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Copyright © 1995-2003 
Linda Coffman

Queen Mary 2 — Follow Her Progress

Issue 9                   Ultimate QM2 Vacation What could be better than cruising in the best suite on board the $780-million luxury liner Queen Mary 2? Only one thing: flying to or from the ship via your own chartered jet. Cunard’s “Ultimate QM2 Vacation” pairs one of the two top suites on QM2 for a 6-night crossing between New York and Southampton, England, with one-way transatlantic air via private Gulfstream IV-SP jet and two-night stays in the most luxurious suites of the Mandarin Oriental hotels in New York and London, plus ground transfers by limousine. The premier package is priced at $99,850 per person, based on double occupancy. As many as 10 passengers can travel by private jet – the extra eight guests must pay for their accommodations at sea and ashore. Passengers can also purchase the private jet service in combination with any other QM2 voyage. At the heart of the package are shipboard accommodations in either of two Grand Duplex suites. At 2,249 square feet, they are among the largest and most lavish at sea. Situated aft, overlooking the ship’s stern, they provide breathtaking sea views via a two-story glass wall and each features its own exercise area, private veranda, two full marble bathrooms and a guest bathroom. Guests also enjoy a personal butler and room service prepared by the ship’s Queens Grill restaurant. Passengers in these suites also enjoy custom-designed Simmons beds fitted with Frette linens,    Wedgwood china, Waterford Crystal, interactive TV, Xbox video game systems, a private library of books and CDs, terrycloth bathrobes, slippers and personalised stationary. Shore-side accommodations before and after the crossing are also top shelf at two premier properties in the Mandarin Oriental hotel group. The new Mandarin Oriental – New York, due to open in October 2003, is located at Columbus Circle, overlooking picturesque Central Park and near to Fifth Avenue shopping. It is part of a development project that will feature a world-class performance hall for Jazz affiliated with the nearby Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. In London, guests stay at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, an 1889 landmark structure long recognized as one of the city’s grandest hotels. Adjacent to the 340-acre Hyde Park, the hotel is in the fashionable Knightsbridge neighborhood that boasts hip boutiques as well as venerable establishments such as Harrods and Harvey Nicols. What's in a Name? QM2 stands for Queen Mary number two, not Queen Mary the second. This is because she is named after the former Cunard liner Queen Mary, currently a hotel and attraction in Long Beach, CA. She is not named for a British monarch. Cunard has followed the exact same protocol as with QE2. That famous liner is simply the second ship to bear the name Queen Elizabeth and is not named after the present Queen of England. This is why with both ships Cunard uses an Arabic 2 rather than the Roman numeral II applied to monarchs, and why they use the term “two” rather than “second.”

Follow the progress...

• Queen Mary 2, Part 1

• Queen Mary 2, Part 2

• Queen Mary 2, Part 3

• Queen Mary 2, Part 4

• Queen Mary 2, Part 5

• Queen Mary 2, Part 6

• Queen Mary 2, Part 7

• Queen Mary 2, Part 8

• Queen Mary 2, Part 9

• Queen Mary 2, Part 10

• Queen Mary 2, Part 11

• Queen Mary 2, Part 12

Text & images courtesy of Cunard Line & PR Newswire Photo Service

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