 |
|
Move your cursor over the
smaller images to view as main image. |
Queen Mary 2 Limited 40" w/Lights Description
Total Dimensions: 40" L x 6" W x 13" HSOLD FULLY ASSEMBLED
Ready for Immediate Display - Not a Model Ship kit
Vacations never end with the Cunard Line cruise ship model of the Queen Mary 2. With this model cruise ship on your shelf as a reminder of your fun-filled days at sea, you can remember and relive every moment of your exciting times aboard Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2.
40" Long x 6" Wide x 13" High
•Accurate scale replica of the real Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2
•Individual wooden planks for hull plank-on-frame construction
•Amazing Details, including:
◦All hull, superstructure, lifeboats and deck features constructed from wood, not plastic
◦Delicate metal railings and staircases with metal propellers
◦Lifeboats hang from actual davits
◦Accurate number of windows and porthole in hull and superstructure
◦Decks adorned with details such as deck chairs, pool slides and other features accurate to the actual Queen Mary 2 cruise ship
◦Interior lighted cabins and windows
•Rare high-quality woods such as mahogany, rosewood, birch, maple and yellow siris used to build this model cruise ship
•Meticulously painted to match the actual Cunard Lines Queen Mary 2 cruise ship
•Sturdy wooden base attached to model cruise ship
•Extensive research of drawings, original plans, photographs and the actual ship ensures the accuracy of this Cunard Line Queen Mary 2 cruise ship model
Queen Mary 2 Limited 40" w/Lights HistoryThe RMS Queen Mary 2 (QM2) is a Cunard Line ocean liner named after the earlier Cunard liner Queen Mary, which was in turn named after Mary of Teck, the Queen Consort of George V. At the time of her construction in 2003, the QM2 was the longest, widest and tallest passenger ship ever built, and at 148,528 gross tons, was also the largest. She lost that last distinction to Royal Caribbean International's 154,407 gross ton Freedom of the Seas in April 2006, but QM2 remains the largest ocean liner (as opposed to cruise ship) ever built, and her height, length, and waterline breadth are unsurpassed by any other passenger ship. The true distinction becomes somewhat cloudy, because "gross tonnage" is actually a measure of a ship's enclosed volume, not weight. "Displacement tonnage" is a measure of the weight of water the ship displaces -- and hence its actual weight. The Royal Caribbean "Freedom" ships displace about 64,000 tons; the QM2, about 76,000.
QM2's facilities include 15 restaurants and bars, five swimming pools, a casino, a ballroom, a theatre, and a planetarium.
Characteristics
The Queen Mary 2 is the current Cunard flagship and makes regular transatlantic crossings. The ship was constructed to complement the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) - the Cunard flagship from 1969 to 2004 - replacing it on the transatlantic route. The first RMS Queen Mary sailed the Atlantic from 1936 to 1967.
The prefix "RMS" on the QM2 originally stood for "Royal Mail Steamer", but now stands for "Royal Mail Ship". QM2 had the RMS title conferred on her by Royal Mail when she entered service in 2004 on the Southampton to New York route as a gesture to Cunards history. The QM2 is not a steamship like her predecessors, but is powered by gas turbines and diesel engines that produce the power to drive her four electric podded propulsors. Also like her predecessors, she is a transatlantic ocean liner, as opposed to a cruise ship, though she is used for cruising purposes from time to time.
History
Concept and construction
The vision of a 21st century ocean liner — bigger than any that had gone before — started as the brainchild of Carnival CEO Micky Arison, who has stated that his company bought Cunard to create Queen Mary 2, not vice versa.
Cunard completed a design for a new class of 84,000-ton, 2,000-passenger liners on June 8, 1998, but immediately revised them upon comparing those specifications with Carnival Cruise Lines' 100,000-ton Destiny-class cruise ships and Royal Caribbean's 137,200-ton Voyager of the Seas.
Six months later, on December 10, Cunard released details of "Project Queen Mary", the project to develop a liner that would complement Queen Elizabeth 2. Harland and Wolff of Northern Ireland, Aker Kværner of Norway, Fincantieri of Italy, Meyer Werft of Germany, and Chantiers de l'Atlantique of France were invited to bid on the project. If construction began immediately, the liner could be in service by 2002. But it was not until November 6,2000 that a contract was signed with Chantiers de l'Atlantique, a subsidiary of Alstom. This was the same yard that built Cunard's one-time rivals, the SS Normandie and SS France of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique.
Her keel was laid down on July 4, 2002, in Saint-Nazaire, France. Approximately 3,000 craftsmen spent some 8 million working hours on the ship, and a total of 20,000 people were directly or indirectly involved in her design, construction, and fitting out. In total, 300,000 pieces of steel were assembled into 94 "blocks" off of the drydock, which were then stacked and welded together to complete the hull and superstructure. She is so much larger than the ships that Chantiers normally build that the shipyard treated her as "1.6 ships."
The QM2 was floated on March 21, 2003. Her sea trials were conducted between September 25-September 29 and November 7-November 11, 2003, between Saint-Nazaire and the off-shore islands of Ile d'Yeu and Belle-Ile. The final stages of construction were marred by a fatal accident on November 15, 2003, when a gangway collapsed under a group of shipyard workers and their relatives who had been invited to visit the vessel. 48 people on the gangway fell over 15 m (50 ft); 32 were injured and 16, including a child, were killed.
Construction was completed on schedule. Due to the size of the ship, the luxury of materials, and the fact that, due to her nature as an ocean liner, she required 40% more steel than a standard cruise ship, the final cost ended up being approximately $300,000 US per berth - nearly double that of ships such as Voyager of the Seas, Grand Princess, or Carnival Conquest.
Cunard took delivery in Southampton, England on December 26, 2003. On January 8, 2004, the liner was named Queen Mary 2 by her namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.
Service history
On January 12, 2004, the Queen Mary 2 set sail on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to Fort Lauderdale, Florida in the United States, carrying 2,620 passengers under tight security due to terrorist threats.
During the XXVIII Olympics the QM2 sailed to Athens and docked at Piraeus for two weeks for use as a hotel-ship, serving former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie, former French President Jacques Chirac, former US president George H. W. Bush, and the US Olympic men's basketball team.
One 2005 transatlantic crossing saw the QM2 carrying, in a locked steamer trunk, the first US copy of J. K. Rowling's book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, autographed by the author. In a promotional press release for the event, Cunard said (though without cited verification) that this marked the first time a book had been transported to its international launch aboard an ocean liner.
The QM2 in January 2006, embarked on a circumnavigation of South America. Upon departure from Fort Lauderdale one of her propeller pods was damaged when it struck a channel wall, forcing the ship to sail at a slower speed, which resulted in Commodore Warwick's decision to skip several calls on its voyage to Rio de Janeiro. Many of her passengers threatened to stage a sit-in protest because of the missed calls, before Cunard offered to refund the voyage costs. The QM2 continued to run on re
|
Free Domestic Shipping
