Queen Victoria & Aurora
On the 14th May 2008 while on a Mediterranean cruise, the latest 'curse' to strike Queen Victoria occured.  As she was being taken into Valletta by pilot, for some reason her stern hit the dock.  The pilot blamed it on the throttle but others say it's the Curse of Camilla because of the bottle not smashing.  She ended up staying overnight, cancelling the call to Tunis.  Aboard was Micky Arison, head of Carnival Corp, whose company decided to use a Vista/Spirit as a Cunard Queen.  They said she had a reinforced hull which made her a liner as opposed to a cruise ship like her HAL, P&O and Carnival sisters.  Where was it reinforced then?  Bulbous bow?  She sailed for Gibraltar having been patched up somewhat.  Upon her earlier than expected arrival, they quickly threw the tarpaulin over and painted the damage in mismatching red.  From there she was subsequently anchored until departure while Micky Arison boarded his other toy.  Bet that's an original.  Home she headed where she arrived at 5am on the 20th.  As of two weeks previously, Aurora was also in port.  I was getting a strong sense of deja vu.  So out of curiosity we decided to take the Hythe ferry across to check out the damage and left it late so we wouldn't be hanging around too long for the sailings.  It was Hotspur IV - excellent!  She should be used more often, especially in good weather.  Course this day wasn't but as Great Expectations was off being repaired yet again it was great to sail across and back on a legend.  She's not only fabulous but also perfect for ship stalking as you have the bow to stand on and loads of deck space.
When the US Cunard site finally acknowledged the meeting in Southampton of the three Queens they wrote, "The three ships are the only passenger vessels in the world with Southampton on their sterns."  Oi!  What about Hotspur???  Proudly flashing her stern for 62 years while you, Mary and the Vista mongrel weren't even figments of Micky's imagination, mates!  Darken her hull and you have Queen Hotspur IV, a Classic Cunarder.  Well if they can claim a HAL/Carnival is then why not?
Bloody Red Funnels!  Thanks to this inconsiderate beast coming along at the wrong time, we ended up farther out than usual.  We needed to be close to the dented one!  Then things got worse.
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			(C) Copyright Patricia Dempsey 20th May 2008 Not to be reproduced without permission