"Saga Pearl II", "Arcadia", "Queen Elizabeth" & "Queen Mary 2" depart from Southampton - 10/01/2014

Friday 10th January 2014 was a big day in Southampton Docks with five ships in port. There were originally meant to be three but bad weather meant that the other two had been delayed from their original day of Tuesday 7th. The first ship to set sail that day had been Saga Holidays' "Saga Ruby" (see separate video) for the very last time from the 'City' Terminal at 15:20 heading for Gibraltar on her way to her new owners out in the Far East. The second ship to depart was the other Saga ship - "Saga Pearl II", also from the 'City' Terminal at 17:20. She was heading on her cruise to Cape Town with the first Port of Call being Dakar. She was followed at 18:07 by P&O Cruises' "Arcadia" from the 'Mayflower' Terminal with a fireworks display after she'd past the dockhead. She was heading off on her 2014 World Cruise with the first Port of Call being Ponta Delgada. Two hours later, it was time for the Cunard celebrations to get underway as the "Queen Mary 2" was celebrating it's 10th Birthday. Following a fireworks display at 20:05, she was due to depart from the 'Ocean' Terminal on her 2014 World Cruise at 20:15 with her fleetmate "Queen Elizabeth" due to depart from the 'QEII' Terminal on her World Cruise at 20:50. However, due to unknown reasons, "Queen Elizabeth" was the first to set sail at 20:35 in the pouring rain heading for New York via The Needles rather than the usual route via the Nab Tower. Finally, "Queen Mary 2" set off at 21:24 backing out from the 'Ocean' Terminal before sailing off for Madeira. "Queen Elizabeth" & "Queen Mary 2" will both return on Friday 9th May where they will be joined by "Queen Victoria" for another Grand Celebration. Viewed from Town Quay & Hythe Marina.