Distributing QE2 News

[Cunard Cruiser]

Rob Lightbody posted a very distributing news alert on the QE2 story website regarding the current condition of QE2 and what this could mean for her future. I truly believe the London plan is the only safe guarantee and from my understanding this is still possible.

If you are a QE2 aficionado please help get the story out there:

http://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php?topic=5181.new#new

[glojo]

Rob Lightbody posted a very distributing news alert on the QE2 story website regarding the current condition of QE2 and what this could mean for her future. I truly believe the London plan is the only safe guarantee and from my understanding this is still possible.

If you are a QE2 aficionado please help get the story out there:

 

http://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php?topic=5181.new#new

 

Hi Cunard,

I think you mean 'disturbing' and if so then yes if what he is saying is factually correct then it does not look good but whilst you might believe the London plan might work, I doubt it is anything near a guaranteed success.

 

I have said all along that I don't think this was ever a viable option and I also don't believe moving the thing to London is ever going to 'fly' :eek:

 

At least the London bid can now back out by blaming the present owners for allowing the condition of this floating 'hulk' to deteriorate to such a condition as to make it not cost effective to refurbiush her.

 

Playing devil's advocate for a few minutes and simply shooting the breeze... Before anyone tows that vessel anywhere would she have to be inspected and then adapted to make her safe for a sea passage?

 

I wonder how much that cost is and could it be so expensive as to make it no longer profitable to go ahead with the conversion?

 

Just me thinking aloud and no doubt as we speak the ship is being moved into dry dock to have this worked carried out.

 

What odds Mr Gillette ends up converting this ship into lots of very small, very sharp pieces of shiny steel?

[Cunard Cruiser]

Yes sorry I did me disturbing news. Speller didn’t catch and neither did my tried eyes.

[glojo]

Yes sorry I did me disturbing news. Speller didn’t catch and neither did my tried eyes.

I know the feeling and folks must have a lot of patience when they read my posts :) I tried to figure out if you meant tried or tired and guessed this time that if I used the tried and trusted method of trial by elimination I would get the right or write verdict :)

[Flying is for Planes]

My source in Dubai says she is in poor condition and little real maintenance has been done. I am not sure much is viable anymore.

[glojo]

My source in Dubai says she is in poor condition and little real maintenance has been done. I am not sure much is viable anymore.

 

The ship has been moored close to the dry docks for a number of months without any signs of progress and I find this January 2013 quote very significant:

 

Magee said the ship became involved in what he described as “the most ludicrous battle” between various Dubai entities over how best to take advantage of the ship and finance the $1m monthly repair and maintenance bills needed to make it operational.

 

My use of the bold and underline feature.

[seavoyager6]

Very very distributing

[glojo]

I thought I should distribute these latest pictures??? I am hoping they are indeed the latest :o

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Germancruiser]

Oh well from the look of them pictues- it seems they really keep QE2 afload- THAT definatley does not look as a ship which is a about to enter Alang for scrap! " she" looks reamarbly fine after over 40 years in Service and layed up over four years in Dubai.

[BlueRiband]

She looks like she recently got her bottom wiped. Somebody wouldn't spend that kind of money if her next port of call was Alang. (Beat me to it by a minute Germancruiser!)

[Germancruiser]

mariepr- that was cool same thinking in the same minute. LOL Greetings from germany!

[glojo]

I agree with what is being said, she looks in amazing condition and I just hope these are not library pictures as externally she looks in pristine condition.

 

Has anyone actually seen her in dry dock as I do know that for months she has been berthed right by that location.

[glojo]

Missed being able to add this to my previous post.

 

This is the latest link when we click on Marine Traffic, note the dockyard workers spraying the ship's side.

 

click

 

How times have changed when it comes to painting ship... Paint brush, pot of paint length of rope

 

[Whitemarsh]

I thought I should distribute these latest pictures??? I am hoping they are indeed the latest :o

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great photos Glojo, the ship truly looks spectacular. The red part of the hull looks to be about the same size as the black part. I don't think the newer ships have that as much.

[glojo]

Great photos Glojo, the ship truly looks spectacular. The red part of the hull looks to be about the same size as the black part. I don't think the newer ships have that as much.

Hi Whitemarsh,

You raise an interesting point regarding beam and waterline but the thing I like to see is the longer, tapered bow which to me is something that seperates your old liners from the more modern cruise ships.

