures and comments are welcomed.

(Photo: AP)

QE2 STATISTICS (1)










Gross Registered Tons: 70,327

Builder: Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UK)

Original Cost: £29 million

Entered Service: April 1969

Registry: Great Britain

Length: 962.93 ft / 293.5 m

Beam: 105.1 ft / 32.03 m

Draft: 32.4 ft / 9.87 m

Passenger Decks: 13

Total Crew: 1015

Passengers: 1,782 (lower beds); 1,906 (all berths)

Passenger Space Ratio: 39.4 (lower beds); 36.8 (all berths)

Crew To Passenger Ratio: 1.7 (lower beds); 1.8 (all berths)

QE2 BLOGS (2)














ShipParade is the online magazine dedicated to cruise ships.

Superb content and great design.

A must for any cruise fan.

QE2: THE LAST PICTURES (3)
















The Queen Elizabeth 2 at Rotterdam, Netherlands on July 18, 2008.

Photo © Cees de Bijl

QE2: OLD PICTURES (1)























Cunard officials visiting the yard to check on progress with the yard managers on June 2nd 1966.

Picture from the National Archives of Scotland.

QE2 BLOGS (1)























All About Cunard is an excellent blog for Cunard fans.
"Addicted to cruising and love or are interested in Cunard?

This blog has all the new news about Cunard"
(Picture from this blog originally uploaded by Rob Lightbody)

8/26/2008

QE2: THE LAST PICTURES (2)









The last crossing of the Panama Canal on April 5th, 2008, at 5:45 a.m. before the sunrise.

The RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 made her last Panama Canal Transit on her way to New York and Europe before she will be retired from active service in late 2008.

QE2 VERSUS THE FIRST BRITANNIA


















Cunard’s first ship Britannia, would fit into QE2’s Grand Lounge.

The famous RMS Britannia of 1840 is a most notable ship as it was the first ship owned by Sir Samuel Cunard and his new shipping line.

It was the ship that started the transatlantic crossing and Cunard Line's long pedigree of great ships.

The Britannia was a paddle steamer and inaugurated Cunard Line's transatlantic crossing passenger and royal mail service from Liverpool to Boston, USA.

1982: THE QE2 GOES TO WAR















As the BBC reported:

In 1982 the liner was requisitioned for use by the British Government as a troopship in the Falklands Islands war

It took just nine days to prepare the luxury liner for her tour of duty in the South Atlantic - the lounges were turned into dormitories, helipads were constructed over the swimming pools and she was blacked out to avoid detection.

She was then loaded up with her passengers - thousands of troops made up of Welsh Guards, Scots Guards and a battalion of Gurkas plus a civilian crew, before setting off on her 8,000 mile voyage.

The QE2 returned to Southampton on 11 June 1982 carrying warship survivors.

It was a national event with HM The Queen Mother welcoming her home from the decks of the Royal Yacht Britannia.

CLASSICS BOOKS (1): "THE ONLY WAY TO CROSS"



















An Amazon reviewer of the John Maxtone-Graham's "The Only Way to Cross"

I have read many books before and since on ocean liner history, but I would have to say that Maxtone-Graham's work "The Only Way to Cross" is simply the best and finest crafted on the subject. 
His blend of technical facts and figures along with his witty observations on shipboard life truly gives the reader the sensation of being on-board one of these "floating palaces" at sea. 
Even someone like myself, born after most of the Great Liners were already gone, could get a palpable sense of shipboard life and could even feel whistfully nostalgic about these days long past, like I was actully there...no other book has ever left me with such a sense of longing for those days past as this one has. 
If you are at all into the history of the Great Liners, then please add this book to your library---it is the yardstick by which all other books on the subject should be measured; with most falling very short indeed.

QE2: LAST TRIBUTES (1)























Jacob Shipton's last tribute to the QE2:


Goodbye Elizabeth, So long and farewell.

A great lady, who held us under her spell.

Your memory will continue, your spirit will live on.

But no other lady can take your place after you’re gone.

