QE2 Old Deck Plans and Cabin Selection

[dougnewmanatsea]

I am far too young to remember those days back into the 50s etc the age of the classic liners.

LOL... Well that makes two of us then :) .

 

Speaking of which, Bill Miller will be doing several QM2 Connexions during this winter.

Bill is on QM2 a lot. As I recall, he did something like 13 voyages (cruises and crossings) on her in 2004.

 

When I visited QM2 in July, he was doing a crossing with John Maxtone-Graham. It was going to be the first time that they were both lecturing on one crossing.

 

Must have been a real treat for pax on that crossing to have two of the most distinguished maritime historians of our time lecturing.

 

Now why would HAL build a mostly only tourist class ship?

Easy. After WWII they anticipated (correctly) a huge tourist trade between the US and Europe, and they wanted to capitalize on this market.

 

HAL really did not want to have any first class at all in these ships, and made it as small as they possibly could. One small lounge, one small dining room, and a few cabins... And that was it. Probably 95% of the ships' passenger areas were given over to tourist-class.

 

A similar formula was used on STATENDAM of 1957 which was even more revolutionary. Virtually all of her cabins - these were tourist-class, mind you - had private facilities and two lower beds, absolutely unheard of in tourist-class until that time. A special standardized cabin design was devised ahead of time with particular attention paid to things like storage space and lighting. And like the older MAASDAM and RYNDAM, passengers had access to virtually the whole ship.

 

Truth is, Cunard spent virtually the entire post-war period stuck in another era. Compare the design of STATENDAM with that of one of the SAXONIA-class ships and it will become apparent just how far behind Cunard's designs were.

[planetcadillac]

Bill is on QM2 a lot. As I recall, he did something like 13 voyages (cruises and crossings) on her in 2004.

 

He autographed a book that he wrote about the Andrea Doria which was a historical reference on Italian ocean liners during the 20th century. It would be nice to have been on that Christmas cruise this December. We considered it but this Norwegian deal out of Charleston with suites worked out great and was reasonably priced. So we'll see about spring `06. Our big decision is deciding between doing the QE2 again or the QM2 for the first time.

 

Easy. After WWII they anticipated (correctly) a huge tourist trade between the US and Europe, and they wanted to capitalize on this market.

 

HAL really did not want to have any first class at all in these ships, and made it as small as they possibly could. One small lounge, one small dining room, and a few cabins... And that was it. Probably 95% of the ships' passenger areas were given over to tourist-class.

 

Well I figured that much, I just wondered why first class was even built then just make a one class ship and charge different prices like they do now. Back when people travelled by ship for transportation purposes - having multiple classes was easy to understand the rich wanted amenities, middle class tourists wanted decent but affordable travel, and at least in the early part of the 20th century there was the immigrant trade.

 

With the advent of the transatlantic airplane - all of the people who travelled by boat only for transportation purposes, and those who wanted to take advantage of the time advantage in flying left the scene. That left you with just people who had the time to sail, didn't like to fly, and (this was a phenomenon until the 1970s sometime) couldn't afford to fly. Even domestic service in the US was expensive in the early days of flying. I haven't see a lot of firm data but from what I have seen transatlantic ticket prices on airplanes were priced higher than the cheapest accomodations on ships. Of course in the beginning too until the advent of the really modern jets, the Boeing 707, etc. even transatlantic airplane travel was rough. Nowadays flying is cheap (perhaps that is why all the airlines are bankrupt) in 1999 I flew from Charlotte, NC to London England ~$500 USD.

Truth is, Cunard spent virtually the entire post-war period stuck in another era. Compare the design of STATENDAM with that of one of the SAXONIA-class ships and it will become apparent just how far behind Cunard's designs were.

 

I am not surprised. Even today with the ultra-modern QM2 Cunard is still considered old-fashioned but its not entirely deragatory.