Queen Elizabeth 2

"QE2" and "QEII" redirect here. For the monarch, see Elizabeth II. For other uses, see QE2 (disambiguation).

Queen Elizabeth 2 as a floating hotel in Dubai in March 2020
History
Owner
Operator
Port of registry
RouteNorth Atlantic and cruising during Cunard service
Ordered1964
BuilderJohn Brown and Company (Upper Clyde Shipbuilders), Clydebank, Scotland
Cost£29,091,000
Yard number736
Laid down5 July 1965
Launched20 September 1967 by Queen Elizabeth II
Completed26 November 1968 (Sea trials commenced)
Maiden voyage2 May 1969
In service1969–2008
Out of service27 November 2008
Identification
StatusFloating hotel & museum at Mina Rashid, Dubai
General characteristics
Tonnage
Displacement49,738[3]
Length963 ft (293.5 m)
Beam105 ft (32.0 m)
Height171 ft (52.1 m)
Draft32 ft (9.8 m)
Decks10
Installed power
  • 3 × Foster Wheeler ESD II Boilers (original design)
  • 9 × MAN B&W 9L58/64 (1987 refit)
Propulsion
  • Two Brown-Pametrada Steam Turbines (original design)
  • Two GEC propulsion motors (2 × 44 MW) (1987 refit)
  • Two five-bladed variable-pitch propellers (post powerplant replacement)
Speed
  • 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph) max
  • 28.5 knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph) service
  • 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) astern
Capacity
  • 1,777 passengers
  • 1,892 (all berths) passengers
Crew1,040

Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) is a retired British passenger ship converted into a floating hotel. Originally built for the Cunard Line, the ship was operated by Cunard as both a transatlantic liner and a cruise ship from 1969 to 2008. She was then laid up until converted and since 18 April 2018 has been operating as a floating hotel in Dubai.[4]

Queen Elizabeth 2 was designed for the transatlantic service from her home port of Southampton, UK, to New York, United States.[5] She served as the flagship of the line from 1969 until succeeded by Queen Mary 2 in 2004. Queen Elizabeth 2 was designed in Cunard's offices in Liverpool and Southampton and built in Clydebank, Scotland. She was considered the last of the transatlantic ocean liners until "Project Genesis" was announced by Cunard Line in 1995 after the business purchase of Cunard by Micky Arison; chairman of Carnival and Carnival UK. Project Genesis was intended to create new life in the ocean liner saga, and in 1998, Cunard revealed the name: RMS Queen Mary 2.

Queen Elizabeth 2 was refitted with a modern diesel powerplant in 1986–87. She undertook regular world cruises during almost 40 years of service, and later operated predominantly as a cruise ship, sailing out of Southampton, England. Queen Elizabeth 2 had no running mate and never ran a year-round weekly transatlantic express service to New York. She did, however, continue the Cunard tradition of regular scheduled transatlantic crossings every year of her service life.

Queen Elizabeth 2 retired from active Cunard service on 27 November 2008. She had been acquired by the private equity arm of Dubai World, which planned to begin conversion of the vessel to a 500-room floating hotel moored at the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai.[6][7] The 2008 financial crisis intervened, however, and the ship was laid up at Dubai Drydocks and later Mina Rashid.[8] When she started her new life in Port Rashid as a floating hotel, during that time she completed 1,400 voyages over six million nautical miles while carrying 2.5 million passengers over 25 world tours.[9] Subsequent conversion plans were announced in 2012[10] and then again by the Oceanic Group in 2013,[11] but both plans stalled. In November 2015, Cruise Arabia & Africa quoted DP World chairman Ahmed Sultan Bin Sulayem as saying that QE2 would not be scrapped[12] and a Dubai-based construction company announced in March 2017 that it had been contracted to refurbish the ship.[13] The restored QE2 opened to visitors on 18 April 2018,[14] with a soft opening.

  1. ^ Rouquayrol, Gautier (9 May 2022). "Accor adds legendary Queen Elizabeth 2 to its portfolio in Dubai" (Press release). Paris: Accor – Newsroom.
  2. ^ Frame, Chris (2024), QE2 Facts
  3. ^ Maritime Information Exchange, search for Queen Elizabeth 2
  4. ^ Frame, Chris (10 April 2018). "QE2 reopens as a Hotel in Dubai on 18 April after 9 ½ years of retirement". Tumblr. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  5. ^ Frame, Chris (2 May 2019). "QE2 50th Anniversary". Tumblr. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  6. ^ Fitch, Asa (19 January 2013). "QE II Ocean Liner Heads to Asia to Become Floating Hotel". Zawya.
  7. ^ "QE2 To Leave Cunard Fleet And Be Sold To Dubai World To Begin A New Life at the Palm". Cunard.com. 2007. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
  8. ^ Morris, Hugh (13 January 2016). "'Forlorn' QE2 is not coming home from Dubai, campaigners concede". Telegraph Media Group. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  9. ^ "Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) turns 50 in Dubai, its longevity is testimony to resilience and reinvention". gulfnews.com. 1 May 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  10. ^ "Cruise liner Queen Elizabeth 2 to be converted into hotel". HT Media Limited. 3 July 2012. Archived from the original on 4 September 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  11. ^ "New home for Queen Elizabeth 2". CNN International. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  12. ^ "There is a new plan for former Cunard liner QE2 – she will not be scrapped insists DP World Chairman". 10 November 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  13. ^ "Queen Elizabeth 2 – Refurbishment Works". Shafa Al Nahda. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  14. ^ "Queen Mary 2 Guests to be First to Board the QE2 Hotel in Dubai".