Hello everyone,
Here’s a summary of my recent stay on QE2:
Approaching QE2 by taxi from Dubai airport brought back memories of when I first saw QE2 coming into view from the backseat of a taxi (as a 6-year-old) as my parents and I headed to board her in Southampton in August 2003. Again, her iconic funnel was the first thing I saw and then her sleek, yacht-like form came fully into view and I almost shed a tear or two in the moment. It was good to be back.
It was wonderful to be back onboard after 11 ½ years and all the uncertainty there used to be in the last decade regarding QE2’s future. It was surreal (in a good way) to board again through Midships Lobby after thinking 30th July 2008 was the end of my direct QE2 story as me and my parents disembarked through Midships Lobby and didn’t look back due to how sad the occasion was. Midships Lobby still has it’s Cunard logo at the embarkation point and the lifts still have the Cunard Lion but no lady announcer anymore. The old Purser’s office was closed off as it’s role is now fulfilled by Concierge which is opposite Reception in the Lobby/Terminal building.
QM2 was in port, from the 30th to the 31st January, visiting Dubai on her current world cruise and it was great for both ships to be together again. Unfortunately, QE2 wasn’t able to reply with her wonderful, deep, beat-frequency laden voice from the two signal mast whistles (yet again due to technical problems) to QM2’s whistle salutes as the latter departed in the early afternoon. QE2’s foredeck foghorn has been removed – the bell of the horn no longer being visible on the foredeck mast.
Contrary to my concerns, QE2 is not void of people onboard either. Of course, she doesn’t have the numbers of people onboard all the time like in the old days but then that cannot be expected in a static role where people can come and go as they please. Several people I met were staying onboard having disembarked QM2, events were well attended such as a live performance event in the Lido, and when a group of corporate visitors came to the Lido for dinner from an event elsewhere onboard and occupied one side of the restaurant. The Lido was also busy during breakfasts (the general hubbub being much like the old days which was wonderful). The Golden Lion was also well attended. There were three events in as many days that I saw notices for, all using several locations onboard (Chart Room, Yacht Club, Grand Lounge etc). The staff onboard also take good care of the ship, vacuuming, polishing and otherwise tending to the upkeep of the ship inside and on the outer decks (that are normally accessible) just like the old days.
Many places onboard still have the same unique smell and she vibrates underfoot in many places too – putting one’s head on one’s pillow when half asleep and one could be back in the old days with the vibration and sounds. The ship has been resurrected in terms of onboard sounds, the vents just behind the bridge on the starboard side are roaring again in much the same way and used for the same purpose (ventilation/air con related) to the point they can be heard on the dockside 90 or so feet below. The vents near Midships Lobby also roar quite a bit, there are machinery sounds in the vicinity of her funnel uptakes on One and Two Deck (air con machinery most likely – certainly not from the engine room), and the unmistakable sound of transformers in plenty of places onboard (One and Two deck corridors at points along the ship, and near what was the Caronia Restaurant on Quarter Deck). She has a 6.6KV power supply through several cables from shore – a lot for the transformers to step down apparently! Hearing the ship alive, albeit not in the same ways as she used to be (the intake fans at the base of the funnel are silent for example), was music to my ears and very heart-warming particularly having visited other ships in permanent static roles and found them mostly dead in terms of onboard sounds. I have specifically recorded video footage, that I hope to share, of the different sources of onboard sound these days. Of course, QE2 being in the Dubai climate contributes dramatically to the above.
QE2 doesn’t appear to be directly attached to shore or fixed in place in the manner of SS Rotterdam. She floats up and down with the tides in Port Rashid – the sewage and water pipes taking this into account along with the electricity cables having plenty of slack in them. She rubs up against rubber coated cylindrical metal cushions stopping her directly hitting the dockside. Also, I was told her Five Deck gangways noticeably go up and down with the tide – the old Dubai airport aircraft gangway for hotel guest use only into Midships Lobby also seems to take the tide into account being deployed on cables and bellows being installed on the sides where it meets the ship, to keep the gangway completely under cover. The list to port also still feels present, something I particularly noticed in my cabin – 1028 (port side, midships and next to what was Traveller’s Cove – the sign is still in place alongside the new name). She is very fouled with barnacles and other marine life under the waterline, but this is to be expected from a static role and sitting in relatively warm water. QE2 is also home to quite a bit of bird life, mostly from what I heard from the dockside. There is however mesh netting over the mooring points under the foredeck to prevent the bird life becoming too at home and completely ruining her paint job with their waste. QE2’s starboard anchor (dockside to) being streaked and piled up with a lot of bird waste and where I photographed a species of wading bird called a turnstone sitting for quite some time. A couple of the old Boat Deck benches (which used to contain spare lifejackets and used to have the embossed Cunard logo) have been placed in the shell door space, before the new automatic doors, of the forwardmost Five Deck gangway. The other old Boat Deck benches may well be used in a similar manner as time goes on.
Furthermore, the onboard lighting in certain places wasn’t as harsh as I expected (Lido (uses candle like table lights and dimmed lighting at Dinner – very similar to the old days), Midships Lobby and the cabin corridors) but was as harsh as I expected elsewhere such as in the Chart Room.
My cabin, 1028, had it’s original main door but the original key based lock and doorknob are replaced with a card activated lock (same as all rooms used as part of the hotel operation). The bathroom door was original with the original cylindrical doorknob. The two portholes were originally openable, but the four bolts are (mostly well) secured against this now. For a couple of hours each day I could see QE2’s reflection in the water from my portholes, the funnel being particularly prominent.
The service onboard was good, the staff being helpful and accommodating right from reception, to the steward, to the waiting staff in the Lido. The staff were also fascinated to speak with former passengers (and crew) from the sailing days, sometimes telling a colleague or two, too! The cabin was made up each day if requested (although no turn down like the old days) and even if not as I initially forgot it was a thing for some reason – I’ll blame the jetlag!
The red surface on Boat Deck is much like a continuously laid version of the cushioned and tiled surface found at playgrounds – somewhat spongy underfoot but also not weirdly so. The wood laid elsewhere on the aft decks (and will hopefully follow on Boat Deck) including the old sports deck area is actually teak but stained due to treatment for it to last under the intense Dubai Sun. If it were not treated and was left so for a time - it would lift and split, and the caulking would fail too.
All in all it was absolutely wonderful (things I don’t say lightly) to be back onboard QE2 and it really was a case of carrying on my QE2 story from where it left off – she still very much felt like the second home she used to be to me and my parents, and a living and breathing home to the happy family memories we made (which did get to me once or twice but that was expected at some time or other). I am and always will be very grateful to my parents for making this trip possible and for all the voyages we sailed on together onboard QE2.
I've attached one of my night photos taken on the DSLR, and a link below to a little then and now video - I took hundreds of photos and videos, many I still need to sort through!
Topic: My stay on QE2 (28th January to 1st February 2020) (Read 2048 times)
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Oct 28, 2015, 02:59 PM