NationStates Jolt Archive

For the first and last time in their history, the three "Queens of the seas" have met in their home port of Southampton.

Thousands of people gathered in the city's Mayflower Park on Tuesday evening to watch the Queen Mary 2 sail in to join her sister ships, the Queen Elizabeth 2 and the Queen Victoria.

Cunard's three flagships struggled to outshine each other while the town crier rang his bell and the ships sounded their whistles to salute each other.

It was also the last time the fleet of "Queens" would meet.

The QE2 will retire in November when it will be converted into a hotel in Dubai after more than 40 years in service.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7361808.stm


So, what do you think of cruising? Have you ever done it, or would you like to?

ive been on 2 cruises.

they are for boring people who like to do predictable things.

i loved it.

I went on one in the Med, its actually quite fun even if you are constantly worrying about getting back to the boat in time :)

Crusing never been, but my gay mates all rate it.

Do tiger cruises count? I once went on a day long "cruise" on the USS Kincaid (a destroyer on which my son was stationed). We toured the ship and had a barbecue on the fantail deck.

Crusing never been, but my gay mates all rate it.

Is there some kind of correlation there?

Is there some kind of correlation there?

Damn me! :eek: Google it my friend.

I'm going on my first cruise in 3 weeks with some friends to celebrate/commiserate the end of the first year of university. It shall be fun.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7361808.stm


So, what do you think of cruising? Have you ever done it, or would you like to?

I'm going on one in the summer, oddly enough. With my grandparents, cousins, aunt, and other aunt and uncle. Having never been on one before, I am eager to see the boat itself, and the food should be exquisite (and, since my unforgivably chav cousins don't eat real food anyway, they won't be in the proper restaurants). Dressing for dinner, and socialising with a predominantly American demographic, should be enjoyable, but since I only get on with my grandparents and mother, and have seen the "sights" previously, that's really about all.

I've been on a few. A great way to see a large area without having to worry that much about logistics. Recommend.

Yes, I was on a cruise around the Black Sea aboard the Soviet liner Ukraine (or Belarus? I can't remember).
I was in college then. It was during the Gorbachev "dry law" so we had to smuggle beverages aboard. It turned out later that it was possible to get vodka in one bar. If you handed the barman 10 roubles (a bottle of vodka was about three fifty then) and said "minvodu pozhawsta" (mineral water, please) he'd fill the glass under the counter and serve you 100 grams of sparkling vodka on the rocks - for about 30 times the normal price.
The penalty for breaking the dry law aboard was 10,000 roubles and some prison time, I think up to two years. The severity of the punishment is understandable, in a way - it was after the Admiral Nakhimov tragedy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Admiral_Nakhimov) that took hundreds of lives.
As for the cruise, I liked it - especially the moment when I climbed the mast in the night and put my hand above its top to be as high as possible :) (I was completely sober then). When I descended to the deck, I saw that the radar antenna was spinning now. If it started to spin when I was on its level, it would have swept me into the sea...

I haven't been on cruise.
I don't know anyone who has.

I've been on a boat for two nights to get from Portsmouth to Bilbao. Does that count?

I've been on a boat for two nights to get from Portsmouth to Bilbao. Does that count?

Did you run over any yachts on the way?

If not, then it does.

Damn me! :eek: Google it my friend.

There appears to be several websites dedicated to just that: Gay Cruises.

I've been on a boat for two nights to get from Portsmouth to Bilbao. Does that count?

I'm going on that same boat! Anything interesting to look out for?

I'm going on that same boat! Anything interesting to look out for?

Other boats.

Other boats.

Unless he went on The Pride of Bilbao.

Unless he went on The Pride of Bilbao.

...What that guy said.

My anual autum fishing trip up the Thames is as far as I go, shit and we havn't even done that for a few years coz of the bloody flooding every year.

woo i live in Southampton.... and i didn't go see :p

we were going to but forgot.


there have been tonnes of firework displays over the city recently, though. but some of that will be because of the new liner (which had awesome laser light displays on the clouds for days)


i'd like to go on a cruise though, just don't have the money. i do like sailing, however, and have sailed quite a lot in the Solent (including sailing to the Isle of Wight from Southampton, and accidentally ending up in the Vosper Thornycroft shipyard, which was terrifying...)

i can't imagine ever enjoying one. i think the novelty would wear off after a couple of days.

Yes, I was on a cruise around the Black Sea aboard the Soviet liner Ukraine (or Belarus? I can't remember).
I was in college then. It was during the Gorbachev "dry law" so we had to smuggle beverages aboard. It turned out later that it was possible to get vodka in one bar. If you handed the barman 10 roubles (a bottle of vodka was about three fifty then) and said "minvodu pozhawsta" (mineral water, please) he'd fill the glass under the counter and serve you 100 grams of sparkling vodka on the rocks - for about 30 times the normal price.
The penalty for breaking the dry law aboard was 10,000 roubles and some prison time, I think up to two years. The severity of the punishment is understandable, in a way - it was after the Admiral Nakhimov tragedy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Admiral_Nakhimov) that took hundreds of lives.
As for the cruise, I liked it - especially the moment when I climbed the mast in the night and put my hand above its top to be as high as possible :) (I was completely sober then). When I descended to the deck, I saw that the radar antenna was spinning now. If it started to spin when I was on its level, it would have swept me into the sea...

I think it would have been the Belarusiya. When I travelled with them (a few times, before and after the collapse of the USSR) they had three ships, the Belarusiya, the Kareliya and the Azerbaijan. I travelled on the Kareliya both times. Quite a nice ship actually. Fast and modern, and with decent amounts of public space.

I havn't been on a cruise ship in years. My biggest problem is the limited time you get in port. You spend more time with the pointless eating than you do ashore. (why I went with CTC-that-was, less fancy dining, more port time)

Cruises are useful if you wish to visit he greek island though, as it can work out easier and cheaper than ferry or flight hopping and getting hotels on each island. If only they stopped in port for longer though.

Nile cruises are useless. The schedules are totally unrealistic, the information disjointed, and your fellow travellers invariably annoying/american.

i can't imagine ever enjoying one. i think the novelty would wear off after a couple of days.

I can't see the novelty of a floating bar and restaurant at by disposal wearing off. Not with a library on board. I can indulge my inner Bernard Black.