It's usually only a certain kind of "lady" who hangs around the docks.

But a titled trio of royal bluebloods will be getting together at New York's cruise terminals Jan. 13 looking for some action.

And action they will get.

Thousands of observers are expected to witness the occasion -- a rendezvous among the black-and-red-liveried ocean liners, Queen Elizabeth 2, Queen Mary 2, and their new sister ship, Queen Victoria.

The maritime monarchs will meet for the first time that morning when Victoria, accompanied by Elizabeth, completes her maiden transatlantic voyage from Southampton, England, and connects with Mary, fresh in from a Caribbean cruise.

They'll barely have a chance to get to know each other, though, before they sail out again that evening -- QE2 on a 90-day exploration of South America, the Pacific and the Far East, QM2 on a 10-day Caribbean cruise and QV, as she is familiarly known, on the next leg of a 106-day world voyage.

If it's anything like April 25, 2004, when the two second generation queens inched away from their piers to sail to England in tandem, it will be quite the sight. Champagne corks popped, music spilled into the Hudson River, helicopters whirred above, whistles and sirens sounded and fireworks illuminated the night sky as the grandes dames cast their moorings and headed out to sea.

At the moment, the 90,000-ton Victoria -- twice as large as Titanic and slightly more than half the size of QM2 -- is receiving finishing touches at the Fincantieri Cantieri Navali shipyard near Venice. On Nov. 30, she'll sail to Southampton for a Dec. 7 arrival and Dec. 10 naming ceremony, three years to the month since the project was announced by Cunard.

None other than Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall (the woman famously referred to by Princess Diana as The Rottweiler), will deliver the traditional champagne bottle blow to the bow and utter the customary "May God bless her and all who sail in her."

An estimated 7,000 guests will tour her decks and public rooms in the days before Victoria sets sail on her maiden voyage to the Christmas market cities of northern Europe. Bookings for the trip to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Oslo, Hamburg and Bruges sold out within 24 hours of being put on offer in February 2006.

Then she'll cruise the Canary Islands for Christmas and New Year's before heading to America Jan. 6.

Unlike the enormous QM2, there is no planetarium or kennel aboard QV. But she does have Cunardia, a unique and permanent museum of Cunard memorabilia, artifacts and vintage souvenirs.

The collection includes the original Queen Mary's first log book, handwritten by Sir Edgar Britten, who captained her maiden voyage in the spring of 1936.

There's a section of deck rail carved with the initials of GIs who sailed on the Queen Mary in her troop ship days, and a zigzag clock from her bridge. It alerted the ship's navigators when to change course during zigzagging operations designed to deke out German U-boats during the Second World War.

There's also a copy of the Hales Trophy, awarded to the winner of the Atlantic Blue Riband. Although Queen Mary broke the speed record in 1936 and held it unchallenged from 1938 to 1952, Cunard Line refused to accept the award on the grounds that the line still adhered to founder Samuel Cunard's order to his captains in 1840 that safety must always come before speed.

One of the more curious artifacts is the cork from a bottle of Italian prosecco that was smashed across Victoria's bow last January during her "float-out," when she made her first contact with open water. The honours were done by Maureen Ryan, who joined Cunard in 1960 as a Lady Assistant Purser or "Lady Apes," as the male pursers called their female counterparts. As the only employee to have served on four Cunard queens, mostly in the position of hostess, the now-retired Ryan was also named the shipyard "madrina" or godmother of Queen Victoria.

Jackie Chase of Cunard explains that Italian shipbuilders have a long tradition of naming their own godmother when a ship is floated out, but that Camilla will actually christen the ship and be her official godmother.

The honorary curator of Cunardia, which focuses on the lineage of Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and QE2, is Commodore Ronald Warwick, a gentleman who, in person, is everything one would expect of a distinguished British sea captain -- snowy-haired, bushy-bearded, ruddy-cheeked and glittering with gold bars.

Warwick hosted a luncheon aboard QM2 in Quebec City three years ago and proved a most dignified, gracious and amusing host. He is now retired, having served as master of QE2 for 14 years and most recently, QM2 from her maiden voyage in 2004 until his final watch in July 2006.

"I am delighted to accept the invitation to become Cunardia's first honorary curator, particularly as the exhibit focuses on Cunard's Queens," Warwick said in a press release. "I look forward to sharing the illustrious history of these renowned ocean liners with Cunard enthusiasts sailing aboard Queen Victoria."

An avid Cunard historian, Warwick traced the history of all Cunard captains and discovered that he and his late father, William, were the only father-and-son captains in the 168-year history of Cunard. The elder Warwick joined the company in 1937 and remained until his retirement in 1975, service that was unbroken except for six wartime years on coastal and convoy duty with the Royal Naval Reserve.

He served as captain on the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, was first master of the QE2 and was named commodore of the Cunard fleet in 1970. Warwick fils joined Cunard that year and took command of the bridge of QE2 in 1990 until his appointment as captain of the QM2. He became commodore of the fleet in 2003.

Paul Wright, a 26-year Cunard veteran who has also commanded QE2 and QM2, will be the main man on Victoria.

Upon his appointment, Wright said his two most memorable moments at sea were when he brought QE2 into New York for the first time after 9/11 and when he steered QM2 into Hamburg on her maiden call, where 500,000 people were waiting to greet her.

"I fully expect that bringing Queen Victoria into Southampton for the first time will give me a third most memorable event and I have no doubt it will be equally memorable for those who turn out to greet us," he predicts. "Nothing stirs the imagination quite as much as a new Cunarder arriving in port for the first time. She will be a magnificent vessel built in true Cunard style".

And how.

mnolan@thespec.com

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