When you set aside the fact that the QM2 is absolutely huge, there is also a sense of excitement in the air among those who are also seeing the ship for the first time.  After having followed the dream of building the Queen Mary 2 unfold over a period of six years, seeing the ship first-hand and up-close was like stepping outside of reality and into a fantasy.   Perhaps not everyone would experience the same euphoria as I did; however, it's hard to imagine how someone would not be impressed by the shear size and beauty of the QM2 as she gleams in the sun ready for another voyage.  As we approached the pier in Ft. Lauderdale, a band was playing, and there were people dressed in 40's period costumes to greet us.  Once in the embarkation area we waited a short time in line to check in.  The embarkation lobby had giant posters from the QM2 book of comparisons lining the upper portion of the two-story walls.  The giant bow of the ship could be seen through large windows facing the pier and the distinctive letters spelling out Queen Mary 2 offered no mistake which vessel we were about to board.   Entering the QM2, and into the Grand Lobby for the first time felt like the beginning of an epic adventure, set in a time that was once thought to be extinct.  White columns, a towering atrium with glass elevators, sweeping stairs with red carpet, the sweet sound of a harp serenading, welcomes passengers into the world of Queen Mary 2.           

 

The ship

As I walked through the halls, stairwells, lounges, and dinning areas, I was continually impressed with the beautifully polished wood-like paneling that was reminiscent of the original Queen Mary and many other liners.  With the latest Safety of Life at Sea regulations, modern passenger ships are not allowed to be constructed using the vast amounts of wood paneling the old liners use to have, because fire was the number one hazard on a ship.  The French builders who constructed the QM2 did a fantastic job with their attention to even the smallest details in creating the best simulated wood paneling I’ve ever seen.  The QM2 has an excellent blend of art deco, elegantly modern, yet with a timeless interior décor that is very rich, but not too flashy.  The interiors have a very permanent and solid feel like that of a fine hotel or English manor, unlike many cruise ships of today that have the décor of a Las Vegas resort.  I was particularly thrilled to see fine artwork of many ocean liners from the past, like the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, QE2 and the Caronia.  Every stairwell and elevator seemed to have a wonderful painting of a famous ocean liner.  For me, another favorite feature on the QM2 was the ship’s whistle, one of which is the original whistle from the Queen Mary in Long Beach.  The starboard whistle on QM2 originated aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach where it was on display in the museum.  The whistle was removed from the center funnel of the Queen Mary during her restoration into a Museum and hotel.  Those who managed the Queen Mary in Long Beach were gracious to permanently loan the ship’s whistle to Cunard Line, to be installed onboard the QM2.  The whistle was put aboard the QE2 and transported across the Atlantic.  The original manufacturers of the whistles, Kockums Ab of Sweden, are still in operation today, and they took it in to refurbish and restore it so it could once again be operational aboard the QM2.  Not only did they restore the original whistle, but they manufactured an exact, working replica to compliment the original one, so that we can once again hear the dual, booming voice of the 1936 Queen Mary on the high seas.

 

The Queen Mary 2 was built by Alstom Chantiers de l’ Atlantique Saint-Nazaire, in France.  There is so much to be said of her tremendous size, but the facts alone don’t make it any easier to realize how big this ship is. At 151,400 gross tons, 1,132 feet in length with a beam (width) of 135 feet and a towering height from the keel to the top of the funnel at 236.2 feet, the Queen Mary 2 is an enormous structure with 14 passenger decks.  For those who have been to New York City and have seen the Empire State Building, let me paint a picture to help you grasp how big QM2 is…imagine flipping the Empire State Building on it’s side and shoving it down a freeway, you’re familiar with, at a speed of about 35 miles per hour.  That’s pretty big and powerful!   The QM2 has four huge diesel 16 cylinder engines weighing 217 tons each, and they produce enough power to light the entire city of Southampton, England, the ship’s homeport.  Included in the massive powerplant onboard QM2 are two gas turbines, which help the ship achieve a cruising speed of 3o knots, or about 34 miles per hour.  Propelling the giant vessel through the sea are four 250 ton Mermaid pods, built by Rolls Royce-owned Kamewa & Alstom Power Motors.  In the old days, ships were propelled through the sea using propellers connected to a shaft that was directly connected to the gears and finally the engine. Using the latest technology, the QM2’s four Mermaid “Pods” are self-contained electric motors with a propeller hanging from underneath the hull.  Two of these Pods are fixed, but the other two can rotate 360 degrees, eliminating the need for a rudder.

