A Decade of Excellence: Queen Mary 2 celebrates her first ten years

Queen Mary 2 celebrates her first ten years, after travelling almost 1.5 million nautical miles and looking after 1.3 million passengers

Cunard’s flagship Queen Mary 2 will celebrate her first ten years of service in 2014. Since her spectacular naming by Her Majesty The Queen on January 8, 2004, Queen Mary 2 has undertaken a total of 419 voyages including over 200 Transatlantic Crossings and called at 182 ports in 60 countries.

Since becoming the Cunard flagship on completion of her maiden Transatlantic crossings in May 2004, Queen Mary 2 has remained unchallenged as the world’s largest, longest, tallest, widest and most expensive ocean liner ever built and the most famous and fastest passenger ship in operation today.

At 345m long, if stood on her stern Queen Mary 2 would fall just three metres shy of Uluru and would be about 40m taller than the tip of Sydney Tower. Capable of carrying 2600 passengers and 1250 crew, Queen Mary 2 is a floating town just smaller than the NSW south coast town of Merimbula (pop 4000), almost double the size of WA’s Exmouth (pop 2000), larger than the SA town of Coober Pedy (estimated pop 3500) and the Victorian town of Daylesford (pop 3460) and more than three times the size of Queensland’s Burrum Heads in Hervey Bay (pop 1224).

In her first ten years of service she’s sailed the equivalent of three times to the moon and back. She’s carried over 1.3 million guests, the equivalent of the entire population of Adelaide, and over 2000 dogs.

“Since entering service in 2004, Queen Mary 2 has reigned supreme on the Atlantic and around the world, proudly carrying more than a million guests. She has attracted awards, accolades and admiration as the greatest ocean liner ever built for a decade and we intend to mark her first ten years of service of in style,” said Angus Struthers, Cunard’s Marketing Director.

To mark the milestone, Queen Mary 2 will depart on her tenth World Cruise on January 10, 2014, when she and Queen Elizabeth sail together from Southampton after a fusillade of celebratory fireworks.

As part of her tenth year celebrations, Queen Mary 2 will embark on her second Royal Circumnavigation of Australia in February and March.

The anniversary year will also see all three Cunard Queens visit Australia for the first time with Queen Mary 2 arriving in Fremantle on February 12, Queen Elizabeth sailing into Sydney on March 1 and Queen Victoria making landfall in Brisbane on March 3.

The major 10th anniversary celebrations will begin on May 9, 2014, when all three ships will arrive together in their homeport of Southampton and sister ships Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth will salute the flagship’s first ten years. The day will feature special sail-pasts, a celebratory lunch and a spectacular send-off of fireworks as all three ships set sail together from Southampton that evening, with Queen Mary 2 leading the way.

When Queen Mary 2 sets off on the first of two special commemorative Crossings to and from New York in May, it will cement her role as the only passenger ship in the world maintaining a scheduled service across the Atlantic, something a Cunard ship has done since 1840.

Taking part in Cunard’s acclaimed ‘Insights’ speaker program during the Crossing to New York will be two special individuals: Commodore Ron Warwick, who holds the distinction of being the first Master of Queen Mary 2, and Stephen Payne OBE, who was largely responsible for the overall design of the ship. In their separate talks, they will present fascinating insights into the operation and construction of the world’s grandest ocean liner.

Both will be guests of honour at a gala evening on board which will include a commemorative dinner with a special menu. In addition, tenor Ben Makisi (billed as ‘The Voice of the South Pacific’), magician Philip Hitchcock and violin duo ‘Elektra’ will thrill passengers on board during the Crossing.

Both the Commodore and Stephen Payne will sail from New York to Southampton with Queen Mary 2 on the return May 16-23 crossing, and will be joined by comedian Roy Walker as part of the entertainment line-up.

There are limited spaces left on the May 9 Crossing from Southampton to New York, with prices starting from $1699* per person twin share. Fares for the May 16 Crossing from New York to Southampton start from $1459* per person twin share.

For more details on Cunard visit www.cunard.com

*Fares are per person twin share. Subject to availability, conditions apply.