 Queen Mary 2
Since the 4th of July 1840 Cunard has afforded sophisticated travellers an opportunity to roam the oceans in luxury aboard nearly 200 liners. Dramatic, elegant and fascinating, their magnificent ships continue to set the quintessential standards for sea travel.
Cunard first announced a study to replace the Queen Elizabeth 2 with a brand new liner in April 1990. Now, after more than eleven years of tantalising media releases, their firm commitment to commission a new flagship has proven to be interesting news for aficionados of all things maritime.
It was only reasonable to expect to see something fairly spectacular eventuate when the Miami based
Carnival Corporation came up with US$500 million for a majority holding in the upmarket
Cunard brand back in early 1998, but at US$780 million or £538 million (nearly a year's profit for Carnival), why is the new liner so expensive?
The "Luxury Seeker" currently accounts for 14% of the North American cruise market. In 2001 this represents more than a million potential passengers who are willing to spend whatever it takes to secure the most luxurious available accommodation and service.
Most of this market segment won't have experienced the heady days of express liner travel and with no comparison, the Queen Mary 2 has got to be glamorous and elegant. A class act on this scale involves parting with serious lucre.
Background
Speculations
Accordingly, it's quite possible that in four years time we may well witness a very special maritime event (and a great photo opportunity) when three generations of Cunard Queens come together at Long Beach, California.
It's not unreasonable to speculate that the Queen Elizabeth 2 could possibly retire as another major attraction at Long Beach.
The changing global climate is creating greater extremes in weather patterns in the Caribbean and this could eventually impact on the cruising season in that area. Carnival's significant investment in a Pacific operation base at Long Beach could be in anticipation of that change, the predicted focus of the global economy on the Pacific rim in the new century and the still untapped Asian cruise market.
A retired Queen Elizabeth 2 and the first Queen Mary (both offering hotel accommodation with conference and exhibition attractions as part of the new Queensway Bay entertainment and shopping complex) could prove an attractive lure in the combined US $195 billion a year cruise, meeting & conference and vacation, tourism, resort markets.
QM2's Captain
Captain
Ronald W. Warwick is the first master of the new Queen Mary 2.
Webcams
 For information about the Queen Mary2 please try these links:
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A sea cruise used to be a luxury item, like fur coats and lobster, but Carnival founder, the late 
Starting out with the former Empress of Canada (left) in 1972, he created the largest cruise line conglomerate the world has ever seen, with a fleet that now includes 48 ships with another 16, worth an estimated US$7 billion, on order. The mantle now rests with his elder son Micky, 50 (with the help of another ten members of the Arison family on Carnival's Board).
"As a small boy, visiting my father on the stately Queen Elizabeth, I never imagined that one day I, too, would be the Master of a legendary Cunarder".
Captain Warwick made shipping history by sailing in command of the same liner that his
father, the late Commodore W. E. Warwick, 1912-99, (right) commanded. The elder Warwick was the first master of the
