The QE2's Final Voyage to Dubai
The World Famous Ocean Liner Sets Sail for Her New Home on The Palm
Nov 12, 2008
The famed passenger liner made its final voyage from Southampton on the UK's Armistice Day. Its destination is the playground of the rich and famous, The Palm, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where it will take on a new role.
The Palm, an amazing feat of engineering, is one of Dubai’s man-made islands which currently houses over a thousand luxury villas and is set to include a number of luxury hotels.The recently opened lavish Atlantis The Palm stands pride of place on the tree-trunk of Palm island and holds its opening party (billed as the most expensive private party ever) on November 20th, 2008.
The QE2 will be docked at the Palm and refurbished into a hotel and conference center. It will be a tourist attraction in itself. The ship is scheduled to arrive in Dubai on November 26th and it will take approximately 1 month to be refurbished.
The QE2’s Final Voyage
This 70,000-tonne ocean liner makes maritime history by traveling from its existing home on Southampton Water, in the South of England to the sunny-skies of Dubai. Owners Cunard sold the vessel to The Dubai World for around $100 million.
According to its captain Ian McNaught the QE2 dubbed “the Dame of the Seas” has been a symbol of British excellence for-40 years. However, after traveling around the world for 6 million nautical miles the day of its final 16-day voyage did not go as planned. Earlier the ship docked 15 minutes late due to running aground on a sandbank called The Brambles, and had to be refloated with the assistance of 5 tugs and a favorable tide.
The ocean liner received an official send off from the Duke of Edinburgh and as this was Armistice Day (Veterans Day in the U.S.) a million poppies were dropped overhead in remembrance, from a Tiger Moth plane.
Tickets for the QE2’s last historic voyage have proved so popular that “they sold out in 36 minutes with the most luxurious berths bought for more than £28,000,” said the UK’s Telegraph newspaper in their November 11th article “QE2 prepares to set sail on final cruise."
The Palm Jumeirah
Designed in the shape of a 17-frond palm tree, The Palm’s 1,500 opulent villas has draw celebrities from all over the globe including sportsmen like David Beckham. Dubai is extremely popular rich and famous as it is able to shield celebrities from the paparazzi due to its strict privacy laws.
Donald Trump is to open a hotel on the island, straddling the center of The Palm; one of the planned 30 luxury hotels in all. The Palm also has a “golden mile” of high-end restaurants and shops.
The Atlantis The Palm
Currently the most famous hotel is the Atlantis The Palm which cost around $1.5 billion to build and is themed on the Lost city of Atlantis. The hotel has a host of amazing features which includes a huge aquarium, an 18 million liter aqua adventure park and a dolphinarium.
The Atlantis is only one of Dubai’s landmark hotels. Another is the world’s first 7-star hotel, the sail-shaped Burj Al Arab, situated just offshore at Jumeirah Beach.
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