Photos of very heavy weather for QE2 & QV on their Transatlantic crossing - Page 2

Barbee524 · 01-11-2008, 05:54 PM

Larry,

I took no offense to your earlier post. I just wanted you to know that my source wasn't the most reliable (though he poured a good drink).

All in all the cruise was a great adventure and the only difficult part for me was walking in heels on formal night. Oh and trying to sleep on my side.

Though I'm starting to beleive in the curse of the un-broken champagne bottle. Should have had the Queen christen her, she seems to know how to get the job done.

Yarco · 01-11-2008, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ally

Looking at QV, I am wondering if she picked up any damage by ducking her snout like that. She doesn't seem to handle heavy seas very well...but then all the ships built in her style seem to have problems, Arcadia did last year on her TA.

QE2 on the other hand looks fairly stable in comparison...although I imagine everyone is getting quite an 'interesting' ride out of her. She was built for the Atlantic crossing, so should (by rights) deal with the sea state alot better anyway.

The fact that QV has slowed down makes me think she might have scored a few problems/damage maybe.

Ally,
Although the two ships that i've travelled on have both been container ships, i was informed that in bad weather they have to slow down to avoid smashing the ship up. What with the weight of the sea swell & speed of the ship going full out could cause a structural problem, as container ships share a rounded bow similar to QV's bow i would think this is what has been taken into account by QV's Captain.

The QE2, with a knife edged shaped bow keeps ploughing on regardless, although she too is pitching well herself. I think it's quite ironic that QV making her maiden crossing of the Atlantic & is replacing QE2 after 40yrs service is struggling to keep up with the old girl LOL.
Mark

**Norman** · 01-11-2008, 07:12 PM

Arcadia on our Baltic cruise, her twelfth cruise, returning over the very rough North Sea, I experienced one night a sensation of falling out of bed. I hadn’t!

Next morning the captain made an announcement that for the comfort of the passengers he had slowed down. Workmen were everywhere at the time we were ignorant for the going on but could see internal damage. We later learnt that a few cabins had also been flooded, as pipes had come loose in cabins. It was then obvious we had hit a freak wave probably something like the QV picture.

QE2 does not have azipods, she has to rely on tugs for berthing activities. Probably one of the reasons for her retirement.

Norman

**Ally** · 01-12-2008, 03:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yarco

Ally,
Although the two ships that i've travelled on have both been container ships, i was informed that in bad weather they have to slow down to avoid smashing the ship up. What with the weight of the sea swell & speed of the ship going full out could cause a structural problem, as container ships share a rounded bow similar to QV's bow i would think this is what has been taken into account by QV's Captain.

The QE2, with a knife edged shaped bow keeps ploughing on regardless, although she too is pitching well herself. I think it's quite ironic that QV making her maiden crossing of the Atlantic & is replacing QE2 after 40yrs service is struggling to keep up with the old girl LOL.
Mark

As Larry said...its Ocean Liner vs Cruise Ship. Those photos are proof that there are big differences tween the two types of ship.

QE2 was built as an ocean liner, only to become a cruise ship.

QV was built as a cruise ship but will have to try and keep to a 6 day ocean crossing regardless of the weather.......if that photo is anything to go by, I hope she stocks plenty of seasickness tablets.

If proof were needed that jelly mould ships are not built for ocean crossings, then QV struggling like that is proof, surely?

Arcadia struggled badly on her way to Barbados when she caught high seas, 14 got hurt and some had to get off in Madeira.

They don't build them like they used to. They are fair weather ships, not ocean liners anymore. Maybe the designers and builders will finally realise that when one of them founders.

**Ally** · 01-12-2008, 03:46 AM

Nothing like snubbing your nose to the upstart is there....this article is good, even for The Sun....

Quote:

SHE’S 40 years old, so she creaks a bit and can occasionally be a little quirky – but she has plenty of experience and it’s a comfortable ride.

