Posts Tagged queen mary 2
Queen Mary 2’s Annual World Cruise from Sydney to Hong Kong in Style
Posted by Malcolm in Uncategorized on May 14, 2011
Another fantastic Travelrite International group cruise upon the famous Queen Mary 2 concluded in late March upon arrival into Hong Kong. our group of 45 enjoyed a wonderful four week cruise from Sydney to Hong Kong with interesting ports of call as well as plenty of days at sea to enjoy the ship. the Queen Mary 2 certainly did not disappoint. We all enjoyed beautiful meals in the sumptuous Britannia Restaurant, spectacular shows in the Royal Court Theatre, fascinating lectures on history, geography and film stars as well as our own bingo, deck games and trivial pursuit.We boarded in Sydney on 22 February 2011 and had overnight on the ship with a free day in Sydney to explore the sights and make ourselves at home on board the QM2. our first destination was to be Christchurch but this was curtailed due to the devastating earthquake there. We instead enjoyed a lovely tour of Wellington, the new Zealand Capital. after day at sea we visited Auckland with a tour of the City of Sails. our next port of call was Guam. Guam was the site of World War II fighting between the USA and Japan is now a popular tourist destination. We stopped at the WWII museum and beautiful Two-lover’s point.from the heat of Guam we travelled to the cold of Japan. We berthed in Osaka and had a sightseeing tour of nearby Kyoto. during our tour of the Golden Pavilion we actually had snowfall. our next port in Japan was to be Nagasaki, however the terrible earthquake and tsunami occurred on route and the port was closed by the time we arrived. We continued on to our fourth country; China, where we had wonderful tours of Beijing (and we saw the Forbidden City) and Shanghai (a highlight for many tour members).our final destination was Hong Kong which was enjoyed by all – especially the shoppers.the Queen Mary 2 is certainly a grand Cruise Liner. I would happily recommend joining its world cruise – with a superb mix of interesting ports of call and days at sea to enjoy the ship. Photos from this tour have been loaded on our facebook page: Travelrite International. Please visit our web site for future fully inclusive escorted cruise tours: www.travelrite.com.au
Nigel WallissTour Manager
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Queen Mary 2’s Annual World Cruise from Sydney to Hong Kong in Style
Very long cruise liner on a very short visit
Posted by Malcolm in Uncategorized on March 4, 2011
PHIL DOYLE
GRAND LADY: The Queen Elizabeth, all 294 metres of it, will be the longest passenger ship to berth in Wellington.
a direct descendant of the grand old dames of the sea will glide into Wellington Harbour tomorrow.
The Queen Elizabeth, one of the world’s newest cruise ships, will become the longest passenger ship to berth in Wellington when it arrives from Auckland at 7.45am.
Carrying more than 2000 passengers on its maiden trip to the Pacific, it will also bring an expected cash injection to the city’s economy of $1 million during its few hours here.
The new Queen Elizabeth is the second-largest ship to be built by Cunard, the company that built the Titanic.
The largest was the Queen Mary 2, launched in 2004, which held the record for the world’s largest passenger ship for several years. At 294 metres long, the Queen Elizabeth is 50 metres shorter than the Queen Mary 2.
It would arrive and depart from Wellington at high tide, though regional harbourmaster Mike Pryce said that was coincidence.
The maximum draught – the depth of a ship below water – for entering Wellington Harbour was 9.8 metres, plus the height of the tide. “The draught of Queen Elizabeth is only 7.9 metres … so she could arrive and sail at low tide if she had to.”
Displacing, that is, weighing 90,900 tonnes, the ship cost more than US$360 million to build. as tall as a 21-storey building, its 12 passenger decks feature nearly a dozen restaurants and cafes, two outdoor swimming pools, an 800-seat theatre and a two-storey library with about 6000 books.
Passengers drink a thousand bottles of wine a day and eat 55,000kg of scrambled eggs a year.
when it leaves Wellington tomorrow evening, the Queen Elizabeth will head to Sydney to meet up with the Queen Mary 2. It will then cruise around Asia before returning home to Southampton.
Tourism New Zealand spokeswoman Anna Fennessy said cruises could boost New Zealand’s economy by $305m this year.
– The Dominion Post
Largest cruise ship tours Australia
Posted by Malcolm in Uncategorized on March 4, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011 » 11:46pm
The largest cruise ship to visit Australia, the Queen Mary 2, has visited Fremantle during her world tour, injecting an estimated $500,000 into Western Australia’s economy.
