I have walked on that sandbank 'the brambles' at low water springs which is exposed for a short time about twice a year. They even organise a few overs of cricket each year
I'd like to know exactly where she hit the Brambles bank because normally large ships come in from the Nab and make a hard turn to starboard around the bank which should take her away from the bank. Maybe the pilot misjudged the strength of the SW wind but it's a strange one 'coz the QE2 must have been in and out of Southampton Water a thousand times during her career
Yes too busy enjoying 'designer' bacon butties I expect.
The QE2 has far far less windage than the current breed of pax vessels that routinely use S'hampton so a surprise here. I bet the tide played a part too
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Don't you think there is something missing with current Cruise liners compared to beauties like the QE2?
[/ QUOTE ] Personally yes, but it's just my age. I seem to recall (from my dim and distant youth /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif) people drawing similarly unfavourable comparisons between the QE2 and the Queens Elizabeth and Mary.
Modern ships are led by considerations of commerce, not design. Container ships are pig-ugly but they do the job, and one could argue the same of modern cruise liners?
'Tis true, the QE2 is a beautiful ship but it was built for a different purpose ie transatlantic crossing at fast speed (32kts I think) and that market no longer exists. As a cruise ship, the QE2 doesn't cut it. The cabins are poky and v few if any have balconies. The ship is long and thin (for speed) so it doesn't have the volume for other amenities and it takes forever to walk from one end to the other. Modern cruise ships look like vast floating condos because they have to in order to maximise on cabins with balconies and squeeze in all the shops and casinos that are necessary to make them pay
The QE2 is very probably the last of it's type
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Hey i'm only in my early 30's so i like to think i'm kinda young but there is something about the QE2 that appeals where the modern 'condos' don't..
Asking perhaps a simple question, why did the QE2 need to become a floating hotel or be scrapped? Had it become unpopular?
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Yes.
I have been on it and the modern ships too. Sadly the QE2 does not compare any more. The older seasoned cruiser might like her but the younger crowd much prefer all the goovy stuff like this baby: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruis...ode=OA&br=R
QM2 is a proper ship, designed specifically for the transatlantic run and still carries the RMS title.
Its much more quirky than a modern cruise ship (og which we have been on plenty). The thing I noticed was each stare case faces a different way to the next, to fit in the hull shape, meaing I got lost alot.