April 14–20, 1999 | 30th Anniversary Transatlantic Crossing – Southampton to New York
Our honeymoon aboard Queen Elizabeth 2 (Cunard Line) coincided with her 30th anniversary crossing, sailing from Southampton to New York on April 14–20, 1999. Six nights on the North Atlantic brought a personal milestone together with three decades of ocean liner history. Voyage 1160 also completed her 1999 World Cruise, making these photographs a special part of the Ocean Liner Photography collection.
Queen Elizabeth 2 (Cunard Line) departed Southampton on April 14, 1999, for a six-night westbound crossing to New York, arriving on April 20. Designated Voyage 1160, the sailing celebrated her 30th anniversary in service and completed the final leg of her 1999 World Cruise. The anniversary crossing came shortly before May 2, the date on which she had begun her maiden voyage to New York in 1969. Three decades later, QE2 was still sailing the North Atlantic route at the heart of her original purpose, combining the responsibilities of a working ocean liner with an extensive worldwide cruising schedule.
For us, this crossing carried an equally important personal meaning: it was our honeymoon. We stayed in cabin 4142, spending six nights aboard a ship whose history had become inseparable from the story of modern Cunard. With five consecutive days at sea between Southampton and New York, the voyage offered time aboard QE2 as a destination in her own right. These photographs bring together memories of that honeymoon and the ship as she appeared in the spring of 1999, making this one of the most personally significant galleries in the Ocean Liner Photography collection.
The gallery also captures a particular chapter in QE2’s long career. By 1999, she had already undergone major changes to her machinery and interiors, served as a troopship, and carried passengers on crossings and world cruises for nearly 30 years. Yet the arrival of Queen Mary 2 and QE2’s eventual retirement were still ahead. Our photographs belong to the period when she remained Cunard’s principal transatlantic liner, actively connecting Southampton and New York while carrying the traditions of earlier generations into the closing years of the twentieth century.
Information List
Ship: Queen Elizabeth 2
Common Name: QE2
Operator During This Crossing: Cunard Line
Type: Ocean liner and cruise ship
Builder: John Brown & Company, Scotland, United Kingdom
Yard Number: 736
Keel Laid: July 5, 1965
Launched: September 20, 1967
Launched and Named By: Queen Elizabeth II
Entered Service: 1969
Maiden Transatlantic Voyage: Departed Southampton for New York on May 2, 1969
Length Overall: 963 feet / 293.5 meters
Beam: 105 feet / 32 meters
Gross Tonnage: Around 70,000 GT following modifications
Passenger Capacity: Around 1,700, depending on accommodation configuration
Original Propulsion: Steam turbines driving twin propellers
Propulsion During This Crossing: Diesel-electric, following the 1986–1987 conversion
Diesel Engines: Nine MAN B&W engines supplying electrical power
Service Speed: 28.5 knots
Port of Registry During This Crossing: Southampton, United Kingdom
IMO Number: 6725418
Voyage Number: 1160
Crossing Dates: April 14–20, 1999
Duration: Six nights
Route: Southampton to New York
Direction: Westbound across the North Atlantic
Days at Sea: April 15–19, 1999
Anniversary Context: 30 years since her 1969 maiden voyage and entry into service
World Cruise Context: Final leg of the 1999 World Cruise
Personal Connection: Our honeymoon crossing
Our Cabin: 4142
Cunard Passenger Service: 1969–2008
Later Role: Permanently moored hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, opened in 2018
History and Features
A New Liner for a Changing Atlantic:
Cunard developed Queen Elizabeth 2 as jet aircraft transformed travel between Europe and North America. A new liner needed to succeed in a market very different from the one that had supported the earlier Cunard Queens.
An initial replacement proposal, known as Q3, gave way to the more adaptable Q4 project that became QE2.
The revised concept combined the speed and seagoing requirements of an Atlantic liner with the flexibility needed for leisure cruising.
