Notice the marquetry in the corner where perfectly fit wood triangles meet in the curve.

Partner and I spent 4 days there. This is my 3rd visit. She is basic as a hotel but makes up for it in her unquantifiable feel.

To see the ship from the outside she is quite majestic, although does not look as big as 10 years ago before ships twice her size became common.

Some say she is haunted. It does make sense since there are hot and cold areas of the ship that suddenly change. She can be eerily silent then makes strange noises and creaks. Some of the wood panels make evil faces. We toured some of the private areas and it felt like Herman Munster or Jack Dorrance would pop out.

The Art Deco is magnificant and can only imagine what she looked like in her original glory.
The public rooms of the ship have little connection to the sea with small windows or no windows. Much of the original artwork is still in place. When I first visited the ship in 1997 the public rooms felt huge.
After the Queen Mary 2 and Voyager class they tend to feel small.

It is wonderful to walk the boat deck promenade. If one looks along it from the end, the outer bulkhead is bowed out; not a straight line anywhere. All of the windows on the traditional promenade are parallelogram shape, each one unique to account for the ships shear.

The outer decks are magnificent despite no pool or tiki bar. There is good seating and is a nice place to have breakfast overlooking Long Beach Harbor. The aft decks and bow with well deck are great places to stroll.

The mechanical pieces on deck such as the ventilators, capstans, docking bridges are visual entertainment.

The aft engine room is open for tours. It is real easy to get lost down there. What is great of the constrast above decks and the great machinery that makes the ship move.

We had a former first class cabin B-419 with most of the original fittings. It is a spacious room clad in fine woods, latching closet doors, and air through Punkah louvers. The experience is quirky especially with the unusual slope of the bath
tub. The ship was not built to American or European architectural standards and the rooms, table heights, door sizes, passages are a scale of their own.

The fine woods, brass and linoleum give the ship a fine aroma. 20 or so different woods are used throughout the ship. There are no two wood panels alike anywhere. The ship is a little worn but one gets a sense of what she has been through.

Some armchair purists will complain she is not original enough and prefer her scrapped. There is enough left of the original to get the point and glad she is with us. Mary is the last of her kind and an example of a true liner for the upcoming generations to understand.

There is no other place in LA I would rather stay.

[ 06-26-2008: Message edited by: desirod7 ]

Other than missing furniture and an aged patina she looks very close to original in most 1st class passenger spaces. The gorgeous 1st class Ballroom was replace during her Cunard days so Long Beach is'nt all to blame

The craftsmanship with the wood is really something. Unfortunately on the pic you posted to this thread it looks like there is some LA gang tagging on the wood. What is up with that?

quote:

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Originally posted by desirod7:
.........The public rooms of the ship have little connection to the sea with small windows or no windows. ......

[ 06-06-2008: Message edited by: desirod7 ]

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Great photos - really takes me back to my visits a few years back. I believe that the intention of the interior design was to suggest somewhere cosy and comfortable on land - in fact there were no paintings featuring seascapes onboard either. In the days when the only way to cross was by sea, not everyone was onboard for the pleasure of being at sea!!! I'm sure poor sailors were happy to go along with the illusion. Those who wanted contact with the sea of course had that amazing enclosed Promenade Deck.

quote:

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Originally posted by eroller:
Unfortunately on the pic you posted to this thread it looks like there is some LA gang tagging on the wood. What is up with that?

Ernie

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'There is no other place in LA I would rather stay.'

I feel the same way, David ;-)

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Originally posted by desirod7:
For Skyroom who is about to stay on the ship.

The original cabins are usually outside, A deck or Main deck midship.

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David