 

 

I am guessing that these modern ships want to be as wide as possible for as long as possible in an attempt to get the maximum £ per square foot! The Queen Mary 2 also has a longer slimmer bow when compared to these modern floating blocks of flats but it is a compromise between the old liners and the new cruise ships and we must not forget that.

 

RMS Queen Mary 2

 

 

 

My thoughts are that the cruise ship will have far less movement than the likes of the QE2, (roll\pitch) BUT.... The QE2 will have a smoother ride through heavy seas and note these are my thoughts... It is highly probable that the moden ships will transmit far more vibration than this old liner and they will have to show more respect to whatever King Neptune decides to throw at them??

[Classiccruiser777]

QE2 (as well as the old "true" liners) has graceful lines and elegance. Her sleek profile is reminiscent of a yacht. They are (were) beautiful to look at.

 

I am grateful that QM2 was built, as well as the twin Vistas, but the mass produced ships of today, from an exterior esthetic perspective, just don't have that special quality the old ships had.

[glojo]

QE2 (as well as the old "true" liners) has graceful lines and elegance. Her sleek profile is reminiscent of a yacht. They are (were) beautiful to look at.

 

I am grateful that QM2 was built, as well as the twin Vistas, but the mass produced ships of today, from an exterior esthetic perspective, just don't have that special quality the old ships had.

 

We regularly have this debate and whilst I agree nostalgia is an excellent quality, it does not really replace reality. The older cruise ships certainly look the part but is that where it ends? Are the rooms on these older ships more luxurious, the furniture more comfortable? Is looking out of a porthole or if you are really lucky, a windows comparable to having our very own private balcony? Is modern air conditioning better than an open port-hole that might, just might let in a cooling breeze?

The older ships were much smaller and whilst some were faster, none had the stabilisers and other technology we see on modern cruise ships. I have no idea if these modern cruise ships have a need to ‘blow soot’ but on the old ‘liners’ this would be a regular possibly nightly chore which would result in fine particles of soot settling on certain areas of the upper deck. Not nice and on the older ships which might sail in tropical waters with passengers that might be out on the upper deck it was always a source of complaint.

Modern technology allows for more efficient navigation, more accurate steerage, course plotting, radar that has made the sea a far safer highway and on these latest ships we are seeing manoeuvrability that was impossible a decade ago, these ships can turn in their own space, can move sideways into a berth and very rarely need the services of a tug!

I love the lines of the old ships but I fear I would want all the ‘innards’ and creature comforts of their 21st century sons and daughters.

[Jim Avery]

sorry, mispost

[Jim Avery]

I was trying to post a very good picture of QE2 showing the bow wave separation. Glojo is correct about the bow shape being a major contributor to quality of ride, a/k/a seakeeping. Bow wave separation on modern ships is very far forward and breaks sharply away from the hull. QE2 bow wave separates a full 1/3 or more of the way aft and separates much less sharply. Bow wave separation can contribute greatly to overall drag figures. There are numerous tedious formulas to illustrate this but a good picture (sorry I cannot seem to attach a proper link) of both types of bow waves is self evident. I will not try to explain those formulas as I do not fully understand them either but I am sure there will be someone on here that does.:eek::D

[Louise D]

I was trying to post a very good picture of QE2 showing the bow wave separation. Glojo is correct about the bow shape being a major contributor to quality of ride, a/k/a seakeeping. Bow wave separation on modern ships is very far forward and breaks sharply away from the hull. QE2 bow wave separates a full 1/3 or more of the way aft and separates much less sharply. Bow wave separation can contribute greatly to overall drag figures. There are numerous tedious formulas to illustrate this but a good picture (sorry I cannot seem to attach a proper link) of both types of bow waves is self evident. I will not try to explain those formulas as I do not fully understand them either but I am sure there will be someone on here that does.:eek::D

 

Also, the designers of QE2 did not have the advantage of modern understanding of bulbous bow hydrodynamics. All of the current Cunard vessels have benefited from this, as can be seen in Glojo's comparative drawings.

 

For the two vista ships, I would think that the bulbous bows are particularly important in reducing resistance. You can see how on that drawing of QV that the large bulbous bow, extending perhaps through one quarter of the length of the hull, creates its own wave, whose trough at the design speed would occur in line with the peak of the unaided bow wave of the parent hull. It would be the intention of the designer that the wave produced by the bulbous bow would interfere with the bow wave, reducing its size, thus causing a reduction in resistance, and potential for increase in speed or lower fuel consumption.

