26/27 November 2008 ... where were you?

[Jem]

Been going through my old QE2 webcam collection.I captured this webcam image just as the Cunard flag was about to be lowered, you can see the crewman near the Jack Staff. Very sad day................

[Chris]

I recall watching the arrival from QE2's bridge cam two years ago. We were discussing it on another forum, a group of QE2 loyalists and the emails were flying back and forth. It was after midnight before I got to bed and on a work night too!

[Jem]

I followed her journey on her webcam from leaving Southampton till arriving in Dubai and noticing the final lowering of Cunards house flag, notice the crew man at the jack staff. Such a sad, sad day.

[Kathy M.]

It was Thanksgiving - I printed the photo above and brought it to our cottage where we were having family dinner (with a farewell QE2 cake for dessert!) - and the photo still is on the fridge there two years later - I get sad every time I see it!

[QE2forever]

I received the very last e-mail from the QE2 Bookshop at 7.15 am on 25 November, which read "On our last Hrs from QE2 time has come to say good-by."

Then just like many of us I watched the webcam and captured the last, sad images until the 27th.

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

I was up early, then in the office for a few hours, preparing to fly to Lisbon for an audit visit next day. Through all the preparations, discussions with colleagues, a meeting and a fair bit of work to organise, I kept following the bridgecam, even slinking back to my computer, having excused myself for a moment from the meeting... saving as many pictures of the sail-in as I could.

Then back to finish packing, watching on my own computer for a while, and off to the airport, where I had dashed to the internet hotspot, to find QE2 already moored, then exchanged a few desperate messages with Rob, who appeared to be a lot more stoic. The flight to Lisbon took a fair while, and by the time I logged in again there in the evening, there was nothing much to see. So, I had a wee stroll and a pleasant supper, lost in thoughts and memories.

Next morning, serious meetings. During a cigarette break, I begged to be allowed to use an office computer... this was the very time QE2 was to be handed over. So, I was actually present to see the very last Cunard bridgecam picture at 10.42 hrs GMT (the very one included by Jem above). The connection was lost for a while, and I had to return to continue the meeting. What an emotional day it was...

From the meeting room, I could see part of the 25 April Bridge and knew this was where I had to head. As soon as the meeting was over, I walked all the way down the beautiful Lisbon streets to the harbour to find QE2's berth, so very familiar from the bridgecam and from other people's photos. Barriers here, fences there, gatekeepers everywhere. I could see the place I wanted, but could not reach it. By walking farther again, I finally found a dockside walk, very close to the QE2 berth in fact, and could while the sunset hours away, thinking of her, wondering about her fate, imagining what it would have been like here, two weeks earlier, when she called to Lisbon for her final time... and sending Rob more text messages. Eventually, when the last sunrays had disappeared, I realised I was so frozen that only an Irish coffee and a large bowl of soup would help! Fortunately, I found both, in a friendly Irish bar.

And then, the walk back to the hotel... I shall never forget that evening.

Photos (of course!!) here :

https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=qe2%20lisbon&w=55206992%40N00

[cunardqueen]

The second last email l sent to that famous email address l sent to the Captain. The very last email l sent was to QE2 herself, I was quite surprised when the Captain responded on what must have been a busy day.
QE2 of course didnt respond But l did hear back many months later it was received, and that QE2 would have liked it.

I did on the 11th November manage to speak to the lady from the business centre and thank her for taking the time to print out the various emails l sent over the years to fellow travellers.

Pictures not available.

[Kathy M.]

Myles - how nice!!  I wish I had an email like that!

[Chris]

Fantastic Myles, what a gentleman Captain McNaught is.

[mickey g]

I was on board QE2, shan't forget that!!

[Andrew W]

In Dubai at the end of the palm with my long lens.

[Janice Naylor]

Reading these posts I feel like a slacker since I never had the relationship with the QE2 shared by many of you.  However, during the two weeks I was on board, over 30 years ago, she and I began a one-sided friendship.  Whenever I saw an article about her in the papers I was sure to read it and if I heard her name mentioned on the TV I always stopped what I was doing to listen.  I was on the ferry to Martha's VIneyard the year she was damaged off the coast.  The small boat with the QE2 emblem sped back and forth nearby as we headed toward the island and I anxiously listened to the news until she was free.

I was aware of her final trip to Dubai, but did not follow the story because I found it too sad.  To me it was like France selling the Eiffel Tower and moving it to another country.   

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Yes, it's 27 November again, the day the Cunard flag was lowered and QE2 was handed over to her excited new owners amid great celebrations.

It was a different story for the crew and passengers leaving the ship that day... we have some very moving stories here in the Forum.

What are your own memories of the day? Maybe they are fading now, as five years have passed and the QE2 story has moved on? Maybe they are just as fresh as they were. I somehow feel that we could celebrate her a bit today by sharing some of our memories... 

https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php/topic,1062.msg29430.html#msg29430

[June Ingram]

Hi Isabelle - Thanks for your posting.  I watched this day happen from the US, but I remember vividly that no matter how excited and happy those in Dubai seemed, it did not seem right and it did not feel right.  It was as if our beloved QE2 was being taken away from her home and that she was being abandoned in a place in which she did not belong.  If QE2 could feel what was happening, I just can not imagine what she must have felt...