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Home > Ocean Liners > Queen Mary 2 (QM2) > QM2 News (Pre Float Out) > April 2001 Guardian piece on QM2

The Guardian newspaper, April 2001

From The Guardian

Here she comes, monarch of the line, the new QM2 (Queen Mary 2), at 150,000 tonnes, the "grandest and largest liner ever built" according to Cunard.

This mighty vessel will cost as much as the British Library, cover 3.5
acres, sit 200-ft high above the water and carry 2,630 passengers. Herculean 140,000 shaft horse power engines will see her cut through the ocean waves at an impressive 35knots.

The QM2 will be the first new liner for Cunard since the launch of the QE2 33 years ago. Even though the idea of a cruise fills me with blue-permed, Pringle-jumpered, grey Velcro-shoed horror, I wish the QM2 bon voyage . The sight of a great ship putting out to sea is
never less than inspiring.

But have you seen the "artist's drawings" of the ship's interiors? I do not know who this anonymous artist is, but the style is unmistakable. The airbrushed look typically shows the sort of people who enjoyed fondue parties in the 70s strolling across acres of naff swirly carpet, past shiny teak-style bars, under ceilings studded with dazzling pinpoint downlighters.

The trouble is that our mysterious artist is never less than painfully close to the truth. Those horrid illustrations probably depict quite faithfully the ballroom and hideous "duplex apartments" (whatever happened to cabins?) to be installed in the capacious depths of the QM2. It is a great disappointment. Most travel in 2000 is banal; surely we might expect a new liner to offer dreams, fantasy and delight? Think of all the really talented architects and designers around the world who could make the QM2 the most stylish large ship to sail since the Normandie, or even the old Queen Mary herself.

Quite why new cruise ships are so banal is hard to say. Perhaps their most loyal customers do like a nice bit of bilious swirly carpet and lots of second-rate hotel design. So until the cruise lines decide to make a play for people like you and me, I'm afraid the only way to prepare for the launch of the QM2 is to stock up on the grey shoes, Pringle jumpers and plastic-framed prints of horses splashing through the foam.

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