At 5.30 am on Boxing Day, Glasgow Airport was almost deserted; one almost expected to see some tumbleweed blowing across the expanses of pink granite tiled flooring. A few passengers hovered around the British Airways check in for the 6.10 flight to London Heathrow - a service usually packed to bursting with businessmen on just about any other day of the year. Thus, on this date, checking in was unusually civilised and the flight itself enjoyable (or as pleasant as anything at so uncivilised an hour could be). Even so, I had butterflies in my stomach and I was feeling somewhat fragile after my unfeasibly early alarm call (4 am) and journey by car to catch the plane. Moreover, a part of my brain had niggling doubts and it kept telling me that I was mad to be attempting this on a day when England is uniformly closed down and on holiday. The chances of my actually being in Southampton by ten to catch the Ocean Scene (one of the harbour tour boats, for which I had booked a ticket more than half a year in advance) seemed remote. For starters, my flight would need to be punctual and, mercifully, it was. Secondly, my good chum David Trevor Jones would have to (a) be at Heathrow on time and (b) find me there. Now, while David is utterly reliable, it is said that poor lost souls have wandered the concourses of London Heathrow for months and even years waiting to be found by someone as this is the world's most haphazard, charmless and confusing airport. On top of these anxieties, the weather forecast appeared to be less than promising with a deep low pressure system scheduled to cross southern England that day, bringing driving rain and strong winds with it - far from ideal for photography.

Upon arrival at Heathrow, however, David was there on the dot, a mobile phone call pinpointing his exact location between Costa Coffee and WHSmith, and, shortly, we were driving through the early morning gloom and drizzle towards Southampton on an near-empty motorway. Once there, a much-needed restorative cup of tea was enjoyed in the Isle of Wight ferry terminal (pretty much the only place open at that hour on Boxing Day), before we headed for Ocean Village, where a considerable crowd was assembling, ready to board one of Blue Funnel's fleet of harbour excursion ships. It is moments like this that bring out the best in the English; it may have been the morning after the night before, cold, dull grey and with squalls of heavy rain, but cheerful souls abounded, wrapped from head to toe in waterproofs, and handing out Union flags to wave. One by one, the various boats were loaded - the Wight Scene, the Solent Cat, the Ocean Scene (ours) and, for the hardiest, the tiny little Jenny R. One after the other, they headed out, past the recently abandoned Vosper Thornycroft shipyard, past a Japanese car carrier and into a murky and choppy Solent.

Blue Funnel's friendly excursion boats and delightful staff are, to me, one of the joys which make travelling more than half the length of Britain to see new ships arrive and depart a real pleasure. Together, we've witnessed Oriana's maiden arrival, Canberra's poignant last call, Disney Wonder's maiden departure, Aurora's aborted maiden voyage, Explorer of the Seas, Adonia, Oceana and many more - all to a hilarious dead-pan commentary from the captain, delivered in a broad 'Ampshrrr (Hampshire) accent. 'Look a' tha' dir'y grea' clewd owr there! - I'll sell ya an umbreller for a tenner!' Certainly, I was glad of my many layers of clothes and my all-covering waterproofs as it was raining quite heavily. Then, as we motored downriver, there was a brighter patch, followed by another misty squall in the middle distance. The captain informed us that the Queen Mary 2 was actually quite close at hand and - suddenly - she materialised out of the drizzle and into relative brightness, sailing almost directly towards us. What a majestic spectacle! Seen from bow-quarters, the Queen Mary 2 resembles those famous pre-war posters of liners vertically elongated to emphasise their height and grandeur, only this ship has made such romantic imagery real and in corporeal substance. The Ocean Scene paused off her port bow quarter as more and more hull and superstructure emerged from the mist and rain. Our fellow passengers simply stood and stared in silence for Queen Mary 2 is a mountain of a ship and far better looking in the flesh than on tiny photographs snatched from Internet websites. Be in no doubt - what is most important about her is her enormous size. But, notwithstanding, she is relatively well proportioned, so much so that, at a glance, it is quite difficult to ascertain how much larger than QE2 she actually is. Way below the forepeak, the fire fighting tug Lyndhurst sent plumes of water into the air and another tug, aft, gave a similar display of welcome.

