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QM2 is not the world's only ocean liner....


Canuker
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The Cruise Critic review of the QM2 starts,

"The prospect of traveling onboard Queen Mary 2, the world's only ocean liner, is thrilling -- now more than ever -- following the ship's £90-million transformation in 2016".

 

While I heartily agree with the second part of the sentence (we love her), I cannot allow the first part to go unremarked.

 

The QM2 is definitely not "the world's only ocean liner".

There are several out there. But she is the only liner:

1. That acts like an ocean liner (e.g. regular, frequent transatlantic crossings) and

2. That has not been converted to 100% cruising and

3. That is still active at sea.

 

The MV Astoria (1946) was built an ocean liner but is now 100% cruises.

The MS Marco Polo (1964) is also a liner now cruising full-time.

 

There are also half a dozen liners that are inactive, as museums or hotels or just laid up (ex-Cunard QE2 and the original Queen Mary are among them).

 

But, without question, the QM2 is THE epitome of ocean liner travel today.

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The main problem when talking about Ocean Liners is, that most people imagine something like the Queen Mary or the Normandie. In reality most ships were rather like the Union-Castle Liners or the Shaw, Savill and Albion vessels. These ships carried quite a lot of cargo, whilst the big ''Superliners'' (as they were called) didn't. Nevertheless these ships ran according to a timetable on a defined route and didn't add a trip to Norway or a Cruise to the Caribbean like the QM2 does today. In this sense there are only three places where such a service carries more than 12 passengers today:

 

One is the Hurtigruten in Norway, the second is the Aranui V which sails between Tahiti and the Marquesas and the third one was the wonderful RMS. St. Helena, the last real Royal Mail Ship.

 

You might want to have a look at this Website, somebody collected an impressive lot of maritime timetables: http://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/list.htm

 

Also, the Astoria is basically a new ship in the hull of the Stockholm. But it is the only ocean liner destroyer at sea. (There was a little mishap with the Andrea Doria in 1956).

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Hurtigruten isn't all that different from the Alaska Marine Highway, is it? Regular, primarily costal, service along a route not easily served by a highway.

 

No, not really. The main difference is that the primary purpose of the Alaska Marine Highway is to carry cars instead of passengers and freight. Some of the Hurtigruten ships do have a car deck, some don't. Most Hurtigruten ships load the cars by lift and while the ships of the Alaska Marine Highway seem to be designed more like a ferry.

So one could easily argue that they are doing more or less the same thing, yes.

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The ST. HELENA was indeed a bona fide Royal Mail Ship, and the last to fly the historic Royal Mail pennant on a regular long-distance route. Mail posted from her was indeed franked (and I got to do it, too!) "POSTED AT SEA, R.M.S. ST. HELENA). She carried first class mail and parcel post.

 

I rather doubt QUEEN MARY 2 even carries Royal or U.S. Mail. But she is referred to as "R.M.S." maybe more out of tradition and custom. QE2 was officially R.M.S. QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 as well.

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QM2 carries a token amount of mail but you are right - RMS is a title rather than a real function.

 

FWIW. an ocean liner can lose that status. If one accepts Payne's requirement of "reserve power" then the SS France lost that ability when she became the Norway. Her forward engines and props were removed in the refit. Thus partially neutered, she was no longer capable of her past transoceanic speeds.

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Guest SilverHengroen

QM2 does have a small cargo hold and does indeed carry small amounts of cargo (I believe a crate of first edition Harry Potter books were delivered to the US on one of her crossings for e.g.) - interestingly, the QE2 actually never officially was an RMS (as detailed on her Wikipedia page) - she was SS and later MV. QM2 had the title bestowed upon her by Royal Mail, largely as a nod to Cunard’s history - but it is an official designation.

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