Queen Mary 2's service life? My son wants to propose on this specific ship and think's she'll be retired.

[exlondoner]

3 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

You know what I meant naming launching same thing to me. I think 3 queens in Liverpool to name the new forth would be amazing. But also sad if QM2 didn't make it.

Why are they the same when they are so clearly different? And no, I  didn’t know that by one you meant the other.

[Aoumd]

A timely topic!  My son is just 7, and LOVES cruises (he's been on four so far, and likely would have been more if not for a certain issue causing a global pause in the industry circa 2020-2021...).  When he heard I was sailing on an ocean liner, and it was the last ocean liner left, he got so jealous and upset.  I had to explain to him that the Queen Mary 2 is not the same kind of ship for kids that the Carnival and Royal Caribbean cruise ships he's been on have been; while Cunard does have a kids program, I think we all know how few children are on the typical off-season crossing.  But I also had to look into the remaining service life. 

 

In researching this I quickly found the video by Chris Frame (the maritime author and YouTuber who is often a Cunard Insights guest speaker aboard QM2) which assures us that we have more than a few years left.  Specifically, the ship was designed for a 40-year design life.  It was designed specifically to improve on the design elements of QE2 which limited her own service life to "just" 39 years (e.g. QM2 is all-steel, while QE2 had an aluminum superstructure).

 

In my own case, my son is now content with not going on QM2 when I go this winter, but he wants me to take him when he is about the age of OP's son, late teens/early adulthood.

 

Hope that OP's son finds an amazing life partner worthy of a proposal, since that's what it sounds like he wants in life!
 

 

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 11:51 PM by Aoumd

[Jack E Dawson]

I'm going to go out on a very long thin limb here and predict that the QM2 will sail into the 22nd century and celebrate her 100th anniversary as an operational Cunard liner. At some point certain things, places and people become iconic. The Ferrari 250 GTO, the Chanel purse, Frank Sinatra and Dom Perignon Champagne. These and many others icons will always be appreciated by a discerning few. On our last Crossing, just a few weeks ago, we have never seen so many young people (20's and 30's) all dressed to the nines. If Cunard chooses to maintain the seaworthiness, classic enrichment programs/entertainment and decor of the QM2, there will always be enough of a market to sustain her profitability. I just don't see any technology that couldn't be adapted to the QM2 that would render her obsolete. 

JP350, whether you son proposes on the QM2 or not will not be a function of its service life, it will be a function of his ability to find that special person.

Jack

 

 

[Pushpit]

6 hours ago, Aoumd said:

In my own case, my son is now content with not going on QM2 when I go this winter, but he wants me to take him when he is about the age of OP's son, late teens/early adulthood.

 

I am not sure he needs wait too much longer, if I was being honest. Certainly by that age I had a number of trips on Carinthia under my belt (not that I needed one at that age) and I was only a few years older for my first QE2. You are correct that Cunard doesn't make huge provision for younger children and since all children are different, some children would not enjoy being on any of the Queens. But other children seem to instantly adjust to life on Cunard and adjust really well. The relatively small number of children seem to overwhelming behave extremely well and these little Cunarders are a credit to their parents.  Let's put it this way, somehow they seem to have fewer problems with the dress code than the adults!

 

So if he wants a few days as a young adult, and he has got the stage where he can "store" memories, then I would urge you to take him on QM2 sooner rather than later. The particular aspect of QM2 is they really play out the history of the Cunard line on board, and if combined with a Behind the Scenes tour (book this the second you get on board) I think it is an educational experience. That's before we get to the library and lectures. There is so much exploring to do on QM2 that it will take more than one sailing to do it all anyway, so the sooner the better.