Luxury cruise line Cunard has many ships, but last night was the first time that its Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth 2, and new Queen Victoria ships were in the "same port at the same time." And the port was the NewYork Harbor, under fireworks and gaze of the Statue of Liberty.
Cunard scheduled the three ships' departures to coincide for this one time, an event two years in the planning, requiring logistics planning and even approval from the NYPD, FBI, Coast Guard, and NYC Economic Development Corporation. Cunard president Carol Marlow told the NY Times, "They are not programmed to meet in any other port...It's a spine-tingling time."
The Queen Elizabeth 2 will be retiring later this year (a new Queen Elizabeth is being built and will be delivered in 2010). The Queen Mary 2, whose splashy 2004 debut and enormous size, has made it an attraction. Queen Victoria is the newest ship, and CruiseCritic.com's Carolyn Spencer Brown says she is "more gorgeous than either of its sisters, possessing in some ways the best of QE2 and QM2.''
Photograph of the Queen Mary 2 by matt coats on Flickr