Her dimensions allowed passage through the Panama Canal, opening routes beyond the North Atlantic and supporting a worldwide operating schedule.
This combination helped QE2 maintain an active passenger career long after most of her traditional transatlantic competitors had withdrawn.
Construction and Launch:
John Brown & Company in Scotland built the ship, continuing the yard’s association with Cunard liners that included Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth.
Her keel was laid on July 5, 1965, and she was identified during construction as Yard Number 736.
Queen Elizabeth II launched and named the ship on September 20, 1967.
Launching marked the hull’s entry into the water. Fitting out, machinery work and trials followed before the ship began carrying passengers in service.
The launch in 1967 and maiden voyage in 1969 were separate milestones. The anniversary celebrated during our crossing related to her entry into service.
Maiden Voyage and the 30th Anniversary:
QE2 departed Southampton for New York on her maiden transatlantic voyage on May 2, 1969.
That sailing established the route that remained central to her identity throughout her Cunard career.
Our April 14 departure was promoted as her 30th anniversary crossing, opening the 1999 transatlantic crossing season.
The voyage took place shortly before the exact anniversary of her maiden voyage, which fell on May 2, 1999.
Returning to the Southampton–New York route for this celebration connected the ship’s anniversary directly with the service for which she had been created.
Ocean Liner Design:
At 963 feet long, QE2 combined a long hull and distinctive bow with a superstructure shaped around both ocean travel and passenger comfort.
A bulbous bow below the waterline helped manage water flow around the hull, reducing resistance.
Her single funnel and comparatively low profile distinguished her from the larger, multiple-funnel Cunard liners that preceded her.
The original design allowed passenger arrangements to be adapted between transatlantic service and cruising.
That flexibility was fundamental to her career, allowing one ship to serve both a scheduled ocean route and a varied international cruise programme.
Interiors and Changing Styles:
QE2’s original interiors reflected contemporary British design of the 1960s, using modern materials, modular furnishings and abstract artwork.
This approach differed considerably from the wood finishes and Art Deco associations of earlier Cunard Queens.
Successive refits introduced new decorative styles and altered public rooms and passenger accommodation as expectations changed.
The substantial 1994 refurbishment further reshaped her interiors, adding another layer to a ship that had already evolved over several decades.
Photographs from our 1999 crossing therefore show a particular stage in that evolution, rather than the ship exactly as she appeared at her 1969 debut or during her final season.
Service:
QE2 served Cunard from 1969 until 2008, combining transatlantic crossings with cruises throughout much of her career.
Southampton and New York remained central to her operating identity, even as her itineraries extended around the world.
Her first World Cruise took place in 1975, establishing a pattern that became an important part of her annual schedule.
Cruises and crossings supported one another, allowing the ship to remain active across different seasons and markets.
During our April 1999 voyage, QE2 remained Cunard’s principal transatlantic liner, several years before Queen Mary 2 entered service.
Maritime Assistance and Falklands Service:
In January 1971, QE2 assisted passengers and crew from the French liner Antilles after that ship grounded and caught fire near Mustique.
Those brought aboard QE2 were transported to Barbados, adding an early maritime assistance chapter to her passenger career.
In 1982, the British government requisitioned QE2 as a troop transport during the Falklands War.
She carried around 3,000 troops to the South Atlantic, supported by a volunteer crew, after rapid alterations that included helicopter landing areas.
Following her return to Southampton in June 1982, refurbishment restored her civilian interiors and prepared the ship to resume passenger service.
The 1986–1987 Machinery Conversion:
QE2 originally operated with steam turbines, but a major conversion in 1986–1987 replaced that machinery with diesel-electric propulsion.
The work took place at Lloyd Werft in Germany and represented a substantial investment in the ship’s future.
Nine diesel engines drove generators, supplying electricity for propulsion as well as the ship’s accommodation and service systems.
Two large electric propulsion motors drove the twin propeller shafts. The arrangement retained the speed required for Atlantic service while improving operating efficiency.
