The Queen Mary 2 ship docked at Cape Town harbour at 8.30am on Friday morning, she will set sail on Saturday at 4pm. Cape Town Etc had the pleasure of going on board to see what she has to offer. All we can say is WOWSERS!

She is even more spectacular in person than in pictures.

Some interesting facts about Queen Mary 2:
1. The ship is Cunard Line’s flagship and was constructed for eventual replacement of the aging Queen Elizabeth 2 famously known as the QE2.
2. Like her predecessor the QE2, she is built for crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
3. Queen Mary 2’s facilities include 15 restaurants and bars, 5 swimming pools, a casino, a ballroom, a theatre, and the first planetarium at sea.
4. Fresh water aboard ship is supplied by three seawater desalination plants. The plants each pump out a capacity of 630,000 litres per day.
5. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, Queen Mary 2 sailed to Athens and docked at Piraeus for two weeks to be used as a floating hotel.
6. More than 5000 commissioned works of art are visible in the ship’s public rooms, corridors, staterooms and lobbies, having been created by 128 artists from 16 countries.
7. On 10 January 2007, Queen Mary 2 started her first world cruise, circumnavigating the globe in 81 days.
8. As Queen Mary 2 is too large to dock in many ports, passengers are ferried to and from the ship.

Here’s a sneak peek into her royal highness of the seas…

Article written by

Nidha Narrandes is a food-obsessed travel addict with 21 years of journalism experience. Her motto - Travel. Eat. Repeat. She is happiest on a road to nowhere without a plan. A masterchef at home, she can't do without chilli - because chilli makes the world a tastier place.