Sunday 19 February 2012

Perfect day for a gracious lady of the seas

TwitPic by James Orland
The Queen Mary II has just anchored off Yorkeys Knob.

A CairnsBlog fan on-board, snapped this photo and sent it a few minutes ago, showing the Yorkeys headland from around 4 kms offshore.

Weather-wise, it's a near perfect day for the grand ship's arrival in Far North Queensland.

6 comments:

Craig Bush said...

grrr as an ex Carnival Corp employee I wouldnt be celebrating, the super rich will be emptying their grey water directly into the ocean right before your eyes, all shore tours are pre bought on board via pre-arranged 'deals' with 'favoured' international tour guides. Ask what is the grey and blackwater policy of Carnival Corp ships whilst in the World Heritage Great Barrier Reef? and then wonder why UNESCO has an investigating committee in Australia looking at withdrawing that 'listing' on the basis of mercantile shipping in the Heritage Zone, and the dumb working stiffs of Cairns are being asked to pay for dredging and widening of Trinity to accomodate more ships in the belief it brings money to locals...go on a cruise and find out, the ships try to run cashless societies onboard so passengers dont actually have any spare cash for shore tours, and as for spending money in local shops, if Cairns thinks its Made in China souvineer shops have anything better to offer that World Best Duty Free On-Board shopping then 'we' really will believe what council feeds us. Mind you I'm sure Val is receiving a nice Queen Mary free feed whilst working out how to stiff Cairns residents with the bill for the dredging so QMII can berth alongside and the rich and fatuous onboard wont complain about the gentle rolling of the Coral Sea spilling their pink gins...look at the ship long and hard and imagine it is the on it side Costa Concordia with its timebomb of fuel oil onboard.

Chris Dahlberg said...

I hope the Captain, passengers and crew enjoy their brief stay in Far North Queensland. (The ship will not be discharging any sewerage or grey water in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.)

Susan Y, Holloways Beach said...

I'm on the beach here at Holloways... magic view!!!!

Craig Bush said...

Even 'Arnie' muscleman of California passed legislation that cruise ships whilst in port MUST connect to certifiable GREEN power, on the sheer basis that the electricty power stations onboard that light the ship up like a Las Vegas casino have no regulation and that several ships in port at the same time represent a violation of California's Clean Air Act as the cruise shippers try to avoid legislation by registering in third world countries... At least a local tourism operator works hard for his Green/Eco Certificate...then a few of these ships destroy that reputation in the desperate drive for any tourist dollar at any environmental cost.

ie, lobby for stricter environmental law and control of cruise shipping in the World Heritage Area, insist on Worlds Best Practice, rather than what is best economic option of today, assist local business to develop Green Best Practice for cruise ships as is done in California and Alaska, for renewable shore power, for a re-cycling centre for grey and blackwater to be pumped ashore in Cairns, and read up, all cruise ships (AND passengers) pay a Levy in Alaska waters (considered a pristine wilderness area) to carry a Coast Guard Environmental Officer onboard to ensure compliance with regulations for cruising in a 'environmentally sensitive area, there will be more money for council and Cairns this way than expecting any crumbs from duty free shopping.

Roland White said...

She looks magnificent wish I was there

Carol Cunningham said...

Nice :)