The 151,400-tonne Cunard cruise ship berthed at Fremantle’s cruise terminal on Thursday and will depart in the evening.
Queen Mary 2 is 62m high and can carry 2600 guests, as well as 1300 crew.
The ship boasts 10 restaurants, five pools, the largest ballroom at sea and the largest library at sea.
Her visit comes just over a month into her current 103-day world voyage.
Queen Mary 2 will continue to Adelaide and Sydney before returning to new York via Asia and the Mediterranean.
Thursday’s visit was the cruise ship’s second visit to Fremantle, following her maiden visit in 2010.
Next year, she will visit Fremantle twice during a 28-day deployment in Australia for circumnavigation of the country.
WA will host Cunard’s latest ocean liner, Queen Elizabeth, in two weeks when she makes her maiden call to Fremantle.
Not your average Wednesday!
Posted by Malcolm in Uncategorized on March 2, 2011
The weather was looking somewhat gloomy as Cruise Passenger Magazine’s editor, Sally, and I took the ferry to Circular Quay to join the Cruise Express lunch cruise on Magistic two on Wednesday. it drizzled just a bit, but thankfully the rain held off enough for everyone to get outside as we pulled out into Darling Harbour.
If you were on Facebook yesterday you’d know that our challenge was to photograph and upload a shot of all four ships in port – Regent’s seven Seas Voyager, the Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mary 2 and Fred Olsen’s Balmoral. it was tough going as the distances between all ships wasn’t great, but I managed to get a decent shot of each one as we passed and posted them for the benefit of cruise fans and ship spotters!
Then around 12ish, a little late in fact, Queen Elizabeth pulled out from Circular Quay and headed out of the harbour, en route she passed the Balmoral coming in to take her place and a fun exchange of ship’s whistles took place between the two and Queen Mary 2. I have some footage of that highlight of the cruise, and some good images in addition to those I posted yesterday. I am writing this from seven Seas Voyager en route to Brisbane, however, and the satellite internet is very slow so I will post them tomorrow in port using my mobile broadband!
A good day was had by all. Around 200 of Cruise Express’s loyal customers were on board for the event, and after all the excitement of seeing the ships, we sat down to a slap up two-course lunch with champagne. So a big thanks to Cruise Express for inviting us on board to capture the event!
Watch some footage from the big day here:
Queen Elizabeth Docked at Circular Quay
Queen Elizabeth Leaving And Tooting!
Please check out our gallery also!
Sydney Welcomes Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2
Posted by Malcolm in Uncategorized on February 23, 2011
Tuesday, 22 February 2011, 10:19 am Press Release: Cunard Line
February 22, 2011
Sydney Welcomes QueenElizabeth and Queen Mary 2 on Royal Rendezvous on MaidenWorld Voyage
Cunard’s newest ocean liner,Queen Elizabeth, arrived in Sydney for the first time thismorning, following her larger sister, Queen Mary 2, intoSydney Harbour in another historic Royal Rendezvous.
This morning’s visit marks the first time two Cunardliners had ever arrived together in Sydney Harbour. it alsorecalls an earlier Royal Rendezvous when the original QueenMary and Queen Elizabeth – both then World War II troopships – passed each other at Sydney Heads on April 9,1941.
Stretching 294 metres in length and wearingCunard’s classic red and black livery, the 90,900-tonneQueen Elizabeth met Queen Mary 2 outside Sydney Heads before5.30am before following her sister into the Harbour andberthing at the Overseas Passenger Terminal at around7am.
Both midway through their world voyages, thespectacular Queen Elizabeth sailed in from new Zealand whilethe majestic Queen Mary 2 arrived from Adelaide.
Launched by her Majesty The Queen in October last year,the elegant Queen Elizabeth is carrying around 2000 guestsand almost 1000 crew on her 103-night world voyage, with herovernight visit expected to generate at least $1 million forthe Sydney economy.
President and Managing Directorof Cunard Peter Shanks said the company was thrilled thecruise line could stage another spectacular Royal Rendezvousin Sydney during Queen Elizabeth’s first world voyage.
“Sydney is always a highlight port for our Cunardworld voyage guests but marking an historic Royal Rendezvouswith our two Queens certainly adds to the attraction,” MrShanks said.
A special remembrance service will beheld onboard Queen Mary 2 on Wednesday as a tribute to‘Australia’s Finest Generation’, many of whom sailedto war on the original Cunard Queens.
