10/10/2008

DUBAI'S "LAS VEGAS" PLANS FOR THE QE2: SAD NEWS





















BBC's Transport correspondent Paul Clifton reports about the Dubai's plans for the QE2.

Some details about this "Las Vegas" kind of plans:

"The plans are unlikely to appeal to QE2's traditional fans. Even the iconic silhouette of the world's best-known ship will change.

According to the liner's crew, the new owners in Dubai plan to slice off the giant red funnel, placing it on the waterfront as an entrance to the ship.

In its place will be a four-deck smoked glass penthouse, in the shape of the funnel but with a swimming pool. The idea is to make it the most exclusive hotel room in Dubai.

The lifeboats will all go. And extra rooms will be built on the deck towards the stern.

Inside, every cabin will be ripped out and replaced with new, larger bedrooms that meet the latest standards.

And the ship's engines will be taken out, and the space used to create a new entertainment venue.

"What's happening to the ship is very good," insists Cpt Ian McNaught, QE2's master for the last five years.

"Because the alternatives are so awful. It could go to scrap and disappear. Or it could get run into the ground as an ignominious ferry in some backwater somewhere."

The new owners of QE2 have been travelling on board for weeks, working out their plans.

"They seem to change every day," said one engineering officer."
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