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As I understand it, they were designed to permit the two classes to have the impression of "freedom of the ship," so to speak, without either mingling, using each other's designated resources, or feeling "segregated."
The "France" had a similar interior layout, which was commented upon at the time for the skills in accomplishing this objective.
I have traveled on Rotterdam V more than 35times. I still think it's impossible toexplain the staircase without "being there".The stairs are back-to-back so that a paxstarting down on one side would not passanother pax starting up on the otherside.The decks were closed to or open to thestairs according to the class one was in.The doors were sliding doors that went backinto the walls. It was a great system that worked beautifully and allowed the ship toopen up for cruises which always were oneclass. During the two-class crossings thedoors were hardly evident. The only placeon board that the doors were noticed was inthe large foyer separating the two diningrooms.....it went directing across thecenter of the foyer or thereabouts.Hope this helps.
I think the reason you do not remember the doors on "B" deck in front of the diningrooms is because they were not glass....theywere wooden and matched the paneling thatwas on the walls thereabouts. Come to thinkof it, there were doors on the "Main" decktoo where all the front office was, barbershop/beauty salon, etc. I think it made azig-zag thing when they were closed. Thatwas a long time ago.....I guess I did allcruises from 1970 on....great memories....it's a pleasure to share them with you two.
Because this structure, they could seal different landings from a particular stairway. This would close off the vertical traffic from one level or another. This was done on crossings, when the ship was 2 or 3 classes, and the classes were to be segregated. The landings could be opened up to both sets of stairs when the ship was cruising. Then there was only one class, so there was no need for segregation. If you can't find a copy of the book, let me know.
Recently while looking for a certain paxlist from 1966, I came across two deck plansfor Rotterdam V....one a tourist class trans-atlantic, the other a cruise plan just afterthe Lido Restaurant was added. The touristclass plan shows "the doors" closed and itall seems so simple when you can see it. Istill feel it's hard to explain. Incident-ally, Rotterdam V never sailed with threeclasses, blf49. It seems that the two stairsstern-most were for tourist, the bow-mostwere for first class. The plan shows thethe doors closed on main deck and on B deckdividing the foyers roughly in half.Perhaps you can lay your hands on an olddeck plan. The Steamship Society of Americaused to be able to copy things from itscollection and send them out. You may wantto give them a try. LizB, vulcania may beable to help you with a copy as he is afrequent steamship library goer.
The first one is from a cruise during which the ship operated as a one-class vessel. Therefore the hidden doors at the bottom of the stairs were left open and passengers could proceed to either dining room. click here for a larger version: http://www.cruiseserver.net/images/trivia/rotterdam_staircase_no_doors_big.jpg
The second one is from the first class deck chart when the ship operated as a two-class vessel. On those cruises the hidden doors at the bottom of the stairs were deployed and passengers reaching the bottom of their respective spiral would be directed to the appropriate dining room. Pretty neat system... click here for a larger version: http://www.cruiseserver.net/images/trivia/rotterdam_staircase_doors_big.jpg
Joe at TravelPage.com
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