QE2 Resurrection Question

[njguy_south]

I know she no longer sails, but has anyone stayed on the QE2 as a hotel in Dubai? I know this would be a question in the Ports discussion, but since it is specifically about the QE2, I thought some on this board might have a better answer.

 

I have a cruise ending there in Nov. 2023, and would like to stay on her again. What is the area like where she is docked?  Can I get easy ground transportation to other sites in Dubai? Or would you recommend visiting the ship, but staying elsewhere in Dubai?

 

Thanks!!!

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

I am also interested in the QE2 in Dubai. I am booked on the Queen Anne's Maiden World Voyage that spends two days in Dubai in April 2025. I am thinking about taking a Dubai highlights shore excursion one of the days and visiting the QE2 (my all-time favorite ship) the other day. Is the QE2 located fairly near to where the Queen Anne will dock? Does Cunard ever offer a shore excursion to the QE2?

 

Thanks,

 

Chuck

[Patria21]

I visited the QE2 when the Queen Victoria was docked in Dubai. I also had friends who stayed the night there and enjoyed it. The QE2  was quite some distance from where we docked, but I don't know which terminal the Queen Anne will use and other ships do sometimes dock closer. There wasn't anything of any interest in walking distance from the ship, but then, most of the sights in Dubai aren't in walking distance of each other, or at least didn't seem to be to me. As for shore excursions, there were none offered to the QE2. In fact, the port lecturer didn't even mention that the ship was there, which struck me as sad.

[deck chair]

Hello! I have been to Dubai twice on QM2 and saw the QE2 on both occasions.  During my second D bai port call I took a short ride over and bought a ticket to visit.   I sailed 15 times on QE2 from 1998 through 2003.  I have a lot of special memories of that ship and my time sailing on her.  When I boarded the ship, it brought great sadness to me because while it is still the QE2  she has changed because the lifeboats are gone, the Caronia dining room has been stripped and is now apparently used as common office space.  The outdoor pools are covered over and many of the public rooms are almost unrecognizable.  So I left sad that she is in this state, but I still have my memories and countless photographs.  I wish she could have stayed in Southampton but that was not to be.   If you decide to book a room    I'm sure it will be fine.  Good luck.

Deck Chair.

[seacruise9]

Hi, 

 

Thanks for the information. I sailed aboard the QE2 seven times between 1984 and 2005. The QE2 is my favorite ship and I have many wonderful memories. However, I don't want a visit to make me sad.

 

I have visited (and stayed aboard) the original Queen Mary in California several times. Although I never sailed aboard this ship, my visits to the Queen Mary usually cause mixed emotions. I am thrilled that the ship is still around, but I am depressed by her current condition. I am cruising aboard the Queen Elizabeth next month and have booked a night on the Queen Mary following my cruise.

 

I probably will visit the QE2 in Dubai. It will be great to see the ship again even though it obviously won't be same as when the ship was in service.

 

Chuck

[WantedOnVoyage]

From everything I've seen and read, best to keep your memories.  If you believe ships have souls, QE2's has been poorly served by strangers and it shows.  ROTTERDAM is preserved by those who built her, made her and love her. And that shows, too. 

 

If I were to come into Dubai (about no. 163 on my places to visit list), I would not even want to see the poor old lady baking in the sun, owned by people who bought her because they could and didn't really even know what they got. 

[RICHARD@SEA]

YOU CAN NEVER GO BACK.........

 

This topic reminded me of the FRANCE.... back in the early 1970's we were on here & she was the epitome of style elegance & luxe - even in the waning days of the great liners.  At that time there was only THE FRANCE & QE2

 

I really loved the FRANCE but got to love the QE2 after a few TA's & cruises.

 

Well when NCL announced they would buy & renovate THE FRANCE & rename her NORWAY I was curious. as to what would happen ...I did take a cruise on NORWAY & liked the new concept...at that time NCL was still a decent line.

 

Saying that even w a  few touches from the FRANCE still onboard  - she was not the FRANCE I loved...her speed was gone along w the International elegance.

 

i miss QE2 greatly & feel most privileged to of sailed in her a few times....but to see her in Dubai of all places just moored would be too sad.

 

Some of the greatest moments of taking a sea voyage are the minutes when standing on deck & you can feel the engines being revved up & the ship starts to move ever so slowly...the anticipation starts to fade & excitement builds, the winds kick up, the smell & taste of the salty sea  and then the ship is truly coming to life..as she should  - at sea!!!

[seacruise9]

Hi, 

 

You both make a good point. A lot of what made the QE2 special was the atmosphere, crew, fellow passengers, etc. The QE2 experience was much more than the physical ship itself. I agree that visiting the QE2 in Dubai would lack the magic of the voyages on this wonderful ship.

 

Chuck

[NE John]

It’s also sad to see the derelict remains of the SS United States tied to a lonely dock in Philadelphia. There were a few ideas for a similar QM/QE2 concept but that speedster liner rusts away. 

[MelbTone]

I've just spent the second of two nights aboard the QE2, fulfilling a long held ambition. I never sailed on her in service so have nothing to compare my stay with.