These oceans you may soon depart.

But that will never change how you touched our hearts.

Your ruled the waves with grace and beauty.

But when the time came, you did your duty.

Go sleep now great lady, you deserve a rest.

To us you will always be the last of the best.

THE GREAT OCEAN LINERS























Heres is a list of some of the greatest Ocean Liners:

The Great Eastern (1860-1888)

The Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse (1897-1914)

The Kaiser Wilhelm 2 (1903-1940)

The Kronprinzessin Cecilie (1907-1940)

The Deutschland (1900-1925)

The Augusta Victoria (1906-1931)

The Empress Of Britain (1931-1940)

The Empress Of Ireland (1906-1914)

The Empress Of Japan (1930-1966)

The Empress of Australia (1922-1952)

The Mauretania (1907-1934)

The Lusitania (1907-1915)

The Aquitania (1914-1950)

The Olympic (1911-1935)

The Titanic (1912)

The Britannic (1915-1916)

The Imperator (The Berengaria) (1913-1938)

The Vaterland (The Leviathan) (1914-1938)

The Bismark (The Majestic) (1914-1940)

The France (1912-1935)

The Paris (1921-1947)

The Ile De France (1927-1959)

The Normandie (1935-1946)

The Lafayette (1930-1938)

The Queen Mary (1936-Present Day)

The Queen Elizabeth (1940-1973)

The Homeric (1914-1936)

The Bremen (1929-1941)

The Stockholm (1948-Present Day)

The Britannic 3 (1930-1960)

The Georgic (1932-1956)

The Europa (Liberte) (1930-1962)

The Rex (1932-1944)

The SS. America (1940-1994)

The SS. United States (1952-Present Day)

The Andrea Doria (1953-1956)

The Cap Arcona (1927-1945)

The Laurentic 2 (1927-1940)

The President Hoover (1931-1937)

The Conte Di Savoia (1932-1950)

The Leonardo da Vinci (1960-1980)

The Roma (Augustus) (1927-1946)

The Nieuw Amsterdam (1938-1974)

The Independence (1951-Present Day)

The Vulcania (1926-1974)

The Wilhelm Gustloff (1938-1945)

The La Marseillaise (1949-1961)

The Conte Biancamano (1925-1961)

The Mauretania 2 (1939-1965)

The France (Norway) (1962-2006)

The Gripsholm(Navarino)(Regent Sea) (1957-2001)

The QE2 (1969-Present Day)
The QM2 (2004-Present Day)

The QV2 (Present Day)

RETIREMENT ON THE QE2


















Bea Muller, the passenger with the most time on QE2, speaks with Captain McNaught while Captain Christopher Wells looks on.

A reader of USA TOday wrote las year:

I recall reading about an elderly English woman who was spending her retirement on the QE2; apparently her pension/retirement benefits were enough each month for her to literally live the rest of her life on board.

With the QE2 having been slated for this new entertainment complex in Dubai in 2009, have you heard anything about what might happen to her?


And the London Times Vill Pavia tells here the whole story of QE2's longest-serving passenger Bea Muller:
Beatrice Muller is looking for a new home. 
Ideally, it should be within easy reach of shops, a ballroom and a community of committed duplicate bridge players. 
She does not need much space, nor is she fixed on any particular location. 
Indeed, her chief wish is that her new home be perpetually floating over the ocean between one location and the next.
In other words, she is looking for a new home that is almost exactly like her present one: a cabin on board the Queen Elizabeth 2, in which she has lived for the past nine years....
Even at the age of 89, Mrs Muller refuses to contemplate such a stationary life. 
“What would I want to do that for?” she said this week, while her home was moored at Southampton. 
“I was married to a wonderful man for 57 years. I have done my penal servitude – I want to travel.”

Cruise holidays had never appealed to her until 1995, when she stepped on board the QE2 with her husband, Bob. 
Both were smitten, and returned year after year. 
In 1999 her husband died on board. Mrs Muller, from New Jersey, had no grandchildren and most of her friends had died or moved to France. 
She had far more friends on the QE2 and her two sons suggested that she live there.

