Cruise Talk: QM2 in Sydney Australia 2/20/07

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»	Cruise Talk » Ocean Liners and Classic Cruise Ships » QM2 in Sydney Australia 2/20/07

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Topic: QM2 in Sydney Australia 2/20/07

dmwnc1
Cruise Director
Member # 3785

posted 02-18-2007 11:01 PM

We are less than 18 hours away from her GRAND arrival...any of our Aussie friends going to be there?

Take LOTS of pictures!!!

Are there any web cams that we can watch the arrival on other the the QM2's cam?

[ 02-18-2007: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

Posts: 5650 | From: Clarksburg WV | Registered: Apr 2003 | IP: Logged

dmwnc1
Cruise Director
Member # 3785

posted 02-19-2007 07:31 AM

Now that the big day is here...

CURRENT SYDNEY TIME http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=240

I'll be at work when this happens so everyone please grab webshots and take lots of pics down under!

[ 02-19-2007: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

Posts: 5650 | From: Clarksburg WV | Registered: Apr 2003 | IP: Logged

sslewis
First Class Passenger
Member # 3649

posted 02-19-2007 08:55 AM

Amazing that QM2 calles at Sydney a few days after Australia day!
How is it celebrated?
Are there many Australians among the crew??

Posts: 2513 | From: Shipspotting Solent shores when weather allows.... | Registered: Feb 2003 | IP: Logged

PamM
First Class Passenger
Member # 2127

posted 02-19-2007 11:02 AM

But it's President's Day today I believe.. maybe to mix the 2 together

Pam

Posts: 12176 | From: Cambridge, UK | Registered: Jun 2001 | IP: Logged

SydneyBoy
First Class Passenger
Member # 2543

posted 02-19-2007 03:55 PM

Hi Everyone,

Well i got up at 4.30am this morning to watch her sail in the heads and up Sydney Harbour... SPECTACULAR!!!

She edged through into the Harbour just about 5.45am as the dawn was breaking, all lit up and sparkling, LOTS of passengers out on deck and Thousands of Sydney-siders along the harbour forshores.... Was a sight worth seeing!

She is even bigger than i had imagined, and has now broken the record as the largest vessel of any type to sail into Sydney, or visit Australia.

Lots of media coverage on the TV and Radio this morning, I have pasted some links to stories online as well as a photo-log by one of the papers with pics of her coming up the Harbour.

She is now alongside at the Garden Island Naval base! WOW!!!

Pics
http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/2007/02/20/1171733719614.html

Story
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/qm2-sails-into-sydney-harbour/2007/02/20/1171733718091.html

Story
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21255448-2,00.html

Cheers
Sydneyboy

Posts: 180 | From: Sydney Australia | Registered: Oct 2001 | IP: Logged

Ernst
First Class Passenger
Member # 5369

posted 02-19-2007 04:04 PM

Thanks for posting the links. Awesome pictures (she is BIG) - I hope to see more soon.

Posts: 9746 | From: Eindhoven | Registered: Jan 2005 | IP: Logged

VDK
First Class Passenger
Member # 3460

posted 02-19-2007 05:06 PM

I find that QM2 is much bigger in real life than she appears in pictures. She is absolutely enormous and in my opinion even better looking when seen “up front and personal”.

Posts: 325 | From: Victoria, BC, Canada | Registered: Nov 2002 | IP: Logged

Brian_O
First Class Passenger
Member # 3910

posted 02-19-2007 05:27 PM

Don't forget that QE2 will arrive later today.

Brian

Posts: 2698 | From: Pointe-Claire, QC Canada | Registered: Jun 2003 | IP: Logged

bearbuns
First Class Passenger
Member # 6418

posted 02-19-2007 09:34 PM

She is indeed awesome when seen in person...pictures don't always do her justice.

Here is a great video of her arrival up the harbor taken from the air...it's wonderful!

http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200702/r127423_417152.asx

Cheers, Penny

Posts: 82 | From: South Carolina | Registered: Apr 2006 | IP: Logged

Ernst
First Class Passenger
Member # 5369

posted 02-19-2007 10:03 PM

Nice clip - thaks for posting the link.

