Dubai will welcome the Queen Mary 2, coincinding with the opening of the Queen Elizabeth 2 hotel.

Guests travelling on QM2 will have the opportunity to join VIPs and local media at the opening of the QE2 on April 18.

Future guests will also have the chance to visit when QM2 returns to Dubai in January and April 2019 as part of her World Voyage.

QE2 was launched by Her Majesty the Queen in 1967 and was the Cunard flagship liner (a role she relinquished to Queen Mary 2 in May 2004), undertaking 25 world cruises, crossing the Atlantic more than 800 times and carrying more than 2.5 million passengers. QE2 is owned by PCFC Hotels – part of the Dubai government’s Ports, Customs and Free Zones Corporation and will reside permanently at Mina Rashid, Dubai.

“On behalf of Cunard, we are so excited for our guests sailing on Queen Mary 2 to be of the first to board the QE2 Hotel in Dubai,” said Josh Leibowitz, senior vice president, Cunard North America. “QE2 holds a very special place in Cunard’s history, and we hope that the ship will continue to be enjoyed by many guests to come.”