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" QE2, Bids Farewell To The UK And France "

GAV BOY

By GAV BOY,
in Cunard Line

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GAV BOY

GAV BOY

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Gav

 

Have a wonderful cruise - hope to meet you in Liverpool on Friday - look out for the badges!! Any spare tickets to Cathedral would go down a treat! If it's anything like last years event take a box of hankerchiefs.

 

All the best.:)

 

John

 

QE2 11 November 2008 Last Voyage to Dubai

 

Thanks John,

 

I remember last year very well :(

 

Mrs McNaught said the best part was seeing Captain McNaught crying :eek:

 

I will look out for you ;)

 

Gavin :cool:

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Cruiser765

Cruiser765

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Thanks John,

 

I remember last year very well :(

 

Mrs McNaught said the best part was seeing Captain McNaught crying :eek:

 

I will look out for you ;)

 

Gavin :cool:

 

 

 

Gav,

 

This is going to be a most memorable voyage for everyone.

 

From Captain Ian, to the crew , and also the passengers.

 

Sadly, it's the start of the countdown to Dubai.

 

I shall be with you all in spirit for this trip, and do indeed wish you all a wonderful time, and l wish you all Bon Voyage.

 

For my part, l am going to enjoy the tandem TA in October, it will be our final farewell to her then.

 

Whilst l am looking forward to the tandem crossing, l am also sad that it will be the last time l see the great lady in all her glory.

 

She still has so much life left in her, so sad that they decided to put her out to graze.

 

Jackie :)

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GAV BOY

GAV BOY

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Well im nearly ready to go :) It is a bit windy here but not rainning yet:eek:

 

The Taxi is arriving to pick us up at 1300 hrs approx, so we should arrive about 1345 hrs approx depending on the traffic :p

 

Speak to you later :D

 

Gavin :cool:

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Toffeegirl68

Toffeegirl68

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And you are off......

 

I know that for a fact as Hubby and I were there to wave you off. (anyone see the flag?!)

 

Parentals were on the port side, at a railing just ahead of the first life raft - furiously waving their Union Flags!

 

For those of you on dry land.... the scheduled departure of 5pm was put back to 6pm due to some passengers being delayed to / at / from Heathrow. The sailaway was then brought back forward (?!) to just after 5.30pm.

 

The Artemis left dock first, exchanging toots with the QE2 as she past by. Then, once the Artemis was on her way... the QE2 was able to head off on her farewell voyage.

 

It was certainly a chilly old evening...

 

http://s395.photobucket.com/albums/pp40/to...QE2%2030_09_08/

 

Jo

 

p.s. My first post seems to have disappeared.. apologies if it comes back and this becomes a duplicate!

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Toffeegirl68

Toffeegirl68

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Cherbourg was cancelled as of Monday - how did we miss that one???!!!

 

L'adieu au Queen - l'escale annulée



Un avis de mauvaises conditions météorologiques sur la Manche oblige la compagnie Cunard à annuler l'escale cherbourgeoise du Queen Elizabeth 2, prévue initialement le mercredi 1er octobre. Le navire quittera donc Southampton demain pour se rendre à Cork en Irlande.



- from the Cherbourg port website. In brief: bad weather forecasts have forced the planned stopover to be cancelled, she will head off to Cork tomorrow

 

As spotted by LankyLad, a trip to the Isle of Mann has been scheduled instead.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/isle_of_man/7642681.stm

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Toffeegirl68

Toffeegirl68

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Brief contact established this morning to parentals. They were about to head off to the Heritage Centre in Cobh and it was sunny.

 

Apparently being in an M5 cabin in windy weather is a bit like being in a caravan..... funny that the similarity never hit me when I was in a caravan for a wet and windy weekend in September!

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seabourndt

seabourndt

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iam going down to sotonm next friday vic a friend is on the qm2 and iam seeing him off. myles will be on the qe2 was hoping to see him but i think he is too busy which is a shame. what's this about the times in belfast being changed!!! what's the reason for this i have booked a hotel as i thjought she was lvg at 11pm. interesting to see what lagan are doing about this as i have booked on the 3.30pm and 11pm. might see you there.

dave

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cunard_cruiser

cunard_cruiser

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Just watched the North West tonight coverage of the day, looks great - I couldn't make it to Liverpool today but will be there to see her leave Southampton for the final time.

 

Enjoy every moment all of the lucky ones on board, just make sure you post your piccies for the rest of us!!!

 

John

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Toffeegirl68

Toffeegirl68

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No sign of the fireworks on BBC Northwest news..... but I found some on YouTube...

 

I've got the NI BBC news on my Sky + Box with a brief interview with the Captain. I'll try and put it this onto YouTube. Meanwhile, there's a couple of newspaper links with good photos....

 

g

 

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-n...00252-21962876/

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davejura

davejura

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Just lit the chiminea and are going to sit out on the deck to say farewell to her leaving the Clyde for the last time. There will be a tear in the eye, I'm sure!

Here's a photo I took earlier today from our golf course. What a view!

golfqe2.JPG.a05f9d887a7162e89f3ea01081ed099a.JPG

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Beachmad

Beachmad

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Thanks davejura for the pic.

Love Innellan and the little beach there. Just got off the phone to mum she held the phone out and I heard the whistle and the fireworks as she was going past mum's window in Dunoon, must be well past Inellan by now, lovely night for it.

Beachmad (all the way down in Essex)

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RAL72

RAL72

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I have never, ever, in my life, heard anything so sad and yet so triumphant as QE2’s magnificent whistle blowing across a mill-pond smooth Firth of Clyde last night. It echoed on for a good 10 seconds across the water, echoing off the faraway hills… it was simply stunning… I will never, ever forget it. It was an inky black night with a clear sky bursting full of stars but the brightest star of all was the lovely QE2

 

What a send off. A huge fireworks display right above her as she slowly edged out, and then she glided off. Camera flashes and fireworks and bonfires all along the shore for miles and miles and miles and miles.

 

Our ship was leaving, forever. And it hurt. The Clyde used to be famous, used to make things, and now the last, the best, was leaving, and not ever coming back. And everybody knew it, you could tell.

 

I’d persuaded a young friend of mine to come down to the quayside in the morning to see her come in. He's interested in cars, not ships. But he was completely and utterly gobsmacked. He said she was completely beautiful, and he doesn’t normally say things like that. He grabbed the last free ticket that I had for the evening cruise on the fabulous little M.V. Balmoral and at 11pm we all stood silently as QE2 gained speed and moved away, I knew he “got it” – just as it was too late, a shiver went up his spine and he got it. We all got it last night.

 

Goodbye QE2.

 

My photos :-

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lightbody/sets/72157607800832549/

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cunard_cruiser

cunard_cruiser

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Rob,

 

Great pictures and account of the final Clyde visit - thanks for posting.

 

Whilst the evening departure from Southampton will be great for fireworks and the alike I can't help thinking that Cunard have missed a trick in not having a daylight departure... red arrows, helicopter flypasts and as they did on the Clyde when she was lauched give the local kids the day off school to watch!

 

Just my humble opinion though, no doubt the schedule and financials mean this is not possible

 

John

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supered

supered

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Hi there,

 

Myself and wife Jean took a boat trip this morning to look upon the magnificent QE2 on her last ever visit to the Firth of Forth near Edinburgh. It was a very wet and windy day but we enjoyed seeing the grand old lady nonetheless. It was quite an emotional occasion for me.

 

My photos from the day are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/31204992@N06/sets/72157607825368548/. The weather did affect the quality of some of them but there are some nice ones. I do hope you enjoy them.

 

Eddie

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