Queen Mary 2’s “Stripes”

[Trevor Harris]

I personally never liked these stripes, and always wondered how she would look without them. Behold, no stripes.

[Brandon Sterkel]

I always liked the stripes. To me, they always stand out and the ship wouldn't look the same without them.

[Thomas Hypher]

Yes, I have mixed feelings on them. However they do make her forward superstructure stand out more. She went on her initial sea trials in late 2003 without them. Stephen Payne played a part in the stripes being around if I remember correctly. However, in QE2's case the window panes for the bridge were not always painted or painted black, that happened during the early days of Carnival's ownership around the Millennium (maybe during her 1999 refit when she reverted to charcoal black from midnight blue etc.). I prefer QE2 with the black painted window panes. Anyway enough of me going off topic!

Thomas

[Thomas Hypher]

Here's one of my close-up arty type photos of QM2's forward superstructure from my last cruise to date in August 2014, taken on my Dad's Canon 10D DSLR camera.

QM2 Transatlantic and Canada, August 2014 by Thomas Hypher, on Flickr


It is also worth noting that the black stripes continue where the ship widens (superstructure wise) for her aft decks.

QM2 Transatlantic and Canada, August 2014 by Thomas Hypher, on Flickr

In or around this after black stripe area purple lights are sometimes used to light up the ship at night, as well as at other key areas of interest such as the mast, as seen in one of my Hamburg night photos:

QM2 docked in Hamburg, August 2013 by Thomas Hypher, on Flickr

Thomas

[Brandon Sterkel]

I heard somewhere (don't know where) that the black stripes were added to give the look of more open decks.

[Thomas Hypher]

I heard somewhere (don't know where) that the black stripes were added to give the look of more open decks.

From memory I heard that too and I think that was Stephen's explanation. The whole of QM2's forward superstructure below the bridge is a plated in version of the original's whereas her bridge is an enlarged and enclosed copy of QE2's in appearance only! She also has a Normandie style breakwater and a QE2 style clipper bow. Stephen wanted to incorporate the best features from several North Atlantic liners and I think he and his team have done so very well and successfully.

[Trevor Harris]

They look hideous. Honestly she would look more like the QM without them.

[Clydebuilt1971]

Lose the stripes but keep the black bridge window surrounds! I'd actually never bothered about them until this thread was started!!

On a slightly different note there is a ferry in the Calmac fleet called mv Isle of Arran whose skipper of the time repainted her bridge window surrounds as a homage to QE2 - we all thought they looked good but since it was an un approved change of livery they had to be repainted - lasted a week though!!!

 

Gav

[Bob van Leeuwen]

I do believe that the stripes add something to the overall look, I can't find the specific video at this moment, but I believe that Stephen Payne said on one of the documentaries about the construction that it was done to make them look like the original bridge wings from the Queen Mary.

[Trevor Harris]

I do believe that the stripes add something to the overall look, I can't find the specific video at this moment, but I believe that Stephen Payne said on one of the documentaries about the construction that it was done to make them look like the original bridge wings from the Queen Mary.

Sure does not look like the originals.

[Bob van Leeuwen]

I can understand the reasoning behind them, it is more the impression that they create, the only option would be to actually to open it all up.


If it would all have been open, I would just have been one big white wall of steel, this add something to it to break it, maybe I like it for the same reason I don't have any white walls in my house that don't have something on them.