I dragged myself out of bed early this morning and drove down to Greenock to see the QV arrive at the Ocean Terminal. I had hoped to get there in time to see her arrive but as I sped down the M8 I caught my first sight of her vast bulk already on her final approach. From a distance she looked impressive. Very bulky and a bit top heavy I thought.
I parked on the esplanade on the Gourock side just as she was sliding slowly into her berth. What were my first impressions?
Well....big, modern, glitzy and quite impressive. She must be quite something on the inside. However as I looked closely at the back I started to think of a block of flats sitting on top of a big barge. In fact, if you took the top decks off they wouldn't look out of place at Glasgow Harbour!
The balconied cabins must be a nice place to be though. One cabin about 3 floors up was even sporting a saltire and lion rampant flag. I wondered if I knew the owners of these!

It was a pretty gloomy morning so I guess I didn't see the QV at her best. Having said that the gloom didn't stop the Waverley, which was gliding up behind the QV looking superb as ever. She must have paddled down river to meet her this morning and accompanied her in to port. I walked round to the other side of the terminal to try to get a view from the front. She was berthed in exactly the same position that the QE2 had been in 2007 on her 40th anniversary tour so that brought back some memories. I was in time to see all the coaches arriving to transport the lucky passengers to a fun filled day in Glasgow.
I'm looking forward to hearing Rob's report of his trip on-board later

One thing I noticed was that the esplanade only had a handful of people there to see the ship. The burger van was NOT doing a good trade. Maybe it will be busier this evening or maybe no other ship has the magic pull of the QE2? I rewarded myself with a greasy burger with onions. My advice for anyone going later...the burgers are good but don't drink the coffee!
On my way back home I was lucky enough to spot the Waverley steaming up river to Glasgow. That brought back memories of our fabulous day out last month. If I can I will go back and see the QV leave later this afternoon.
Here are a few of the pictures I took this morning.