Arrivingthis morning from new Zealand under the command of CaptainJulian Burgess, Queen Elizabeth pays homage to Cunard’soriginal Queen Elizabeth, offering a range of famous Cunardhallmarks plus some new features.
The secondlargest liner in the Cunard fleet, she has more than 1000staterooms, with more than 70 per cent featuring privatebalconies.
Her many features include more than 10restaurants and cafes, two outdoor swimming pools, a GamesDeck including paddle tennis, croquet and bowls as well as atwo-storey library complete with leaded glass ceiling and aglobe from the original Queen Elizabeth.
FromSydney, Queen Elizabeth will depart to visit Melbourne onFebruary 25 and then Fremantle on March 1, before continuingon her return journey to Southampton via Asia.
Meanwhile the magnificent Queen Mary 2 will sail for NewZealand tomorrow evening just before midnight, calling inChristchurch on February 26 and Auckland on February 28 aspart of her 2011 world cruise.
ENDS
No traffic jams as queens hit Sydney
Posted by Malcolm in Uncategorized on February 22, 2011
Maritime history has repeated itself with the arrival of two queens of the sea in Sydney Harbour, but without the traffic chaos of four years ago.
Super liners Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth entered Sydney heads around 6am (AEDT) on Tuesday.
Queen Elizabeth, which is on a maiden voyage, docked at Circular Quay while Queen Mary 2 berthed at Garden Island on her fourth visit to Sydney.
The harbour was dotted with a several sightseeing boats offering views of both ships, flanked by a number of small private vessels.
At 8am (AEDT), the RTA reported no traffic disruptions due to the ships’ arrivals.
That’s quite different to the situation in 2007 when the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Elizabeth 2 visited Sydney.
On that occasion, hundreds of thousands of onlookers flocked to harbourside vantage points to get a glimpse of the luxury cruise liners.
The attraction caused traffic chaos and severe overcrowding in the afternoon peak hour on buses, trains and ferries.
Looking further back into history, a commemorative service on board the Queen Mary 2 on Wednesday will honour Australian veterans of World War II who saw the original Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary pass each other in Sydney in 1941, when both were being used as troop ships.
Some of the men who sailed for combat overseas on the original Queen Mary will attend the service.
This year’s visit by the two ships, with 6000 passengers on board, is expected to inject more than $3 million into the NSW economy.
Luxury fleet lured to Sydney
Posted by Malcolm in Uncategorized on February 20, 2011
just cruising: the Pacific Sun docks at Darling Harbour. Picture: John Grainger Source: the Daily Telegraph
THE Harbour City has become the destination of choice, with 21 cruise ships visiting 27 times this month.
Sydney’s biggest ever cruise season starts on Thursday when the luxurious Pacific Pearl super-liner anchors for the first time.
P and O’s newest ship is like a Vegas hotel on water, offering its 1800 passengers a swim-up bar, aerial acrobatics, fitness centre and giant TV screen by the pool as they sail the Pacific Islands.
Also making her maiden voyage is Cunard’s new $600 million Queen Elizabeth, or the QE as she is affectionately known, which brings to life 1940s glamour with its decadently ornate decor.
She and sister ship the Queen Mary 2 will cross paths on Sydney Harbour on February 22 — a royal rendezvous not seen since the October, 2007, crossing of Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth 2 which brought Harbour foreshore traffic to a standstill as ship watchers flocked for a glimpse.
The month of visits comes during Sydney’s busiest ever cruise period — 150 vessels will arrive in 2010-2011, a 26 per cent increase on the previous year.
In February alone, about 55,000 cruise passengers are likely to inject more than $20 million into the state’s economy as they tour and graze their way around our harbour environs.
Carnival Australia spokeswoman Sandy Olsen said Sydney is one of the fastest growing cruise destinations because it’s a beautiful "halfway point" for families taking long-haul trips.
"There’s definitely a renaissance in cruising and it’s been growing every year in the last five years by about 18 per cent a year," Ms Olsen said.
"Sydney is a real magnet for more luxurious ships in the northern hemisphere. It’s the appeal of cruising. You only have to drag one bag, open and unpack it once.
"if you’re a family, you have most things included — hotel accommodation, the majority of food and transport."
Tourism Minister Jodi McKay said cruise line trips contribute about $298 million to the state’s economy every year.
<a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/luxury-fleet-lured-to-city/story-fn6t2xlc-1225997785183tag:news.google.com,2005:cluster=http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/luxury-fleet-lured-to-city/story-fn6t2xlc-1225997785183Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:12:58 GMT 00:00″>Luxury fleet lured to Sydney