Cunard Line will make history in Australia again this year, as her two magnificent ocean liners, Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria, make a record 10 visits to cities around our shores.

The largest ocean liner ever to visit Australia, Queen Mary 2 will make maiden calls to the Whitsundays, Adelaide and Fremantle during her third world voyage, which will also see her arrive in spectacular style in Sydney for her first overnight stay.

The elegant Queen Victoria will also make her inaugural calls to Adelaide as well as the Western Australian ports of Albany, Fremantle and Exmouth during her third world voyage which will see her return to Sydney and Melbourne.

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Famous around the world, the magnificent Queen Mary 2 holds the title of the largest vessel ever to visit Australia.

Built at a cost of $US800 million, the 151,400-tonne ocean liner seamlessly combines a classic British heritage with Cunard's hallmarks of nostalgia, opulence and style.

Her many features include the largest ballroom at sea as well as the largest library afloat, offering more than 8000 books.

One of the most spacious vessels at sea, she offers 14 decks of sports facilities, shops, lounges, bars and pools and no fewer than 10 dining options.

Fact Sheet

Built at a cost of US$800 million, Cunard’s 151,400-tonne Queen Mary 2 is almost twice as large as the original Queen Mary and more than double the size of the legendary Queen Elizabeth 2.

The largest ship ever to visit Australia, the 345-metre-long Queen Mary 2 seamlessly combines a classic British heritage with Cunard’s hallmarks of nostalgia, opulence and style, evident in sweeping staircases, a grand ballroom and a 360° promenade deck.

Renowned artists were commissioned to produce more than 300 original works of art valued at more than US$5million for Queen Mary 2, which is also home to the Maritime Quest exhibit tracing the history of Cunard and its Transatlantic heritage.

A space ratio of over 57 tonnes (gross registered tonnage divided by guest capacity) per passenger makes Queen Mary 2 one of the most spacious ships at sea, with room for 14 decks of sports facilities, shops, lounges, bars, five pools, no fewer than 10 dining options and the only planetarium afloat – Illuminations.

Almost 75 per cent of Queen Mary 2’s 1310 staterooms feature private balconies, while the needs and whims of every two passengers are catered for by the attentive service of one staff member.

Launched in 2004, Queen Mary 2 is the world’s only liner offering regularly scheduled transatlantic crossings between New York and Southampton, as well as voyages to the Caribbean, Northern Europe, Mediterranean and round world voyages.

Her 2010 visit to Australia comes as part of her third world voyage. Her first world voyage in 2007 saw her make her maiden visit to Sydney, where she enjoyed a spectacular rendezvous with her younger sister, QE2, which has since left the Cunard fleet. Queen Mary 2 will return to Australia in 2011 to again visit Sydney, Adelaide and Fremantle, with her Sydney visit including a memorable Royal Rendezvous with Cunard’s new Queen Elizabeth.

VITAL STATISTICS

QUEEN MARY 2 FEATURES INCLUDE:

• 1310 staterooms including 955 with private balcony cabins
• 10 different stateroom types including 171 junior suites, suites and penthouses as well as two Grand Duplex apartments, each measuring 209 sq m
• a spectacular six-storey Grand Lobby
• the largest library at sea, home to more than 8000 books
• the largest ballroom at sea
• a 20,000sq ft state-of-the-art spa spanning two decks and offering 24 treatment rooms
• More than 10 restaurants and cafes including:
  • the impressive 1347-seat three-storey Britannia Restaurant
  • the 200-seat Queens Grill
  • the 178-seat Princess Grill
  • the fine-dining Todd English restaurant
  • the Boardwalk Café
  • the Golden Lion Club
  • the informal 478-seat King’s Court for breakfast and lunch buffet style, which transforms at night into four other dining options: La Piazza (Italian), Lotus (Asian), The Carvery (British), and the Chef’s Galley (Demonstration Kitchen)
• The first planetarium at sea, Illuminations
• 14 bars and clubs
• 8 different shops including boutiques from Chanel, Hermes and Dunhill
• 4 outdoor swimming pools, including one with a retractable glass roof, and eight whirlpool spas
• sport facilities including two state-of-the-art golf simulators, a half-size basketball court, putting green, quoits, shuffleboard, deck games, a giant chess board and a paddle tennis court.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Queen Mary 2 features 17 decks and towers about 62 metres above the waterline, equal to the height of a 23-storey building.
• At 345m long, Queen Mary 2 is:
  • two-thirds the length of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
  • just 55m short of the entire length of Perth’s Narrow Bridge (400m)
  • twice the length of AAMI’s stadium in Adelaide or 20 Glenelg Historic Trams if they were all lined up.
• Queen Mary 2 stretches almost four football fields in length and, if stood on her end, would reach:
  • about 40 metres higher than the tip of Sydney Tower
  • about 47m higher than Central Park, Perth’s tallest building
  • more than double the height of Adelaide’s tallest building, 135m Westpac House.
• Capable of carrying 2600 passengers and 1250 crew, Queen Mary 2 is a floating town just smaller than the NSW south coast town of Merimbula (pop 4000), almost double the size of WA’s Exmouth (pop 2000) and larger than the SA town of Coober Pedy (estimated pop 3500).
• There are more than 50 nationalities amongst the 1200 crew.
• The ship’s teak wrap-around Promenade Deck is almost 600m long.
• The Queen Mary 2 signs near the funnel are the largest illuminated ship name signs in maritime history stretching 22 metres long and 2.4 metres high.
• Queen Mary 2 offers wi-fi and GSM connectivity in all staterooms and key public areas so that passengers on Transatlantic and world voyages can stay in touch with friends and loved ones throughout their travels.
• Queen Mary 2’s library is the largest at sea with more than 8000 hardbacks, 500 paperbacks, 200 audio books and 100 CD ROMs.
• The three-deck high main dining room spans the full width of the ship and has a sweeping central staircase perfect for the ultimate grand entrance.
• Since Cunard’s establishment in 1840 the company has launched more than 250 ships.
• Over a 40-year lifetime, Queen Mary 2 will travel the equivalent of 12 times to the moon and back.
• Queen Mary 2 has two huge 2.1m-long whistles, or horns, attached to the funnel. The starboard (right hand side) whistle is an original from the first Queen Mary. The two whistles sound a deep bass ‘A’ note and can be heard 16km away.
• The ship has three 23-tonne anchors.
• The ship’s engines produce enough thrust to launch a jumbo jet. There are four diesel engines and two gas turbines. Each diesel engine is 12.5m long and weighs 217 tons.
• Queen Mary 2 is one of the most technically advanced ships ever built. She has three thrusters which allow the ship to turn in her own length in port without the use of tugs. These thrusters produce twice the power of a conventional 100,000-tonne ship. A small single joystick on the Bridge manoeuvres her sideways or at an angle.
• Four locomotives, side by side, could fit into Queen Mary 2’s massive funnel, which is 13.4m by 6.7m at its widest point.
• The ship has four stabilisers, each weighing 70 tons and extending 6.2m from the hull, which together can reduce the ship’s roll by 90 per cent.

CONSTRUCTION OF QUEEN MARY 2

• Some 300,000 pieces of steel were cut and welded into blocks in specialised workshops.
• Queen Mary 2’s hull is made up of 94 steel blocks (made from 580 panels), some of which weigh more than 600 tons, involving some 1500 kilometres of welding.
• Her hull weighs 50,000 tonne (not to be confused with her gross tonnage of 150,000 grt).
• She took two years to construct (2002-2004).

FOOD & BEVERAGES

• Almost 16,000 meals are consumed onboard each day.
• 700 English scones are served at High Tea each afternoon.
• 3.3kg of Russian caviar and 73kg of lobster are consumed each day.
• Nearly a quarter of a million corks are popped on wine and champagne bottles aboard the ship each year. If lined up, these would stretch to the top of Mt Everest.
• 344 bottles of champagne are consumed each day.
• 460 eggs and 1200 litres of milk are consumed each day.
• Onboard baking requires nearly 8000 industrial size flour bags a year, which if stacked, would make a pile almost five times higher than Sydney Tower.
• The Queen Mary 2 uses almost 7000 boxes of strawberries each year.
• Annual tea consumption onboard the Queen Mary 2 would fill an Olympic size swimming pool - 6000 cups of tea are served daily.
• More than 8000 linen napkins are used and laundered each day while 87,000 pieces of china and glassware are used in the dining areas each day.

• 1072 deck chairs
• 2500 kilometres of electrical cable
• 500 kilometres of ducts, mains and pipes
• 2000 bathrooms
• 234,000 square metres of carpet
• 3000 telephones
• 5000 stairs
• 5000 fire detectors

For more information visit www.cunardline.com.au or call 13 24 41 for reservations within Australia.

Media information: MG Media Communications (+612) 9904 0011

Queen Victoria

Launched in December 2007, Queen Victoria's sleek outline and distinctive black and red livery, make her instantly recognisable as a classic Cunarder.

A unique blend of heritage and innovation, the 90,000-tonne liner celebrates the golden age of ocean travel when travelling was more important than the destination.

Her many features include a dramatic three-tier Grand Lobby, a two-storey library and a theatre, complete with West End-style viewing boxes.

Queen Elizabeth

The second largest Cunarder ever built, the 90,400 tonne Queen Elizabeth will be launched in October 2010.

Bearing a name popular throughout Cunard history, Queen Elizabeth will be a blend of the classic and the contemporary as the opulence of past eras meets the thrilling future of ocean travel.

Queen Elizabeth will visit Australia in February 2011 on her maiden world voyage, calling at Sydney, Melbourne and Fremantle.