Three Cunard queens meet at Southampton docks

On April 22 the three queens of the Cunard cruise fleet meet in Southampton, Cunard's home port.

The three queens, The Queen Mary 2, The Queen Victoria and of course the QE2 will all meet to salute the QE2 as she celebrates her 39th year since she entered service.

Cunard are giving people plenty of information on vantage points to view this occasion.  The ships will be sounding their whistles to bid the Queen Mary 2 bon voyage on her first transatlantic crossing of the year.  The Queen Victoria will then leave to head to Iberia and the Canaries for her first voyage to this region.  The QE2 will remain behind as she is scheduled for a refit before her final year of service before being converted in a hotel and museum in Dubai.

The QE2, one of the most famous ships in the world, and for 35 years the flagship of the Cunard fleet, was launched by Her Majesty at Clydebank on 20 September 1967 – forty years ago last year.

Later this year, in June, Her Majesty the Queen, will bid farewell to the QE2 before she travels to Dubai.  In November 2008, when QE2 finally leaves  Cunard service, the QE2 will have travelled over 5.6 million nautical miles, more than any ship ever and carried over 2.5 million guests.  The ship would have also completed 25 World Cruises; and has crossed the Atlantic 802 times.

Published by: Andy Skinner