"Queen Elizabeth 2 Queen Elizabeth 2, often referred to simply as QE2, is a floating hotel and retired ocean liner built for the Cunard Line which was operated by Cunard as both a transatlantic liner and a cruise ship from 1969 to 2008. Since 18 April 2018 she has been operating as a floating hotel in Dubai. QE2 was designed for the transatlantic service from her home port of Southampton, UK, to New York, and was named after the earlier Cunard liner . She served as the flagship of the line from 1969 until succeeded by in 2004. Designed in"
"first class passengers the theatre balcony on Boat Deck, while tourist class used the orchestra level on Upper Deck. Over the span of her thirty-nine-year seagoing career, ""QE2"" has had a number of interior refits and alterations. The year she came into service, 1969, was also the year of the Apollo 11 mission, when the Concorde's prototype was unveiled, and the previous year Stanley Kubrick's film """" premiered. In keeping with those times, originally Cunard broke from the traditional interiors of their previous liners for ""QE2"", especially the Art Deco style of the previous ""Queens"". Instead modern materials like plastic"
"the ship was given a multimillion-pound refurbishment in Hamburg code named Project Lifestyle. On 11 September 1995, ""QE2"" encountered a rogue wave, estimated at , caused by Hurricane Luis in the North Atlantic Ocean about 200 miles south of eastern Newfoundland. One year later, during her twentieth world cruise, she completed her four millionth mile. The ship had sailed the equivalent of 185 times around the planet. ""QE2"" celebrated the 30th anniversary of her maiden voyage in Southampton in 1999. In three decades she had 1,159 voyages, sailed and carried over two million passengers. Following the 1998 acquisition of the"
"and completed 806 transatlantic crossings. Her final voyage from Southampton to Dubai began on 11 November 2008, arriving on 26 November in a flotilla of 60 smaller vessels, led by MY ""Dubai"", the personal yacht of Sheikh Mohammed, ruler of Dubai, in time for her official handover the following day. She was greeted with a fly-past from an Emirates Airbus A380 jet and a huge fireworks display, while thousands of people gathered at the Mina Rashid, waving the flags of the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. Since her arrival in Dubai ""QE2"" has remained moored at Port Rashid."
"RMS Queen Mary 2 RMS ""Queen Mary 2 (also referred to as the QM2"") is a transatlantic ocean liner. She is the largest passenger ship built for the Cunard Line since ""Queen Elizabeth 2"" in 1969, the vessel she succeeded as flagship of the line. As of 2018, ""Queen Mary 2"" is the only passenger ship operating as an ocean liner. The new ship was named ""Queen Mary 2"" by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004 after the first of 1936. ""Queen Mary"" was in turn named after Mary of Teck, consort of King George V. With the retirement of ""Queen"
"first-class cabins amidships, with the added amenity of large portholes, electricity and running water. The size of ocean liners increased from 1880 to meet the needs of the human migration to the United States and Australia. Launched in 1938, was the largest passenger steamship ever built. Launched in 1969, (QE2) was the last passenger steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean on a scheduled liner voyage before she was converted to diesels in 1986. The last major passenger ship built with steam turbines was the ""Fairsky"", launched in 1984, later Atlantic Star, reportedly sold to Turkish shipbreakers in 2013. Most luxury"
"cruise ships. The original construction budget was ₤22 million, but soon costs began to increase, which lead to the decision to reduce the number of boilers from four to three. The interior and superstructure for the QE2 was designed by James Gardner. His design for the ocean liner was described by The Council of Industrial Design as that of a ""very big yacht"" and with a ""look [that was] sleek, modern and purposeful"". At the time of retirement, the ship had a gross tonnage of 70,327 and was long. ""QE2"" had a top speed of with her original steam turbines;"
"left Southampton Docks for the final time at 1915 GMT on 11 November 2008, to begin her farewell voyage by the name of """"QE2""s Final Voyage"". After purchasing her for US$100 million her ownership passed to Nakheel Properties, a company of Dubai World, on 26 November. The decommissioning of the ship was particularly poignant for ""Queen Elizabeth 2""s only permanent resident, Beatrice Muller, aged 89, who lived on board in retirement for fourteen years, at a cost of some £3,500 (~€4,300, ~$5,400) per month. At the time of her retirement, ""QE2"" had sailed 5.6 million miles, carried 2.5 million passengers"
