Queen Mary 2

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Queen Mary 2. Queen Mary 2 is owned by the Cunard Line & is the only Ocean liner left in the world. She was built in France at the Chantiers de Atlantique ship yard in Saint- Nazaire. She was at the time the largest cruise passenger ship ever built being the longest & largest ship. She is 1,131.99 ft long with a gross tonnage of 148,528 tons. She is no longer the largest ship ever built but she is still retains the largest Ocean liner. It was designed by Naval architect Stephen Payne who was one of the guest lecturers on board our World cruise who gave Insight talks to passengers on board the World Cruise. He travelled from Southampton to Los Angeles with us as the Queen Mary was making her inaugural transit of the Panama Canal. She was built specifically to handle the frequent rough crossings of the Atlantic Ocean plying back & forth between Southampton & New York as if it were like sailing through a pond. As a passenger you barely notice the rough Ocean. I remember the daily noon announcement from Captain Hashmi saying slight sea swell of 15 Metres. I though good lord that is 45 feet waves but we barely noticed any movement on board. She was Christened by Queen Elizabeth II on 8th of January 2004 & her Maiden voyage took place on the 12th. Next year she is due to have a major refit when extra cabins will be added to deck 12 on the top deck. Some notable facts: • The Queen Mary 2 has the largest library at sea. • She has the Royal Court Theatre where stage productions are performed each evening. • She currently carries a total 2,695 passengers & 1,253 members of crew. • Every afternoon there is served afternoon tea at 3PM when white gloved waiters serve passengers with finger sandwiches, Scones, Jam & clotted cream and delicate pastries & cakes. The afternoon tea is accompanied by a string quartet. • There is a two deck main dining room seating guests at 6pm & 8:30 pm for dinner. • The main lobby in the middle of the ship is over several decks with sweeping stairways. • The ship has Kennel’s on deck 12 housing up to 22 dogs. With a British lamp post & US fire hydrants. • There are over 5,000 works of art around the ship including a 7 metre bronze mural of the original Queen Mary. • There are 8 spare propeller blades at the front of the ship nicknamed the Captains cufflinks. The photo is of the QM2 when we stopped in Manzanillo, Mexico.