Three Queens For Liverpool

The three Cunard Queens – Mary, Elizabeth and Victoria – will soon be arriving in Liverpool to mark the 175th Anniversary of Cunard, who had their headquarters there from 1917 to 1967.

Queen Mary will sail into the Mersey on 24h May, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria will join her on 25th May making this the first time the three ships have been together in Liverpool, their spiritual home. The Spectacular event is set to run from May 23 to May 26, and hundreds of thousands of people are expected to descend on the city catch a glimpse of the once-in-a-lifetime gathering of the ships.

The celebrations will start on 23rd May with the ” Amazing Graces” will see the faces of volunteers, who live and work  in Liverpool , projected onto the Three Graces – Cunard`s previous home in the City.

Queen Mary will sail in on 24th and berth at the Liverpool City Cruise Terminal around 7 am to be greeted by a huge flotilla of boats. She will stay moored in the city all day with the evening holding a massive firework display around 10.30pm – not to be missed!

On Monday morning, 25th May, she will leaver her moorings to sail up the River Mersey to meet her two sisters as Elizabeth arrives from Kirkwall and Victoria sails in from Guernsey. They will meet and then sail in formation towards the city centre and the Echo Building with Queen Elizabeth leading the way . The exact details of what will happen next are being kept carefully under wraps but, without doubt, it will be something special.

Queen Mary will then sail on her way to Guernsey while the 2 other ships remain in Liverpool  with another spectacular firework display taking place before  Queen Elizabeth  sails away from the city while Victoria will remain until the next day, when she will leave to a special musical performance in the late afternoon.

Liverpool`s celebrations will definitely be the most emotional part of the Anniversary Celebrations but there is another nostalgic part for Queen Mary to play when , on July 4th, exactly 175 years to the day she will sail from Liverpool to Boston, re-enacting the original transatlantic crossing by Britannia in 1840.

I have done transatlantic on Queen Mary and I have to say it was one of the best cruises I have ever done. Boarding in Southampton with trepidation, not knowing what to expect, it was a really wonderful cruise. Loads to do on board, excellent food and staff, and the spa was wonderful. The only hairy bit was when the Captain stopped over the place where the Titanic went down and told us how he had dived down to the wreckage!

Sailing into New York was great, even though it was early in the morning, and I would recommend the crossing to anyone. I`d love to do it again but sailing out of New York this time so I can shop until I drop and not have any jet lag! It is definitely the best way to cross the Atlantic.