If QE2 is scrapped, will it change what you think of Cunard?

[kevinh]

I truly believe that QE2 would have continued doing impeccable service for Cunard if they had just renovated her. So if I were to cruise with Cunard someday, between her and QM2, it'd be real hard for me to choose. They could do the transatlantic route, while QV, QE, and 2022 do the cruising: the 2 real liners wouldn't even have to cruise anymore (but they still would: this is the cruise industry now, not transatlantic  )!

So in the highly-unlikely-scenario-as-of-now if she were to get scrapped, my views on Cunard would remain unchanged: it'd be a whole lot better if they kept her in operation or at least sold her to Scotland to serve as a Clyde attraction, but she's in different hands now, so whatever happens to her is out of their hands.

[Andy Holloway]

Continuing with this train of thought Cunard should have bitten the proverbial bullet and had QE2 restored and modernized; As you said, with today's market QE2 would have become a invaluable asset to Cunard; The worlds only two Ocean Liners operating across the Atlantic, the marketing team would have had a field day! However unlikely and ridiculous the scenario is imagine a Cunard with 4 sea giants: QM2 and QE2 undertaking regular Atlantic Crossings and their Annual World Cruises, with QV and a renamed QE dedicated to full time cruising. Cunard returned to a "second golden age."

What have you been drinking? Whatever it is you need to add more water!

Totally impractical and nowhere near being cost effective.



She was 'of her era' and even partially moderniSed, without a total rebuild, she would still have been 'out of date'! She was riddled with asbestos and the majority of cabins on 5 Deck were 'not fit for human habitation'. She passed USPH only because of an awful lot of continual hard work by the crew and a certain degree of sympathy from the USPH Inspectors. But due to her age she could NEVER achieve more than 94%, which is only just above a failure!

As to running her and QM2 in tandem on the North Atlantic route, there just isn't enough call for that many berths, QM2 does fairly well but it's mainly 'special' trips and themed crossings, where you have a captive audience for 7 days so lectures etc can be tailored. Anybody just wanting to go to NY will fly, if only for the reason that it's considerably cheaper and quicker. You can be in NY and home again before QM2 has even reached NY!

No keep the memories and be thankful that we knew QE2 in her good [ish]days, but don't hanker after a long gone era that wasn't quite as glamorous as our memories tell us. 

I'm as much a lover of QE2 as anybody else, but don't let nostalgia cloud your vision of her and her many failings. My 5 years onboard were the best from my 20 years at sea, but i had much better accommodation and food on considerably 'lesser' ships.

[Thomas Hypher]

What have you been drinking? Whatever it is you need to add more water!

Totally impractical and nowhere near being cost effective.



She was 'of her era' and even partially moderniSed, without a total rebuild, she would still have been 'out of date'! She was riddled with asbestos and the majority of cabins on 5 Deck were 'not fit for human habitation'. She passed USPH only because of an awful lot of continual hard work by the crew and a certain degree of sympathy from the USPH Inspectors. But due to her age she could NEVER achieve more than 94%, which is only just above a failure!

As to running her and QM2 in tandem on the North Atlantic route, there just isn't enough call for that many berths, QM2 does fairly well but it's mainly 'special' trips and themed crossings, where you have a captive audience for 7 days so lectures etc can be tailored. Anybody just wanting to go to NY will fly, if only for the reason that it's considerably cheaper and quicker. You can be in NY and home again before QM2 has even reached NY!

No keep the memories and be thankful that we knew QE2 in her good [ish]days, but don't hanker after a long gone era that wasn't quite as glamorous as our memories tell us. 

I'm as much a lover of QE2 as anybody else, but don't let nostalgia cloud your vision of her and her many failings. My 5 years onboard were the best from my 20 years at sea, but i had much better accommodation and food on considerably 'lesser' ships.

QE2 would have needed complete and total rebuilding if she were to be with Cunard now and that begs the question as to whether she'd still be QE2?. It would be like when the WW2 aircraft are recovered from underwater or a bog somewhere and are "restored", so much has to be replaced that you do not have much of the original aircraft and in many ways it becomes a replica or partial facsimile. How far do you go?. She was even after 1987 (arguably her most significant refit) still largely herself. Many things mechanically/technically and regulation wise were coming home to roost even beyond what Andy has said above.

Also as Andy and several other people (including former crew/Cunard people) have said, unfortunately there is not currently the market for another ship on the transatlantic and that's not withstanding the fact that unless QE2 was massively rebuilt (bringing into question what I have said above in this post) she would not fit into the product they offer and would want to offer consistently as Cunard (Carnival UK) are and have always been so obsessed about (like any cruise/ocean liner company - even Cunard pre 1971). This was one of the many reasons she was retired (and that's not just me saying/deducing that). Having said that, I do think "Cunard Classic" perhaps with the third Caronia could have worked quite well as a spin-off subsidiary as suggested and talked about in detail on this forum (however that would not exclude QE2 from major refit/rebuilding work due to the regulations such as SOLAS).

I would have loved her to still be in service but as the saying goes: "all good things must come to an end", and different realities come home to roost (mainly economic in the corporate world). I and everyone else who saw and or travelled on her will continue to have fond memories of her in service and that cannot be taken away easily at all.

Thomas

[Lynda Bradford]

What have you been drinking? Whatever it is you need to add more water!

Totally impractical and nowhere near being cost effective.

