The Queen Mary 2 - Ocean Liner

[Hemingway Jones]

I am watching a documentary on The Travel Channel on The Queen Mary 2.

It features how they designed and built it. It also shows how it is outfitted and what the experience of sailing on her is like.

I must say, I thought The Queen Mary 2 was a cruise ship. I was wrong. This is a serious Ocean Liner in the grand tradition. It is 40% more robust than a cruise ship.

They mentioned that in inclement weather, a Cruise Ship has to find a safe port. This ship can handle 100 foot seas and gale force winds with ease. It is designed to do so, turn around and do it again. It has to keep on its schedule like a Liner of the past. It is also the only ship that does a regular passage across the North Atlantic.

It is also the largest in length, height, and gross tonnage, and the widest liner every made. It is so tall that they had to be careful that the funnel would not meet the bottom of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.



The ship produces enough power to light a city of 200,000. It is also designed to be environmentally friendly. It is outfitted to be the most luxurious ship afloat.

I was thoroughly impressed. The documentary changed my mind. I was judging her on looks alone, and even her lines have grown on me.

So, check On-Demand or Tivo it the next time it's on. It is a very good look at this magnificent ship.

 

[Tomasso]

I took a tour of the QM2 in January 2004, she had docked in Ft. Lauderdale after completing her maiden voyage. She's fitted out like a Four Season's Hotel.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

.

What a great opportunity. Were you able to take any photos?

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

Ohh, I'd like to see photos if you have them.
The show was good. It was very interesting to see how they actually put the ship together. It is all modular on the inside.
If anyone has a chance to catch this show, it's worth the one hour. I thought it was very informative. Certainly made me wish I had the $23,000 to take the voyage!

 

[manton]

Back in the early 60s, Cunard designed a replacement for the Queen Mary. The Elizabeth, only four years younger, was so much more advanced that she was expected to stay in service many years longer. The replacement was provisonally called Q3, and was designed to maintain QM's half of the weekly transatlantic service. Back when proposed, around 1929/30, a two-ship weekly service was a revolutionary idea and most thought it could not be done. The average speed required necessitated a huge power plant and massive expense, and thus a large passenger load. However, it was done, and these requirements resulted in the first 1,000 foot, 80,000 ton liners -- the largest ships in the world for many decades.

Anyway, the economics of the North Atlantic liner business deteriorated to the point that Cunard scrapped plans for a pure liner and instead designed Q4 as a summertime liner and rest-of-the-year cruiser. That ship became the QE2. She could still do 28.5 knots or so, with a little reserve power to make up for bad weather. This is less important, however, now that people are crossing more as a lark. Anyone in a hurry will take a plane. Also, there is no two ship weekly schedule to keep up.

QM2 was designed with the same service requirements in mind. And now that she is operating, QE2 has been shifted to pure cruising. There isn't enough business on the North Atlantic to justify two ships making the crossings.

The power plant is not the only thing that distinguishes her from a pure cruiser. She also has a much deeper draft, which keeps her out of some ports, or at least requires her to anchor way off shore and use tenders to put passengers into port. And the hull is quite a bit more sophisticated (double layers, etc) to take the rigors of the North Atlantic.

Even so, the older Queens were tougher: rivited, not welded, among other differences. They had to ply the North Atlantic in winter, something the younger Queens never do. However, when designed, the old Queens were not equipped for crusing at all; Cunard had really not thought about cruising. Neither ship had air conditioning. It was later added to QE, but QM never got it. And their drafts -- about 40 feet -- were much too deep for most tropical ports. Plus, three class ships don't work so well as cruisers.