From 3rd. to 20th. February 2007, I joined Queen Mary 2's innaugral world cruise for the San Francisco to Sydney leg. Seeing the ship for the first time "in the flesh", I was astounded by her size. While I hardly find her attractive externally, her accommodation is beautiful. On arrival in Sydney, I stayed overnight in order to see QE2 arrive that evening. It was an amazing sight, not just because of the ships but also because of the millions of people who flocked to the harbour side to see the spectacle.
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| My first sight of QM2 as she arrived in San Francisco on her maiden call, 2nd. February, 2007. |
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| The restored liberty ship Jeremiah O'Brian sailed out under the Golden Gate Bridge to greet the QM2. |
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| Passing Alcatraz Island on the way to her berth. |
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| I took this photo as I embarked on 3rd. February. |
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| My very comfortable cabin with 'in hull' balcony. |
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| The alleyway outside my cabin. |
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| Dawn Princess can be seen at an adjacent pier as she was about to sail on an Alaska cruise. |
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| Crowds at the wharf entrance to see the ship sail at midnight. |
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| At sea, en route to Honolulu. |
Honolulu
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| Approaching the entrance to Honolulu harbour. |
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| The figurehead on the Falls of Clyde sailing ship at Honolulu Maritime Museum. |
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| This photo, taken from the Aloha tower, gives an idea of the size of the ship. |
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| Honolulu container terminal. |
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| Bunkering in progress. |
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| The Cunard house flag at the stem jack. |
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| Waikiki in the evening sun. |
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| Early evening sailing from Honolulu. |
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| There is a large model of the ship behind the bar in the Commodore Club lounge. |
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| The Commodore Club lounge by day. |
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| The cavernous Britannia Dining Room. |
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| The Chart Room bar. |
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| The ship has a large library and bookshop. |
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| I was honoured to meet and have a couple of meals with the world famous maritime author and speaker, Bill Miller from New Jersey. As well as being great company, he's an extremely knowledgeable, competent and entertaining speaker. His talks were always full. |
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| The ship's lobby. |
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| There many interesting displays of Cunard memorobilia around the ship, including a montage of previous captains and a photo of a bell boys' inspection on the original Queen Mary. |
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| As on other Cunard ships, there are many paintings of the early fleet at the stairwells. |
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| The Winter garden lounge. |
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| The Queens Grill lounge. |
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| The Queens Grill restaurant. |
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| A table setting in the Queens Grill. |
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| The Princess Grill restaurant. |
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| Sculptures outside the auditorium / planetarium. |
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| Portraits in the Queens Room ballroom. |
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| Afternoon tea in the ballroom. |
Pago Pago.
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| Arriving at Pago Pago, American Samoa. |
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| (L-R) the Staff Captain, the local pilot and the Captain (at the controls). |
Sailing from Pago Pago.
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| Because the ship is too big to turn round off the berth, she had to be backed out of the harbour. A very interesting manouvre, it was pre-programmed into one of the ship's computers by the deck officers. |
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| Morning at sea from my balcony. |
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| The midships pool with a retractable roof was a very comfortable spot, especially on a very hot day when the roof was closed and the air conditioning was running. |
I was indeed fortunate to be one of the very few passengers to be invited to visit the bridge.
Arrival Auckland.
Departure Auckland.
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| Passengers gathered on the after decks to watch a fireworks display. |
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| Many small craft on Auckland harbour to see us off. |
Some shots on the promenade deck.
Arrival Sydney.
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| Because the ship is too long to fit on the Circular Quay terminal and too high to pass under Sydney Harbour Bridge, she has to berth at the Garden Island navy base at Woolloomooloo. |
On the evening of our arrival QE2 arrived from Melbourne, to great fanfare. Later the same evening, QM2 sailed for Hong Kong.
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| QE2 at Circular Quay from my hotel room at the Intercontinental. |
