...and all who sail in her...

This is the view from my hotel window in Dubai. Not long since we arrived and after 28 hours with only a couple of airline hours of sleep this is all I've taken today. It's interesting to see this famous ship berthed in the Dubai Creek. Many locals believe its a white elephant and like so many well intentioned projects like this the unforeseen problems can quickly outweigh the anticipated benefits.

A local newspaper reported the fate of QE2 earlier this year...

After voyaging around the world more than 26 times, the famous QE2 looks set to finally have a permanent home.

The 300m vessel, named after Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, is to be permanently moored at Dubai's Port Rashid, becoming a floating hotel as part of a high-profile effort to turn an industrial area into a family-friendly "seaport village", along with a museum and restaurants.

The new plans, outlined yesterday by the chairman of the vessel's owner Istithmar World, bring to a close five years of rumours and reports about the QE2's likely final fate - which have ranged from a voyage to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup to being sold to the highest bidder.. July 2012.