QE2’s final voyage: Do you have memories to share?
So you only just heard that the Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2), arguably the best-known passenger ship in the world, is making its last voyage? Don’t even think about getting last-minute tickets: The final 16-night trip from Southampton, England, to Dubai that begins on Nov. 11 sold out last year just 35 minutes after booking opened.
If you are in New York on Thursday (Oct. 16) and get up at 4:45 a.m., you can watch the arriving QE2 and the Queen Mary 2 sail under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge; at 5:30, they’ll pass the Statue of Liberty. That evening, at 5 p.m., both ships are scheduled to depart, amid fanfare, on what will be the QE2’s final transatlantic crossing to England.
Cunard sold the QE2 to a firm in Dubai for $100 million last year. The company plans to anchor the ship and open it as a tourist attraction.
Do you have any memories to share about your voyage on the QE2? Click here to upload photos or videos. We’d love to hear from you.
–Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Times staff writer
[Photo: QE2 at the Firth of Clyde in Great Britain. Paul Barker/AFP/Getty Images]
5 Comments on “QE2’s final voyage: Do you have memories to share?”
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October 15th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Hi, Mary!
This is my first cross with the Grand Dame of the Seas.
So I decided to write a blog about her LAST CROSSING.
Enjoy it
http://qe2thelastcrossing.blogspot.com/
October 15th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I have sailed on the “Grande old Dame of the Seas” many times and will be on her final voyage to Dubai in a few days. While I have enjoyed Queen Mary 2 and the new Queen Victoria there is no ship in the world that is as well known and has the beautiful lines that QE2 does. You feel as though you are on a ship. I hope Dubai does right her.
October 15th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Hi Mary,
I am a travel agent in Columbus Ohio. My most favorite client will also be sailing on The Queen Elizabeth 2 final voyage to Dubai. This will be Barbara’s 23rd Cunard sailing, (most have been on QE2). I always look forward to her return when she tells me the stories of her adventures. There are always colorful tales about the characters or celebrities on board. My client was on the QE2’s last transatlantic in tandum with the new Queen Mary, and then turned around and returned to the states on The Queen Mary. I wish you all a terrific trip with many wonderful memories. If you happen to encounter a woman from Columbus named Barbara, tell her Holly and Lucy (her dog) say hi. She would love it.
October 16th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I will miss her greatly. I have many memories of this great dame of the sea. But there are two that really stand out.
The first is when I was young boy, (sometime in the early 80’s) my family and I went down to San Pedro to visit the QE2 when she was in port for the day. She was stopping here as part of her world cruise. My father actually bribed the security guard with a 6-pack of beer to let us on board! (Ah, the days of lax security.) I gave my family a tour as I had been studying the layout of the ships for months. The photos we took that day are of my all time favorites. It was very difficult to leave the ship that day. I never dreamed I would ever one day sail on her…
Then we… flash forward to 2001. In July, I was lucky enough to have sailed aboard the QE2 from NYC to Southampton. We sailed in a Queens Grill cabin so I got to see what dining in the Queens Grill was all about. Julia Child and Terrance Stamps were both sailing on that voyage and it was nice to meet them whilst on board. Mrs. Child loved her gin and tonics before dinner!
But now this is all a memory. I am glad the body of this ship will live on in Dubai. However her spirit and her legacy will have to live on in the hearts and minds of her faithful fans.
She is truly is the last great ocean liner. She will be missed dearly.
October 27th, 2008 at 7:51 am
I’m also on the QE2’s final sailing to Dubai, I was on the QM2 for my honeymoon 2004 (a lovely surprise from my husband) and now we are bring our 22 month son. He loves trains at the moment but I think that might all change next month.