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| Cunard Queen Mary 2 |
The Queen Mary 2 will celebrate 10 years in service and undertake her 8th world cruise / voyage season in 2014. And I am excited that I will be on the ship for a fairly sizeable 38 nights segment of it.
The ship was christened by Queen Elizabeth II on 8 January 2004, and the maiden voyage left Southampton in a flurry of fireworks on 12 January bound for Fort Lauderdale. The maiden voyage lasted 2 weeks, and the ship called at Madeira, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Barbados, St Thomas and finally arrived at Fort Lauderdale in Florida.
The Queen Mary 2's first World Voyage was in 2006 when the ship departed on 10 January for a circumnavigation of South America. This first world voyage was a rocky debut as the ship damaged a pod propeller while leaving Fort Lauderdale. This meant that Commodore Warwick, who was captaining the ship, had to cancel some ports of call as the ship had to travel at reduced speed. This created much upset and reports of unhappy passengers.
On 10 January 2014 the QM2 will leave Southampton for a 119 night world voyage that will take her down round the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, across the Indian Ocean to Perth Australia. She will then circumnavigate Australia before sailing through Asia and the Suez Canal back to Southampton.
I am booked to join the Queen Mary 2 for 38 nights of this 2014 adventure. I will be joining the ship in Sydney after the circumnavigation on Australia, and I will stay on the ship through to Dubai. Dubai being, of course, where the Queen Elizabeth 2 is now based.
By the time I get to Dubai in April 2014, the Queen Elizabeth 2 should have been converted into the luxury floating hotel that was originally planned when the ship was sold to Dubai. You can read more about the latest plans for the QE2 in my posting: “Finally, Plans To Turn the QE2 Into A Luxury Floating Hotel Will Happen”. If it has been converted, and is operating as a hotel by April 2014, I will make sure I spend at least one night there to revisit this iconic ship. I am intrigued to see what the ship will be like post having been converted.
I have booked a Queens Grill Q5 suite number 10058. The bulk of the Q5 suites are on on deck 9, and the balconies are just above the top of the lifeboats. Although they do not restrict your view, I think being on deck 10 is just a bit better as you have a broader and wider view.
The trip is a major cost, but for me (and I assume most people who go on world cruises or major segments) is part of checking off a want list of travel things that I want to do. I look forward to documenting the build up, the trip, destinations and formulating tips and advice for future travellers.
Luckily though I still have another major Cunard adventure to look forward to. At the end of this year I will be on the Queen Mary 2 for 21 nights. This is a crossing on 15 December from Southampton to New York, followed immediately by a cruise down to the Caribbean. I will be spending both Christmas and New Year on board. Returning to New York on 3 January.
I am hoping the crossing is less rocky and turbulent than the one we did on the Queen Elizabeth in December 2004. Read the blog and see the videos of the sea crashing over the bow of the ship: click here
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