HOLIDAY NEWS

Air fuel surcharge imposed
Following the recent announcement from scheduled airlines to further increase their fuel supplements, Cunard will be applying their own surcharge of £15 per air passenger, per air sector, on all future bookings featuring sheduled air travel made from June 23.

Queen says farewell to QE2
June 2, 2008 - The Queen made a nostalgic visit to Southampton today to bid farewell to the most famous cruise ship in the world - the QE2.
It was 41 years ago that the Queen launched the QE2 at Clydebank. Now, the greatest Transatlantic liner of them all is preparing for her final summer at sea before becoming a floating hotel off Dubai.
And at a party on board, the nine skippers who have taken the helm were presented to the Queen. She also meet crew members who sailed to the Falklands, accompanied by Baroness Thatcher who, as Prime Minister, requisitioned the liner to the carry troops in the 1982 conflict with Argentina. 
On the bridge, the Queen gave a signal to Cadet Jennifer Haynes to sound the liner's whistle to salute Cunard's current flagship Queen Mary 2, which is also in port.

Queen to make farewell visit to QE2
April 13, 2008 - It is almost 41 years since the Queen launched job number 736 at John Brown's on the Clyde and on impulse, attached the number 2 to the name of the Queen Elizabeth, much to the surprise of Cunard.
Since then, the QE2 has been the most famous ship afloat, and in a mark of great affection, the Queen is to make a farewell visit on Monday, June 2.
The ship, which has been the flagship of the Cunard fleet for 35 years, was launched by the Queen on September 20, 1967, and leaves the fleet in November at the end of an illustrious career.
More about the QE2

Queen Victoria arrives in Southampton
December 7, 2007 - Queen Victoria, the latest Classic Cunarder, arrived in her home port of Southampton this morning.
She departed the Fincantieri shipyard in Venice on November 30, when thousands of shipyard workers involved in her construction waved her bon voyage from the quayside in an emotional send off.
The 10-night maiden voyage will call at ports famed for their Christmas markets: Rotterdam (for Amsterdam), Copenhagen (overnight call), Oslo, Hamburg and Zeebrugge (for Bruges). The voyage was fully-booked shortly after going on sale in 2006.

Cunard orders QE3
October 11, 2007 - Cunard has ordered a new £350-million liner to be named Queen Elizabeth.
The 2,092-passenger is scheduled to enter service in autumn 2010, two years after the QE2 goes into retirement and become a floating luxury hotel in Dubai. Cunard has signed an agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for the new 92,000-ton ocean liner which will be the second largest ever built by Cunard, the Queen Mary 2 being the biggest.
Says Cunard president Carol Marlow: "We are delighted the Queen has given her blessing to our calling this new Cunarder 'Queen Elizabeth', after our first vessel of that name. The decision to order another ship for Cunard Line has been taken as a result of the strong booking response to the new Queen Victoria, and we are extremely pleased that Cunard will once again become a three-ship fleet so soon after the departure of the much-celebrated QE2 in November next year."

Queen Vic in Europe in 2008
March 20, 2007 - For the first time in its 168-year history, Cunard will offer its guests the choice of sailing on one of three Queens - the most famous ocean liners in the world.
Overall the Cunard fleet will offer over 40 itineraries and over 95 ports of call or destinations in 2008, the highlight undoubtedly being Queen Victoria's first summer programme after her Maiden World Cruise.
She will undertake ten voyages to the Mediterranean, Northern Europe and the Caribbean roundtrip from Southampton, nine Mediterranean 'fly-voyages' from a choice of ports and two Ibero-Med voyages.
More about the three Queens in 2008

Queen Victoria makes first splash
January 15, 2007 - Special ceremonies at Fincantieri's Marghera shipyard near Venice were held today to mark the float out of Cunard's Queen Victoria.
The occasion marked the beginning of the final construction stages for the $522 million sister ship to the line's flagship Queen Mary 2.
Cunard's managing director Carol Marlow was joined by guest of honour Maureen Ryan, who joined Cunard in 1963 and is the only known person to have served on all Cunard Queens: Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, QE2 and Queen Mary 2.
More about Queen Victoria's float out ceremony