 

Walking through the ship for the first time was very exciting for me.  I had studied those deck plans for at least two years, and knew exactly where I was.  Even though my wife and I were dragging our heavy luggage onboard the ship, and very tired from the early morning, we were still enjoying the moment.  When we arrived into the warmth of the Grand Lobby, we paused and admired the grandeur and luxury of our surroundings, then we immediately went to the glass elevator to ascend up to Deck 7.  That particular elevator only went as far as Deck 7, and our stateroom was on Deck 8, so we walked a bit through the King’s Court dinning area aft, towards one of the aft stairwells to catch another elevator to Deck 8.  Our assigned stateroom was a Deluxe Balcony category, room 8088 on the port side of the ship.  This particular category stateroom had a slightly obstructed view, with a full walk-out balcony.  It was truly a relief to finally arrive into our stateroom after such a long day of travel, but for us the day was just beginning as the anticipation of a grand departure out of Ft. Lauderdale is ahead of us.

 

Around 7pm the giant QM2 began to slowly move away from the Ft. Lauderdale pier.  It didn’t look like this huge ship would be able to turn around in the Ft. Lauderdale basin, but her 1,132 foot length indeed was able to carefully back out from the pier and turn towards the open sea.  Moments after the QM2 bow was pointed towards the open channel, and after the ship began a forward motion, QM2’s booming voice (the great whistle) was sounded off, signaling the ship’s departure from Ft. Lauderdale.  At about 7:30pm, the sun had gone down and it was dark, as QM2 slowly moved ahead.  From the condominiums and apartments lining the channel, cheers, horns, sirens, whistles, lights, anything that made noise or flashed on & off, was used to celebrate QM2’s departure from Ft. Lauderdale.  How exciting it was to stand on Deck 13, high above the port, and watch all the hoopla coming from shore-side…what a grand site it must have been to see the magnificent Queen Mary 2 move by, and out towards the open sea.  Finally, after the ship exited the port, fireworks erupted from a barge, near the beach, into the night sky, offering a spectacular site from the ship and from shore.          

 

This was the first time I went to sea on a vessel of this size.  I have visited large ships in the past, but I was looking forward to experiencing for myself the motions of a 150,000 ton ship.  As we were departing there was nearly no movement that could be felt, but at around dinner time, we experienced a significant amount of motion, that seemed uncharacteristic for a cruise ship much less a liner.  The ship rolled back and forth, and had just a little pitching action.  Roll is when the ship moves from side-to-side, and pitch is when the ship moves from front to back.  I later found out that, at that time the officers on the bridge were doing some tests with the "pods", or (propulsion), causing the ship to move more than usual.  These test combined with the fact that the seas were a bit choppy would justify the movement felt that night.  The movement only lasted about thirty minutes, then it calmed down.  During our "voyage" we only went out about fifteen to twenty miles from shore and cruised up and down the coast throughout the night, and our one day at sea.  We could always see the coast, usually Miami or Ft. Lauderdale.  There was one time when the ship posed for photos from a photographer in a helicopter, by doing a complete circle, a huge ocean liner-sized donut.  Queen Mary 2 handled the sharp turns without excessive rolling, which is a testament to the designers who conceived and built the ship.  The real test of her stability will be to experience QM2 on a trans-Atlantic crossing, for which she was built.  I'm sure the ship will have a slightly different feel when she is at her Atlantic service speed of 28 knots.

 

Go to the next page of this article