As we cross the Atlantic on QUEEN ELIZABETH 2, at the start of her last-ever world cruise, we’re gliding gracefully through the waves.

A mile away to starboard, the new QUEEN VICTORIA is having a tougher time. One minute her prow is burying into the water. The next, she’s almost flying as her massive bulbous bow rises out of the sea, before descending again with a crash of surf and foam.

She – and her passengers – will be happier next week when she reaches the calmer waters of the Caribbean.

We both have to reach New York on Sunday, to be joined by QUEEN MARY 2 for a fireworks party to celebrate the only time three Cunard “Queens” will be together in port.

Queen Victoria is going flat-out, making 19 knots. Even her stabilisers – underwater “wings” which reduce the side-to-side roll of the ship – are tucked in because they slow her down.

QE2 could do this speed backwards! We’re running only four of our nine engines, both our sets of stabilisers are out, and our ride would be even smoother if only we could leave Queen Victoria behind and go to full speed ahead.

In fact, we might just do that. QE2 faces a rigorous safety inspection in New York, and we can’t be late. So later today (Sat) we might give Queen Victoria a toot, floor the accelerator and power into Manhattan.

**middy** · 01-12-2008, 10:54 AM

It's so very true, they don't make them like they used too.

joe joe mcd · 01-14-2008, 03:07 PM

While I am in agreement that the Queen Victoria is not an ocean liner, and was never intended as such, I think she has a Vista Class hull, which is just an updated Spirit class hull, so if I'm correct the hull was originally designed to for the Carnival Spirit, and to be far from regular north Atlantic crossings. But to be fair, if you look at the rest of the pictures, this does not seem to be easy goings for the Queen Elizabeth 2 either.

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**Ally** · 01-14-2008, 03:20 PM

True, QE2 is ducking her snout too, but her build and double stabilisers are more 'at home' in Atlantic weather than QV will ever be, QE2 was BUILT for the Atlantic, that is where the difference lies. QV had her stabilisers tucked away, QE2 didn't.

Arcadia is also a Vista class hull and she too has dreadful handling problems in heavy swell....as does Westerdam (another Vista class ship).

Which points to the fact that the cruise ship design does not make a good ocean liner. And bottom line is that if QV is going to replace QE2 until QE3 is launched (hopefully QE3 will not be a Vista class), then Cunard are going to have some serious problems with schedule, damage limitation to the ship itself and passengers are not going to want to sail the Atlantic on a ship that is not built for the purpose being asked of it.

Vista class are fair weather, calm sea ships, none of the Vista class ships have proven themselves to be stable in swell, that should make the CCL designers go back to their collective drawing boards and drop the idea of floating resort for a more hardy, tougher design.

At the end of the day a cruise line depends on getting backsides in berths, and if CCL insist on featuring the glittering resort finish over the stable & rugged ocean liner finish, well Cunard cannot survive for very long in the Transatlantic crossing market.

joe joe mcd · 01-14-2008, 05:43 PM

Well said. I would have to imagine that with the increase in sailings from New York to the Caribbean that they would have to build the ships to more capable of maintaining a schedule through heavy sea conditions, much the same as a true ocean liner would. I've missed ports in the Caribbean due to heavy sea conditions, but when it comes to the port of embarkation/disembarkation the ship has really no option, other that to get there on time. I was recently on the Norwegian Gem, it was a 2 day weekend getaway out of boston, during heavy conditions.
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Captain Larry · 01-14-2008, 05:45 PM

Thank you very much, but I'll just fly across the pond. And the bigger the airplane, the better. I crossed the Atlantic six times, four of them winter crossings, with the United States Navy paying the bills. I also got caught in a Nor'easter off Nova Scotia while riding NCL's Norwegian Crown, now Olsen's Balmoral, I believe. That's only part of the reason I don't want a transoceanic cruise. It takes me two days, three at the outside, to get all I want of the "amenities" of the ship. At that point I want to see something and experience something outside the ship.