There has been more and more discussion on the boards after the comment that is doing the rounds that the QE2 may be earmarked for eventual sale to Japan for a floating hotel.
This posting caught my eye on cruisecritic, as the poster also speaks about Cunard brochures and trends in the marketing. A topic that I plan or hope to write a book about. I am collecting Cunard brochures from the launch of QE2 onwards. I ahve quite a lot so far!!
Here was the posting by QueensFan: "Hello! I'm a 15-year-old newish CC member (I've been lurking as registered for a few months). As you can tell from my username, I am a fan of all four Queens (QV doesn't count as a queen to me, more like the rebel force that tried to take over the monarchy, but will ultimately fail.), with QE2 my absolute favourite.
I have dreamed of a transatlantic QE2 crossing since I was 10. I have every Cunard brochure from 2000-05, except for a few of the earlier World Cruise ones (still looking!). Every year, when one arrives in the mail, I pour over the pages, dreaming.But I've noticed another thing, when looking back at these brochures. Between 2000-03 (QE2's "golden glory years"), QE2 was always the main focus of the brochures, the cover photo, the most pages. You could really tell she was the greatest in the world, and Cunard really promoted her in the limelight.But then, QM2 came in. At first, with my original QM2 brochure, she seemed like no threat - hey, another Queen to join QE2! But then my 04 brochure came. And I noticed something immediately.As you could say, the adjectives went to QM2. The "glorious" QE2 became "memorable". The "once-in-a-lifetime" experience became "amazing". And all the good ajectives went over to the QM2 section of the brochure, many of them changed into superlatives.
Basically, Carnival/Cunard is killing QE2. She was a powerful revenue source before QM2, pumping in money. Now, they have 100% focus on QM2. They even sold off their "useless" ship, Caronia, going for an "all-Queens" line.
Obviously, Cunard is trying to dump QE2, because she's older and unpopular. But they don't realise that they did this to themselves.
I've noticed that all the complaints about her condition are post-QM2. This just proves it.Carnival/Cunard should wake up to this. If they put a few million into QE2, and start promoting her more, they could recreate her as the cash cow she was before. They have something going with the last classic liner thing. The thing is, this could also never happen.
They've gotten QM2 obsessed. The world is QM2 obsessed. QE2 lost her luster.But I think that, if they really put into it, they could keep her onboard. I could see another 10 years (mechanically) for the ship, maybe even 15. Who knows, I could honeymoon on the QE2 one day. But only if Carnival/Cunard really cares about her.
The latest rumour is that Japan wants her. I think that would be terrible. Although it's better than scrapped, I feel that, when she does retire, she belongs in one of two places: Southampton, her home, or Long Beach, docked next to the Queen Mary.But I'm hoping that that day is long into the future. I'm hoping to see the QE2 in my 2008, 2009, and 2010 Cunard brochures, and not under "Cunarders of the Past" "