Posts: 9746 | From: Eindhoven | Registered: Jan 2005 | IP: Logged

Cunard Fan
First Class Passenger
Member # 7530

posted 02-19-2007 10:49 PM

She is apsolutly amazing in person. I remember the first time I saw her in person. I was driving from Long Beach to San Pedro where she was docked. I was on one of the bridges in that area looking for her but I didn't see her, or at least I didn't realize I was looking right at her. She was so huge I thought I was looking at a building. I didn't realize I was looking at her untill I saw her beautiful funnel. I hope I never forget that moment.

Posts: 2327 | From: Pasadena just north of Queen Mary | Registered: Sep 2006 | IP: Logged

dmwnc1
Cruise Director
Member # 3785

posted 02-20-2007 07:29 AM

The last time two Cunard Queens were together at Sydney was during World War II when in 1942 QUEEN MARY and QUEEN ELIZABETH were operating as troop carriers.

Any pics of this reunion?

Posts: 5650 | From: Clarksburg WV | Registered: Apr 2003 | IP: Logged

Indarra
First Class Passenger
Member # 6005

posted 02-20-2007 07:47 PM

The original Queens passed each other outside Sydney harbour rather than inside the harbour, as it was judged as too much of a security risk to have both assets inside the confined space of the harbour at the same time. We have to remember that during 1942 Japanese midget submarines actually were able to enter Sydney harbour and fire torpedoes.

Posts: 274 | From: Tokyo | Registered: Oct 2005 | IP: Logged

Cunard Fan
First Class Passenger
Member # 7530

posted 02-20-2007 10:54 PM

I have never seen a picture of either in Sydney. Another picture that I have been looking for but have not been able to find is one of the first Queen Elizabeth in San Francisco or the Aquitania in Los Angeles. Has anyone seen pictures like these?

Posts: 2327 | From: Pasadena just north of Queen Mary | Registered: Sep 2006 | IP: Logged

dmwnc1
Cruise Director
Member # 3785

posted 02-21-2007 12:00 AM

Found one...

...here:

http://www.greatsoutherncards.com/queen%20mary.htm

Posts: 5650 | From: Clarksburg WV | Registered: Apr 2003 | IP: Logged

Aussie1
First Class Passenger
Member # 25

posted 02-21-2007 01:27 AM

Seeing QE2 and QM2 together in the flesh highlighted just how sleek and stylish the QE2 is externally and just how bulbous and ordinary the QM2 looks by comparison. QM2 is impressive due to her sheer size and presence but she is not a sleek beauty in the way liners of the past have been. Internally she is very stylish, no doubts there, but I felt so much more could have been done to make her exterior match the liner ideal. Having said that I'm glad she was built, hopefully we'll see a QE3 one day as well.

Posts: 493 | From: Sydney,NSW, Australia | Registered: Sep 99 | IP: Logged

sslewis
First Class Passenger
Member # 3649

posted 02-21-2007 08:11 AM

It was a wonderful footage by the BBC of a carefully staged event!
I loved the lights of QM2, QE2 powwerful balst and the crowds on the bridge as QM2 was turning!
Did they levied a toll?
There was a bit about the Queens during the war too which made me very happy to be home at 6pm!
Thanks to the bad UK weather...and it was glorious in Sydney!

Posts: 2513 | From: Shipspotting Solent shores when weather allows.... | Registered: Feb 2003 | IP: Logged

lasuvidaboy
First Class Passenger
Member # 4527

posted 02-21-2007 12:46 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Aussie1:
Seeing QE2 and QM2 together in the flesh highlighted just how sleek and stylish the QE2 is externally and just how bulbous and ordinary the QM2 looks by comparison.

When QE2 is gone that will be the end of the sleek and elegant ocean liner/cruise ship. Her replacement will be the box boat Queen Victoria which will even make QM2 look sleek.

Posts: 7654 | From: Hollywood Hills/L.A. | Registered: Mar 2004 | IP: Logged

KenC
First Class Passenger
Member # 6341

posted 02-21-2007 01:05 PM

quote:
Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
When QE2 is gone that will be the end of the sleek and elegant ocean liner/cruise ship. Her replacement will be the box boat Queen Victoria which will even make QM2 look sleek.

