After $100m facelift, Dubai unveils QE2 in her 1969 glory
RESTORED PASSENGER STATEROOMS OPEN ALONG WITH 13 FOOD AND BEVERAGE OUTLETS
13decks
across seven floors of 293-metre QE2
$15,000
cost of booking one of QE2’s two Royal Suites for a night
Forever fancied going on an ocean cruise but don’t relish the idea of getting seasick? Newly restored cruise liner Queen Elizabeth 2 — Dubai’s permanently moored museum and hotel — may just be your ticket to that next land-lover holiday with a maritime twist.
Unveiled in a soft opening yesterday morning, the 293-metre-long leviathan will remain permanently berthed in a golden retirement of sorts at Mina Rashid Port in Dubai as a floating ship, museum and hotel for generations to come.
Seven floors and 224 restored passenger state rooms of the 13deck ship were opened during the QE2 hotel launch hosted by Hamza Mustafa, chief executive officer of new QE2 owner Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation (PCFC) Hotels.
Mustafa told a press conference that no effort was spared over the three-year, $100-million retrofit to restore the grandeur and opulence of one of the world’s most famous ocean vessels to prepare for its role as Dubai’s newest hotel.
More than 2.7 million man hours were required to restore every wooden panel, flooring and her steel-and-aluminium hull to retain her original charm, he said.
“We are very proud of what we have done, the main theme is what she was like in 1969,” said Mustafa referring to May 2 of the same year when the Cunard line ship left Southhampton on her maiden transatlantic voyage which took five days to reach New York harbour.
“The QE2 will be a major tourist destination in Dubai. We
have worked very hard to make sure the QE2 is the same ship as in 1969,” he said.
Images of the maiden voyage and other artefacts from the ship have been attractively housed in the new QE2 Heritage Exhibition in the renovated Mina Rashid Terminal which will greet guests.
For now, there will be no entry fee for day visitors taking in the ship’s 13 food and beverage eateries and bars.
Mustafa assured the public
that the QE2 hotel is in Dubai to stay “and will never sail again” although he said she will remain a ship in harbour that moves 2.1 metres during daily tides.
Adnan Al Abbar, CEO of the Department of Planning and Development, Trakhees, helped manage the massive renovation project and said, “We faced a lot of challenges, all overcome. To restore a major ship, that was a major challenge.”
Al Abbar noted that the QE2 has been gingerly been brought back to her original state, “all is restored, there is nothing new”.
With great attention to detail, Mustafa said the QE2 ballroom — once the pride of any ship on the ocean and could host 650 guests — has been completely refitted and is ready for gala affairs.
Refitted state rooms will be available for all budgets, he said, ranging from $200 a night to $15,000 for the two Royal Suites belonging to Queen Elizabeth’s mother and grandmother. The suites are to be booked by invitation only, Mustafa said.
He said the renovation also ensured that the QE2’s interior design and appointments remain, items such as the ship’s original period furnishings, memorabilia as well as her famous paintings.