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Queen Mary 2 docked in Liverpool last weekend to celebrate a milestone
Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 (QM2) docked in Liverpool last weekend to celebrate the milestone of her 400th transatlantic crossing. Constructed between 2002 and 2003, she is the only ocean liner left in service.
Ocean liners are a type of passenger ship whose primary purpose is to travel across seas or rivers. Cruise ships do not fall into this category as their primary use is for pleasure voyages rather than for transportation. Liners are used to carry cargo across oceans but can also be used for cruises – which is the case with QM2. She has the capacity to carry 2,691 guests and 1,173 crew.
The ship, which is Cunard’s flagship, is of staggering scale. She is 345m long and 72m high – dominating the skyline when berthed in Liverpool.
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On board, she possesses all the luxury and expansive facilities you would expect from Cunard, including 15 restaurants and bars, five swimming pools, a theatre, a ballroom, a casino and even the first planetarium at sea.
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QM2, which carries the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) prefix as a liner, was constructed as a new generation ship and long-term replacement for Queen Elizabeth 2. QE2 was Cunard’s flagship from 1969 to 2004 before being retired by the cruise line in 2008.
After construction in France, QM2 was christened by Queen Elizabeth II in Southampton in January 2004. She set sail to Florida on her maiden voyage later that month.
Her first year of service saw her sail to Athens during the 2004 Olympics, where she was used as a floating hotel. Among those who stayed on QM2 were Tony and Cherie Blair, George W Bush and the USA basketball team.
A transatlantic crossing the following year saw QM2 carry the first copy of ‘Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince to the United States’. She embarked on her first world cruise in January 2007, taking 81 days to circumnavigate the globe, while meeting her fleet-mate QE2 in Sydney.
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In July 2015, to mark the 175th anniversary of Cunard, QM2 joined the new Queen Elizabeth ship and Queen Victoria as the cruise line’s three ships met in Liverpool. The spectacular royal rendezvous drew more than a million people to the waterfront, as the three ships performed a series of synchronised moves in the River Mersey, with the Red Arrows flying overhead.
She arrived in Liverpool, the birthplace of Cunard and transatlantic shipping, for an overnight call on Friday. Her voyage to Liverpool started in New York on August 23, when she commenced her 400th crossing of the Atlantic, arriving in her homeport of Southampton on August 30.
The visit marked Queen Mary 2’s eighth call at Liverpool and drew large crowds along both sides of the Mersey, as people wanted to get a look at the huge ship. She departed just before midnight on Saturday, bound for Cobh, Ireland.
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