Guess where this quote originated ...
"She does not look like a real ship" "Originally another ship was to have been the next Cunard "Queen" but plans were changed and we got this instead" "She's nothing like a real Cunard liner" "The last one had four screws, this has two" "I hate the interiors" "The Britannia Restaurant looks cheap and nasty" "Cunard have got the funnel colour wrong" "The layout is all wrong, look where the main restaurant has been placed" "The funnel is all wrong" "The last Queen was the largest passenger ship in the world, this one is so much smaller" "The materials they are constructing her out of are not traditional" "I'll never sail her while Lizzie is still around" "She is a cruise ship, nothing more" "I was expecting something better than this fake liner" "Where are the wonderful bars I'm used to?" "She just doesn't look like a Cunarder" "The standard of service is bound to go down on such a ship" "have you seen the proposed restaurants and lounges? They could be in any modern hotel on land" etc etc etc

Any ideas????

Posts: 353 | From: Brighton, UK | Registered: Mar 2006 | IP: Logged

Cunard Fan
First Class Passenger
Member # 7530

posted 02-21-2007 03:28 PM

quote:
Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
When QE2 is gone that will be the end of the sleek and elegant ocean liner/cruise ship. Her replacement will be the box boat Queen Victoria which will even make QM2 look sleek.

I love the lines of the QE2. Shes not the best looking liner ever but shes definetly one of them. Shes one of the last ships ever to have a more classic Cunard look to her, even if it wasn't meant to be classic. I also think that the QM2 is also very beautiful for a ship built now a days.

Posts: 2327 | From: Pasadena just north of Queen Mary | Registered: Sep 2006 | IP: Logged

lasuvidaboy
First Class Passenger
Member # 4527

posted 02-21-2007 03:33 PM

QE2 of course. But at least QE2 always had good scale and proportions-even for 1969. Newbuilds like QV do not and unless cruise ships get uglier (if that is possible) people who appreciate things of beauty will not warm up to her exterior. QE2 is a Jag E-Type and QV is a Camry (comfortable, reliable and not to pretty)

Posts: 7654 | From: Hollywood Hills/L.A. | Registered: Mar 2004 | IP: Logged

KenC
First Class Passenger
Member # 6341

posted 02-22-2007 05:29 AM

quote:
Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
QE2 of course. But at least QE2 always had good scale and proportions-even for 1969. Newbuilds like QV do not and unless cruise ships get uglier (if that is possible) people who appreciate things of beauty will not warm up to her exterior. QE2 is a Jag E-Type and QV is a Camry (comfortable, reliable and not to pretty)

Yes you can say all sorts of things in hindsight, but my point is that they were saying exactly the same thing about QE2 in 1969 as they say about the new Queens now. QE2 hasn't changed - perhaps peoples attitudes and perceptions have?

Ken

Posts: 353 | From: Brighton, UK | Registered: Mar 2006 | IP: Logged

lasuvidaboy
First Class Passenger
Member # 4527

posted 02-22-2007 12:10 PM

quote:
Originally posted by KenC:
Yes you can say all sorts of things in hindsight, but my point is that they were saying exactly the same thing about QE2 in 1969 as they say about the new Queens now. QE2 hasn't changed - perhaps peoples attitudes and perceptions have?
Ken

QE2 was a revolutionary ship as opposed to say QM2 being a more or less evolutionary ship. That does not change the fact that as built QE2s exterior was a stunning design w/excellent proportions-QV in comparison will be the nautical equivalent of a mass produced automobile. In the mid 1960s Cunard's 'old school' passengers were dying off (and flying) and they needed new blood to book a crossing or cruise and QE2 was the ship for that era. To many of them QE2 (or anything new or different) was shocking and there was no pleasing them. My own family stopped sailing Cunard in the late 1950s and either flew or took the ssUS or France (my Moms favorite) because they wanted something newer and different.

Posts: 7654 | From: Hollywood Hills/L.A. | Registered: Mar 2004 | IP: Logged

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