Cunard cruise ship "Queen Mary 2" departing from Southampton on a 2 night cruise to France in October 2011.
Cunard's cruise liner Queen Mary 2 departs from Southampton on a short cruise to France in October 2011. Queen Mary 2 is a transatlantic ocean liner. She was the first major ocean liner built since Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1969, the vessel she succeeded as flagship of the Cunard Line. The ship was named by Queen Elizabeth II in 2004 after the first RMS Queen Mary, completed in 1936. Queen Mary was in turn named after Mary of Teck, consort of King George V. With the retirement of Queen Elizabeth 2 from active duty in 2008, Queen Mary 2 is currently the only transatlantic ocean liner in operation as a liner in scheduled service between Southampton and New York, although the ship is often used for cruising, including an annual world cruise. At the time of her construction in 2003 by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, Queen Mary 2 was the longest, widest and tallest passenger ship ever built, and with her 151,400 gross register tons (GRT), was also the largest. She no longer holds this distinction after the construction of Royal Caribbean International's 154,407 GT Freedom of the Seas in April 2006, which was in turn superseded by the same company's 225,282 GT Oasis of the Seas in October 2009. However, Queen Mary 2 remains the largest ocean liner (as opposed to cruise ship) ever built. Queen Mary 2 was intended primarily to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and was therefore designed differently from many other passenger ships. The ship's final cost was approximately $300,000 US per berth, nearly double that of many contemporary cruise ships. This was due to the size of the ship, the high quality of materials, and that, having been designed as an ocean liner, she required 40% more steel than a standard cruise ship. Queen Mary 2 is the current flagship of the Cunard Line. The ship was constructed to eventually replace the ageing RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, the Cunard flagship from 1969 to 2004 and the last major ocean liner built before the construction of Queen Mary 2.
Size: 2592px × 3872px
Location: Hythe Pier, Hythe, Hampshire
Photo credit: © Trevor Boston / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: 2, atlantique, boat, chantiers, cruise, cunard, de, hampshire, holiday, hythe, liner, mary, pier, queen, ship, southampton, travel, york