She was 'of her era' and even partially moderniSed, without a total rebuild, she would still have been 'out of date'! She was riddled with asbestos and the majority of cabins on 5 Deck were 'not fit for human habitation'. She passed USPH only because of an awful lot of continual hard work by the crew and a certain degree of sympathy from the USPH Inspectors. But due to her age she could NEVER achieve more than 94%, which is only just above a failure!

As to running her and QM2 in tandem on the North Atlantic route, there just isn't enough call for that many berths, QM2 does fairly well but it's mainly 'special' trips and themed crossings, where you have a captive audience for 7 days so lectures etc can be tailored. Anybody just wanting to go to NY will fly, if only for the reason that it's considerably cheaper and quicker. You can be in NY and home again before QM2 has even reached NY!

No keep the memories and be thankful that we knew QE2 in her good [ish]days, but don't hanker after a long gone era that wasn't quite as glamorous as our memories tell us. 

I'm as much a lover of QE2 as anybody else, but don't let nostalgia cloud your vision of her and her many failings. My 5 years onboard were the best from my 20 years at sea, but i had much better accommodation and food on considerably 'lesser' ships.

I agree with what Andy has written.

A Chief Engineer had told me the same as what Andy has said about the USPH inspections and indicated that some leeway was given because she was a famous icon. 

I have a connection with QE2 from the time she was built, I followed news about her throughout her service life and sailed on her five times from 1997 to 2004. She stood apart from other ships an icon of her age. 

Cunard from a business perspective did what was right for their company in selling QE2.  However, I was very sad when she was retired in 2008 and felt at the time that Cunard should have done more to keep her in service or to have sold to an organisation in the UK for her conversion as a hotel ship.  I now admit that the time had come for her to move on, although not to where I would have liked her to be situated, and we can only hope that she is successful as a hotel ship in Dubai.

[Oceanic]

What have you been drinking? Whatever it is you need to add more water!

Totally impractical and nowhere near being cost effective.



She was 'of her era' and even partially moderniSed, without a total rebuild, she would still have been 'out of date'! She was riddled with asbestos and the majority of cabins on 5 Deck were 'not fit for human habitation'. She passed USPH only because of an awful lot of continual hard work by the crew and a certain degree of sympathy from the USPH Inspectors. But due to her age she could NEVER achieve more than 94%, which is only just above a failure!

As to running her and QM2 in tandem on the North Atlantic route, there just isn't enough call for that many berths, QM2 does fairly well but it's mainly 'special' trips and themed crossings, where you have a captive audience for 7 days so lectures etc can be tailored. Anybody just wanting to go to NY will fly, if only for the reason that it's considerably cheaper and quicker. You can be in NY and home again before QM2 has even reached NY!

No keep the memories and be thankful that we knew QE2 in her good [ish]days, but don't hanker after a long gone era that wasn't quite as glamorous as our memories tell us. 

I'm as much a lover of QE2 as anybody else, but don't let nostalgia cloud your vision of her and her many failings. My 5 years onboard were the best from my 20 years at sea, but i had much better accommodation and food on considerably 'lesser' ships.

Oh I fully understand how ludicrous this scenario is, and I found the way Cunard retired QE2 satsifactory, I was just merely daydreaming. And yes I am a tad over-sentimental about QE2 but I agree that her service did decline in later years, my cruise in 08’ was fairly disappointing when compared to earlier voyages.

[Thomas Hypher]

Oh I fully understand how ludicrous this scenario is, and I found the way Cunard retired QE2 satsifactory, I was just merely daydreaming. And yes I am a tad over-sentimental about QE2 but I agree that her service did decline in later years, my cruise in 08’ was fairly disappointing when compared to earlier voyages.

Everyone here is oversentimental  we wouldn't be so passionate about her otherwise!

[Trevor Harris]

I agree with what Andy has written.

A Chief Engineer had told me the same as what Andy has said about the USPH inspections and indicated that some leeway was given because she was a famous icon. 

I have a connection with QE2 from the time she was built, I followed news about her throughout her service life and sailed on her five times from 1997 to 2004. She stood apart from other ships an icon of her age. 

Cunard from a business perspective did what was right for their company in selling QE2.  However, I was very sad when she was retired in 2008 and felt at the time that Cunard should have done more to keep her in service or to have sold to an organisation in the UK for her conversion as a hotel ship.  I now admit that the time had come for her to move on, although not to where I would have liked her to be situated, and we can only hope that she is successful as a hotel ship in Dubai.

Carnival would have spent more money on Cunard if they restored QE2. However we can be happy she is here and "As-Is" and is being taken care of by many people in Dubai.

[June Ingram]

Because our QE2 is still here says a lot about how important she was and still is in the history of liners and in the hearts of her followers !

[Oceanic]

Because our QE2 is still here says a lot about how important she was and still is in the history of liners and in the hearts of her followers !

Well said June 

[Clydebuilt1971]

Whilst for reasons given elsewhere on this forum I love QE2 I do not resent Cunard / Carnival for accepting the offer for her in 2007. Business is business unfortunately. QE2 was getting long on the tooth from an engineering perspective - there were more economical to run vessel designs out there which would realise more profit in the medium to long term so a product of the 60s such as QE2's days were numbered when compared to them.

If she is scrapped (and she will be at some point) then that is the natural end - hopefully she'll get to thrive again as a hotel before that end comes. Better than continuing on in service gradually becoming a shadow of her great self - I think I would've resented Cunard / Carnival more if they'd shown the great ship that level of disrespect.

Gav