Last Saturday, August 13 2011, the Queen Mary 2 visited Hamburg for the 20th time. This was also her last visit to the port this year.

To mark this occasion, Cunard Line organized a Flag Parade. All along the Elbe River thousands of people waved goodbye to the Queen Mary 2 with fluttering flags that were provided free of charge.

On the “Landungsbrücken”, the central part of the river, alone the crowds were huge, so the ship made a half-hour stop.

The ship’s next visit to the Hanseatic port has already been scheduled. Exactly nine months from now the Queen Mary 2 will return, just in time to celebrate the Port of Hamburg’s 823rd birthday on May 13 2012.

In all the ship has six visits scheduled for the coming year, and its sister ships, the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, will call the Port of Hamburg.

A special highlight next year will be the arrival of the Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth on one day, July 15 2012, for which tens of thousands of visitors from all over Germany are expected.