Friday 25 May 2012

Cunard Celebrates the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

Cunard will bring Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations to a close on the 5th June 2012 with the first-ever Cunard Royal Rendezvous in the fleet’s home port of Southampton, England. Here, the Queen Mary 2, the Queen Victoria and the Queen Elizabeth will approach the port soon after first light, sailing up Southampton Water, with a flotilla of small boats expected to welcome them in.

As the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria tie up at their berths, the QM2 will follow on, passing each ship in turn, with crew lining the foredeck of all three vessels, and the ships’ whistles sounding in salute.

The celebrations will culminate in an evening spectacular where all three ships will be brought within close proximity of each other, and a fusillade of fireworks and special effects will light up the evening sky.

The QM 2 will then lead Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria in single file down the Solent as all three ships set out on their celebratory Jubilee voyages.

On board, Cunard’s renowned Insights enrichment programme will feature lectures by former BBC Royal correspondent Jennie Bond (QM2), Professor Herbert Kerrigan QC, one of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Counsel in Scotland (Queen Victoria); and ITN royal commentator Robert Jobson (Queen Elizabeth).

Additionally, a highly distinguished and rare collection of Royal art, including eight original watercolors by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, 31 lithographs by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and 20 limited edition boxed sets of photographs by Lord Snowdon will be displayed on all three Queens, with limited edition prints available for purchase. This will be the only time that these prints are available for purchase outside the Belgravia Gallery in London.

Guests sailing on board Cunard ships will enjoy the Diamond Jubilee spirit into June 6, when special activities throughout the day will culminate in a Commemorative Dinner with a souvenir menu highlighting the 74-year relationship between Cunard and Her Majesty The Queen, followed by a Grand Ball.

Guests sailing aboard the voyages ending on 5 June will not miss out on any of the historic events taking place in London, or indeed Southampton, as Cunard will screen live BBC World News coverage of Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, across the fleet, beginning at 9:00 a.m. (GMT).

The QM2’s Jubilee Voyage is five-nights calling at Rotterdam, Zeebrugge and Le Havre (5 – 10 June).  The Queen Victoria’s 17-night (5 - 22 June) “Adriatic Explorer” voyage will call at La Coruna, Cephalonia, Dubrovnik, Venice (overnight), Split, Corfu and Oporto; and the Queen Elizabeth’s 14-night (5 - 19 June) “St Petersburg and Baltic Explorer” will call at Hamburg, Tallinn, St Petersburg, Stockholm and Copenhagen.

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