Vintage Photos from Cunard at The Holidays.

[Hemingway Jones]

Here is a little something to get you in the mood for Santa's arrival, some holiday images from the Cunard Line from the 50s and 60s, courtesy of "The Daily Mail" (see attachment). There are some beautiful dresses and suits here.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/t...iday-season-celebrated-high-seas-50s-60s.html

Mid-Century travel in all of its glamour and romance!

I would love to have been on a classic Queen Mary cruise in the 1950s. I was on a cruise once I didn't enjoy it. I felt as if I were trapped in a floating shopping mall. Had it been more like this, I think I would have enjoyed it.

 

[philosophygirl78]

Here are some from the 40's:

Lana Turner kills it!!! I hope I can find something like that for New Years Eve!!!

Wowza!!

They really need to bring this fashion back... So Classy!!!!

Here is the Blog: http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/blogs/...ecade-captured-in-40-incredible-pictures.html

 

[philosophygirl78]

1940's Red Gangster Fedora for Women... Hmmm.. Perfect for Christmas!!!

And for Him.

 

[scotrace]

I'm sure it would have been fantastic, having had a small taste of being aboard the QM with a group of good friends.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

I'm sure it would have been fantastic, having had a small taste of being aboard the QM with a group of good friends.

Right? Those were good times. That's what I loved about the pics, it reminded me of that and seeing the ballroom on the QM at its height.

 

[Stearmen]

My Dad traveled to England On the RMS Queen Mary in the 40s. He wasn't very impressed by the amenities!

 

[Fading Fast]

I don't remember if it applied to the Queen Mary (I think it did), but several countries' governments subsidized their luxury cruise line businesses ship building efforts in times of peace in return for having the right to the ships for troop movement, etc. in time of war. These were formal legal, documented agreements, not an informal or "understood" agreement. Hence, the above use was not unanticipated when the Queen Mary was built.

 

[MisterCairo]

I was on the maiden voyage of the Queen Mary 2, it was certainly better than a floating mall! It may not compare with the glamour of the golden era, but then, what does?

 

[JimWagner]

I agree that modern cruise ships certainly are more floating casino / shopping malls than elegant ways to travel. But my wife and I have enjoyed the 3 cruises we've been on so far. The key is to carefully pick the cruise line as they tend to cater to different demographics. Got kids? Go with Disney. Want a drunken party? Go with Carnival. Older? Go with Princess.

When we went on our first cruise about 10 years ago we believed all the cruise line guidelines and took along dressy clothes. I took a tux and a dinner jacket. On the one formal night we dressed up and found ourselves in a small minority. I don't think a quarter of the passengers actually dressed formally. Less than half even bothered with suits or dresses.

The next couple of cruises we didn't bother either. That cut back on how much we had to pack and deal with. But it was still a dissappointment not to experience a little elegance.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Definitely on my to-do list to experience a transatlantic crossing on the QM2. Not interested in a "cruise," but a crossing on the last liner would be a real experience.

As far as the rest of the lines: I'd rather book passage on one of the freighters that takes a handful of passengers. Sitting on a bridge, sipping coffee on dog watch, and chatting with working merchant officers would be a heck of a lot more interesting than casinos or conga lines.

 

[MisterCairo]

The dress code on Cunard (owned by Carnival by the bye), is exactly that - a code. They won't throw you overboard, but they'll refuse you entry into your assigned dining room if you're not properly attired.

If memory serves (this was January 2004 for the maiden voyage) the rules did apply only for the evening meal).

A jacket and collared shirt with no tie is CASUAL. Semi-formal required a suit and formal was at minimum a tux. I wore my mess dress (at the time, Royal Canadian Air Force - I was naturally mistaken for a ship's officer, and frequently asked for directions. Which, having become quite familiar with the ship and being an officer and a gentleman, I gave without question).

And if one needs to ask about the propriety of, ahem, dungarees, well...

Sean

 

[stratcat]

I was lucky enough to have a trip on the Queen Elizabeth around the Mediterranean this summer.
The ship, it's staff and the whole Cunard experience were amazing. While there was a dress code for the evening meal, which was for jacket but no tie required, quite a lot of gents removed their jackets as soon as they sat down to the table and there were a few who didn't wear ties. Many of the gents declined to wear black tie on the formal evenings and went with a dark suit instead. I would say that all the ladies made an effort to dress well to dinner.
Sorry if I come across as a clothing snob but why choose to travel with a cruise line that has a dress code then deliberately decide not to 'take part'? It's all part of the fun if you ask me.
I sat behind one chap in the theatre who was wearing a nicely pressed white shirt (no tie) and navy blue track suit pants! Where is the banging-head-on-a-brick-wall smilie?

I will definitely go on another Cunard cruise and I would love to cross the Atlantic on the QM, it'll be a lot of saving up but worth it.

 

[sheeplady]

Definitely on my to-do list to experience a transatlantic crossing on the QM2. Not interested in a "cruise," but a crossing on the last liner would be a real experience.

As far as the rest of the lines: I'd rather book passage on one of the freighters that takes a handful of passengers. Sitting on a bridge, sipping coffee on dog watch, and chatting with working merchant officers would be a heck of a lot more interesting than casinos or conga lines.

That's on my bucket list too. And while not cheap by any stretch, I was suprised that it wasn't outrageous and completely out of reach, either. Not for a once-in-a-lifetime sort of thing.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Sorry if I come across as a clothing snob but why choose to travel with a cruise line that has a dress code then deliberately decide not to 'take part'? It's all part of the fun if you ask me.
I sat behind one chap in the theatre who was wearing a nicely pressed white shirt (no tie) and navy blue track suit pants! Where is the banging-head-on-a-brick-wall smilie?

I will definitely go on another Cunard cruise and I would love to cross the Atlantic on the QM, it'll be a lot of saving up but worth it.

Precisely. A quick look at YouTube and what some of the bargain basement cruise lines refer to as, "elegant night," proves your point.

There's nothing "elegant" about a grown man prancing around in a shirt, tie, and vest sans jacket. To dress well for a special occasion isn't being snobby: it's recognizing the obvious fact that there is a time and place for all modes of attire. Wearing a denim work jacket or a biker vest to an elegant sit down dinner isn't trendy or fashionable: it demonstrates ignorance.

And the saddest part is that this lowering of standards has become what some young men regard as "dressing up." My experience is that women generally like it when their man dresses up to show them off to others at a social event such as a ball or a formal dinner... even my old hippie anti-establishment wife grudgingly admits that it's fun to get into the spirit of such occasions. I only wish that "formal night" on Cunard still meant white tie and tails. That custom bit the dust after the Second World War....... perhaps I really was born decades too late.

 

[MisterCairo]

More than half of our ship's crew have bussed in to Rome to go to the Vatican for the Pope's Christmas mass.

The orders were for "business casual", as it was organized by the ship and for the purposes of ensuring standards.

I'll let you all guess the amount of grumbling that occurred.

And how many people didn't have a clue as to what even that "standard" meant...

 

[MisterCairo]

"perhaps I really was born decades too late"

I said that very thing this morning.

When I was criticized for suggesting that perhaps jeans weren't appropriate for mass at St. Peter's.

 

[ChiTownScion]

My Dad traveled to England On the RMS Queen Mary in the 40s. He wasn't very impressed by the amenities!

My dad returned from Europe on the QM. Said that he always wanted to go back and do it once it was restored to civilian service. By the time he actually started taking vacations, it was long gone and the jet age was well entrenched.

 

[Stearmen]

My dad returned from Europe on the QM. Said that he always wanted to go back and do it once it was restored to civilian service. By the time he actually started taking vacations, it was long gone and the jet age was well entrenched.

My Dad and the family toured her not long after she went to Long Beach. We were allowed into places you can't go now. A real great time! Those that sailed on the Queen Elizabeth were not as fortunate.

 

[vintage.vendeuse]

Here is some circa 1956 Cunard ephemera my mother saved. She and my dad sailed on the Queen Elizabeth (QE I, not QE II) when emigrating from England to the USA (Dad emigrated from Poland to England right after WW2). My mother was 7 months pregnant with my oldest brother and remembers the November crossing as very rough, spending most of the time laid up in her bunk. She says there was a very kind purser who would bring her sandwiches and, as long as she ate them while laying in bed, the sandwiches would stay down. (That's mom, four years and three babies later, in my avatar photo.)

Editing to add: I've just been googling Commodore Sir Ivan Thompson mentioned in the List of Officers. Apparently, in the 1920s, he worked under Captain Arthur Rostron, who was master of the Carpathia during the Titanic disaster. Thompson's recounts of Rostron's recollections of the Titanic have provided much significant, though secondhand, info about that fateful night.