Cunard plans ‘Royal Rendezvous’ in Sydney
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Cunard has announced details of a ‘Royal Rendezvous’ in Sydney this February, when Queen Mary 2 and the new Queen Elizabeth will meet in Sydney Harbour for the first time.
The Royal Rendezvous on 22-23 February will mark Queen Elizabeth’s first visit to Australia on its inaugural world voyage as well as the first time it will meet its larger sister, Queen Mary 2, outside QM2’s homeports of Southampton and New York.
Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 will meet off Sydney Heads shortly before 5.30am on 22 February, before Queen Mary 2 leads its younger sister into the Harbour. On its way to Garden Island, Queen Mary 2 will round Fort Denison and pass Queen Elizabeth as its berths at Circular Quay at around 7am.
Sydney is the first of Queen Elizabeth’s three Australian calls on its 103-night world voyage and the final Australian port on QM2’s 103-night world cruise.
Both ships will spend the night in Sydney Harbour with Queen Elizabeth set to bid farewell its larger sister with a whistle salute at midday on 23 February as it sails to Melbourne. Having already called at Fremantle and Adelaide, Queen Mary 2 will depart for Christchurch at 5pm on 23 February.
The two liners’ historic meeting in Sydney will recall an earlier Royal Rendezvous when the original Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth - both then World War II troopships - passed each other at Sydney Heads on 9 April 1941.
A special remembrance service, conducted with the assistance of the NSW branch of the RSL and the Australian military, and a lunch in tribute to ‘Australia’s Finest Generation’, many of whom sailed to war on the original Cunard Queens, will be held onboard Queen Mary 2.
Launched in October 2010 by Her Majesty The Queen, the luxurious 90,900-tonne Queen Elizabeth features more than 700 private balcony cabins, a two-storey library with unique leaded glass ceiling and a globe from the original Queen Elizabeth.
The 151,400-tonne Queen Mary 2 is the largest ship to have ever visited Australia and one of the most spacious ships at sea. She carries 2,620 guests and more than 1,200 crew, and boasts 10 restaurants, five pools, the largest ballroom at sea, the largest library at sea and the world’s first floating planetarium.
The Royal Rendezvous of the two Cunard Queens will come just two years after the legendary QE2, on her final visit to Sydney, met Queen Victoria in an event that drew tens of thousands of spectators to the foreshore.
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