QE2 CONVERSION IN DUBAI

[greg robertson]

When the QE2 is converted in Dubai, do you think that they will remove the engines?
I am also interested if they will restore the exterior of the ship back to its original appearance.
I personally would love to see the original funnel design back (in white) along with the observation room windows at the front.
What are others' views on this?

 

[Kyle Johnstone]

Personally, I hope they do none of that.

It would mean destroying much of the QE2 that I know and love.

 

[Sean Hankins]

Hopefully the mistakes made on the Queen Mary in Long Beach will not be repeated here.

The biggest one is the removal of most of the power train which is sad and ironic since one of the most popular attractions on the ship is the last remaining engine room (the other is the pool).

I personally hope that the hard learned lessons of the QM will be observed by the people taking on the QE2 project. Keep as much of the ship intact that is practically possible. Some of the smaller cabins will probably be rebuilt as larger ones and if this is the case I'd be very curious to see how this is done.

 

[John DeLoache]

Don't count on it. I remember reading one of the news articles a day or two after the original announcement that quoted one of the Dubai investors saying that the plans were to remove some or all of the engines to clear the space for other uses.

 

[Russell Smith]

UGH!!!!

QE2's funnel 'to be sliced off'

By Paul Clifton
Transport correspondent, BBC South



The QE2 leaves services in November 2008 to become a hotel in Dubai
Details are emerging of what will happen to the world-famous passenger liner QE2 when it retires next month to become a floating hotel in Dubai.

The plans are unlikely to appeal to QE2's traditional fans. Even the iconic silhouette of the world's best-known ship will change.

According to the liner's crew, the new owners in Dubai plan to slice off the giant red funnel, placing it on the waterfront as an entrance to the ship.

FULL STORY & PICS

 

[Michael H. Standart]

As the article pointed out, the alternatives are worse. That's not to say that I like this...I don't...but it sure beats the scrapyard.

 

[Russell Smith]

True. She could have ended up like the S.S. Norway.

Let's just hope Dubai does a better job than we Americans did on the RMS Queen Mary. I've never been on the QM, but I hear the owners let her go to pot. Maybe that new $6 million refurbishing will help a little.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>I've never been on the QM, but I hear the owners let her go to pot.<<

The real insult is that it didn't need to happen that way. The problem as I see it was that Long Beach grossly underestimated what it would take to keep a ship up, even as a static exhibet. The outfits they leased her out to were even more clueless.

 

[Sean Hankins]

I'm not really so sure that it is better than the scrap yard. It sounds as if there wont be anything left of the real QE2 other than the lower hull. IMHO the ship has no value if its not even recognizable as her former self.

[Moderator's Note: A message following this one has been removed as offensive. MAB]

 

[Mark Baber]

there wont be anything left of the real QE2 other than the lower hull.

Sorta like Nomadic.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>IMHO the ship has no value if its not even recognizable as her former self.<<

(shrug) The potential customer base may be of the contrary opinion. Soon enough, we'll know.

 

[Sean Hankins]

"(shrug) The potential customer base may be of the contrary opinion."

But there's the rub Mike: After all this 'conversion' are these potential visitors really coming to see the QE2, or the add ons that were never part of her life at sea?

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>But there's the rub Mike: After all this 'conversion' are these potential visitors really coming to see the QE2, or the add ons that were never part of her life at sea?<<

Perhaps both. Nobody ever said that hotels/attractions were in good taste. I think it's a bit of a leap to assume that most of these people would share our concerns or sensibilities.

 

[Ellen Grace Butland]

I hold a "wait and see" attitude. Either the QE2 wil be transmogrified into an awful travesty, or she will gain a future life as something that was once a ship but is now ??? Anyway I am glad I saved up money and went from Auckland to Sydney and Brisbane in her in 1990. And she has had a long career in service. I like the story I read of Micky Arison going to Halifax (I think) and wondering why there was a large crowd around the piers etc, and being blown away when the QE2's captain explained this happened at nearly every port Qe2 visited. So, I wait and see what will become of her. Keep me posted.

 

[sara collis hanlon]

When the QE2 is converted in Dubai, do you think that they will remove the engines?
I am also interested if they will restore the exterior of the ship back to its original appearance.
I personally would love to see the original funnel design back (in white) along with the observation room windows at the front.
What are others' views on this?


Hopefully the mistakes made on the Queen Mary in Long Beach will not be repeated here.

The biggest one is the removal of most of the power train which is sad and ironic since one of the most popular attractions on the ship is the last remaining engine room (the other is the pool).

I personally hope that the hard learned lessons of the QM will be observed by the people taking on the QE2 project. Keep as much of the ship intact that is practically possible. Some of the smaller cabins will probably be rebuilt as larger ones and if this is the case I'd be very curious to see how this is done.

 

[Stephen Brooke]

The stories Ive heard say that all engines will be taken out,all lifeboats will go, cabins on decks below one deck will be ripped out,the 'funnel' will be a glass structure and to cap it there will be an additional deck around the stern area, and possibly above the boat deck.

 

[Joe Russo]

Just to be the devil's advocate for a second here... but I don't see the point in keeping her 1988 diesel engines since she won't be moving anymore. I wouldn't think that if they are building something so appalling as a glass structure in the place of her funnel, that they would care about preserving something as ordinary as modern diesel engines when space will be a premium.

It still does not make sense to me that they would do all of these ridiculous alterations to her which will leave her looking nothing like her former self. I think that they could save a lot of trouble and money by just building something from scratch like the Burj Al Arab.
First they build a modern hotel to look like a sailboat, and now they will be making a boat look like a modern hotel.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>but I don't see the point in keeping her 1988 diesel engines since she won't be moving anymore. <<

Historical interest, but if you take it that far, I could "justify" refitting the old steam plant. We know that much ain't gonna happen. A more pressing reason would be to preserve weight and balance in case it's ever necessery to move the ship. She might not go under her own power, but at least she wouldn't roll over on them.

 

[Aidan Bowe]

I just have a very sad feeling to the whole idea of her "retirement" - It puts me in mind of that saying of never trying to revisit a place or person you have fond memories of...You ain't going to like what you find!

 

[Joe Russo]

BTW - is there a stipulation that she must become a static attraction? Part of me also thinks there is a possibility that she'll become a royal yacht for Sheikh Mohammed.

[Moderator's Note: Four messages have been removed from this thread because they contained religiously offensive or ethnically stereotyping material. MAB]