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QM2 replacement thoughts


omah1975
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You've been lucky then.

 

(Big box) TVs thrown to the floor in cabins. Some of the bars looking like a war zone with hundreds of broken bottles. Smashed windows on decks seven, twelve and thirteen. Balcony dividers that disappeared overnight. One of those really solid exterior wooden doors on the prom deck smashed to matchwood!

 

But in essence, I agree. She handles the seas much better than her sisters.

 

Regards, Colin.

 

The QM2 did lurch in the middle of the night about 20 degrees or so on a West Bound TA last year. The Captain blamed high winds but the ship did not right itself immediately leading me to suspect someone in the bridge made a mistake.

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Right now, I'd love Cunard to develop an app to complement and build on the printed daily programme, which would include stuff like a deck plan, restaurant menus and access to onboard accounts.
HAL has this capability, also including viewing and booking shore excursions. You can highlight the activities that interest you and they then appear in a different section. But no automatic notification that your event is about to start...

 

Another feature Cunard could copy is that the onboard sales department could see the credit card I had on file in the ship's account and was able to charge the deposit for a future cruise to that card. I always have to go retrieve my physical card after booking aboard a Cunard ship.

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If I remember correctly the QM2 was designed for a hull life of 40 years, which means she will be around for a good 27 years still. So I might be able to take my retirement crossing on her!

 

The advances in shipping technology have been and will continue to be so great that the QM3 will be a totally different kind of ship. But I hope she will carry on with the style and grace of the current ship. My guess is that she will be powered by LNG or fuel cells, with gas turbines providing the backup power needed for the North Atlantic like today. She could be a bit larger but not much, the limiting factors being the Verrazano bridge and turning circle in Southampton port. Maybe a few meters wider?

 

The main question remains if there will be money to build the QM3. I remember reading somewhere that at current prices it would be impossible to build the QM2 today, let alone her successor. But 20+ years is a long time.

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Cunard flag ship 2060

 

There was much speculation in cruise circles particularly on Cruise Critic as the retirement of the aging QM2 approached, and the announcement that Cunard was to build a modern replacement was greeted with wide acclaim. Now that that RMS Queen Katherine has been in commission for a full year it may be useful to look at the impact the ship has had on the cruise business as a whole.

 

As we have seen, all new builds from year 2035 have been denied diesel powered propulsion by international law, and there are only a small number of older ships still in operation using this fuel. However no ship currenty sailing can clam to be carbon free, whether LNG or hydrogen fuel cell propulsion. The Cunard designer was adamant the the new ship would be equipped with nuclear power, though doubts were raised in some quarters about its true green claims. Many industry insiders also doubted that people would accept nuclear. This has been proved wrong and illustrates how public opinion has changed compared with the earlier years of the century and the introduction of the new reactors common now in many neighbourhoods.

 

So why is the QK so popular that she is booked solid for all sailings for three years. First, she is small by modern standards, a little wider and longer than QM2 and carrying no more than 5000 passengers, small indeed compared with the mega ships now carrying 10,000 plus and able to navigate the newly completed Nicaraguan canal. So how does QK fit so many more passengers in a ship only a little larger than her predecessor? The answer, surprisingly is robots. Robots have many advantages over human staff. They are super efficient and have been proved to give vastly superior service compared to a human. They work 24/7, don't need feeding or housing and never accept tips, though some passengers still try to pass the envelope to them on last cruise nights to the great amusement of others and the media. Their introduction has freed up all of the space previously used for staff accommodation. Also they are relatively inexpensive: it is believed that Cunard recovered the total cost of the original outlay in the first year of operation. When it was announced that Cunard was designing the ship around them the idea was greeted with hilarity. However market research had found that most of those interviewed who were under 50 really liked the idea, after all most had robots in their homes already. Older people tended to be not so keen and many chose not to cruise with Cunard again. The result is that the line now attracts a younger clientele. Of course there are still senior officers, including a captain and technicians aboard numbering a maximum of 20 on every voyage, but there is little for them to do with the auto navigation system and near 100% reliability of all other operating systems. They are instructed to circulate around the ship at all times resulting in senior crew appearing much more prominently than on previous Cunarders, where they were rarely seen except at receptions.

