Queen Mary comes to the Olympics

[Jason]

Mary comes to the Olympics

Business Times Singapore, Singapore

Published August 13, 2004

(ATHENS) The world's largest luxury liner, the Queen Mary 2, arrived

at Athens' main port of Piraeus on early Wednesday, one of eight

cruise ships that will be home to thousands of dignitaries, world

leaders and officials during the Athens Olympic Games.

The ship, which can accommodate more than 2,600 people, arrived full

of passengers at the end of a 10-day Mediterranean cruise.

Nearly four football fields long at 343 metres and 21 stories tall,

the massive, black-hulled US$800 million QM2 features Art Deco

stylings reminiscent of 1930s ocean liners.

Already docked at the port, about 10 km south of central Athens, are

the liners Ocean Countess, World Renaissance and Silver Whisper. Four

others are expected to dock at the port over the next two days to

offset the shortage of luxury hotels in the city.

Former US president George Bush, his wife Barbara and granddaughters

Barbara and Jenna, along with a team of FBI agents, will stay on a

private luxury vessel owned by Greek tycoon Spyros Latsis.

His yacht Dumara, which is on its maiden voyage, is expected to dock

at the port tomorrow.

Greek newspapers claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin will stay

on another large Latsis yacht, the 122-meter Alexander which in past

summers often hosted former president Bush. The cruise ships will dock

in a special Olympic zone that will have a protective shield around

it, including thousands of elite commandos and soldiers, barbed-wire

fences fitted with motion sensors, surveillance cameras, X-ray

machines and detectors for radiological, chemical and biological

materials.

Underwater sensors can even detect the noise of a swimmer under water.

Gunboats and helicopters will patrol from the sky. - AP

[TheSkipper]

Now that would be the way to attend the Olympics!! We attended the Olympics in Mexico City, Munich and Montreal and had tickets for Moscow before President Carter pulled the US team. Have not gotten back into the "groove" of attending since then. Even missed LA and that was only a 4 hour drive away!

We were not wild about Athens when our cruise stopped there. The most congested city I have ever seen anywhere. The day we were there was cold and rainy and simply miserable. We were on a shore excursion from the Silver Wind and about three hours into it we all voted to return to the ship and bag the rest of the excrusion!

[TheSkipper]

Now that would be the way to attend the Olympics!! We attended the Olympics in Mexico City, Munich and Montreal and had tickets for Moscow before President Carter pulled the US team. Have not gotten back into the "groove" of attending since then. Even missed LA and that was only a 4 hour drive away!

We were not wild about Athens when our cruise stopped there. The most congested city I have ever seen anywhere. The day we were there was cold and rainy and simply miserable. We were on a shore excursion from the Silver Wind and about three hours into it we all voted to return to the ship and bag the rest of the excrusion!