As what seemed like acres of freshly painted charcoal grey steelwork eased past, the Ocean Scene gathered speed and we motored alongside on her bow quarter - the ideal position for photography. That bow is a thing of wonderment; the like of it has only previously appeared in maritime posters. Its lines are not remotely like those of a modern cruise ship. Rather than being convex (as per Royal Caribbean 'Voyager' class ships), it is concave and it soars majestically from the water to a towering forepeak, while a vast torpedo-like bulb breaks through the surface just above the entry point. No doubt about it, the Queen Mary 2 is a serious ship, built to encounter serious weather, and the hull plating appears to be very thick (no signs to direct tugs only to push in particular places). Also, all the hatch openings have additional corner re-enforcements for extra strength. Above all, one is immediately aware of the superb level of craftsmanship involved in the construction - Chantiers De L'Atlantique appear to have done a superb job of translating Stephen Payne's vision into reality.

Soaring above the bow is a mighty superstructure which, when viewed side-on, looks to be rather a slab but which, viewed from the bow, recedes subtly in layers, building up towards the bridge and funnel. While the hull combines romanticism with very obvious functionality, the superstructure is a series of post-modern quotations from liners past and present and so it perhaps does not cohere as well as it might have had a latter-day James Gardiner (the famous British industrial designer who styled QE2) been given a free-hand to use imagination unhindered by mere quotations from history. That said, Queen Mary 2 is both in name and raison d'etre a post-modern ship. The critic Charles Jencks has observed that if architecture and design are to resonate with large sections of society (and, if QM2 is to fill her cabins cruise after cruise, she must), then it is necessary to quote from a wide vocabulary of sources with which the general public will empathise. So it comes about that the front of the superstructure has a representation of Queen Mary's elegant double curvature, which works well, while the funnel is a squashed and tepid evocation of QE2's, which doesn't work at all. Otherwise, the superstructure appears to consist of row upon row of cabin balconies - de rigeur in today's cruise business. These are relatively well-handled, however, and horizontal lines are strongly emphasised, making for a neat and orderly composition, unlike Celebrity's ghastly-looking recent ships and Carnival's equally ugly Spirit class. In addition, the topmost three decks of the hull also have balconies, but fully-enclosed with window-like openings. The public rooms appear to be on the hull's lower decks and, as with the Michelangelo, there are few portholes.

All the while, the passengers on the Ocean Scene and, no doubt, on the other excursion boats as well, were simply standing in silence, trying to take in the enormity and the expanses of shiny newness of the Queen Mary 2. In addition, a large flotilla of pleasure boats was following the ship as she promenaded slowly past Mayflower Park, which appeared to be filled with cheering crowds. In the background, the preserved steamer Shieldhall blew her whistle and the Queen Mary 2 responded with great jets of steam coming from her whistle - an inheritance from the old Queen Mary. This, then, was the first time in nearly forty years that that particular sound had been heard in Southampton and it certainly was impressive (as well as being yet another, more subtle, Jencksian quotation from the past).

Having motored along off the Queen Mary 2's bow quarter for the best part of an hour, we held back, allowing the ship to move ahead of us to turn at the top end of the docks and giving us a view of the stern for the first time. Once again, the hull is worthy of positive comment, it being both unusual for a modern passenger ship, yet obviously functional - the stern is rounded to give additional strength and to dissipate vibrations, whilst there is a transom at the waterline (somewhat akin to Oceanic). Overall, however, the stern view is Queen Mary 2's least attractive aspect and this is where the co-ordinating skills of a professional industrial designer are most missed. From the side, the windscreens of the after superstructure are arranged in such a way as to suggest a series of tiered sun decks, much as on QE2, but when viewed aft-on, one sees a flat wall of large aft-facing cabin windows with steel buttressing for extra rigidity. This is a particularly infelicitous detail and it looks as though the money expended upon beautifying the front of the superstructure had run out by the time thought was given to the rear. Furthermore, the scoop at the bottom of the funnel (which looks passable from bow-quarters) almost buries it and the large white box, containing the gas turbines, neither relates to the funnel nor the superstructure in terms of form and proportion. Again, the skills of an industrial designer might have helped to tease out the detailing of these aspects of the ship.

