Cunard Queen Mary 2 (QM2)

The ship nobody thought they'd make... a real transatlantic ocean liner, now the only one left, the replacement for the 1969 QE2.

Introduction

The Queen Mary 2 is unique.  She is the only transatlantic ocean liner left in service.  She is huge, fast, strong and has numerous unique aspects to her design that define her as an ocean liner rather than just a cruise ship.  She is the longest, widest, fastest, most powerful and most expensive passenger ship afloat.  She is a worthy successor to the 3 legendary earlier Queens.

The beginning...

After arriving in her home port of Southampton on Boxing Day 2003, Queen Mary 2 was named by the Queen on the 8th of January before setting out on her maiden voyage to Florida on the 12th.  She and her sister ship the Queen Elizabeth 2, were the only 2 true ocean Liners left in the world.

In 2004 the two "Queens" came together in a sight not seen since the 1960s:
two high-speed ocean liners, whistles blaring, together in the mid-Atlantic"

QM2's first eastbound Atlantic crossing was on April 25, 2004, when she sailed from New York. And it was a day to witness: With running mate QE2 in the lead to show her the way, the pair departed the Manhattan piers in the afternoon of what was the QE2's last scheduled Atlantic crossing to England. Somewhere mid-Atlantic, the two Cunarders closed the distance between them and the flagship role so long held by the QE2 was symbolically passed to the QM2, which then led her older sister into Southampton.

Detailed Cutaway picture

Detailed side profile

Rob's QM2 Fast Facts:-

• Twice the size of QE2 - even though QE2 was for many years the largest in the world!
   
• The first real Ocean Liner since the late 1960s QE2 (far stronger, faster and more capable than a cruise ship)
   
• Cost 40% more than a cruise ship of the same size.
   
• When built she was the world's Longest, Largest , tallest, most expensive passenger ship ever  (over 150,000 tonnes and over 1130 feet long)
   

• The fastest liner in the world today - a title she inherited from the QE2 when QE2 retired in November 2008.
   

• Not as fast as her 1930s predecessor, or as luxurious and only slightly longer (but much higher and wider)
   

• Features an exact replica of the Queen Mary's whistle, together with one of the original whistles, so that she can be heard on the ocean again (although the original had 3 and they were steam driven not air!).  Note - they sound weird to me though... but nobody's explained why... QE2 sounded far better.
   
• Far more manoeuvrable than the QE2.
   
• Efficient and environmentally friendly with low emissions to air and water
   
• Won't do as many transatlantic crossings as the QE2 did, or as fast as QE2 and her predecessors did them and can't fit through the Panama Canal so can't do world cruises the way that the QE2 did.
   
• Has 4 giant propulsion 'pods', more than any other ship and larger than any other ship too.
   
• 29 knots takes 7 minutes to achieve from rest and she takes 45 minutes to drift to a standstill from that speed.

Some Early artist's impressions:-

Early artists impression

To give you some idea of the immense size

"I'm Ready to go home now" Queen Mary 2 leaves St. Nazaire, December 2003

Click here for News articles I have gathered

Click here for reviews I have gathered from people on board or eyewitnesses

Click here for QM2 Comparisons

Recommended Reading

Websites full of information and actual photos:-

• LIVE Webcam from the QM2's bridge
   

• Sam Warwick's QM2 Website (thanks for the link, Sam!) including Pictures of QE2 and QM2 in New York and of the historic tandem crossing are HERE (QM2.ORG)

• QM2's refits at Blohm & Voss , Hamburg, Germany.

  • 8th to 19th November 2005 - Scheduled Maintenance

  • 6th to 10th May 2006 - Unscheduled Pod Repair

  • 12th to 17th November 2006 - scheduled maintenance

  • 23rd October to 13th November 2008 - scheduled maintenance.  More information on this refit here.
     

• Chris' Cunard Pages
  Highly recommended!
   

• July 2005 - Washington Post review of atlantic crossing.
   

• Peter Hewitt's marvellous photos of the Cunard Queens including QE2 and QM2 together in Southampton.
   

• Cunard's QM2 Pages
   

• Virtual Tour of QM2
   

• "The Way We Went" - QM2 - "For over eighteen months I held a reservation for the January 2004 Maiden Voyage of the largest ocean liner ever built.  These pages are an attempt to capture experience."
   

• Excellent QM2 Information and Photos as part of the Passenger Ship Parade site (look under ship tours).
   

• USA today feature story and audio/photo story of the 1st 5 days of the maiden voyage
   

• Information and excellent photos of each stage of construction, trials and inagaural journeys (The World Ship society)  - see part 6 of the photo essay for latest photos & info.
   

• Cruise Mates - Full Coverage of QM2 including maiden voyage reports
   

• Ship City - full review of QM2 including many excellent photos taken on Jan 10th 2004 (2 days prior to maiden voyage) .
   

• Photos of QM2 in Southampton prior to maiden voyage including interior shots and naming ceremony.
   

• Photos of QM2 arriving in Southampton for first time (26/12/2003)
   

• Southampton Daily Echo - offers great 360 panoramas and publications and photos to buy

• More photos from the shipyard including late-December 03 photos.
  (Marine Merchande)
   

• Photos of QM2 at Vigo, Spain, 24th-25th December 2003 (her first ever port of call, before even Southampton!