"the installation of ""scrubbers"" and exhaust gas filters to reduce emissions. RMS Queen Mary 2 RMS ""Queen Mary 2 (also referred to as the QM2"") is a transatlantic ocean liner. She is the largest passenger ship built for the Cunard Line since ""Queen Elizabeth 2"" in 1969, the vessel she succeeded as flagship of the line. As of 2018, ""Queen Mary 2"" is the only passenger ship operating as an ocean liner. The new ship was named ""Queen Mary 2"" by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004 after the first of 1936. ""Queen Mary"" was in turn named after Mary of"
"modern accounts continue to publish that the ""QE2"" was named after the reigning monarch, in 2001 and 2008. Cunard continued the two-suffix naming practice introduced with ""QE2"" with the launch of the new ocean liner in 2003, named after the previous ""Queen Mary""; however, the suffix '2' was required because of the continued existence of the TS ""Queen Mary"". The TS ""Queen Mary"" too had for a period been known as the TS ""Queen Mary II"" in a deal with Cunard that allowed Cunard to use 'Queen Mary' without suffix for their ocean liner. However, when Cunard announced that its"
"Cunard's then headquarters and regional offices in Liverpool and Southampton respectively, and built in Clydebank, Scotland, ""QE2"" was considered the last of the great transatlantic ocean liners until ""Queen Mary 2"" entered service. The QE2 was also the last oil-fired passenger steamship to cross the Atlantic in scheduled liner service until she was refitted with a modern diesel powerplant in 1986/1987. During almost forty years of service, ""Queen Elizabeth 2"" undertook regular world cruises and later operated predominantly as a cruise ship, sailing out of Southampton, England. ""QE2"" had no running mate and never ran a year-round weekly transatlantic express"
"Cunard Line by Carnival Corporation, in 1999 ""QE2"" was given a US$30 million refurbishment which included refreshing various public rooms, and a new colour palette in the passenger cabins. The Royal Promenade, which formerly housed upscale shops such as Burberry, H. Stern and Aquascutum, were replaced by boutiques typical of cruise ships, selling perfumes, watches and logo items. During this refit the hull was stripped to bare metal, and the ship repainted in the traditional Cunard colours of matte black (Federal Grey) with a white superstructure. On 29 August 2002, ""Queen Elizabeth 2"" became the first merchant ship to sail"
"of 18 knots. Her initial configuration provided accommodation for 287 1st class, 504 2nd class and 848 3rd class passengers. The ocean liner was initially launched as SS ""Alsatian"" on 22 March 1912. She sailed from Liverpool on her maiden voyage to Saint John, New Brunswick for the Allan Line on 17 January 1914. On 22 May 1914, set out on her first trans-Atlantic crossing from Liverpool to Quebec. Her last voyage that summer began on 17 July 1914; and when she returned to Europe, the nascent war in Europe brought a close to this truncated peacetime period of the"
"original ""Queen Mary"" and ""Queen Elizabeth"" served as troop ships in 1941. On 18 June 2007, it was announced by Cunard that ""QE2"" had been purchased by the Dubai investment company Istithmar for $100 million. Her retirement, in part, was forced by the oncoming June 2010 implementation of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulations, which would have forced large and expensive structural changes to the ship. In a ceremonial display before her retirement, ""Queen Elizabeth 2"" met the and ""Queen Mary 2"" near the Statue of Liberty in New York City harbour on 13"
"7 October 2008, where she anchored in the shadow of the Forth Bridge. The next day, following an RAF flypast, she left amidst a flotilla of small craft to head to Newcastle upon Tyne, before returning to Southampton. QE2-South Queensferry.jpg ""QE2"" completed her final Atlantic crossing from New York to Southampton in tandem with her successor, ""QM2"". The two liners departed New York on 16 October and arrived in Southampton on 22 October. This marked the end of ""QE2""s transatlantic voyages. On her final arrival into Southampton, ""QE2"" (on 11 November 2008, with 1,700 passengers and 1,000 crew on board)"
"service to New York. ""QE2"" did, however, continue the Cunard tradition of regular scheduled transatlantic crossings every year of her service life. ""QE2"" was never given a Royal Mail Ship designation, instead carrying the SS and later MV or MS prefixes in official documents. ""QE2"" was retired from active Cunard service on 27 November 2008. She had been acquired by the private equity arm of Dubai World, which planned to begin conversion of the vessel to a 500-room floating hotel moored at the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai. The 2008 financial crisis, however, intervened and the ship was laid up at Dubai"
