FighterControl

Beautiful ship, great destination, and the accompanying life on the high seas - this is Cunard's Queen Anne moored in central Rotterdam. Taken from the Erasmus Bridge spanning the River Maas.

Looks mighty impressive in the dark!

This picture will add perspective and orientation to the foregoing one showing the all lit up Queen Anne.

It shows the view from the observation deck above the ship's Bridge, as it approaches the moorings next to the Cruise Terminal in Rotterdam. Spanning the River Maas is the Erasmus Bridge, from where the preceding photograph of the ship was taken.
- The left arrow points to the moorings next to the Cruise Terminal, where the ship docked.
- The right arrow shows the location of the former offices of the Holland America (Shipping) Line, where emigres in pursuit of the 'American Dream' would be lodged before crossing the Atlantic to New York, during the late 1800's and early 1900's. The site was redeveloped and now the former offices have been transformed into the Hotel New York, Rotterdam.

It was a cold 1°C as we sailed the 70 miles from the North Sea up the River Elbe to Europe's second busiest port, Hamburg. Winter meant shortened daylight hours, the arrival in port was in darkness at just before 5am. The high observation deck on Cunard's Queen Anne has a view over the ship's bow which is ideal for forward facing photography, meaning you have ample time to see what's coming your way.
Braving the cold and fresh breeze from the east (we were sailing east right into it) was myself and three others. The purpose and reward was the view right into the basin at the Blohm and Voss shipyard, Hamburg, where the battleship Bismarck was built and launched in 1940 - the view at night and the height provided by the high deck of a large ship is a bonus!
I have marked the edges of the basin with arrows for easier orientation. Blohm and Voss still build boats and ships for the German Navy, and others. Two Deutsche Marine corvettes were moored outside the basin awaiting completion and sea trials.
The harbour tug in the foreground has a line attached to Queen Anne to aid manoeuvring in the wind, and assist in moving the ship to the Cruise Terminal - we slowly edged the 300 yards to the moorings stern first, after a 90° swing to port.

Birthplace of the Bismarck - Blohm & Voss shipyard Hamburg

The following picture is taken from the moorings at the Cruise Terminal looking north. A new port / pier facility is being prepared in the foreground, and the sprawling B+V shipyard is in the middle background. Centre left are two German Navy corvettes awaiting completion, F267 Karlsruhe and F266 Emden. Taken at 07:58 just before sunrise.

Blohm+Voss Hamburg - birthplace of the Bismarck battleship

We were on the Queen Mary 2 which had a delayed sail down the Elbe (rumour had it that a unexploded WWII bomb had been found near the terminal), we sailed down during daylight passing the Airbus airfield. Due to our delayed arrival our trip to the Miniatur Wunderland , the world's largest model railway was cancelled.

Which terminal were you supposed to dock at, and where did you end up?

As far I can remember it was the Hamburg Cruise Terminal, just enough time for a coach into the city and a walk around.

Very impressive, my head is now wondering how long it actually is