 

So how does the new ship compare with the now retired QM2? She is stunning, compared admittedly with her predecessor which as we know has been used as a "cash cow" for some years and was looking increasingly shabby and outdated. The ship, which took the Blue Riband from the United States liner on her first crossing has a "one hour dash" on every voyage to demonstrate her 45 knot speed. The experience is amazing with no noise or vibration and the decks packed with amazed passengers. The greatest interest was naturally in the robots. They proved to be uncannily human like, and due to AI learn on the job just like a human, though the practice of modelling them to resemble humans has thankfully been avoided. Their voices are pleasant, they are always attentive and polite and the service they give greatly exceeds that of staff, in the opinion of 90% of passengers.(Cunard survey) One passenger commented that on his previous cruise aboard the old ship he asked his steward many times to fill up the gel dispenser in the bathroom and left the ship with it still empty. That would be impossible to happen on QK.

 

Cunard has recently started using "White Star Service" again advertising the ship and for once passengers will find it truly is. Every one should take a voyage aboard this new wonder of the cruise world.

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Cunard flag ship 2060

 

There was much speculation in cruise circles particularly on Cruise Critic as the retirement of the aging QM2 approached, and the announcement that Cunard was to build a modern replacement was greeted with wide acclaim. Now that that RMS Queen Katherine has been in commission for a full year it may be useful to look at the impact the ship has had on the cruise business as a whole.

 

As we have seen, all new builds from year 2035 have been denied diesel powered propulsion by international law, and there are only a small number of older ships still in operation using this fuel. However no ship currenty sailing can clam to be carbon free, whether LNG or hydrogen fuel cell propulsion. The Cunard designer was adamant the the new ship would be equipped with nuclear power, though doubts were raised in some quarters about its true green claims. Many industry insiders also doubted that people would accept nuclear. This has been proved wrong and illustrates how public opinion has changed compared with the earlier years of the century and the introduction of the new reactors common now in many neighbourhoods.

 

So why is the QK so popular that she is booked solid for all sailings for three years. First, she is small by modern standards, a little wider and longer than QM2 and carrying no more than 5000 passengers, small indeed compared with the mega ships now carrying 10,000 plus and able to navigate the newly completed Nicaraguan canal. So how does QK fit so many more passengers in a ship only a little larger than her predecessor? The answer, surprisingly is robots. Robots have many advantages over human staff. They are super efficient and have been proved to give vastly superior service compared to a human. They work 24/7, don't need feeding or housing and never accept tips, though some passengers still try to pass the envelope to them on last cruise nights to the great amusement of others and the media. Their introduction has freed up all of the space previously used for staff accommodation. Also they are relatively inexpensive: it is believed that Cunard recovered the total cost of the original outlay in the first year of operation. When it was announced that Cunard was designing the ship around them the idea was greeted with hilarity. However market research had found that most of those interviewed who were under 50 really liked the idea, after all most had robots in their homes already. Older people tended to be not so keen and many chose not to cruise with Cunard again. The result is that the line now attracts a younger clientele. Of course there are still senior officers, including a captain and technicians aboard numbering a maximum of 20 on every voyage, but there is little for them to do with the auto navigation system and near 100% reliability of all other operating systems. They are instructed to circulate around the ship at all times resulting in senior crew appearing much more prominently than on previous Cunarders, where they were rarely seen except at receptions.

 

So how does the new ship compare with the now retired QM2? She is stunning, compared admittedly with her predecessor which as we know has been used as a "cash cow" for some years and was looking increasingly shabby and outdated. The ship, which took the Blue Riband from the United States liner on her first crossing has a "one hour dash" on every voyage to demonstrate her 45 knot speed. The experience is amazing with no noise or vibration and the decks packed with amazed passengers. The greatest interest was naturally in the robots. They proved to be uncannily human like, and due to AI learn on the job just like a human, though the practice of modelling them to resemble humans has thankfully been avoided. Their voices are pleasant, they are always attentive and polite and the service they give greatly exceeds that of staff, in the opinion of 90% of passengers.(Cunard survey) One passenger commented that on his previous cruise aboard the old ship he asked his steward many times to fill up the gel dispenser in the bathroom and left the ship with it still empty. That would be impossible to happen on QK.

