A Rival for the QM2?

[London-Calling]

7 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Cunard's history is, history and for me, you can keep QM2 and her  TAs. I am/was quite happy sailing the Atlantic on Queen Victoria, a cruise ship, not an ocean liner. 🙂

 

Hi Victoria 2, of course Cunard cannot just appeal to "history buffs" and "ship nuts". Anybody is welcome to enjoy their experience, like yourself. However, I would suggest much of what you enjoy about they has been carried over from the past.  If you don't need that, you could choose Celebrity, Princess, NCL or RCI etc. (By the way, P&O's Arcadia is the same ship as Queen Victoria).

 

For me TA' are what Cunard do best and the QM2 is easily their best ship. You are welcome to disagree.

 

What you have said, in my humble opinion, is a bit like saying "I've just purchased a vintage Rolls Royce, but I have no interest in historic cars". For me they go hand in hand.

[Victoria2]

That's fine, You like the fantasy, I like the reality of the traditions.

 

 Think I'll skip on the RRs if that's ok, vintage or modern. The car park spaces at M&S  don't lend themselves to tank sized vehicles. 🙂

[Host Hattie]

37 minutes ago, London-Calling said:

(By the way, P&O's Arcadia is the same ship as Queen Victoria)

They were built on the same Vista design but they are not the same ship.

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, Host Hattie said:

They were built on the same Vista design but they are not the same ship.

Arcadia was originally going to be QV, until they decided she wasn’t quite right, so they moved on to the hull we have now, with its slightly extended bow. I think I have remembered right.

[London-Calling]

10 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

They were built on the same Vista design but they are not the same ship.

OK Hot Hattie, they have strong similarities. As exlondoner said, it was going to be QV then they changed their mind half way-ish.

Edited March 24 by London-Calling

[D&N]

1 hour ago, London-Calling said:

 

That's why their ships are full of painting of other historic ships.  That's why they still offer white-glove afternoon tea. That's why they have hung onto their dress code, more than most cruise lines. That why the QM2 in particular, is a 'real' ocean liner offering regular transatlantic voyages.

 

The element of "fantasy" is the fact the the QM2 is a modern ship (although designed as an ocean liner)

There is a painting on QM2 that resembles a spilt tin of baked beans. Not sure how retro that is or how it relates to historic ships. Personally although I quite like some of the paintings, they don't really have a functional use and I'd be happy without any of them.

We'd dress to the nines every night no matter what ship we sailed on, just as we would any time we go out to dinner. But on QM2 we can dance all of every evening.

But the most important thing is waking up at 3:30 am in a force 9 and sensing the QM2's keel flexing under the immense pressures of the ocean while feeling virtually no roll and hardly any pitch.

No element of fantasy about it.

If the ship had an ultra modern theme we'd still be happy to sail on it. 

 

 

[BlueRiband]

On 3/20/2024 at 9:40 AM, chengkp75 said:

I believe the thread title was "tongue in cheek", as this thing could no more compete with QM2 than a ferry boat.  There isn't enough demand for "crossings" to support more than the QM2 and the industry knows it.

Two years ago the Belfast Telegraph said that Palmer was having second thoughts on the long term viability of the ship once the initial curiosity had worn off.   It might eventually go the the Chinese market.  One, Chinese passengers love to gamble. (And when people gamble the house always wins.)  Two, there is a huge fascination with Titanic in China such that a theme park was building a floating but docked replica of the ship.  It was estimated to be about 25% complete before that project ran out of money.

Edited March 24 by BlueRiband

[London-Calling]

1 hour ago, BlueRiband said:

Two years ago the Belfast Telegraph said that Palmer was having second thoughts on the long term viability of the ship once the initial curiosity had worn off.  

Palmer now says it was Covid that delayed the project, rather than 'second thoughts'.

[BlueRiband]

20 hours ago, London-Calling said:

Palmer now says it was Covid that delayed the project, rather than 'second thoughts'.

Given that the Titanic II project had prolong periods of dormancy I won't believe that it is going to happen until a shipyard contract is signed.   No yard is going to do that unless they are confident that they will get paid when the ship is completed.  If 2024 passes and there is still no contract, I think this latest revival can be written off as something Palmer decided to do because he got bored with politics.

[London-Calling]

6 minutes ago, BlueRiband said:

 If 2024 passes and there is still no contract, I think this latest revival can be written off as something Palmer decided to do because he got bored with politics.

Agreed!

[London-Calling]

Titanic II should be relatively easy to build, being a small ship, by modern standards (56,000gt).

 

The engines/pods are all of a standard design. There's no LNG capability. I'm guessing that the external apperance and internal decor will be the biggest challenge for Tillberg. Modern fireproof materials will have to be used instead of all that natural wood. There will be some extra fire exits too, in some public rooms.

 

Surely, even even 'steerage' cabins will have private bathrooms. 

 

There will of course be no atrium, no pools or hot tubs on deck, no balcony cabins. Palmer even said no TVs and no Wi-Fi. 

