Last week I was in Dubai and took the opportunity to visit the QE2, the classic liner and one-time pride of British merchant marine which is now operating as a hotel in the city.

The Queen Elizabeth 2 is the former flagship of Cunard Line, built at the John Brown Shipyard in 1969, she served Cunard on the transatlantic each summer and then cruising the world the rest of the year. She was a popular cruise ship wherever she went and would draw crowds at each port.

In 2007 she was acquired by Dubai for an unbelievable £100m, Cunard must have been laughing all the way to the bank! It was proposed that she would be berthed on the Palm as a floating hotel, however, it was not to be. Upon her delivery in 2008 to her new owners, the world’s financial situation had changed and Dubai was in trouble. Suddenly there was no need for additional hotel rooms, and the land in the Palm was reused for other developments.

For ten years the QE2 sat waiting for a new future, there were numerous proposals – Including as a Hotel in Cape Town, Liverpool and Southampton, as well as the Far East. There were even proposals for scrapping the historic liner. She eventually opened her doors in Dubai as a floating hotel in 2018, after ten years of idling around, some are upset about the removal of the lifeboats from the ship, however to me it is a technicality, they are no longer required and freeing up deck space is important for the hotel customers.

The area in which she is currently located is being primed for redevelopment, but currently, she is a bit alone within the port with some superyachts for company. Hopefully, the developments will spur some community and animation in the area.

I undertook the guided heritage tour, which took you around several decks of the ship and told some interesting stories from the ships history, my personal favourite part of the tour was visiting the bridge. After the tour we went to the Lido for something to eat, which was delicious, and then the Golden Lion for a few drinks. This is the oldest pub in Dubai!

The QE2 has always been special to me and I remember as a young child being taken by my grandparents onto the Mersey Ferries to go and see it docked mid-river.

After visiting SS Rotterdam, see that post here, I was intrigued at how the QE2 would feel onboard, and it was a Wednesday lunchtime while I was onboard it was quiet, but there were around 10 people on my tour and it is conducted twice a day, there was also a huge amount of school pupils who appeared to be making use of the conference facilities.

The ship has an array of restaurants, the Queen Grill is only open Friday-Sunday, and some interesting bars. It appears to make good use of the conference facilities and

Recently the hotel became part of Accor, which I believe has led to a real improvement in the onboard service, and all the staff were friendly and welcoming onboard while I was there. I hope when the UAE further approves gambling she can make use of her casino as a revenue generator too.

For me, this was a childhood wish completed! I would recommend a visit if you’re in Dubai.

I would love to hear about your QE2 memories, please leave a comment below!

Thanks,

Liam