QE2 "Reunion"

[Jim Avery]

I was just wondering what fellow Cunarders might think about a QM2 voyage in May of 2019 honoring the 50th Anniversary of QE2's Maiden Voyage? Of course it only interests if they do a 5 day crossing as did the honoree. :D QE2 speakers, films and memorabilia as well as past crew members on board. The QM2 was built to be able to do that speed (28.5 knots service speed for a 5 day) and it would be nice to do it again. What do you think?:D

[Lakesregion]

Super idea if Cunard would make the entire voyage geared to QE2 memorabilia - Feature the old menus in the dining rooms, lower the single supplement to the QE2 rates for single rooms. Invite all of the serious characters back for the passenger talent shows. Get the famous couple from the Isle of Writ (sp?) to return to the Queens Grill top cabin and place a pair of cocktails along with a Disney character on a table in the Chart Room to reserve a table where no reservations were allowed.

 

I believe they would fill the ship within hours of announcing the offering with provable QE2 passengers given first dibs.

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

This is a great idea. The QE2 remains my all-time favorite ship (sailed aboard her seven times between 1984 and 2005).

 

Cunard has a tradition of offering excellent ocean liner theme crossings. In 2001, I did a special "Queen Mary / Queen Mary 2" crossing. The crossing honored the 65th anniversary of the first Queen Mary and had the QM2's designers (Stephen Payne, etc.) discussing the upcoming QM2 (which was in the final design stage at the time). There were excellent lectures throughout the crossing. Cunard's president at the time, Pamela Conover, was part of the lectures. Also, there were special dinners and collectible menus. As an ocean liner / cruise ship enthusiast, this was one of my favorite trips.

 

A special theme crossing to honor the QE2 would be excellent. :)

 

Chuck

Edited April 13, 2016 by seacruise9

[chengkp75]

I was just wondering what fellow Cunarders might think about a QM2 voyage in May of 2019 honoring the 50th Anniversary of QE2's Maiden Voyage? Of course it only interests if they do a 5 day crossing as did the honoree. :D QE2 speakers, films and memorabilia as well as past crew members on board. The QM2 was built to be able to do that speed (28.5 knots service speed for a 5 day) and it would be nice to do it again. What do you think?:D

 

Wish I had your money to burn! :) Figure the 5 day will cost as much as the current 7 day (to cover the "theme" costs), and add a 20% surcharge for fuel. Nice thought, though. :)

[Pilgrim70]

Great idea. Our very first cruise was the QE2 on the 1000 crossing. Beautiful ship and never been matched.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Jim Avery]

Wish I had your money to burn! :) Figure the 5 day will cost as much as the current 7 day (to cover the "theme" costs), and add a 20% surcharge for fuel. Nice thought, though. :)

 

Heck, oil is down so low they should give us a "Fuel Rebate"! I am holding my breath on that one.:eek: Yes, the "theme" cruises do seem to have an upcharge but, as with all cruise lines, if it starts selling quickly they will jump on the price hike wagon. Wether or not I have that much money to burn is yet to be seen. I might just be waving bye from the virtual dock of Cruise Critic.:D:D

[safarigal]

I am very disappointed that the 50th Anniversary QE2 voyage will be a Mediterranean trip on QE. I wrote to Cunard suggesting that this was a very silly idea, and recommending that they do a round Britain trip instead - with a QE2 theme, including Maureen Ryan and Captain McNaught as speakers. I suggested an overnight stop in Glasgow with a concert at Glasgow Cathedral and something to celebrate John Brown shipyard. I think this would be much more appropriate. I got a very nice little reply from Cunard saying they would take this into consideration - but I haven't seen any action, nor alas do I think there will be any change to QE or QM2's current itineraries.

[Jim Avery]

I am very disappointed that the 50th Anniversary QE2 voyage will be a Mediterranean trip on QE. I wrote to Cunard suggesting that this was a very silly idea, and recommending that they do a round Britain trip instead - with a QE2 theme, including Maureen Ryan and Captain McNaught as speakers. I suggested an overnight stop in Glasgow with a concert at Glasgow Cathedral and something to celebrate John Brown shipyard. I think this would be much more appropriate. I got a very nice little reply from Cunard saying they would take this into consideration - but I haven't seen any action, nor alas do I think there will be any change to QE or QM2's current itineraries.

 

Hi Safarigal. I can't find any information beyond early 2018 on the Cunard site. Have you seen 2019 voyages posted somewhere else? Or am I just not working the Cunard site right? J.:D

[Host Hattie]

It's for the anniversary of her launch in September 2017.

[Jim Avery]

It's for the anniversary of her launch in September 2017.

 

Ok, gotcha. Thanks. I was hoping for May of 2019 as The Maiden Voyage was in May of 1969 and my first QE2 was the last Eastbound in May of that year. Who knows? Maybe someone in the Cunard Castle will get the message and think it a good idea. Stranger things happen every day.:eek::D:D

[Host Hattie]

There is definitely hope, Cunard do like an anniversary voyage!

[Jim Avery]

There is definitely hope, Cunard do like an anniversary voyage!

 

They certainly do like the "Anniversary" voyages. Who knows? Maybe they read this board and will think about it. It would give me a great opportunity to wear my old QE2 shirts.:D:D I would think it easy for them to send offers directly to past QE2 passengers as they seem to keep all types of records on us.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Jim Avery

[RAL72]

I was just wondering what fellow Cunarders might think about a QM2 voyage in May of 2019 honoring the 50th Anniversary of QE2's Maiden Voyage? Of course it only interests if they do a 5 day crossing as did the honoree. :D QE2 speakers, films and memorabilia as well as past crew members on board. The QM2 was built to be able to do that speed (28.5 knots service speed for a 5 day) and it would be nice to do it again. What do you think?:D

 

I think it is nice that Cunard have remembered QE2 at all, with their Queen Elizabeth voyage in her honour. She did, however, keep Cunard alive all on her own for many decades!

 

It does seem that it would be more fitting for her successor, QM2, to do the honours. Just because Queen Elizabeth is a similar size, certainly does not make her a more similar ship!!

 

Not to go too far off topic, but I just wanted to correct one thing you said - QM2 certainly was not built to do a 28.5 knot service speed, or to do a 5 night crossing. After 25 years of crossing in 5 nights, QE2 had been slowed to 6 nights nine years before QM2 entered service, and it wasn't just to save wear and tear on the older ship, it was of course to save fuel.

QM2 was designed to do a 6 night crossing, which is still quick, and needs the capability to go up to 28 knots or even 29 to make up time and keep to schedule. QE2 needed the ability to exceed 30 knots to keep to her original timetable.

[chengkp75]

I think it is nice that Cunard have remembered QE2 at all, with their Queen Elizabeth voyage in her honour. She did, however, keep Cunard alive all on her own for many decades!

 

It does seem that it would be more fitting for her successor, QM2, to do the honours. Just because Queen Elizabeth is a similar size, certainly does not make her a more similar ship!!

 

Not to go too far off topic, but I just wanted to correct one thing you said - QM2 certainly was not built to do a 28.5 knot service speed, or to do a 5 night crossing. After 25 years of crossing in 5 nights, QE2 had been slowed to 6 nights nine years before QM2 entered service, and it wasn't just to save wear and tear on the older ship, it was of course to save fuel.

QM2 was designed to do a 6 night crossing, which is still quick, and needs the capability to go up to 28 knots or even 29 to make up time and keep to schedule. QE2 needed the ability to exceed 30 knots to keep to her original timetable.

 

I don't know, but Southampton to NYC (3156 nm) at 28 knots is 4 days, 17 hours, minus the 5 hour time change. That to me, anyway, works out to a 5 night crossing. Leave UK at 1800 on day 1, arrive 0600 day 6. Tight when allowing for maneuvering in port and the Gulf Stream going westbound, but similarly the GS would give a boost going East.

[Jim Avery]

I don't know, but Southampton to NYC (3156 nm) at 28 knots is 4 days, 17 hours, minus the 5 hour time change. That to me, anyway, works out to a 5 night crossing. Leave UK at 1800 on day 1, arrive 0600 day 6. Tight when allowing for maneuvering in port and the Gulf Stream going westbound, but similarly the GS would give a boost going East.

