Home again, 1948

[NutmegCT]

RMS Queen Elizabeth returns to England and readies for the next voyage, 1948.

(That's Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.)

This, ladies and gentlemen, was a great liner. For some reason I'm not really taken with today's massive floating hotels.

Curmudgeon Tom

 

[59diamond]

I spent the night on the Queen Mary docked in long Beach. I was attending a Seminar. It was like staying in a hotel that had been laid on it's side. I remember it was a long walk from the front desk to my room which was on the same floor (deck). I shared a room with a friend and he almost knocked himself out banging into this pole that was in the middle of our room. Enjoyed it.

 

[coldplugs]

I spent the night on the Queen Mary docked in long Beach. I was attending a Seminar. It was like staying in a hotel that had been laid on it's side. I remember it was a long walk from the front desk to my room which was on the same floor (deck). I shared a room with a friend and he almost knocked himself out banging into this pole that was in the middle of our room. Enjoyed it.

I did the same, back in the late 1980's. Loved every minute of it.

Although I was a bit stunned when I opened a small closet in my room and there was a door at the back (of the closet). I couldn't resist trying it. I opened it and was surprised to see a woman at a dressing table putting on makeup! (In the next "room" obviously). I quietly apologized and closed it, wondering how long it'd be before the cops arrived. Nothing happened fortunately & I've always wondered what she thought.

 

[Keith_M]

I've never even been tempted to take a modern-day "cruise". The QE, however, had a purpose: to get across the Atlantic. It was really a completely different thing.

Amazing that they painted the entire ship after every round trip!

 

[NutmegCT]

Keith - I lived in London for two years in the late '80s. Traveled there in the Queen Elizabeth 2 - to me, the last of the great liners.

Tho' probably the Normandie was *the* great liner, if I had to name just one.

So many more ...

 

[weewillie]

thought this was a great ship, saw her in Harland and Wolff's when I started my apprenticeship there.
https://cruiselinehistory.com/the-g...canberra-the-last-gasp-of-the-british-empire/

 

[MikeP]

Imagine being crammed in with 15,000 of your best buddies when both Queens were serving as troopships during the war.

 

[SaxMan]

We took a cruise for our honeymoon 17 years ago aboard the Carnival Tropicale. When it came into service in the early 80s, it was the biggest liner afloat at 36,000 tons, but by the time we went on it, it was the smallest Carnival ship. The crew kept up with the ship and it was nicer than some of the newer ships we've been on. These days, the average liner is well in excess of 100,000 tons. We went on a Disney Cruise, and their ships were absolutely magnificent and immaculate. The Disney ships made the Carnival ships look like floating trailer parks. We've also been on a Royal Caribbean ship out of Baltimore. Nicer than the Carnival ships, but not as nice as the Disney ones. The RC ship was roughly the same size as the Disney -- somewhere around 80 to 90,000 tons.

It's funny watching re-runs of The Love Boat, as the original Pacific Princess was a mere 17,000 tons. A baby. It was recently scrapped, too. I do agree that the whole "floating hotel" concept kind of kills the whole point of being on a boat in the first place. I'd much rather be on a smaller boat.

 

[NutmegCT]

Well, I have to 'fess up ... I did take a smaller boat once. From Port Clyde, Maine, to Monhegan Island. A zillion years ago. Not quite the size - or amenities - of the QE2.

Had to sit on milk bottle crates with about ten other passengers, while Captain Jim Barstow took us over the briney.

The "Laura B" has quite a history, including service in the Pacific during WW2.

 

[Basil]

Well, I have to 'fess up ... I did take a smaller boat once. From Port Clyde, Maine, to Monhegan Island. A zillion years ago. Not quite the size - or amenities - of the QE2.

Had to sit on milk bottle crates with about ten other passengers, while Captain Jim Barstow took us over the briney.

The "Laura B" has quite a history, including service in the Pacific during WW2.

I can picture you chugging down an African river with Katharine Hepburn sun bathing on the poop deck.

 

[JPSmit]

We took a cruise for our honeymoon 17 years ago aboard the Carnival Tropicale. When it came into service in the early 80s, it was the biggest liner afloat at 36,000 tons, but by the time we went on it, it was the smallest Carnival ship. The crew kept up with the ship and it was nicer than some of the newer ships we've been on. These days, the average liner is well in excess of 100,000 tons. We went on a Disney Cruise, and their ships were absolutely magnificent and immaculate. The Disney ships made the Carnival ships look like floating trailer parks. We've also been on a Royal Caribbean ship out of Baltimore. Nicer than the Carnival ships, but not as nice as the Disney ones. The RC ship was roughly the same size as the Disney -- somewhere around 80 to 90,000 tons.

It's funny watching re-runs of The Love Boat, as the original Pacific Princess was a mere 17,000 tons. A baby. It was recently scrapped, too. I do agree that the whole "floating hotel" concept kind of kills the whole point of being on a boat in the first place. I'd much rather be on a smaller boat.

Our first cruise was the Carnival Festivale built 1962 - not so much a cruise ship as an ocean liner, a number of couples had to put up with berths

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Transvaal_Castle

 

[NutmegCT]

Basil: "I can picture you chugging down an African river with Katharine Hepburn sun bathing on the poop deck."

I hate leeches.

 

[Bayless]

That was a great film.

 

[DrEntropy]

A pal has a "Crooked Island Cat Boat." Hull number 13. We took it to the Silver River and ran it up to the Springs with his dad and mom a few years back. Had a "surrey" top on it, his mom declared she was on The African Queen. Made four knots goin' upstream and a blistering FIVE on the downhill run. Great fun!

 

[judow]

I spent the night on the Queen Mary docked in long Beach. I was attending a Seminar. It was like staying in a hotel that had been laid on it's side. I remember it was a long walk from the front desk to my room which was on the same floor (deck). I shared a room with a friend and he almost knocked himself out banging into this pole that was in the middle of our room. Enjoyed it.

Enjoyed what? Your stay or watching your friend get blacked and blued from the pole??? :smile-new: