First Queen Elizabeth liner seen in archive film
I've always had a hankering to go on a transatlantic ocean journey on a luxury liner, in such a fashion as was popular during the inter-war years. Art Deco staterooms, dressing for dinner, the Captain's table, dancing to live music, deck chairs and ship-board games - who wouldn't rather that than 10 hours crammed into a winged tube 30,000ft up?
So it has been with great interest that I have been following the development of Cunard's latest ship MS Queen Elizabeth. As part of the celebrations surrounding the completion and naming of this new liner, the BBC has unearthed some old Pathé film of the original RMS Queen Elizabeth, from her naming ceremony in 1938 through to her sad demise in Hong Kong harbour in 1972.
Now we have a new Queen Elizabeth to admire and be proud of, and what a ship! I can't say I'm a huge fan of modern ship design - the squared-off, stack 'em high appearance of the decks doesn't appeal to me - but the interior is something else! There's so much Art Deco styling inside that I could never do it justice on this blog, so I will simply encourage you to visit Cunard's own blog and in the meantime leave you with the "big money shot" - the main staircase. How I wish I could be walking down it in full evening wear!
If I had a time machine, I'd go on the Normandie, the French Art Deco masterpiece. That staircase shot of the Queen Elizabeth looks wonderful. I'm put off a lot of modern liners because they seem to be too large and lacking in any sort of elegance - all you can eat buffets, non-stop drinks and karaoke. (Some friends of mine went on a Disney cruise. *Shudder*)
ReplyDeleteA man after my own heart! What a beautiful ship.
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