QE2 End Of An Era

Who could have predicted the future for the cruise ship 'Queen Elizabeth 2' some 44 years ago. It was first owned by the English. Made it's first voyage on May 2, 1969. Then was retired by 'The Cunard Lines' on November 27th 2008. The ship was then sold to Istithmar, a private equity firm owned by Dubai World.

Now it looks like the ship will end up in China after one last voyage in October.

QE2 To Sail For Final Time
By Oliver Smith | Telegraph

"The ship, which was sold to the UAE government conglomerate Dubai World for £64 million in 2008, is currently moored in Port Rashid, but will soon head to China – under its own steam – to be turned into luxury accommodation... It is hoped it will be able to leave Dubai on October 18, stopping at Singapore and Hong Kong before arriving at an undisclosed Chinese shipyard."How ironic that such an iconic ship such as QE2 would end up in China. You would think the Brits would have wanted to dock that ship for themselves turning it into a waterfront restaurant/hotel/mall tourist destination. I think they dropped the ball on this one. Damned shame!

China didn't even consider owning an actual cruise ship until February of this year. That's when China's first luxury cruise liner, the Henna, left the southern resort island province of Hainan for her maiden voyage.

"The Henna was built in 1986 for Carnival Cruise Lines, a British-American-owned cruise line, and was originally called the Jubilee. The vessel was bought by the Chinese company in July from Pacific Sun P&O Cruises Australia for hundreds of millions of US dollars and refurbished at Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore.




It just seems to me these days too many in this world are all too willing to sell out their national identities for a quick buck. Who wants to cruise on an old converted ship in China that was once built for 'Carnival' in 1986?

If one visits China one expects to see China's heritage, not an 'Apple' store or the world's largest McDonalds. If one travels to the Caribbean they will see Pizza Huts and K-marts. Why should someone bother with a passport then spend uno numero dollars trying to soak in and recreate the culture that's part of a bygone era?

Save yourself the trouble and money. Why not visit one of Disney's fake international theme parks in Florida instead? It's all becoming a fake for visiting tourists overseas anyways!