The QE2 is a luxury British cruise liner that ended her service in 2008. I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a couple of nights on the ship though, as it is now permanently docked in Dubai and being used as a hotel.
0:00 QE2 Cruise Liner
2:03 $120 Captain's Room
8:26 $50 Afternoon Tea
32:15 Exploring the Ship
47:35 Pot Noodle
52:18 Day 2
57:39 Sea View Room
1:01:07 Gym
1:06:18 Fish and Chips
1:17:18 QE2 Heritage Tour
When the ship was bought by Dubai they originally had plans for it to be located at The Palm. Those plans, like many other ambitious projects, were put on hold due to the financial crisis at that time and it wasn't until 10 years later, in 2018, that it finally opened as a hotel, moored at Port Rashid, which is the main cruise terminal for Dubai, 60 km distance from The Palm.
I paid $120 per night for a 'Captain's Room with Balcony', which, as one of the higher categories of rooms, is significantly cheaper than it would have cost while the ship was in service.
The rooms have been renovated to bring them up to modern hotel standards. It did feel like a standard 4 star hotel room, albeit quite a bit smaller. I've been staying in a similar standard of room, not too far away, for $40 per night, so it doesn't represent value for money as an actual hotel room, but you're mostly paying for the experience when you stay on the QE2.
Shortly after checking in I visited the Queen's Grill restaurant for afternoon tea. This was the first class restaurant when the ship was sailing, serving only the passengers with the higher priced tickets.
It was necessary to book and pay for the afternoon tea 24 hours in advance. Not because the restaurant was busy. Far from it. I think it must be because it takes some time to prepare the 13 items in the set, so it's difficult to make it available to walk-ins.
I booked the Britannia package which cost 195 AED ($53 USD / £39 GBP).
It included:
5 Finger Sandwiches (Cucumber / Cheddar & Branston pickle / Smoked salmon, chives and cream cheese roulade / Egg mayonnaise with watercress / Roast chicken with Pommery mustard)
3 Hot Pastries (Chicken & Herb Wellington with horse radish cream / Quail Scotch eggs wrapped in smoked fish mousse / Mini sundried tomato & mushroom pie)
5 Desserts (Chocolate profiteroles / Lemon and thyme posset / Fresh strawberry tart / Bakewell tart / Carrot cake)
It also came with a couple of scones. Drinks were also included.
I enjoyed all the food apart from that Branston Pickle. That stuff is nasty! The Scotch Egg, Mushroom Pie, Bakewell Tart and Scones were especially tasty.
After lunch I got very lost trying to find my way back to my cabin but it turned out to be an excellent way to explore the ship. I found the theatre, ball room and an old casino with slot machines from the 1970's.
I didn't have the best night's sleep on my first night on the ship. This was mainly due to the noise from outside. There's some loud droning noise that is constant and can be heard from inside the room. It looked as if there was some massive power generator or something near the ship.
On the second day I asked to be moved to the other side of the ship, from a city view to a sea view room. It normally costs 50 AED per night extra but they relocated me there without charge. This was much better as that horribly irritating noise couldn't be heard from there.
It was also much a nicer view, of water and ships. The city view room did have a view of the Dubai skyline but it's very far away and there's nothing pleasant to look at in-between there and the ship.
I used the gym on the second day, which is located on the 7th floor. The numbering system of the floors is the opposite of a tower building, so the 7th floor is actually the bottom one.
I had seen photos of the ship when it was in service and the gym was equipped with first generation Cybex equipment. I was happy to find out that those have been replaced with latest generation Technogym machines.
I enjoyed a post-workout fish and chips in my room at sunset. It would have been nice to enjoy it on the balcony, but even at sunset it's just too hot to enjoy the outdoors in Dubai during summer.
After I checked out I was given a tour of the ship by Mr Peter who was a member of crew during the QE2's active service. He is full of information and has loads of interesting and humorous stories to tell. The heritage tour lasts an hour and costs 85 AED ($23 USD / £17 GBP) according to their website but they only charged me 65 AED, maybe because I was a hotel guest.
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14 июн 2024
