TERMINAL STYLE
Sailing day was always a scene of great activity, especially at South- ampton’s magnificent OCEAN TERMINAL, opened by Prime Minister Clement Atlee on July 31, 1950. Queen Elizabeth was alongside for the official opening of this styl- ish 1,297ft-long building, which was designed to handle the thousands travelling on the transatlantic liners calling regularly at the port. There were two large, comfortable waiting halls on the first floor, one for first class and the other for cabin/tour- ist class passengers, each with its own customs examination hall. These reception areas also had
numerous amenities, including a post office, buffet and bar, flower shop, WH Smith bookstall and even a writing-room.
Passengers boarded via telescopic
room and turbines on the original ship took up a huge amount of the internal space. Large exhaust ventilators also carried the fumes from the engines to the funnels and this meant the public rooms had to be designed around these features. On the new ship, the funnel is situated aft, allowing for a much easier passenger flow through the main public rooms.
oth ships carried more than 2,000 passengers and the passenger-crew ratio is about the same, i.e. around one crew member for every two passen- gers. However, internally, the ships are very different. The current QE is a single-class cruise
B
ship whereas the original had three classes: first, cabin and third. Also, while the newest Cunarder looks backwards with her faux-Deco interiors with touches of art nouveau, the original Lizzie turned her back on the Art Deco excesses of Queen Mary and the French liner Normandie. Designed in an understated British modern-style, her public rooms were elegant but not brash, with soft colour schemes and restrained hidden lighting. She was described at the time as “a vast show-palace of all the best in contempo- rary techniques of interior decoration. An extraordinary variety of materials has been used for her furnishings, from traditional leathers and wood panelling to the newest wonders of metal alloys and plastics.” The variety of wood veneers used throughout the ship was amazing and ranged from ivory-coloured sycamore in the Verandah Grill to tawny pink Canadian maple-burr in the first class lounge. These
surfaces were always kept in immaculate condition and one of the memorable sensory experiences boarding the liner was the overwhelming smell of wood polish. In those days, visitors were allowed aboard up to an hour before sailing and the young bell boys, mostly in their mid- teens and wearing smart crimson jackets, were run off their feet delivering telegrams, flowers, fruit, chocolate and presents for passengers. Many of the rich clientele held lavish farewell parties in their cabins, espe- cially for New York departures. With long distance air travel still in its
infancy, this was the only way to cross and the Queens were regularly used by the pre-jet set elite along with senior diplo- mats, business executives and politicians.
covered gangways while, on the top deck, was a viewing area for sightseers to watch the ship’s sail-away. On the ground floor was a railway
platform for the special boat trains, which ran like clockwork from London Waterloo station, taking just 90 minutes. Sadly, in 1983, with no foreseeable
return to the great days of the liner, the Ocean Terminal was demolished and all that remains are the steps to the viewing area. Today, Southampton handles more passengers than at the peak of the liner era and has 4 terminals, including a new Ocean Terminal, which opened in 2009 opposite the original building. The naming ceremony for the new Queen Elizabeth took place at this rather functional building, which has none of the style and elegance of its former namesake.
...And her new 2010 namesake
Spring 2011 I WORLD OF CRUISING
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