Dubai World Buys Queen Elizabeth 2
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 06.18.07 | 4:05 PM ET
Goodbye, high seas. Hello, Palm Jumeirah. One of the world’s grandest cruise ships, Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2, has been purchased by a division of a Dubai-owned corporation and by 2009 will become yet another mega spectacle in a land of mega spectacles. According to the AP, Istithmar, a division of government-owned Dubai World, purchased the famed British ship—it has carried royalty, troops to the Falklands War and the Norovirus from Acapulco to San Francisco—for $100 million and plans to turn it into a “floating hotel, retail and entertainment destination” off the coast of the manmade Palm Jumeirah island.
While Dubai hardly seems to need more spectacles, it actually sounds like a fine turn of events for the 38-year-old QE2. The new owners will apparently refurbish the ship, recreating its original decor. It’s good to see the legacy of a travel legend protected. Just think, it could have become 70,000 tons of scrap.
The BBC and others have more details on the sale.
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