 

Hi Chief,

I am not an Engineer but I do play one from time to time on Cruise Critic. So, here goes. Just enough math to get me in big trouble. Figures from BeyondShips shows QM2 consuming 261tons of Marine Diesel Fuel per day and 237 Tons of Marine Gas Oil per day at Full Speed. Bunker prices posted change minute to minute, port by port,and country by country but a reasonable average found posted is $200/ton for the MDO and $340/ton for the MGO. So for full speed (which would not be needed completely) for 5 days at the current prices found I compute a total 5 day fuel cost of $768,300.00. Now if the 5 day attracts 2,600 passengers, this calculates to somewhere around $295.00 per passenger. Since the 7 day crossing burns some fuel too (estimate 60% of the full speed) the additional charge, per passenger, for a 5 day crossing should be around $118.00 more than what would be included for a 7 day crossing. Not much more than the tips charged and certainly less than my bar tab.:eek: So this entire fuel thing is a smoke screen from Carnival. Sure, slower burns less fuel but again, for more days. Do the complete math, not just the PR Department math. I don't know about you but I would pay $118 "fuel surcharge" to do a "real" Transatlantic crossing. Ok, let the flaming begin.......:eek::D:D

Edited April 14, 2016 by Jim Avery

[Jim Avery]

I don't know, but Southampton to NYC (3156 nm) at 28 knots is 4 days, 17 hours, minus the 5 hour time change. That to me, anyway, works out to a 5 night crossing. Leave UK at 1800 on day 1, arrive 0600 day 6. Tight when allowing for maneuvering in port and the Gulf Stream going westbound, but similarly the GS would give a boost going East.

 

You are right on the money Chief. QE2's Maiden Voyage officially took 4 days, 16 hours, 35 minutes.:D

[chengkp75]

Hi Chief,

I am not an Engineer but I do play one from time to time on Cruise Critic. So, here goes. Just enough math to get me in big trouble. Figures from BeyondShips shows QM2 consuming 261tons of Marine Diesel Fuel per day and 237 Tons of Marine Gas Oil per day at Full Speed. Bunker prices posted change minute to minute, port by port,and country by country but a reasonable average found posted is $200/ton for the MDO and $340/ton for the MGO. So for full speed (which would not be needed completely) for 5 days at the current prices found I compute a total 5 day fuel cost of $768,300.00. Now if the 5 day attracts 2,600 passengers, this calculates to somewhere around $295.00 per passenger. Since the 7 day crossing burns some fuel too (estimate 60% of the full speed) the additional charge, per passenger, for a 5 day crossing should be around $118.00 more than what would be included for a 7 day crossing. Not much more than the tips charged and certainly less than my bar tab.:eek: So this entire fuel thing is a smoke screen from Carnival. Sure, slower burns less fuel but again, for more days. Do the complete math, not just the PR Department math. I don't know about you but I would pay $118 "fuel surcharge" to do a "real" Transatlantic crossing. Ok, let the flaming begin.......:eek::D:D

 

Not sure why they would be burning MDO. The gas turbines will be the users of the MGO, but the diesels would burn residual fuel (IFO 380), which is about $130/mt in Houston (bunker prices also vary by port, as you know). Anyway, the difference in speed between 5 night and 7 night would be from 28 knots to 17 knots. This would most likely drop out the gas turbines completely, so eliminating the MGO altogether. Power is not linear to speed, and therefore neither is fuel consumption, but I would suspect that at 17 knots you would burn only about 40% of the consumption at full speed. But lets say it requires the 4 diesels at full load, that would be 7 days x 261 tons/day x $200/ton = $365k, or 47% of the fuel cost. I think someone on this forum said that it only took 3 diesels to do the 7 night crossing, and I would lean this way, so the differential would be even more.

[Jim Avery]

That's what I wanted. I knew your math would be more precise than mine. The point being that fuel alone would not stop a 5 day Memorial Cruise from being in the same price range as their other "Special" voyages. :D

[BlueRiband]

Though I would happily pay a premium for the experience of a 5-day crossing, there are probably not enough of us willing to do so. Those of us who complain over crossings getting stretched to 8 days are admonished, "If you love sailing on QM2 why would you want to shorten your experience?"

[Pilgrim70]

Though I would happily pay a premium for the experience of a 5-day crossing, there are probably not enough of us willing to do so. Those of us who complain over crossings getting stretched to 8 days are admonished, "If you love sailing on QM2 why would you want to shorten your experience?"

 

 

I would also do the 5-day. If you want more time do the round trip.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Jim Avery]

I would also do the 5-day. If you want more time do the round trip.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

if they would do a 5 day each way r/t, count me in!:D