QE2 Visits NYC For Last Time

Via NYT:

In a parting embrace under the lady lighting the harbor, the Queen Elizabeth 2 slipped beneath the Verrazano Narrows Bridge at dawn Thursday to pay a last visit to New York and a grander new sister ship, before sailing into history after nearly 40 years of luxury transatlantic travel as the fastest passenger ship afloat.

For her final visit — her 710th — the venerable liner, which was sold last year for eventual use as a floating hotel in Dubai, was joined by the four-year-old Queen Mary 2, the latest flagship of the Cunard fleet and a throwback to a golden age of ocean travel before jets, when, as the company slogan had it, getting there was half the fun.

It’s amazing how the QE2 actually looks small compared to the new megaliners that visit NYC. When I was a kid, I imagined that a six day crossing of the Atlantic on the QE2 would be the most glamorous adventure in the world.