Sailing in style

The National - Port Moresby,Papua New Guinea

http://www.thenational.com.pg/032607/w5.htm

By ELIZABETH VUVU

A floating five star hotelNow that's how I would describe the super liner, Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) that sailed into Rabaul's Simpson Harbour on March 1.

Workers, students and the general public hurried to the Ahtam wharf to catch a glimpse of the massive Scottish made vessel.

The QE2, one of the world's largest and fastest ships is owned by one of the most famous passenger shipping company in the world- Cunard.

Beforehand, a delegation consisting of the media, me included, Rabaul town mayor and town manager were told that we would not be allowed on board because of security measures against terrorism.
But we got to the Ahtam wharf, and were delighted when told that there was a change of plans as we were given the green light to tour the ship.

QE2 which is 293.5 metres (963 feet) in length with a breadth of 32 metres (105 feet) was too big to dock at the Rabaul wharf.

We got on one of the ferries that was transporting passengers to the wharf and sailed to the vessel which was anchored out of the harbour.

Security checks at the entrance into the QE2 was understandable as terrorism could not be downplayed with a vessel such as this.

Our bags and even our ID's were scanned before we were given clearance to begin our tour of the ship.
For the next four hours Senior Cruise Staff, Thomas Quinones awed us with various rooms and features of this impressive vessel.

There was the Casino room if you wanted to play a traditional game of Blackjack, the Theatre for the latest movies, the Ocean Bookshop & Library for bookworms, the Queens Room- the place where the Captain welcomes everybody, the Greenery Flower Shop to get fresh flowers for that special someone, a Tour and Travel Office, a Karaoke room, the Yacht Club and Funnel Bar to boogey the night away, a Museum displaying items dated back to the 19th century, a Medical Consulting Room, Photo gallery, Hair and Beauty Salon, Computer Learning Centre, Foreign Exchange Service, to name a few.
I lost count of the number of decks we visited but our tour ended at the topmost deck where we found tourists either swimming in or lounging by an enormous saltwater pool.

We were overwhelmed and a bit exhausted by the tour and felt proud that a vessel of such magnificence had docked in our harbour.

The ferry ride back to the wharf was breathtaking as we took in the scenery, including the smoking Mt Tavurvur in the backdrop, the Beehives and smaller vessels lined up on the dock. These are geographical natural beauty features of our province that we take for granted.

Mr Quinones urged people in ENB to be happy to be living in their own island, describing the view of Rabaul as spectacular.