Home > Ocean Liners > QE2 > Me & QE2 > QE2 Shakedown Cruise, April 1987 > Exterior Photos
Exterior shots of QE2 from her April 1987 post-refit Shakedown Cruise
Arrival in Bremen
This is my Mum and I arriving in Bremen. Everyone on the plane was heading for QE2 - it was a special flight - and everyone was very excited. We were all family of the associated companies and were mostly people who otherwise would not be able to afford a trip on the worlds most luxurious liner!
This is my Mum and I arriving in Bremen. Everyone on the plane was heading for QE2 - it was a special flight - and everyone was very excited. We were all family of the associated companies and were mostly people who otherwise would not be able to afford a trip on the worlds most luxurious liner!
Boarding QE2
Unlike normal QE2 passengers, we had to board using this scary gangplank! QE2 was in a shipyard where she had been refitted, and there were no passenger facilities there. At the top of this gangplank we suddenly appeared in the beautiful midships lounge and were welcomed onbaord by stewards and there was a pianist playing on the grand piano.
Unlike normal QE2 passengers, we had to board using this scary gangplank! QE2 was in a shipyard where she had been refitted, and there were no passenger facilities there. At the top of this gangplank we suddenly appeared in the beautiful midships lounge and were welcomed onbaord by stewards and there was a pianist playing on the grand piano.
Crowds line the banks as QE2 leaves Bremerhaven
This is a dreadful photo - I was only 14 and had a cheap camera that couldn't cope with anything except strong sunlight! There were crowds thronging the banks all the way, cheering and waving. The river was VERY narrow in places and it sometimes felt like the QE2 would get stuck! We went through towns where everything had stopped to watch the worlds most famous ship go by.
This is a dreadful photo - I was only 14 and had a cheap camera that couldn't cope with anything except strong sunlight! There were crowds thronging the banks all the way, cheering and waving. The river was VERY narrow in places and it sometimes felt like the QE2 would get stuck! We went through towns where everything had stopped to watch the worlds most famous ship go by.
This is my Mum and at the stern of the QE2 - Note the thick fog which is hiding the QE2's brand new funnel and the lifebelt which is not where it should have been!
Standing above the Magradome on boat deck, with "Alpha", one of QE2's tenders behind me.
The QE2's forward mast which also functions as a secondary funnel, ventilating the kitchens below. You can see the enormous whistles at the front.
The view over the bows. Unlike the film Titanic, this is as close as you can get!
This view was also available via the in-cabin television which was cool.
This view was also available via the in-cabin television which was cool.
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This is me trying to look QE2 cool! Still a thick fog surrounded the ship...
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The new funnel
A close-up shot of QE2's brand new funnel for her Diesel engines from beneath one of the lifeboats. Actually, the new funnel used some of the plating from the old funnel and you can still see the blisters caused by the engine room fire in 1974. |
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Painters
It was a shakedown cruise and the ship was not finished throughout our time on board! As you can see here they were still varnishing the handrails - nice work if you can get it! The guy here looked exactly like Charlton Heston... My Dad associated more with the people working on the ship, than the passengers, and often disappeared down below to see what was going on.
My Dad, another painter, and I on deck. I love the effect of the filtered light through the lifeboats above along this deck.
It was a shakedown cruise and the ship was not finished throughout our time on board! As you can see here they were still varnishing the handrails - nice work if you can get it! The guy here looked exactly like Charlton Heston... My Dad associated more with the people working on the ship, than the passengers, and often disappeared down below to see what was going on.
My Dad, another painter, and I on deck. I love the effect of the filtered light through the lifeboats above along this deck.
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Painters
An army of painters & decorators were onboard throughout our time with QE2 making sure she was 5 star ready for her first "real" cruise. Far right here you can see the Steinway piano case (as seen in other photos here) and the newly fitted outdoor jacuzzis next to the pool.
An army of painters & decorators were onboard throughout our time with QE2 making sure she was 5 star ready for her first "real" cruise. Far right here you can see the Steinway piano case (as seen in other photos here) and the newly fitted outdoor jacuzzis next to the pool.
Nice photo - shame about the dirty window This window could do with a wash - and thats what it got - see last photo below!
Yacht Club's Steinway Piano Case
This was the case for the glass Steinway piano which had just been fitted in the new Yacht Club bar. My eyes were watering because there was a cold salty wind hitting my face!
This was the case for the glass Steinway piano which had just been fitted in the new Yacht Club bar. My eyes were watering because there was a cold salty wind hitting my face!
My Dad had been a regular visitor to the QE2 as part of his job with her builders, John Browns, but this was to be his last ever trip with her. With her modern diesel engines, his involvement was over.
Exercise in style on QE2 Exercising on sports deck (?) This view has changed a lot 12 years on - the motor launches are gone as is the magradome and the pool within, and presumably they've shifted the steinway case by now too!
The Heli-Pad
Could do with a coat of paint!
Could do with a coat of paint!
Southampton - QE2's first ever visit with Diesel engines
I ran out of the baggage collection area to take these photographs - she looks so much more impressive from outside than inside!
I ran out of the baggage collection area to take these photographs - she looks so much more impressive from outside than inside!
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Window Cleaners
As shown in the earlier pictures, the window cleaners got to work - and much needed they were too after the ship had spent months being refitted in a shipyard.
I believe the new putting green was behind those windows.
As shown in the earlier pictures, the window cleaners got to work - and much needed they were too after the ship had spent months being refitted in a shipyard.
I believe the new putting green was behind those windows.