 

However, the benefits of the bulbous bow are negated by the effect of drag when the vessels operate at a slower speed that the usual operational range. I believe I have observed this on QM2, when she has been going very slowly. It is going to be interesting for me to also observe the QE operating in slower speeds, especially in an Atlantic crossing in January.

[glojo]

It is going to be interesting for me to also observe the QE operating in slower speeds, especially in an Atlantic crossing in January.

Excellent points as usual and I confess to having followed all three of this year's World Cruises and cruise speeds were comparable with all three usually cruising at approximately 18knts, the fastest speed I can recall seeing was Queen Victoria at just over 20knts but obviously I was not looking 24hrs a day.

 

The Queen Mary has the ability to go faster but is that down to pure power as opposed to a sleeker design? I note her stern is different but how much of that was influenced by her final drive? (question) As has been said the design of ships is always improving and we must not forget the amazing influences that modern paint is having regarding the issues we are discussing.

[Whitemarsh]

Excellent points as usual and I confess to having followed all three of this year's World Cruises and cruise speeds were comparable with all three usually cruising at approximately 18knts, the fastest speed I can recall seeing was Queen Victoria at just over 20knts but obviously I was not looking 24hrs a day.

 

The Queen Mary has the ability to go faster but is that down to pure power as opposed to a sleeker design? I note her stern is different but how much of that was influenced by her final drive? (question) As has been said the design of ships is always improving and we must not forget the amazing influences that modern paint is having regarding the issues we are discussing.

 

I would imagine both. As lovely as QE looks to be, I would be surprised if anyone, with even a modicum of shipbuilding knowledge, would believe that the vista class ships are the equal - or superior - of QM2.

[glojo]

I would imagine both. As lovely as QE looks to be, I would be surprised if anyone, with even a modicum of shipbuilding knowledge, would believe that the vista class ships are the equal - or superior - of QM2.

I think we all accept the Queen Mary 2 is designed to navigate rougher waters at higher speeds than the other two ships, she will be able to do this at a faster speed than the two smaller ships but internally is she better? Is she more comfortable, does she have a better lay-out. I totally, 100% accept you will say she is superior in every way but I also accept that others will disagree with your personal opinion.

 

Having the extra speed is fine but how often is it used? This year Queen Mary departs Southampton on the 2nd September, arriving New York on the 10th. No quicker than the Vista class and YES the QM2 will possibly offer a more comfortable ride and yes she can if required or authorised, travel quicker than her smaller sisters but internally is she the better ship?

 

Is she as profitable as her smaller sisters and what does she offer that the others fail to give (apart from the planetarium that has an awful reliability issue)

 

If she is indeed more profitable,will we see a second of that class?

 

I am NOT defending the Vista class nor am I anti Queen Mary 2, I feel that each has their very own fan base and no doubt opinions will not be swayed or altered. I am doing my usual asking questions as eventually all going well... I intend sailing the high seas on the Queen Mary 2 (but NOT a world cruise on her)

[Cruachan]

QE2 (as well as the old "true" liners) has graceful lines and elegance. Her sleek profile is reminiscent of a yacht. They are (were) beautiful to look at.

 

I am grateful that QM2 was built, as well as the twin Vistas, but the mass produced ships of today, from an exterior esthetic perspective, just don't have that special quality the old ships had.

 

Well, I honestly don't know if it's a point of view that would gain me any great approval from the ship spotting community but, as someone who regular travels on the new ships, I believe that the infinitely higher standard of their interior appointments and general comfort, trumps elegance of exterior appearance any day of the week. Give me a standard balcony cabin on a Vista over a Caronia class cabin on QE2 any time. And as far as I'm concerned the nerdy anoraks with their little notebooks, their packed lunches, their flasks of coffee, their binoculars and their marine band scanners can go take a collective running jump of the end of any pier of their choice.

 

J

[Cruachan]

... I note her stern is different but how much of that was influenced by her final drive? (question)...

 

She has what's known as a "Constanzi" stern. In design terms this is something of a compromise and, as is often the case with compromises, it's probably the least aesthetically pleasing feature of her external appearance. The most efficient type of stern for use with an azipod propulsion system is the flat transom type of the Vistas. However, in terms of sea-keeping properties, the traditional "spoon" stern is better. The Constanzi stern is an attempt to combine both types and, frankly, it looks a little odd. Mind you, it's not quite as bad as the ducktail type that you see on Veendam and Mein Schiff 2, inter alia.

 

J