Travel

Queens For A Day

By Jim Gullo

January 10, 2008 / 12:28 PM EST / CBS News

(AP)

Hail to the Queen! Anyone in New York this weekend who enjoys seeing majestic cruise ships has the unique opportunity to watch all three of Cunard's "Queen" ships sailing together for the first time ever, and probably the last. These are the Queen Elizabeth 2, the Queen Mary 2, and the brand-new Queen Victoria (see artistic rendering above), which just launched last month in England and is making her maiden voyage to the States, where one hopes she loosens up a little, hangs out at smoky jazz clubs and has a quiet fling with a pauper.

Oops, I get ahead of myself. The three, classy, black-and-white-hulled ships will launch from separate terminals on Sunday, Jan. 13 (the QM2 from the Brooklyn cruise terminal, and the other two ships from terminals on the Hudson), and then converge off of Battery Park. Fireworks will greet them as they pass the Statue of Liberty. Good viewing spots will be Battery Park and Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park, the Hudson River Esplanade, and, if you time it right, the Staten Island Ferry.

If you've seen the movie "Titanic" lately, you might consider stowing away on the Queen Victoria, which commences a 105-day world tour on Sunday when it leaves New York. But you didn't hear that from me. I personally would sell my children into steerage for a chance to sail on that ship, because I hear that it's remarkably, lavishly gorgeous inside. And I have a thing for tea service. Now step aside, you junkers and cargo ships, and let the Ladies pass.