The meeting of "the Queens" in Long Beach tomorrow :)

[RaceCat]

The Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Mary 1 will meet in Long Beach tomorrow. I'm going down to my Dad's house to see it. It will happen at noon time and the city of Long beach and the Queen Mary 1 are making a really big deal of it. I think it's going to be kinda cool.

Just thought I share. :)

It's amazing to look at the side by side comparision of these two ships. You can take away one of two things. Either we haven't come very far in ship building over the last 80 years or the Queen Mary 1 was really ahead of her time. (they try to tell you that when you tour her, but I guess I never really got it) Anyway, my dad said that the Queen Mary 1 was so fast, the same speed as the QM2, that this is why she was commissioned for use during the war. She could outrun anything. Don't know if it's true but it's a good story.

http://www.thequeenmarysmeet.com/

Here is a link to the web site.

RaceCat

[Anteater]

Hi RaceCat! I'm not working tomorrow, and plan to attend this historical event! :thumbup: The classic passenger liners have fascinated me for years, and I remember reading that the Queen Mary was indeed a fast ship for her time. She won the "Blue Riband", which was an ongoing competition to see which passenger liner could cross the Atlantic in the shortest time. And the QM2 looks like a beauty!

Gonna drive my mom around the racecourse, too. I was in Long Beach last weekend, and it was so cool to see the barriers in place!

[JohnHKart]

I can't miss this as I worked on ships for 8 years and I'm a fan of old ocean liners. The new QM does nothing for me but this will still be totally cool and worth dragging myself out of bed for (I work late).

John

[chop456]

Maybe the QM2 can do it without hitting something and breaking off a thruster this time. :gomer:

[indyfan31]

Ok, I'm hoping someone here can give me a straight answer. I've heard on several different reports that, because of it's size, it had to be "backed in" to port. How does size have anything to do with the direction it's parked in?

[JoeBob]

Because of her size, there probably isn't a turning basin she can use, and you'd rather go backwards into the port than out to sea. So, they backed her in so they can pull her out.

[TravelGal]

:cry: Meant to go there but got caught up in re-issuing plane tickets instead. :flame: Can't beleive I had to miss such an historical TRAVEL event so close to me. :(

[indyfan31]

Because of her size, there probably isn't a turning basin she can use, and you'd rather go backwards into the port than out to sea. So, they backed her in so they can pull her out.
Makes sense, thanks. I always wonder why reporters don't ask the obvious questions.

[devilmaster]

Makes sense, thanks. I always wonder why reporters don't ask the obvious questions.

From my experience, reporters not on specific 'beats' probably have no knowledge of the thing they are reporting on. Whenever I do an interview with a non-beat reporter, I spend a few minutes bringing them up to speed before we do the interview.

[Anteater]

Sorry you missed the boat, TravelGal (I couldn't resist that). I got caught in a horrendous traffic jam, thanks to missing a critical turn on the Queensway Bridge. Had to listen to my poor mom complain for an hour while we sat broiling in the heat, unable to escape. But we did hear the QM1's whistle, and we did see the QM2 heading slowly and majestically out to sea. That is one bigass ship! :eek:

The QM2 will be back in port on Saturday; maybe you can see her then. She's definitely worth a look.

[JohnHKart]

I did go down there and it was cool, but unfortunately will make a more interesting event on tv or in print. The ships were too far away from each other for any kind of decent photo opportunity so it was disappointing. I did enjoy seeing the new ship even if I'm not really a fan of it.

John

[TravelGal]

I didn't dare watch the new last night because I didn't want to see Olympic results. A double whammy of missing the event itself.

Many local agents were invited to see the ship. I knew I wouldn't have time for that so I didn't go (on Wednesday) but I had a friend who did. She said it is spectacular. She also said there was a massive traffic jam even then.

What planners don't grasp is that loading and unloading these things takes much more space than the cruise terminals currently have. The roads, the parking, the pier space for your luggage. Designed for ships that hold max 1600 people, not 2600 at a time.

[Audi_A4]

I didn't dare watch the new last night because I didn't want to see Olympic results. A double whammy of missing the event itself.

Many local agents were invited to see the ship. I knew I wouldn't have time for that so I didn't go (on Wednesday) but I had a friend who did. She said it is spectacular. She also said there was a massive traffic jam even then.

What planners don't grasp is that loading and unloading these things takes much more space than the cruise terminals currently have. The roads, the parking, the pier space for your luggage. Designed for ships that hold max 1600 people, not 2600 at a time.

I just came back from a cruise in the caribbean on a ROYAL CARIBEAN SHIP that holds over 3,000 passengers .. took a long time to get off the ship on sunday.

[Anteater]

Nice story and lots of cool photo galleries here:
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_3540496

The link bypasses all Olympics news, so it's safe to click, TG. :)

[JohnHKart]

Looks like the Photo op was near the front stretch of Longbeach at Seaport Village as the pic in today's LA TIMes clearly illustrates. So I screwed up and went to the wrong place.

John

[JohnHKart]

Looks like the photo op was at seaport village near Parker's Landing right across from the QM as is seen in today's LA Times.

John

[RaceGrrl]

I just came back from a cruise in the caribbean on a ROYAL CARIBEAN SHIP that holds over 3,000 passengers .. took a long time to get off the ship on sunday.


Heh, I'm on the last day of a cruise in the caribbean, arriving in Jacksonville tomorrow a.m. They'll let us leave the ship early if we want to handle our own luggage. The weight limit on luggage was 200lbs. Mom was smart and only packed 5 pairs of shoes. I think I brought 40lbs worth of shoes on board. (j/k) I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this trip, but the staff on the Carnival Celebration took good care of us.

[RaceCat]

My dad's place is right at ocean blvd and 8th place. We had a good view, but they were to far appart for any kind of a good photo. I do have one with both of them in it, but it's a bigtime wide angle shot. What was cool was when the QM2 did a complete 360 degree pivot in place. No tug assist, she just turned in a full circle. I have great photo's of both sides and the whole turn too. :)

I am fortunate to know that area so the second that I hit traffic on Ocean (I came in from Seal Beach through the shore.) I jumped up to first street and it was smooth sailing. I can't believe that people were just sitting on Ocean and one street up was clear. Oh well, good for me. I got to and from my dad's from Seal Beach in 20 minutes each way. Sorry you missed it Travelgal and Anteater. You really didn't miss much, except for that cool pivot.

RaceCat