NAVIGATION-Cruising and Maritime Themes

To coincide with the arrival of the three QUEENS in Liverpool this coming weekend, Liverpool's waterfront will come to life with a series of projections, the "Three Graces", Royal Liver Building, Cunard building and the Port of Liverpool building, will be transformed into lavish beacons of entertainment as the facades become an animated backdrop to tell the story of the Cunard Line and the city of Liverpool. CUNARD and Liverpool celebrate 175 years of the legendary CUNARD. Photos above taken during QM2's visit to the city back in September of 2011

Tomorrow, 7.5.2015 marks 100 years of the sinking of the LUSITANIA, tomorrow another "post" about this delightful ship, one of the most famous Cunarders.

May 2015 is all about CUNARD LINE here, the prestigious CUNARD celebrates 175 years, founded in 1840 by Samuel Cunard as the BRITISH AND NORTH AMERICAN ROYAL MAIL STEAM PACKET COMPANY, today CUNARD is a subsidiary of CARNIVAL CORPORATION, stay tuned, we will remember and update the Company's History, remember some of their most celebrated and historic passenger ships and of course will also bring photos and current notifications of the May celebrations this year.

To start celebrating the 175th Anniversary of the CUNARD LINE, the three QUEENS of the fleet, QUEEN MARY 2, QUEEN ELIZABETH and QUEEN VICTORIA will be together at Southampton tomorrow, 3.5.2015, the three ships will sail together in day light for the first time, QM2 will lead the way, followed by Queen Victoria and the Queen Elizabeth, the departure also marks the beginning of the new summer season for the CUNARD LINE, Mary will head for New York, the Victoria to Guernsey and the Elizabeth to Hamburg, the three ships will be once again together and for the very first time at their spiritual home of Liverpool on the 25.5.2015. Photo of the three ships together when they met in Lisbon last year by Luis Miguel Correia, copyright photo.

This photo takes us back to December of 2007, the brand new QUEEN VICTORIA is just arriving from Italy on her delivery voyage to CUNARD, behind QV is the P & O CRUISES beautiful AURORA, getting ready to depart on another cruise, I remember it was a cold but beautiful sunny day with a magnificent light, the best welcome the brand new QV could have expected, great memories, the exact date 7.12.2007

This May the magnificent LUSITANIA, the largest passenger ship in the World when she was introduced in 1907 will be remembered during the CUNARD LINE celebrations of its 175th Anniversary, it's been 100 years since the sinking of the LUSITANIA, QUEEN VICTORIA is the ship to undergo on a cruise to commemorate the occasion with special events in Ireland, follow the link here for full details

"QUEEN ELIZABETH" is the youngest passenger ship of the prestigious CUNARD LINE, the ship was ordered in 2007 at the Italian Shipyard FINCANTIERI, the same year that the QUEEN VICTORIA debuted, also built at the same yard. At 90.901 G.T., "QUEEN ELIZABETH" is the second largest passenger ship ever to be operated by the CUNARD LINE, she is exceeded only by Flagship, "QUEEN MARY 2". "QUEEN ELIZABETH" is very similar in design to the "QUEEN VICTORIA", the main exterior profile differences are, a steeper stern and also at the forward end of deck 11 there is a roof covering the games deck. Last Sunday we were both in Barcelona so I was really excited with the possibility of doing some photos of the ship. Her berth was Terminal C on the "Moll D' Adossat", where Terminals A, B, C and D are located, during the morning the light was very good so gave me a tremendous opportunity for some close-up photos, a very favourite hobby of mi...

The name SHIP BEAUTIFUL has been associated to the CUNARD passenger liner AQUITANIA built in 1914, as History progressed the Liners by the end of last century seemed destined to Museums, History Programs and books, apart from wonderful memories from ships enthusiasts, Maritime Historians and of course passengers and crew that sailed for decades on these wonderful forms of art. With the Cruising Industry's boom also at the end of last century it seemed impossible that another specifically designed liner would be built after the QE2 in 1969, this remarkable liner was many times described as the last true ocean liner to be built. Everything changed when CARNIVAL bought CUNARD and announced that a new liner, the largest, grandest ever, would be built in 2002, the news came a pleasant shock to the maritime world, how would that be possible, would it be viable and economically profitable, after all to build a new liner would be a lot more expensive and a diff...

CUNARD and P & O have announced their 2015 "WORLD CRUISES" programs. "QUEEN VICTORIA" will depart Southampton on the 20.1.2015 on a 103 nights epic voyage, named "PACIFIC WORLD VOYAGE", the highlights will be the maiden calls at Puerto Limon at Costa Rica, Christchurch in New Zealand, Rarotonga at the Cook Islands, Bora Bora at the French Polynesia and San Juan del Sur at Nicaragua, the ship will return to Southampton, May the 3rd she will join the other two QUEENS to mark the 175th Anniversary of Cunard. P & O's "AURORA" will also depart Southampton on the 8.1.2015 on her "SOUTH AMERICA & SOUTH PACIFIC VOYAGE", the ship will transit the full extent of the Magellan Strait and call at Moorea at the French Polynesia, Rarotonga at the Cook Islands and Akaroa in New Zealand, the ship is back at Southampton on the 23.4.2015. Photos of the two ships in Southampton back on the 7.12.2007, "QUEEN VICTORIA's" maide...

CUNARD was formed in 1840, the connection with Southampton has been of major importance, some of the greatest Liners have sailed from there and CUNARD ships homeport has only recently been changed to Hamilton, despite the changing of flag, today's CUNARD owned by the CARNIVAL GROUP is still based and operated from Southampton, an American-British company known as CARNIVAL UK monitors operations from Southampton. QUEEN VICTORIA above and QUEEN ELIZABETH below are seen here departing Southampton, these two ships are the youngest of this proud Shipping Company, QV was built in 2007 and QE three years later, as a keen photographer and observer it gives me great pleasure to note that enthusiasts and general public still admire these ships, they are for modern standards, ships with a clear elegant profile and of course the CUNARD livery does help the overall image. Photos QV, 15.6.2013 and QE 16.6.2013