- Queen Mary 2 - Mike McCann
As she rests regally dockside at Woolloomooloo Wharf in Sydney Harbour, the Queen Mary 2 looks every bit a member of the royal gentry. She is grand in stature, grand in design and very grand when it comes to quality of service.
This stopover is the latest chapter in the ship's 101-day maiden world voyage. She has recently visited New York, Southampton, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shangai and Yokohama, with travel to Fremantle, Mauritius, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro and Barbados just around the corner. She's a hard worker, treating like royalty those wealthy enough to enjoy her hospitality.
Queen Mary 2 Facts and Figures
The Queen Mary 2 is impressive in every way. The flagship of the Cunard Cruise Line, she is the grandest and most magnificent ocean liner ever built. She's 364 metres long and, at 62 metres, her maximum height is such that she is unable to sail under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The 2,460 passengers, accommodated by a crew of 1,230, can dine in the Britannia Restaurant, which spans three floors, or one of the 14 other restaurants and bars. The Royal Court theatre seats 1,100. There's the world's biggest floating library equipped with 8,000 books, a gymnasium, and the Queen Mary 2 is the only ocean liner with a planetarium, which seats 500.
Each day 16,000 meals are consumed on board, and each year, corks are popped on 250,000 bottles of champagne, many of them at the Veuve Clicquot bar. That's 344 bottles a day, at a reported AUS$400* each.
5 Star Luxury Holidays
Of course, not everyone can afford to cruise the world on the Queen Mary 2.
Some choose to sample the high life with a trip of no more than seven days. Perhaps a Mediterranean cruise vacation, or a Caribbean cruise - what a way to travel.
But prices for an around-the-world ticket range from, for some an affordable, AUS$25,029 to the, totally unaffordablefor most of us, AUS$385,369.
The good news, however, is that there's plenty of time to save for this trip of a lifetime. Commissioned in 2004, this majestic luxury liner is forecast to be in service for 40 years. During that time, she will travel the equivalent of 12 trips to the moon and back.
A Stop-Over in Sydney Harbour, near the Sydney Opera House
Clear blue skies and thousands of onlookers greeted the passengers aboard the Queen Mary 2 as she was piloted through the Sydney Heads and in to the most spectacular and famous port of all, Sydney Harbour. With the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House in the distance, the giant liner was guided into position at Woolloomooloo Wharf for an overnight stay.
She's too big for the overseas passenger terminal at Circular Quay, alongside the Harbour Bridge. But at Woolloomooloo, passengers are able to peep through the grounds of the Botanic Gardens and see the sails of the Opera House and the unmistakeable 'Coathanger', or the bridge, a short distance away.
At Woolloomooloo, the ship dwarfs the four levels of luxury apartments converted from what's commonly known as the Finger Wharf. Across the water, idle swimmers laze around the Andrew 'Boy' Charlton pool, named in honour of a famous Australian, who competed in the Olympic Games of 1924, 1928 and 1932.
Ah, the life of luxury. For some, the simple life of a harbourside swim is enough to recharge the batteries. For others, weeks and months of a luxury vacation cruise on the Queen Mary 2 would be the ultimate travel escape.
* Source: Seven Network, Sydney
Mike McCann - Mike McCann is lucky to be able to combine his three loves - travel, sport and his home city of Sydney. He is an international sports ...
