It was one last rendezvous in the harbour, one last salute to the Statue of Liberty, one last ceremonial escort by spraying fireboats and pleasure boaters.And then, about 6 p.m. on October 16, 12 hours after arriving in the predawn darkness, the Queen Elizabeth 2 was gone in the twilight, steaming out of New York Harbour on its 806th—and last—trans-Atlantic crossing after nearly 40 years as the fastest passenger ocean liner in service.The ship’s captain for the last five years, Ian McNaught, 54, was also nostalgic. “When we leave tonight I’m sure there will be a few tears shed on shore and in the ship itself,” he said. But next year, he said, he will take command of Cunard Line’s newest liner, the Queen Victoria. A new Queen Elizabeth is being built, with plans to launch in 2010.For its final visit to New York — the 710th — the venerable liner, which was sold last year for eventual use as a floating hotel in Dubai, was joined, from its American home port in Brooklyn, by the 4-year-old Queen Mary 2, the latest flagship of the Cunard fleet and a throwback to a golden age of ocean travel before jets. The two queens—the grander new one dwarfing the old, just half its size—are staging an unusual tandem six-day crossing to Southampton, England.At Battery Park City, as bagpipers wheezed a musical tribute, several hundred people, some waving small Union Jacks, cheered as the Queen Elizabeth 2, trailed by the Queen Mary 2, passed Lady Liberty.In November, the Queen Elizabeth 2 sails to a final resting place in Dubai, the oil-rich Persian Gulf sheikdom. Investors there bought the ship for $100 million and intend to make it a permanently moored hotel, entertainment complex and museum at the Palm Jumeirah, billed as the world’s largest manmade island and beach resort.Some marine preservationists and buffs have criticised reported plans to replace the ship’s distinctive funnel and staterooms with luxury suites, saying they would prefer to see the Queen Elizabeth 2 scrapped or even scavenged for its metal in India. The decommissioning of the Queen Elizabeth 2 leaves only the Queen Mary 2 in regular trans-Atlantic service, making some 20 crossings a year.On its final crossing, Cunard said, the Queen Elizabeth 2 is sailing full, with about 1,800 passengers paying fares ranging from $25,445, for a duplex grand suite with veranda, to $2,992, for a plain inside single room.The ship collected superlatives. It is still the fastest passenger liner in service. It is the longest-serving vessel in Cunard’s nearly 170-year history. It has a tennis court, a golf driving range, a 13-car garage, a Harrods department store, a theatre and a synagogue. Its crew of 1,016 includes 107 cooks, four fitness instructors, a disc jockey and 10 “gentlemen hosts” to escort unaccompanied women.
