History will be made when Cunard’s flagship Queen Mary 2, the largest, longest, tallest, widest and most expensive liner ever built makes her maiden call at Muscat on 26th day of January 2010. Queen Mary 2 will arrive at 0730 hours and sail at 1700 hours.
Queen Mary 2 will berth at # 1&2 and her visit will include Muscat city tours, souq, Grand Mosque, Nizwa and various tourist attractions around Muscat.
Queen Mary 2 entered service on 12 January 2004 after being named by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, at what was the most spectacular naming ceremony ever, four days earlier.
Everything about Queen Mary 2 is superlative and she offers a host of ‘firsts’ and exclusives. 79% of cabins feature private balconies. There is artwork worth over £3.5 million on board. The world’s first floating Planetarium offers virtual reality rides through the galaxies. A cultural academy is operated by the University of Oxford. She offers the first suites with private lift access, the first Canyon Ranch Spa at sea, the first Veuve Clicquot Champagne Bar at sea, the largest Library at sea (with 8,000 hardbacks, 500 paperbacks, 200 audio books and 100 CD Roms, the largest ballroom with the largest dancefloor at sea, workshops and master classes performed by RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts), the longest jogging track at sea and the largest and most extensive wine cellar at sea.
And if that’s not enough, the ‘Queen Mary 2’ illuminated signs below the funnel are the largest illuminated ship’s name signs in maritime history!
Queen Mary 2 has a passenger capacity of 2,620 lower berths which gives a space ratio per passenger of 57.25, making her the most spacious of the world’s larger passenger ships.
The ship’s design features classic Cunard hallmarks such as grand staircases, expansive promenades, elegant grand restaurants and gracious public rooms of an imposing scale. Queen Mary 2 has 1,310 passenger cabins, of which 77.6% are outside and 72.7 % of the total number of outside cabins feature a large balcony.
In the time since she entered service Queen Mary 2 has been making headlines. She has been a crowd-puller at every port she has visited for the first time; almost three million turned out when she sailed up the east coast of England at close range, followed by half a million in Hamburg in August 2005. Reaction to Queen Mary 2 has been overwhelming with passengers rating the ship highly especially when it comes to dining, service and on board facilities – which have no equal at sea today.
Queen Mary 2 has entertained a range of celebrities including Antonio Banderas, Glenn Close, Danny DeVito, Whoopi Goldberg, Elizabeth Hurley, Esther Rantzen, Sir Jimmy Savile and The Muppets. Her Royal Court Theatre has been the venue for shows from Dame Shirley Bassey. Jon Bon Jovi, Harry Connick Jnr and Beyonce Knowles while eminent visitors have included Her Majesty The Queen, His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent, the Rt Hon John Prescott MP, Mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg, Senator Hilary Clinton, the Prime Ministers of St Lucia and St Vincent and HRH The Sultan of Kelabtan.
She was the flagship vessel at the Athens Olympics where she played host to Queen Sophia of Spain, former President George Bush and Olympic athlete royalty including Great Britain’s gold medal winner Ben Ainslie.
She’s now so famous, in fact, that already six books have been published about her!
Cunard Line is represented by Khimji Ramdas Shipping LLC in Oman.
Quote from M.C.Jose – CEO, Khimji Ramdas Projects & Logistics Group
Queen Mary 2 will be the largest Cruise vessel to Call Port Sultan Qaboos. The management and staff of Khimji Ramdas Shipping, which is celebrating its 25th year (silver jubilee) of operation is deligted to have got this opportunity of bringing in Queen Mary 2 into Oman for the first time. This important port call became a reality with the whole hearted support of Port Service Corporation. The vessel will be brought inside only if the wind speed is moderate and the weather is good; since she has a large free-board, the ship will act like a sail in heavy wind. Port Service Corporation is taking adequate preparation for taking this large vessel inside. Queen Mary2 will occupy two berths whereas a normal ship occupies only one. This port call is going to garner international media attention to Port Sultan Qaboos and Oman in particular in the cruise industry.
It will be a spectacular view from the Corniche to see the entry of Queen Mary 2 into Port Sultan Qaboos at 0730 hrs and sailing at 1700 hrs on 26th January 2010. This will be an opportunity to see her at close proximity and take pictures. I would strongly recommend every one to be at Corniche to see the vessels entry and departure with family and friends.
