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Unique Cruise Solutions The news you need to know |
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Cruise News for the Corporate Travel Professional |
January 2010 Edition |
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Cunard's Queen Elizabeth Floats Out at Fincantieri Shipyard |
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Ceremonies were held Jan. 5 to mark the float-out
of Cunard’s newest liner, Queen Elizabeth, at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone shipyard
near Trieste, Italy. Peter Shanks, Cunard’s president and managing director, was
joined by 79-year-old Florence (Dennie) Farmer, who served as guest of honor at
the event. Her husband, Willie Farmer, joined Cunard in September 1938 and
served as chief engineer on both the first Queen Elizabeth and Queen Elizabeth 2
until his retirement in October 1979. Since her husband’s passing, Dennie has
sailed with Cunard many times. In recognition of this, Cunard has bestowed
Dennie with the honor, in Italian tradition, of being “madrina” to the third
Queen Elizabeth. The first ceremony involved the welding of significant coins beneath the mast of Queen Elizabeth for good luck. Three coins were chosen -- a half crown dated 1938 (the year the first Queen Elizabeth was launched), a sovereign dated 1967 (the year Queen Elizabeth 2 was launched) and a sovereign dated 2010 (to acknowledge the new Queen Elizabeth being floated out in 2010). After the coin ceremony, the focus moved dockside, where the liner was blessed and a bottle of Italian prosecco was smashed against the hull by the madrina. The valves of the dry dock were then opened and the liner met the water for the first time. “It is only a little over six months since the keel for this great ship was laid,” Shanks said. “In that short time, a solitary block at the bottom of the dry dock has, as a result of the skill and discipline of the workforce here at Fincantieri, grown into this awe-inspiring vessel.” Queen Elizabeth’s maiden voyage, now sold out, will depart on Oct. 12 from the company’s homeport in Southampton. The maiden season will run from October to January 2011 and include voyages to the Western and Central Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Fares for the ship’s 13-day “Iberian Discovery” voyage start at $2,620 per person, based on double occupancy. Departing roundtrip from Southampton on Dec. 1, Queen Elizabeth will visit Vigo, Lisbon, Cadiz, Grand Canaria, Tenerife, La Palma and Madeira. Queen Elizabeth will depart Southampton on Jan. 5, 2011, on its 103-night Maiden World Voyage, which has just opened for sale. This voyage will feature 35 maiden calls, including Cunard’s first call at Port Denarau, Fiji. In total, Queen Elizabeth will call at 38 ports in 23 countries as it sails west around the globe, with maiden transits of both the Panama and Suez canals and calls at Los Angeles, Auckland, Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and Lisbon. Queen Elizabeth will sail in tandem en route to New York with Queen Victoria before all three Cunard Queens meet in New York on Jan. 13. Queen Elizabeth will meet Queen Mary 2 in Sydney on Feb. 22 and in Civitavecchia on April 13. |
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Worldwide Travel & Cruise Assoc., Inc. 150 S. University Dr. Ste E, Plantation, FL 33324 - USA Tel: +1 954 452 8800 Fax: +1 954 252 3945 EMail: sales@cruiseco.com |
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