OK Yesterday Great Britain's latest nautical marvel sailed on her maiden voyage to Miami from Southampton(England). The same port from which I sailed to New York in June 1967 on her immediate predecessor the QE2. So far there do not seem to be any actual full sized real photos of the QM2 on the internet but here are 2 pix I have found to illustrate this topic
And here is the report from today's The Daily telegraph on the sailing
By Stewart Payne
(Filed: 13/01/2004)
The Queen Mary 2 set sail on its maiden voyage last night with passengers bracing themselves for Force 11 gales and heavy seas.
The 150,000-ton liner was expected to take a battering as it headed out into the Atlantic on its first fare-paying voyage - a two-week cruise from its home port of Southampton to Florida.
previously the same journalist reported on the naming ceremony (nicely putting one over on the dreaded frogs!!)
QEII and QM2 launch new era of luxury travel
By Stewart Payne
(Filed: 09/01/2004)
The last time the Queen named a transatlantic liner she eschewed champagne in favour of a bottle of Australian sparkling wine to smash into its bow.
Yesterday, old rivalries were forgotten. France no longer competes for the fastest, most luxurious ocean-going ships. It just builds them.
So the British-owned, French-built Queen Mary 2, the new flagship of the Cunard fleet and the largest, longest, tallest, widest and most expensive passenger ship ever, was christened with a jeroboam of Veuve Clicquot champagne.
The Queen, leaning slightly on an ivory-handled walking stick after her knee operation, used the time-honoured words at the QM2's home port of Southampton: "I name this ship Queen Mary 2. May God bless her, and all who sail in her."
She had performed the same ceremony in 1967 at the launching of the Queen Elizabeth 2. The QE2 was built on the Clyde and the French still had pretensions toward transatlantic travel with their own liner, the France.
Now Cunard is alone in offering a regular service between Britain and America.
However, the company, founded in Liverpool more than 160 years ago, turned to a French shipyard in St Nazaire to build the £550 million vessel.
The naming ceremony was a lavish affair, although there was a poignant moment as the Rt Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, the Bishop of Winchester, in blessing the QM2, said a prayer in French for the families of the 15 people who died when a gangplank collapsed during a visit to the liner by relatives of construction workers.
Otherwise, it was all fanfare and fireworks. In pouring rain and strong winds, 2,000 guests, including John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Alistair Darling, the Transport Secretary, gathered under canvas to be entertained by The Band of the Royal Marines, Portsmouth, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Choral Society, and by Lesley Garrett, the opera singer, and Heather Small, formerly of M People.
The liner was concealed behind a massive drape, which fell away on cue to reveal its floodlit bow and, on the foredeck, Pipe Major Jim Motherwell, who has just retired as the Queen's Piper.
Pamela Conover, the president of Cunard, said the QM2 was the first new transatlantic liner for 37 years.
She also announced that the new liner would be known as RMS Queen Mary 2, making her a
Royal Mail Ship. The old Cunarders were all RMSs but the designation was dropped for the QE2. Now mail will be carried again.
The QM2 carries the name of its three-funneled predecessor, the Queen Mary, launched in 1934. Capable of carrying 2,620 passengers and with 17 decks and a crew of 1,253, the QM2 is due to take over transatlantic duties from the QE2 in late April. The QE2 will then concentrate on cruises.
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My Gordon Lightfoot webring
starts at
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/lightfoot
Talk about a Lifestyles Of the Rich & Famous flashback! Later! 
Later! 
