The Arrival of the Queen Mary 2

Cunard's Queen Mary 2, the world's largest ocean liner, arrived in Northern California for the first time today amid much local fanfare. As it passed under the Golden Gate Bridge, the QM2 became the largest ship ever to enter San Francisco Bay.

The Associated Press explains what brings the ship to the neighborhood:

The famous vessel will be in port at [San Francisco's] Pier 27 Monday during its 26th day of an around the world-in-80 days tour.

The ship is 1,132-feet long, and its 17 decks equal the height of a 23-story building. The ship is only 118 feet shorter than the Empire State Building.

The Queen Mary 2 has been praised as a marvel of traditional cruising melded with the most modern technology available since it went into service in 2004. It has the largest ballroom at sea, and the only planetarium at sea.

The cheapest price for the complete 80-day journey is about $21,200 -- but that's for the smallest cabin, with no windows, near the bottom of the ship. The best suite on the ship for the entire trek runs nearly $184,400.

Those prices are a little rich for our blood, but Telstar Logistics nevertheless arranged exclusive team coverage of the QM2's arrival by pre-positioning three squads of ninja photographers to capture all the angles:

Team One was at sea aboard M/V San Francisco, a pilot vessel operated by the San Francisco Bar Pilots Association.

Team Two was on the west side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Team Three was on the east side of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Lots more photos via the photoset link. Enjoy!

"The Arrival of the Queen Mary 2" (Flickr photoset by Telstar Logistics): LINK

RMS Queen Mary 2 (Wikipedia entry): LINK

(Photos above: Top, Fred Sharples [Team One]; Middle, Todd Lappin [Team Two]; Bottom, Abigail Phillips [Team Three.])

Comments

[Chris Barrus]

This is actually the second time the Queen Mary 2 has visited California. A year ago, the QM2 visited the original Queen Mary in Long Beach. Article here: http://www.worldhum.com/weblog/item/queen_mary_2_greets_queen_mary_in_long_beach_harbor_20060223/

[TelstarLogistics]

Thanks Chris! Corrected above. Meanwhile, what do you think the Queen Marys talked about during their visit?

[Juan del Real]

Great coverage! Thank you for doing this.

[Jon Haeber]

Todd! Man, I didn't realize that you had a blog. I added it to my blog's link list. Love it. I'm going to subscribe to the RSS, too.

Thx.

[striatic]

i can't say i like the look of the transom, but otherwise .. not bad.