[Victoria2]

13 minutes ago, London-Calling said:

Titanic II should be relatively easy to build, being a small ship, by modern standards (56,000gt).

 

The engines/pods are all of a standard design. There's no LNG capability. I'm guessing that the external apperance and internal decor will be the biggest challenge for Tillberg. Modern fireproof materials will have to be used instead of all that natural wood. There will be some extra fire exits too, in some public rooms.

 

Surely, even even 'steerage' cabins will have private bathrooms. 

 

There will of course be no atrium, no pools or hot tubs on deck, no balcony cabins. Palmer even said no TVs and no Wi-Fi. 

Well I guess as long as the dress code adheres to 'of the time', then I guess it will be a real winner with those who long for the past 😕 if, enormous if, it ever gets beyond the drawing board.

 

I'll stick with the modernity of the C21st.👍

 

 

[London-Calling]

19 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

 

I'll stick with the modernity of the C21st.👍

 

 

It's funny, people never used to need TVs, balconies, atrium, hot tubs and water parks, on their cruises.

[Victoria2]

Just now, London-Calling said:

It's funny, people never used to need TVs, balconies, atrium, hot tubs and water parks, on their cruises.

True. We've only been cruising since the early 90's and I don't need a hot tub or a water park, but access to a balcony is non negotiable. TV is pretty useful too. 🙂

 

[Wonky]

1 hour ago, London-Calling said:

It's funny, people never used to need TVs, balconies, atrium, hot tubs and water parks, on their cruises.

Or enough lifeboats…

[WantedOnVoyage]

As I said at the beginning of this thread, forget the TITANIC "thing" for a moment.... the idea that you'd get more than 250 people willing if not eager to experience a truly Edwardian week or so at sea is delusional nonsense.  People have changed more than the ships.  And you'd have a mutiny just not having wifi aboard.  Good grief, the first thing people do is to get their silly devices "logged in" to some inane "app" and the only purpose of the librarian is not to check out books but act as some IT expert.  

 

Look at an Edwardian shipboard menu and imagine how many would savour tripe and onions or Bombay curry or mutton chops for breakfast (sign me up!) or a multi course dinner of fish, beef or game and then fowl. Just the cutlery would confuse. Most people don't even know what a savoury is... I still remember when QE2 and CANBERRA had that as the very last course. Loved it.  Cunard could easily recreate a 1907 MAURETANIA menu but they don't and won't for good reason. And how many gentlemen would remember to order milady's meal for her? And how many ladies would let them?  

 

After four days aboard a proper Edwardian liner recreation at sea, 99.89 per cent of today's cruise passengers would look forward to hitting the iceberg.

[rmsEtruria]

12 hours ago, London-Calling said:

Titanic II should be relatively easy to build, being a small ship, by modern standards (56,000gt).

 

The engines/pods are all of a standard design. There's no LNG capability. I'm guessing that the external apperance and internal decor will be the biggest challenge for Tillberg. Modern fireproof materials will have to be used instead of all that natural wood. There will be some extra fire exits too, in some public rooms.

 

Surely, even even 'steerage' cabins will have private bathrooms. 

 

There will of course be no atrium, no pools or hot tubs on deck, no balcony cabins. Palmer even said no TVs and no Wi-Fi. 

It’s 46,000 gross tons, or should be (although the displacement was somewhere in the vicinity of 56,000 tons).  And private bathrooms for steerage cabins?! That surely would ruin the authentic experience . . . .

[exlondoner]

5 hours ago, WantedOnVoyage said:

As I said at the beginning of this thread, forget the TITANIC "thing" for a moment.... the idea that you'd get more than 250 people willing if not eager to experience a truly Edwardian week or so at sea is delusional nonsense.  People have changed more than the ships.  And you'd have a mutiny just not having wifi aboard.  Good grief, the first thing people do is to get their silly devices "logged in" to some inane "app" and the only purpose of the librarian is not to check out books but act as some IT expert.  

 

Look at an Edwardian shipboard menu and imagine how many would savour tripe and onions or Bombay curry or mutton chops for breakfast (sign me up!) or a multi course dinner of fish, beef or game and then fowl. Just the cutlery would confuse. Most people don't even know what a savoury is... I still remember when QE2 and CANBERRA had that as the very last course. Loved it.  Cunard could easily recreate a 1907 MAURETANIA menu but they don't and won't for good reason. And how many gentlemen would remember to order milady's meal for her? And how many ladies would let them?  

 

After four days aboard a proper Edwardian liner recreation at sea, 99.89 per cent of today's cruise passengers would look forward to hitting the iceberg.

I agree it sounds a pretty impractical idea, but ‘delusional nonsense’, ‘silly’ devices, ‘inane’ app. It’s all very harsh.

 

One thing for sure. On the Cunard ships I travel on, there is often a (short) queue of people waiting to have their books checked out, so their library person (I believe they are no longer actual librarians) does quite a lot of that. But I don’t remember that Titanic actually had a library, so that might be another problem.