Queen Mary 2

Cunard ships have a special status on the Clyde: some of the greatest ever liners were born on this river.

When Queen Mary 2 came for a visit, thousands came to see her off.

We were treated to a fireworks display as she slipped from the quay with a couple of loud blasts of her foghorn.

While in theory this sounded spectacular, it proved to be a nightmare for taking photographs with the ship being blurred in the long exposures I used to capture the fireworks.

The results are not my best photographs, but here are sharpest ones taken from the shoreline at the Esplanade.

Queen Mary 2 berthed at Greenock

Fireworks display

Fireworks display

Queen Victoria

One of the highlights in Greenock's cruise ship calendar has to be a visit from Cunard.

Today Queen Victoria came to the Clydefor her first visit in three years.

Keeping up Cunard's tradition, she arrived over an hour earlier that scheduled, arriving slightly before 7am. She is due to depart at 5pm this evening.

Queen Mary 2

Talk about starting with a bang. The first of this year's cruise liners only happened to be the Queen Mary 2, the biggest and best of them all.

As was befitting such a visitor, the sun was shining for her arrival and departure.

QM2 arriving in Greenock

QM2 with Kilcreggan in the background

Blue skies welcome the QM2 on her arrival

Cunard liner, QM2 sails gracefully towards the terminal

The familiar Cunard colours of the QM2

QM2 canting before backing towards her berth

Crowds gather on the Esplanade to wave goodbye to the QM2

QM2 towering over the estuary control building

Local tug Anglegarth watches as QM2 sails past

Anglegarth gives QM2 a two cannon water salute as she departs

Haste ye back, queen of the seas

Queen Elizabeth

Not many things bring the crowds to the Esplanade like a Cunarder and today was no exception. As an added bonus, we had a rare glimpse of the sun too.

QE gave three blasts of her horn as she left the quay before heading off to Liverpool, her next port of call.

Queen Mary 2

Today was definitely the highlight of this year's cruise liner visits to Greenock with the arrival of Queen Mary 2 on the Clyde.

A large crowd gathered on the Esplanade to see a spectacular fireworks display before QM2 sailed off.

Queen Elizabeth

Cunard's newest liner, Queen Elizabeth, was welcomed to Greenock by one of our local tugs, Anglegarth, providing a spectacular twin water canon display. Not that we needed any more water than what mother nature was dropping on our heads.

A few brave souls came out to see her arrival and I would expect, weather permitting, that there will be a sizeable crowd around to watch her depart this evening.