Queen Mary 2
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Queen Mary 2 (QM2) is a Cunard Line ocean liner named after the earlier Cunard liner Queen Mary. QM2 is the current Cunard flagship and makes regular transatlantic crossings. She was constructed to complement the Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) - the Cunard flagship from 1969 to 2004.
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 tonnage, was also the largest. She lost that last distinction to Royal Caribbean International's Freedom of the Seas in April 2006. But QM2 remains the largest ocean liner (as opposed to cruise ship) ever built.
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Facilities
- 15 restaurants and bars
- 5 swimming pools
- casino
- ballroom
- theatre
- planetarium.
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.
Design
The vision of a 21st-century ocean liner — bigger than any that had gone before — started as the brainchild of Carnival Corporation & plc CEO Micky Arison, who has stated that his company bought Cunard Line to create Queen Mary 2, not vice versa.
The Queen Mary 2's principal architect was Carnival's house designer, Stephen Payne, a self-admitted ocean liner aficionado. While the primary reference point for the vessel's design was undoubtedly that of her running mate Queen Elizabeth 2, her exterior lines also show hints of other vessels. She resembles her predecessor Queen Mary in the curved forward bridge screen, the tower-like ends of which rise to the bridge wings.
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. Like her predecessors, however, she is built for crossing the Atlantic ocean, though she is regularly used for cruising purposes.
The QM2 has 14,164 m² (3.5 acres) of exterior deck space, with similar wind screens to shield passengers from gusts as the ship travels at high speeds. Four of the ship's five swimming pools are outdoors. One pool is only one inch deep for the use of small children. The fifth pool is indoors on Deck 12, though covered with a retractable magrodome.