By our 1999 crossing, this machinery had already been powering QE2 for more than a decade and would continue doing so through the remainder of her Cunard career.
The 1999 World Cruise:
The published 1999 itinerary began in New York in January and included the Panama Canal, Los Angeles, Hawaii and the South Pacific.
Later stages took QE2 to Australia, Asia, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean before she returned to Southampton.
Her final European calls before Southampton included Livorno, Barcelona and Lisbon.
The Southampton–New York sailing on April 14–20 formed the final leg of that World Cruise and carried our honeymoon voyage number, 1160.
This closing Atlantic passage brought together the two roles that had sustained QE2: long-distance world cruising and transatlantic liner service.
April 14–20, 1999 — Our Crossing:
April 14: We departed Southampton aboard QE2, beginning our six-night honeymoon crossing to New York.
April 15–19: Five consecutive days at sea separated the departure and arrival ports.
April 20: The westbound voyage concluded in New York, completing our crossing and the final leg of the World Cruise.
We stayed in cabin 4142, a personal detail also preserved in the paperwork and memorabilia we brought home.
The voyage joined the beginning of our married life with a milestone in the working life of a ship already approaching three decades in service.
Photographs and Honeymoon Memories:
This gallery brings together photographs from our time aboard QE2 during the April 1999 crossing.
Their personal importance comes from the honeymoon itself, while their historical interest comes from the ship and the anniversary voyage.
The photographs show QE2 during her active Cunard career, when the ship was still carrying passengers across the Atlantic.
Viewed today, the collection connects memories of our own journey with a period of ocean travel that has become part of maritime history.
The gallery remains a particularly meaningful part of Ocean Liner Photography because the ship’s story and our family history meet within the same voyage.
Paperwork and Memorabilia:
We retained original paperwork, correspondence and travel memorabilia from the crossing.
These items are presented separately in the Ocean Liner Photography gallery devoted to our 1999 transatlantic paperwork and memorabilia.
They provide additional voyage context alongside the photographs, including the sailing dates, voyage number and cabin connection.
Keeping the photographic and paper collections together within the wider archive preserves different aspects of the same honeymoon.
The photographs offer a visual connection to the ship, while the original materials retain details associated with travelling aboard her.
The Arrival of Queen Mary 2:
Queen Mary 2 entered service in 2004, introducing a new generation of purpose-built transatlantic liner to Cunard.
Her arrival came five years after the crossing shown here, placing this gallery firmly within the earlier QE2 era.
The two ships subsequently sailed together, including tandem Atlantic crossings that brought different generations of Cunard liner into the same story.
QE2 continued carrying passengers after the introduction of her successor, increasingly concentrating on cruising.
Her final Cunard season in 2008 closed a passenger career that had extended for 39 years.
Retirement and Preservation:
QE2 departed Southampton on her final Cunard voyage in November 2008, sailing to Dubai.
Her transfer to new owners ended her working Cunard career, almost a decade after our honeymoon crossing.
In April 2018, the ship opened as a permanently moored hotel in Dubai, beginning a different chapter in her history.
The surviving ship and collections such as these photographs preserve connections with her years at sea.
For us, QE2 will always be associated with April 1999: six nights across the North Atlantic, a honeymoon, and an anniversary crossing aboard a liner still doing the work for which she was built.
OLP Social: Our honeymoon crossing from Southampton to New York in April 1999 brought six nights on the North Atlantic during a special anniversary year in service.
OLP Social 2: Built by John Brown & Company in Scotland, she began her maiden voyage to New York on May 2, 1969, nearly 30 years before our honeymoon crossing.
OLP Social 3: At 963 feet long, she combined an ocean liner’s hull with the flexibility to sail around the world, keeping Atlantic crossings part of her working life.
OLP Social 4: Voyage 1160 completed the 1999 World Cruise, sailing west from Southampton on April 14 and reaching New York on April 20 after five full days at sea.
