QE2 taking bookings for final sailings

Want to sail on the last voyages of the world’s most famous ocean liner?

Get in line.

Phones were “ringing off the hook” this week for bookings on the final four sailings of Queen Elizabeth 2, the 40-year-old liner slated to open in 2009 as a floating hotel and museum in Dubai, said Brian O’Connor, spokesman for Cunard Line.

The iconic ship’s last voyage, a 16-night trip from Southampton, England, to Dubai that starts Nov. 11, 2008, sold out just 35 minutes after bookings opened Wednesday, he said.

That trip has been wait-listed, along with the QE2’s last crossing from New York to Southampton, which starts Oct. 16, 2008. The liner still had “limited availability” for a 10-night British Isles cruise that starts Sept. 30, 2008, and for its last crossing from Southampton to New York, which starts Oct. 10, 2008, O’Connor said.

On its last two transatlantic crossings, the QE2 will be accompanied by Cunard’s 3-year-old flagship, Queen Mary 2.

Fares on the four final QE2 voyages range from $1,065 to $11,995, depending on trip length and cabin class; some classes may be sold out.

Cunard reshuffled itineraries this month after selling the QE2 for $100 million to a state-owned private equity firm in Dubai, which plans to anchor the ship off Palm Jumeirah, an artificial island off the Mideast emirate, and open it as a tourist attraction.

Customers who had reservations on voyages to the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean (which were canceled for the new itineraries) were given the option to rebook or receive refunds, O’Connor said.

For information and bookings: Contact a travel agent or Cunard at (800) 728-6273 or www.cunard.com.