Monday 19 October 2009

Queen Mary II

This cruiseliner, the largest passenger vessel afloat, came blasting down the Minch on Sunday afternoon at 20 knots. It is on a round-Britain cruise, in celebration of the 5th anniversary of its launch. The first time I encountered it was in June 2005, when its waves disturbed the placid waters of the Sound of Shiant in thick fog. This time round, it was visible, but at a distance of 12 miles from Stornoway. As I type, the QM2 is docked at Greenock, and will depart for Liverpool later this evening.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Queen Mary II passing down the Minch, as seen from Stornoway"]Queen Mary II passing down the Minch[/caption]

4 comments:

  1. We saw her going thru the Pentland firth on Sunday, What a magnificant ship .... but If I was off on a cruise, I dont think Id be going round the UK in October !

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  2. Your photo gives a good impression of this huge ship, Arnish. I believe it was in the Firth of Forth also. I agree with Mara - cruising round the UK in October could well turn out beautiful, but on the other hand I'd be annoyed to have paid good money to see the rain/fog and not much else!

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  3. We missed her coming up the Clyde by 24 hours - a bit of a shame.

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  4. We were on this cruise and it was a fantastic trip, in some respects better than the Caribbean. We could see Stornoway from the deck, having passed close by the Old Man of Hoy. I will link this photo to my album of the trip. Greenock and Liverpool were memorable.

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