SPANISH FISHERMAN HAULS IN CRUISE MEMORIES

When standing on the deck of Cunard's Queen Mary 2 in October 2008, Mr. and Mrs. Gregory from South Africa were enjoying the spectacle of sailing alongside QE2 and capturing the view on camera when disaster struck as the camera was accidentally dropped into the Atlantic. At the time, both ships were off the south coast of Ireland over the Continental Shelf and the Gregorys understandably thought their holiday photos were lost forever.

That was until Benito Estevez, a Spanish fisherman who was trawling the ocean last month, discovered the lost camera in his net! While the camera itself was damaged beyond repair, the photo memory card was amazingly intact.

The fisherman contacted both Cunard and the BBC and the BBC managed to locate the couple in South Africa. The Gregorys have since been reunited with the camera and their photographs.

“In all my years in the travel industry I have never heard of such a heart-warming stroke of luck and we at Cunard are delighted that Mr. and Mrs. Gregory have been reunited with their photos,” said Peter Shanks, president of Cunard Line. “The images are even more poignant as they depict the last transatlantic crossing of the great QE2 and can never be taken again.”

For a Prow's Edge feature article about crossing the Atlantic on the QE2, (they way it used to be) visit http://www.prowsedge.com/cruises-atlantic-cunard.html