Monday - December 01, 2008
Arrival in Dubai
The festivities began about an hour earlier than publicized, at about 2:30 pm, when we spotted the royal yacht of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, with the Sheikh aboard, waiting to lead us in to Port Rashid in Dubai. A huge A380 plane from Emirates Airline was due to make four passes over the ship, but the pilot must have been enjoying himself because he made at least a dozen passes. 
Then the British Frigate, the HMS Lancaster, that had been following us for a ways came alongside the QE2. It was quite a sight to see her crew, all dressed in their whites, lining the decks at attention. When they waved their hats and yelled "Hip Hip Hooray" three times and the ship responded with a long whistle, I don't think there was a dry eye on the ship.
As we got closer to the port, we were joined by flotillas of sailing boats from all the yacht clubs in Dubai and we could spot two of the most famous landmarks, the 7-star Burj al Arab Hotel, and what is already the tallest building in the world, even though it is not yet completed, the Burj Dubai.
Sarah and David had kindly invited us up to their cabin on the signal deck, so we had wonderful views of all the happenings. People from a cabin on the other side of the side were celebrating with us so we kept rushing back and forth from one side of the ship to the other as events took place. Sarah and David had to leave us for about 2 hours around 4 pm because they had made the highest bid in an auction held a few days earlier to be the people who turned off one of the ship's engines. We were so glad they prevailed because it was only fitting that Sarah take part in the ceremony - she comes from Clydebank, Scotland where a number of her uncles were involved in building the ship and where she was present when the ship was launched. She has sailed on the ship many times, and I couldn't think of a better person to be the one to help bring her sailing days to a fitting end.
When we were pushed in to the dock by the tugs, there was a large crowd waving the Union Jack and the United Emirates flags and a pipe band in Arabic costume. I couldn't help but wonder what Captain McNaught was thinking as he stood on the bridge while the ship was guided in. The fireworks were lovely, but not as spectacular as the ones in Southampton and I don't think anyone was feeling the same sense of excitement anyway.
Our last dinner on the ship was rather a quiet affair and seeing as we had to be up at 6 am to disembark at 7:30, we didn't bother attending evening show or the celebrations in the Yacht Club after that. I was feeling rather melancholy by then and just wanted to finish packing up and get to bed. I lay in bed that night thinking of all the crew who have lived on this ship for many, many years - we get to disembark and go home, but they are losing their home. How sad this must all be for them.