Sam Spade's San Francisco

Listen, Mary, the real Queen is coming to town, so put the high heels back under the bed and pay a little respect.

The grandeur and sheer impressive beauty of the remarkable Cunard Cruise Line ship, the Queen Mary 2, will grace our skyline on February 4th.

Massive

At 1,132 feet in length, the massive ship weighs in at an astounding 151,400 gross tons.

The QM2, as she is affectionately known, is:
- 113 feet longer than the original Queen Mary,
- twice as long as the Washington Monument is tall,
- able to accommodate more than 3,000 passengers and 1,200 crew members.

Power to Spare

One of the more interesting technical facts about the QM2 is its propulsion system. It is among the most advanced on the planet, naval vessels excepted, of course. The ship is not propelled by conventional fixed propeller blades at the stern of the ship. Rather, QM2 glides through the water at a good 30 knots and is propelled by four Rolls-Royce Mermaid podded propulsion units that produce a combined total of 157,000 horsepower.

No Rudder!

Each pod, which is the size of a small house, has one forward-facing low-vibration Kamewa propeller with separately bolted blades. The forward pair is fixed, but the aft pair can rotate through 360 degrees, obviating the need for a rudder.

The QM2 offers 15 restaurants and bars, five swimming pools, a casino, a ballroom, a theatre, and a state-of-the-art digital planetarium.

Best of all folks, the Queen Mary 2 will be here in San Francisco on February 4th to 5th.

Where and When you can see the Queen

At four times higher than Telegraph Hill and 280 feet longer than the height of the Transamerica Pyramid, it will dominate the skyline. On Sunday, February 4th at approximately 3 PM, the Queen Mary 2 will glide under the Golden Gate Bridge. It will be escorted by San Francisco Fireboats, the U.S. Coast Guard and a huge flotilla of private boats.

There are no announced plans for public tours. You're going to need to know somebody in high places in order to get aboard. The mayor and a number of other local dignitaries (people who do know somebody) will attend an invitation-only tour and luncheon aboard the QM2 with the captain on Monday.

The Queen will depart Monday evening at 8 PM. Her arrival on Sunday marks the 26th day of her Around the World in 80 Days Tour.

Story tools:

Cunard's official QM2 site
Wikipedia's excellent QM2 article
Photo Gallery of QM2
QM2 live Bridgecam (today she is in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas ... see for yourself!)
QM2's revolutionary on-board planetarium system
QM2's restaurants (you can even read the menus)
Bars, Lounges, Saloons and Fandango Parlors
Theatre, Nightclubs and Casino
Galleries, Books, Afternoon High Tea, Planned Events