She sold almost all of her landlocked possessions and moved into a small, windowless cabin permanently. 
“My sons are delighted I’m here and safe and out of their hair,” she said. The rates – about £3,500 a month – compared favourably with a Florida retirement home. 
“It’s far more pleasant,” she said. 
“They don’t organise you like senior citizens’ homes must do, and I’m hard to organise.”

Every morning she reads a printout of The New York Times, works on her memoirs and calls on friends. 
In the afternoon she plays duplicate bridge until tea time: then there are cocktails and dancing.

The ship has a number of “hosts”, dapper gentlemen on hand to cut a rug with single ladies of a certain age...

Between the cocktails and the dancing and midnight buffets – “and sometimes I find time to sleep” - Mrs Muller writes e-mails to sad landlocked souls who have heard of her extraordinary life and wonder how they too might find a home on a cruise ship.

She now finds herself in a similar position. 
“I’m looking for a new home at sea,” she said. 
It is a tight market. 
“The only liner left in the world is the Queen Mary 2. 
The Victoria is lovely but she’s not built to go as far as these ocean liners – she’s not as strong.”

Mrs Muller is hoping to persuade Micky Arison, the owner of Carnival Corporation, Cunard’s parent company, to take the QE2’s officers and put them on theQM2. 
“That would be the place to turn,” she said. 

QE2: THE LAST PICTURES (1)



The QE2 seen at Southampton (UK) 20th July 2008.

Pictured by Tim the Sailor.

QE2 ITINERARY FROM TODAY TO OCTOBER 22























This is the sailing calendar for the QE2 from today to October 22 when we will disembark in Southampton:

AUG
T 26 ST PETER PORT
W 27 SOUTHAMPTON
T 28 AT SEA
F 29 LISBON
S 30 AT SEA
S 31 CAGLIARI

SEP
M 1 AT SEA
T 2 ATHENS
W 3 ZAKINTHOS
T 4 PALERMO
F 5 NAPLES
S 6 AT SEA
S 7 VALENCIA
M 8 AT SEA
T 9 AT SEA
W 10 SOUTHAMPTON
T 11 AT SEA
F 12 AT SEA
S 13 AT SEA
S 14 AT SEA
M 15 AT SEA
T 16 NEW YORK
W 17 NEWPORT RI
T 18 BOSTON
F 19 BAR HARBOR
S 20 ST JOHN NB
S 21 HALIFAX
M 22 AT SEA
T 23 QUEBEC
W 24 QUEBEC
T 25 AT SEA
F 26 ST JOHNS NF
S 27 AT SEA
S 28 AT SEA
M 29 AT SEA
T 30 SOUTHAMPTON

OCT
W 1 CORK
T 2 DUBLIN
F 3 LIVERPOOL
S 4 BELFAST
S 5 GREENOCK
M 6 AT SEA
T 7 SOUTH QUEENSFERRY
W 8 NEWCASTLE
T 9 AT SEA
F 10 SOUTHAMPTON
S 11 AT SEA
S 12 AT SEA
M 13 AT SEA
T 14 AT SEA
W 15 AT SEA
T 16 NEW YORK
F 17 AT SEA
S 18 AT SEA
S 19 AT SEA
M 20 AT SEA
T 21 AT SEA
W 22 SOUTHAMPTON

THE QUEEN'S FAREWELL TO THE QE2 LINER














A few weeks ago, the Queen boarded for the third time, and final time, since she named it in 1967, the QE2.

And the BBC reported her farewell to the Old Queen of the Seas.

Watch here the BBC video.

The 120 year old Southern Daily Echo covered the story in detail.

The highlights:

The Queen came to say a final farewell to one of the great icons of her reign, the Southampton liner, Queen Elizabeth 2, and to leave a simple, but lasting, message: "Thanks for the memories.'' ...

Although the day was tinged with sadness, the ship's officers and crew were determined it would also be full of pride, and tradition but above all, one that would celebrate the unique and remarkable story of QE2.