To criticise Queen Mary 2, however, is churlish as she is a magnificent achievement both in terms of design and commerce. Furthermore, an unquantifiable amount of skill, craftsmanship, love and pride has gone into her making - truly an international achievement. In today's uncertain world, that certainly counts for a lot. Who would have thought back in 2000 when this project was first mooted and so many cynical voices were raised that, not four years later, one would be gazing up at over 150,000 tonnes of brand new ocean liner, flying the British flag and painted so handsomely in traditional Cunard hues? That she is as good as she is is a stinging rebuke to the cynics!

At the top end of the docks, she began to turn with only two tugs in attendance, just in case. In reality, however, she could have made this manoeuvre without the need for any tugs whatsoever as her podded propulsion system allowed her to ease round within her own length with all the agility of a cross-channel ferry. This procedure gave a good opportunity to study her flanks side-on from a greater distance and I do find that her silhouette is beginning to grow on me. She's no 'beauty' in the accepted sense of the 'ocean greyhound' à la Aquitania, Normandie and Queen Mary - that would have been completely impractical nowadays. She is emphatically beautiful, though, in that she appears to be very fit for her purpose (as were the Vulcania, Saturnia, Georgic, Britannic, Oriana, Michelangelo and countless other modern liners the appearances of which initially were controversial). The Queen Mary 2 looks like a thoroughly modern Cunarder and, as most of these nodded respectfully to tradition, the design approach certainly is precedented.

Now facing downriver, the Queen Mary 2 began her second promenade to show the flag to the assembled multitudes and - unbelievable and quite contrary to the forecasted weather - the clouds parted and a hint of cool winter sunshine glinted across the superstructure and the water jets from the escorting tugs. It was the perfect moment as those of us on the Ocean Scene were ideally located to get good photographs, some way off the starboard bow quarter. Off the Queen Elizabeth 2 terminal, the ship executed another turn and sidled up to her berth as, once again, the weather closed in and it began to rain heavier than before. Usually, one can still see the cranes whenever a ship berths at this quay, but Queen Mary 2's superstructure obscured everything behind. Indeed, it was only when sailing back to Ocean Village on the Ocean Scene that one could appreciate Queen Mary 2 in relation to familiar landmarks. Whereas QE2's topmost decks, funnel and mast usually protrude above the terminal and the same is true of Norway, Queen Mary 2's entire superstructure soars aloft. As she does not have very many more decks than these illustrious predecessors to account for such a difference in height, it must be that each of her decks is loftier than any liner before her.

After a lengthy and late lunch in a Southampton hostelry, during which the morning's events were discussed at length with other Ocean Liner Society and WSS stalwarts, David and I drove to the Town Quay for another look at Queen Mary 2 at her berth. By now, it was dark and there was horizontal wind and rain. In the foreground, the Queen Mary 2 was floodlit from stem to stern, her funnel ablaze with lights, which shone through the rain and mist. She looked spectacular and I tried to take some more photographs (not easy in such weather conditions). Then, it was back to Heathrow Airport and another flight home to Glasgow. This one had even fewer passenger than in the morning - a handful at most - and so we all were asked to sit in the business class seats and were plied with food and drink (mine's a double G&T). 'Are you returning from Christmas?' asked one of the stewardesses. 'Actually, this was just a crazy day trip to Southampton to see Queen Mary 2 arrive', I replied. 'Oh that must have been so wonderful - and you'd have been one of the few Scots there. You know, I once stayed in the Queen Mary in California and it was amazing. I couldn't get over the bathroom with the four taps on the bath. And the dining room was huge and what craftsmanship to!. I'd love to sail on the new Queen Mary. I caught a glimpse of her on the news in the canteen at Heathrow this afternoon.' And so, if much of the population feels the same way is this BA stewardess, then Queen Mary 2 is bound to be a great success. Already, her future is being marked out with great events to come - the naming ceremony and the maiden voyage in January, a transatlantic close-encounter with QE2 at speed, the Athens Olympics and so on. In present circumstances, I could not afford to sail on her, but I am delighted to have seen her making her debut in Southampton and, maybe, one day...