I honestly can't respect, or accept the so-called 'liners' of today (QM2, QV, the P&O ships, not to mention nearly every other cruise ship afloat nowadays). Everything now has to be BIG, and commercial (same as everything else), but there's no comparison between the liners of old, and the ones of today.
My favourite is the QE2. As Sam said above me, the mix of modern and classic lines are just gorgeous. Her funnel (although added later) is something I view in the same way as a crown. I can't put into words why she's my pick, but you can see how her designers went for function and came out with not only that, but a lot of style as well. Just as a random thing, I view Concorde in the same light as well. The late 60's produced many great things (Steely Dan is something I'd add to this list
), but in terms of monolithic vehicles of the era, the QE2 exemplifies it for me.
In contrast the QM2 is just a hulking-big, run-of-the-mill Carnival ship with the QE2's bow, and a really poor attempt at copying the QE2's funnel. I also wouldn't like to go to see with nearly 3000 strangers, and I'd hate my room/balcony to look like something from a cheap Spanish package holiday. I don't mean to appear holier-than-thou here, I'd just expect something better from Cunard considering how expensive their cruises are. To sum up, I feel it's a shame that with all the amazing technology we have today, it has seemingly been more of a hindrance to ship-designers, rather than a gift.
As for the old liners, they're obviously all beautiful, but they all show their age nowadays. The QE2 in my opinion is timeless (same as Concorde, same as Steely Dan, etc etc). T'is just my opinion though!
