October 04, 2007
Queen Elizabeth II arrives in Brooklyn (pre Dubai)
The QE2 sailed into the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal today, making the first of a series of stops here before she moves to her permanent new home at Dubai's Palm Jumeirah where she will be turned into a floating hotel and tourist attraction -- much like the Queen Mary in California.
The QE2 is spending the night in Brooklyn -- you can check the QE2 webcam, which interestingly is pointed toward the Brooklyn Bridge (wheras the terminal's usual visitors, the QM2 and the Crown Princess, normally are towed backward into the Buttermilk Channel with their webcams pointed south toward Staten Island.) Another difference is that the QM2, while elegant, looks small compared to the other cruise ships that normally visit New York harbor. (For comparison sake, see the QM2 from the same location after the jump.)
Last month, the QE2 celebrated her 40th birthday in England amid fireworks and thousands of onlookers, the BBC reported. But today, the QE2 slipped in late in the day sans fanfare (and a Cunard spokesperson earlier in the day even told NewYorkology the arrival was set for Friday.)
Come January 13, the QE2 will take part in the "Cunard Royal Rendezvous" when all three Cunard Queens -- the QE2, Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria -- will be in New York at the same time, a first in Cunard history.
For that event, the QM2 will dock in Brooklyn while the QE2 and Queen Victoria will berth at the Manhattan terminal, the Cunard spokeswoman told NewYorkolgy.
One related traffic note near the cruise terminal: Starting October 10, traffic on Columbia Street north of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel -- which has been one way for almost a year due to construction -- will go back to two-way service.
Earlier: Queen Mary 2 returns to home port in Brooklyn
Red Hook hosts its first cruise ship: Carnival's Oriana
October 4, 2007 09:22 PM in History, Out of Manhattan, Romance, Sightsology
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