Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth sail past the Statue of Liberty

Last night was clear and bitterly cold in New York harbor.  Wind chill from the northwesterly breeze made the temperature feel like it was in the single digits.  A new layer of snow from a storm two days before added to the existing snowbanks.   Nevertheless, as darkness fell, groups of hearty New Yorkers began lining up along the promenade at Battery Park to watch the Royal Rendezvous, the three Queens of the Cunard fleet sailing in company out of New York harbor to music and fireworks.

Not everyone was shivering on the promenade.  The National Maritime Historical Society chartered the World Yacht’s Dutchess, while the New York Water Taxi carried spectators on their “Three Queens Cruise.” For those happier ashore, the Ritz-Carlton at Battery Park offered a pricey  “Royal Rendezvous Package,”  which included overnight  accommodations and breakfast in bed.  I joined the roughly  50 members of the New York Ship Lore and Model Club in enjoying spectacular views of the ships from our gracious hosts Lee and Jordan’s apartment overlooking the Hudson.

Earlier in the day Commodore Bernard Warner, accompanied by his bosses, Carnival Corporation Chairman and CEO Micky Arison and Cunard President Peter Shanks, rang the closing bell  at the New York Stock exchange.  The real show, however, began as the Queen Mary 2, with Commodore Warner in command, left the Brooklyn docks and moved grandly into the harbor.   When the Queen Mary 2 was delivered in 2004 she was the largest cruise ship in the world.  While she lost that title in the last few years, she looked grandly immense  as she first headed north into the Hudson River and then gracefully turned in her own length,  her triple bow thrusters forward and twin rotating “Mermaid” pods astern being put to good use.

As the Queen Mary 2 moved slowly toward the Statue of Liberty, she was joined by her Panamax cousin, the Queen Victoria, followed by the Victoria’s new near sister ship, the Queen Elizabeth, which had departed from the Manhattan Cruise Terminal at Pier 90 and Pier 88.   As the Mary passed the Statue of Liberty two barge loads of fireworks began to paint the night sky in bursts of color.  The ships replied with the deep bellow of their horns.  It was an amazing evening, to be sure.