In particular the QM2 appears only to scrape under, although I believe there are some meters in hand.

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Originally posted by Jekyll:
I[...] - and regardless of the size of the ship - the illusion is always awe-inspiring!

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Howvere, I must say that sailing under some of the bridges on the Rhone River this past June...was quite a different story when we basically had to be sure we were less than a metre in height was quite something (i.e. lying on your deck chair)....even the waiters were ducking...good thing or they would have no heads

[ 12-04-2006: Message edited by: Jekyll ]

To make things more interesting, a few months later we recieved an email from the guy who tried this stunt. Here's his version of what happened.

We do get all sorts here...

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Originally posted by joe at travelpage:
Speaking of bridges and ships - back in 2002 a guy tried to rappel from the middle of span of Vancouver's Lions Gate Bridge onto the deck of the Holland America Line cruise ship Veendam. One of our readers happened to catch the episode on film. See the pictures here.

To make things more interesting, a few months later we recieved an email from the guy who tried this stunt. Here's his version of what happened.

We do get all sorts here...

Joe at TravelPage.com

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Believe that there was another jumper after him. And another HAL vessel involved.

Still passing the Lions Gate Bridge is quit impressing. Passing the bridge Zaandam blasted here horn wich left us forward to the radarmast almost with a heartattack. But fun and hoping they will do some more horn blasting.
Here the pic you could just see the tip of the Zaandam radarmast.

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Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
QVs will be a similar height as Arcadia (her near twin)...

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Originally posted by Cunard Fan:
Is that R. Warwick talking in the back ground? Whats he saying? Cool video. I wish I was there.

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No. It's John Maxtone Graham giving the commentary. He is the author of many books about passenger ships such as "The Only Way to Cross" and "Liners to the Sun". He has also written special commemorative books for NCL about the conversion of France into Norway (1980), and Cunard about the re-engining of QE2 (1985) and the building of QM2 (2004). He is a frequent passenger and lecturer on Cunard ships.

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Originally posted by Brian_O:
No. It's John Maxtone Graham giving the commentary.

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Bill Miller, author and excellent maritime lecturer, often does the same. He commentates from the bridge giving facts about the bridge, NY and points out various landmarks etc.

The ship passes under the bridge in the very early hours of the morning. It's well worth getting up for, even if you were in the bar the night before at gone midnight. The decks are full of yawning passengers who got up at 4.00am or so.

Winter crossings normally arrive in the Hudson at sun rise so it's still pretty dark as you pass under the bridge. Pam's video shows the QM2 arriving in the light because it was April, which is better for photography.

Arriving at NY buy ship is a very special experience and follows in the footsteps of the great Ocean Liners of the past and the millions of immigrants arriving at the ‘new world’.

[ 12-06-2006: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

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Originally posted by Cunard Fan:
Ok, but what was he saying?

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This is maritime historian John Maxtone Graham speaking, figuratively, from the bridge of this great Cunarder as she enters the port of New York.

An hour ago we embarked our harbour pilot from the Ambrose Light Tower, which replaced a lightship of the same name in 1967.

The bridge under which we are about to pass is called the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, named after Giovani da Verrazzano, the first explorer to sail into New York Bay in 1524. He wrote to the king of France, "After a hundred leagues we came to a most beautiful spot where an immense river flowed to the sea between two little hills."

Verrazzano's immense river was first called the North River as opposed to the South River in Chesapeake Bay but Henry Hudson later named it after himself. However, the North River Name still stubbornly survives.

The Verrazanos Bridge links two of New Yorks five boroughs, Staten Island to port and Brooklyn to starboard. Passage beneath this great aerial roadway serves as fitting entry from the Ambrose channel into the vast archipelago which we find in the Port of New York.

Those of you watching from aft may be apprehensive that either our mast or funnel will collide with the bridge but, happily, this is no more than a fascinating optical illusion. Indeed, it was the clearance between high water and this critical New York landmark that restricted the overall height of Queen Mary 2. Only ten feet separated the top of our funnel from the roadway above. That relentless buzz of rush-hour traffic overhead serves notice that our idillic shipboard tenancy has come to an end. That we are about to be engulfed within that (XXXX)-consuming ethos. Sadly

If anyone has a clearer recording I'd be curious to know what that missing word was.