Despite her advancing years, QE2 was a magnificent sight alongside her usual berth in the city's Eastern Docks. It was as if the ship knew that this was one day she had to look her best and the grand old dame of the sea carried it off with aplomb...

With the Queen to acknowledge QE2's unique role was former Prime Minister, Baroness Thatcher who ,during her time in Downing Street ordered the liner to be transformed into a troopship and join the South Atlantic task force to recapture the Falkland Islands in 1982...

The Queen was presented with a bouquet of 55 red roses, one flower for each year since the Coronation, by QE2's executive housekeeper, Roz Price Evans, the longest serving female member of the crew.

One of the most memorable moments came when the Queen unveiled a large painting by the renowned marine artist Robert Lloyd depicting QE2 taking her leave from Southampton to begin her one-way voyage to Dubai...

The Queen was initially greeted by Cunard president and managing director, Carol Marlow, who escorted the Royal party on board and into the ship's lobby where she was welcomed by QE2's last ever masters, Captain Ian MacNaught and Captain David Perkins.

Among those presented to the Queen were nine former masters of QE2 including Captain Peter Jackson who was in command during the Falklands crisis.

In the Officers' Wardroom another small part of the liner's life came to an end when the Queen was invited to sign the ship's visitors' book. Hers was the first name on the first page, recalling the day of the ship's launch, and now this same signature was written on the last page.

After a reception in the Queen's Room, the liner's ballroom named after the monarch, guests joined the Queen for a gala lunch prepared in the vessel's galley by QE2's famed brigade of chefs.

FROM PETER SELLERS, PETER MANDELA AND ELIZABETH TAYLOR TO THE QUEEN, JIMMY CARTER AND TONY BENNETT


















According to Cunard:

Ever since Prince Charles became her first guest over 30 years ago, Queen Elizabeth 2 has hosted more famous faces than any other ship in service.

Some of them are:

The Queen

The Duke of Edinburgh

The Prince of Wales

The Prince Edward

Diana, Princess of Wales

King Hussein of Jordan

The Emperor of Japan

The Sultan of Brunei

George Bush Jr

Jimmy Carter

Mayor John Lindsay

Nelson Mandela

Shimon Peres

Bill Bryson

Tom Clancy

Paul Johnson

P D James

Frank McCourt

James Mitchener

John Simpson

Tennessee Williams

Charles Aznavour

Tony Bennett

Mick Jagger

Elton John

Yoko Ono

Neil Sedaka

Ringo Starr

Rod Stewart

J Paul Getty Jr.

George Burns

Richard Burton

James Cagney

Bill Cosby

Tony Curtis

Neil Diamond

Christopher Reeve

Telly Savalas

Bob Hope

Burt Lancaster

Dean Martin

Paul Newman

Peter Sellers

Sharon Stone

Meryl Streep

Elizabeth Taylor

James Taylor

John Travolta

Twiggy

Liv Ullman

Sir Peter Ustinov

Natalie Wood

And...Millvina Dean, a Titanic survivor.

In the 1990 picture, the Queen arrives to the QE2 on Royal Barge.

The Queen, on Britannia, passed some of the Cunard fleet lined up at anchor outside Southampton for her review.


She then came over by barge and boarded QE2 for lunch and spent part of the afternoon there.

(Photo by Ocean Pictures Ltd)

THE OPEN-AIRE VIEW FORWARD OVER THE BOW



From an old QE2 review by Richard Schmidt:

The teak deck promenade includes a spectacular open-air view forward over the bow, a feature missing on the new Queen Mary 2 (you can look forward, but are confined behind glass windows, shut away from the salt air and the sound of the sea).

I remember standing alone one evening at twilight looking out at the Atlantic as it rolled under the ship, watching the fog slowly envelop the bow and listening to the fog horn sound.

The experience was transcendent.

For a few moments I felt as though I could have been on any ocean liner at any time in the last century.

That one experience alone was worth the price of the passage.