"cheaper. The move allowed the QE2 to sail directly to the Caribbean during the peak winter season once renovations were complete. During the mid-1980s, Bahna also oversaw the QE2's transformation from steam power to diesel power, which added an estimated 20 years to the lifespan of the ship. Bahna is credited not only with saving the QE2, but also with shaping the modern cruise industry itself. Bahna oversaw Cunard's acquisition of Norwegian America Line in 1983. In 1986, Bahna spearheaded Cunard's purchase of two cruise ships, the Sea Goddess I and Sea Goddess I, from Norske Cruise. Bahna also pioneered"
"first world cruise, circumnavigating the globe in 107 days. (The first ship to have previously done so—also named ""Victoria""—took 1,153 days in 1519 to 1522.) The first leg of this voyage was a tandem crossing of the Atlantic with , to New York City, where the two ships met ""Queen Mary 2"" near the Statue of Liberty on 13 January 2008, with a celebratory fireworks display, marking the first time three Cunard ""Queens"" had been present in the same location. Cunard declared that this would also be the only time the three ships would ever meet, owing to the ""QE2's"""
"Hotels, a division of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, which is owned by the Dubai government. The name of the liner as it appears on the bow and stern is ""Queen Elizabeth 2"", with upper and lower case lettering and an Arabic numeral 2 as opposed to the Roman numeral II. As such, it is commonly pronounced in speech as ""Queen Elizabeth Two"". Soon after launching, the name was shortened in common use as ""QE2"". In 1934, ""Queen Mary"" was named by and after Mary of Teck and in 1938 ""Queen Elizabeth"" was named by and after Elizabeth"
"maiden voyage on 26 July. She was shorter than the ""Oceanic"" but was still longer than the ""Great Eastern"". After ""Celtic"" was completed, she was the biggest ship in the world at 21,035 gross tons. The project was followed by the , which was launched on 21 August 1902 and made her maiden voyage on 11 February 1903. At the time she was launched she was the biggest moving object ever built at 21,073 gross tons. The project was followed by the , which was launched on 21 November 1903 and made her maiden voyage on 29 June 1904. She"
"in the United States. The ship's maiden voyage took place on 1 February 1872, from Liverpool to New York City, stopping at Queenstown. This trip damaged the ship; a rainstorm flooded the engine room and boiler room, and a lifeboat was damaged, seriously injuring a sailor. This incident led White Star Line to reconsider their routes, and they found that ships with the most freedom of movement rarely suffered damage. At the end of 1872, all six Oceanic class ships were in service, but White Star Line only required five. Ismay attempted to compete with the Pacific Steam Navigation Company"
"a dry berthed hotel on Bintan Island, Indonesia. Post-war ocean liners that are preserved are (1952), docked in Philadelphia since 1996; (1958), moored in Rotterdam as a museum and hotel since 2008; and ""Queen Elizabeth 2"" (1967), floating luxury hotel and museum at Mina Rashid, Dubai since 2018. Two former ocean liners remain in service as cruise ships operating under Cruise & Maritime Voyages, these ship are: (1965) (former MS ""Alexandr Pushkin""), and (1948), originally which is famous for colliding with in 1956. Since their beginning in the 19th century, ocean liners must meet growing demands. The first liners were"
"people lined the river banks to witness the spectacle. In September 2017 the ship hosted a special commemorative cruise to honour the 50th anniversary of its predecessor the QE2. The Mediterranean cruise was chosen to pay tribute to QE2's role as a cruise ship. Special guests include Captain Ian McNaught, Commodore Ronald Warwick, Maritime Historian Chris Frame and QE2 Social Hostess Maureen Ryan. ""Queen Elizabeth"" will spend an extended season in Australia in 2019. MS Queen Elizabeth MS ""Queen Elizabeth"" (QE) is a cruise ship of the Vista class operated by the Cunard Line. The design is modified from that"
"cruise terminal. It is not known whether these recent moves are connected with any of the publicly known plans regarding the ships fate. Between May and August 2016, observers noted that the ship's lifeboats were lowered and stored on a nearby car park. Following this, the lifeboat davits were removed in September, giving the ship an altered profile on her Boat Deck. Subsequently the wooden decking has been removed from this deck and replaced by synthetic block flooring. September 2017 marked the 50th anniversary of QE2's launch. To mark the occasion, Cunard Line, the ship's former owners, arranged a commemorative"
"a lifeboat. The crew members involved were dismissed from service. On 5 November 2004, ""Queen Elizabeth 2"" became Cunard's longest serving express liner, surpassing the RMS ""Aquitania""s 35 years, while on 4 September 2005, during a call to the port of Sydney, Nova Scotia, ""QE2"" became the longest serving Cunarder, surpassing the s record. On 20 February 2007 ""Queen Elizabeth 2"", while on her annual world cruise, met her running mate and successor flagship ""QM2"" (herself on her maiden world cruise) in Sydney Harbour, Australia. This was the first time two Cunard ""Queens"" had been together in Sydney since the"