 

Cunard has recently started using "White Star Service" again advertising the ship and for once passengers will find it truly is. Every one should take a voyage aboard this new wonder of the cruise world.

I know that I am making a prediction about the future. However I don't think that nuclear power or even solar panels will ever replace diesel-electric power to move the Cruise Ships and Ocean Liners. And I do think that fossil fuels are here to stay because there is plenty of it. To add insult to injury just about 30 miles North of New York City on the Hudson River is the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant and now the State of New York is ordering that the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant to be shut down several years from now around the year 2021. Now I don't mind Nuclear Power Plants on dry land but sailing on a floating Nuclear Power Plant well I am very uneasy about that. This is just my own opinion. Regards,Jerry
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Points well taken, but nuclear power has a sixty year safety record on ships. The entire submarine and carrier fleet in the US Navy is nuclear powered. The last conventionally powered carrier was decommissioned ten years ago.

 

There still exists a deactivated nuclear powered cargo ship, the NS Savannah. As was common of US flagged freighters then she carried a limited number of passengers. Unfortunately she was built about 10 years too late as freight was rapidly moving to containerization.

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Many things will change this century, we only need to look at the push for driverless cars and electric propultion. Burning one of the most polluting fuels known in massive quantities by shipping will have to be banned some time in the future and if the alternative is nuclear I have no doubt it will be accepted by a new modern thinking public.

 

Weather this will extend to the banning of gents monkey suits is another question.

 

David.

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Points well taken, but nuclear power has a sixty year safety record on ships. The entire submarine and carrier fleet in the US Navy is nuclear powered. The last conventionally powered carrier was decommissioned ten years ago.

 

There still exists a deactivated nuclear powered cargo ship, the NS Savannah. As was common of US flagged freighters then she carried a limited number of passengers. Unfortunately she was built about 10 years too late as freight was rapidly moving to containerization.

 

Ordering sailors to man a nuclear carrier or sub is far different than inviting passengers to get on a nuclear cruise ship. I think that there would be significant insurance issues, and issues with passengers filing claims for diseases diagnosed years after a cruise as having been caused by the reactor.

 

As for the Savannah, she was never designed or intended to be commercially successful. Her price tag today would be close to $400 million for a ship with only 14,000 GRT. Her cargo capacity was a mere 8500 tons. Conventional steam ships built at the time in the US cost 20-25% of Savannah's cost. She could carry 60 passengers, and required a crew of 124, at a time when even bloated US merchant ships carried about 40-45. Because of all the problems with design and crew, Savannah cost $2 million (over $16 million today) extra in US government operating subsidies than an oil fired ship.

 

There have been only 4 civilian cargo ships built with nuclear power, and the only one still operating (after many years of lying idle) is a Russian barge carrier that does not have permission to dock in any country other than Russia. Russia has also built 10 nuclear powered ice breakers. The only one to carry fare paying passengers was Savannah, and she had only carried a total of 850 at the time that passenger service was cancelled, after only 3 years, and the ship converted to cargo only.

 

While I won't say that a nuclear powered cruise ship will never happen, I don't believe that it will happen with today's fission type reactors.

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Thanks for joining in the discussion chengkp75, how would you expect the ocean liner of the 2040's to be powered ?

 

Given the relatively long lead times in accepting new technology in shipbuilding (class societies, as insurance underwriters, are typically pretty conservative), I would say combinations of LNG fueled diesel engines and fuel cells.

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Hi Chief,

Always enjoy your technical expertise. I am with you on nuclear. I also see great strides in fuel cells, especially if the hydrogen generators prove effective in the future. Isn't the byproduct of that system only water vapor? Not much of a problem at sea. Now if they could just solve the biggest polluters, thousands of jet aircraft spewing tons of hydrocarbons a mile up in the atmosphere...........

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