 

There are chunks of the ship closed off but plenty to see - lots of pics, memorabilia etc. I'm in a Captain's Room, up high and in A1 condition. Food in the restaurant is excellent and by Australian standards reasonably priced, given that they've got a captive audience. Ship's tour by Craig was excellent. 

 

Location: QE2 is in the back of nowhere - nothing nearby. Taxis are cheap. I nearly got scammed by a dispatcher at Dubai Mall who wanted to put me in an unmarked black car. Drive wanted AED120; I told him to forget it and got a yellow taxi, AED36.

 

In conclusion would I recommend staying here? Yes, but if you're making a longer visit, perhaps just two nights and the rest in  centrally located hotel.

[BklynBoy8]

It would be fun to stay on board after sailing on her so many times.

 

Back seeing restaurants, public rooms and even in our old cabins.

[Guest SilverHengroen]

10 minutes ago, BklynBoy8 said:

It would be fun to stay on board after sailing on her so many times.

 

Back seeing restaurants, public rooms and even in our old cabins.

I understand a lot of the cabins have been knocked together 2 or even 3 into one to make them an acceptable size for a hotel stay, and all have been significantly refurbished/ modernised - I think they generally look good, but traditionalists may well be disappointed, particularly if hoping to see 'familiar' places on board. 

[BklynBoy8]

1 minute ago, SilverHengroen said:

I understand a lot of the cabins have been knocked together 2 or even 3 into one to make them an acceptable size for a hotel stay, and all have been significantly refurbished/ modernised - I think they generally look good, but traditionalists may well be disappointed, particularly if hoping to see 'familiar' places on board. 

 

Not really........memories are still there and recall would not be too hard.

 

Seeing pictures posted even since then, I really recall a lot to mind.

 

Thank you but not to hard to remember her so well. Even a bare wall and what was there to a traditionalist is good memories..

[Patria21]

After our official tour on our visit, we had lunch in the Lido and then we just - wandered. Unlike when we visited the Rotterdam (which is, to be sure, in much more pristine condition) there were no locked doors, so we went all over the ship. OK, my guess is they may not have wanted us in the Princess Grill, which was all torn up - but we didn't know it was torn up until we got there, and there were no signs asking us to stay out. Anyway, the point is there is much to see, and while much is gone, much that will strike a nostalgic spark remains.

[paulco]

On QM2 WC 2010 we pulled alongside and exchanged many blasts of the whistles. This was before any renovations had begun on the old gal.  ‘Twas cool!

[3rdGenCunarder]

On 7/20/2023 at 5:23 PM, RICHARD@SEA said:

YOU CAN NEVER GO BACK.........

 

This topic reminded me of the FRANCE.... back in the early 1970's we were on here & she was the epitome of style elegance & luxe - even in the waning days of the great liners.  At that time there was only THE FRANCE & QE2

 

I really loved the FRANCE but got to love the QE2 after a few TA's & cruises.

 

Well when NCL announced they would buy & renovate THE FRANCE & rename her NORWAY I was curious. as to what would happen ...I did take a cruise on NORWAY & liked the new concept...at that time NCL was still a decent line.

 

Saying that even w a  few touches from the FRANCE still onboard  - she was not the FRANCE I loved...her speed was gone along w the International elegance.

 

i miss QE2 greatly & feel most privileged to of sailed in her a few times....but to see her in Dubai of all places just moored would be too sad.

 

Some of the greatest moments of taking a sea voyage are the minutes when standing on deck & you can feel the engines being revved up & the ship starts to move ever so slowly...the anticipation starts to fade & excitement builds, the winds kick up, the smell & taste of the salty sea  and then the ship is truly coming to life..as she should  - at sea!!!

 

Well, you can go back, but it's a modified version, just as you experienced on the Norway. I sailed on the Norway late in her life. People kept saying that if I liked QE2 so much, I should sail on the Norway. What a disappointment, NCL was sailing her on the cheap. The teak open promenade deck had been replaced with some sort of foam jogging track material that was crumbly and patched. The upper sun deck had astroturf that never dried out after a squall. Yes, there were a few bits of her days as the France--the dining rooms, the bar with the neptune statues, the kids' playroom, the hidden "secret patio." But she was not loved and it showed. 

 

Your last paragraph sums it up beautifully. My last memory of QE2 is standing at Battery Park watching her final departure from NYC. Lights on, full of passengers, doing what she was born to do. I have no desire to see her as a static hotel.

 

[BklynBoy8]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Well, you can go back, but it's a modified version, just as you experienced on the Norway. I sailed on the Norway late in her life. People kept saying that if I liked QE2 so much, I should sail on the Norway. What a disappointment, NCL was sailing her on the cheap. The teak open promenade deck had been replaced with some sort of foam jogging track material that was crumbly and patched. The upper sun deck had astroturf that never dried out after a squall. Yes, there were a few bits of her days as the France--the dining rooms, the bar with the neptune statues, the kids' playroom, the hidden "secret patio." But she was not loved and it showed. 

 

Your last paragraph sums it up beautifully. My last memory of QE2 is standing at Battery Park watching her final departure from NYC. Lights on, full of passengers, doing what she was born to do. I have no desire to see her as a static hotel.

 

 

We said Goodbye with her going under the VZ Bridge.