"delayed her completion until 1922. She made her maiden voyage in April 1924. At the time, she was the German merchant marine's largest, fastest ocean liner. She measured 32,581 gross tonnage, was long with 1,750 cabins for luxury, first, second and tourist class passengers. Her maximum speed was 23 knots. ""She had been chartered for a number of years by Cooks Travel Agency in New York and cruised into West Indian waters about every two weeks with occasional trips around South America and Africa."" She was one of the first liners to have an outside swimming pool installed on her"
"Captain of ""QE2"", ""QM2"" and a retired Commodore of the Cunard Line) was initially employed by V-Ships (who have managed ""QE2"" since Cunard handed her over) as the vessel's legal master, but has subsequently been replaced by other V-Ships captains. Since 2009, she has been captained by William Cooper. It was anticipated that ""QE2"" would be moved to the Dubai Drydocks sometime in 2009 to begin a series of far-reaching refurbishments which would result in her being converted into a floating hotel however, no confirmed destination for the QE2's retirement and reopening has been announced. Due to the 2008 global"
"was settled on - a reference to both the former Elizabeth I of England (who was nicknamed Oriana) and the recently crowned Queen Elizabeth II. ""Oriana's"" maiden voyage was from Southampton to Sydney in December 1960, during this voyage the ""Oriana"" was the first Ocean liner to berth at the Fremantle Passenger Terminal. At 41,915 gross tons and with capacity for more than 2,000 passengers in two classes (first and tourist), ""Oriana"" was briefly the largest passenger liner in service on the UK to Australia and New Zealand route, until the introduction of the 45,733 ton SS ""Canberra"" in 1961."
"for 8.7% of that company's revenue in 2012. In 2004, ""QE2"" was replaced on the transatlantic runs by ""Queen Mary 2"" (""QM2""). The line also operates ""Queen Victoria"" (""QV"") and ""Queen Elizabeth"" (""QE""). At the moment, Cunard is the only shipping company to operate a scheduled passenger service between Europe and North America. The British Government started operating monthly mail brigs from Falmouth, Cornwall, to New York in 1756. These ships carried few non-governmental passengers and no cargo. In 1818, the Black Ball Line opened a regularly scheduled New York–Liverpool service with clipper ships, beginning an era when American sailing"
"was a slightly larger ship, the largest passenger liner ever built at that time and for 56 years thereafter. She also has the distinction of being the largest-ever riveted ship by gross tonnage. She first entered service in February 1940 as a troopship in World War II, and it was not until October 1946 that she served in her intended role as an ocean liner. With the decline in the popularity of the transatlantic route, both ships were replaced by the smaller, more economical ""Queen Elizabeth 2"" in 1969. ""Queen Mary"" was retired from service on 9 December 1967, and"
"the name reverted to the Cunard Line in 1950. Upon the end of the Second World War, Cunard regained its position as the largest Atlantic passenger line. By the mid-1950s, it operated 12 ships to the United States and Canada. After 1958, transatlantic passenger ships became increasingly unprofitable because of the introduction of jet airliners. Cunard withdrew from its year-round service in 1968 to concentrate on cruising and summer transatlantic voyages for vacationers. The Queens were replaced by ""Queen Elizabeth 2"" (""QE2""), which was designed for the dual role. In 1998 Cunard was acquired by the Carnival Corporation, and accounted"
"of whom spent sometime at sea. William Warwick Captain William ""Bil"" Warwick, CBE was a merchant sailor and the Master of Cunard's ""Queen Elizabeth 2"" (QE2), the first person to hold that position. He was born on 12 November 1912 in Birkenhead, England. He appeared as a ""castaway"" on the BBC Radio programme ""Desert Island Discs"" on 18 September 1967. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1971. He died on 27 February 1999. His son, Captain Ronald Warwick, was a master of the QE2 later on in the ships time in Cunard"
"that ""Queen Elizabeth 2"" would return to the UK as an operating Cruise Ship. However, on 20 July 2009 the current owners Nakheel confirmed rumours that ""QE2"" will reposition to Cape Town for use as a floating Hotel. On 24 June 2009, ""QE2"" made her first journey after nearly eight months of inactivity since the liner arrived in Dubai. She manoeuvered under her own power into the Dubai Drydocks for inspection and hull repainting before her (then planned) voyage to Cape Town's V&A Waterfront to serve there as a floating hotel for the FIFA World Cup 2010 and beyond. On"