Harrods onboard QE2

[Rob Lightbody]

The Harrods was really good when i visited in 1987.  It had many items branded with both QE2 & Harrods, wheras in 2008 I don;t think i saw any, and the harrods on board felt just like every other one in airports etc.  In 1987, there were no Harrods, outside the original in London.  (someone correct me if i'm wrong!)

[cunardqueen]

Rob you are correct, l used to enjoy the shopping in the onboard Harrods and even to this day have a tin of biscuits (still unopened, why, lm not sure ) even went so far as to open a Harrods charge card which was only ever used onboard QE2. Back then most things had the QE2/Harrods logo. Where as in later years it was just the normal stuff from the London branch, and a bit over priced at that. l will dig out some stuff and maybe try and add a few photos on here..
 

[riskygizmo]

I'm sure you mean two deck for the sofa etc.

The shop was on one deck and called travellers cove (formerly the first Harrods not in Knightsbridge!)

Sent from my phone so apologies if it's brief!

Rob, there was a Horrids - sorry Harrods in Beunos Aries in 1914

[Rob Lightbody]

Rob, there was a Horrids - sorry Harrods in Beunos Aries in 1914

Oh!  Thank you!  That set me off reading the Harrods Wikipedia article.

Can we get QE2's Harrods added to the significant events timeline do you think??  What year did it open?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrods

[cunardqueen]

Great photo Lynda, another topic for the photo comp...QE2 seats !!!

As for Harrods, it used to be a lovely little shop on One deck when they had a lot of Harrods/QE2 logo merchandise for sale, laterly most of the stuff seemed to be just bought down from the London store, and given the prices l think some had included the delivery charge to QE2 as well...

I still have a box of the lovely Harrods Butter biscuits unopened with a best before of 3/4/92 a tin was opened 2 years ago and they were still in perfect condition..I have no reason to suspect these should be any different...

But my favourite was the Harrods/QE2 bears doorstops,you can maybe just make out the logo on their hats

<dead link removed>

[Graham Taylor]

Oh!  Thank you!  That set me off reading the Harrods Wikipedia article.

Can we get QE2's Harrods added to the significant events timeline do you think??  What year did it open?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrods

Well certainly not 2000 as per the wiki entry. It certainly was there on one deck in '87.

[Lynda Bradford]

I loved browsing in the little Harrods shop onboard QE2.  I bought my favourite QE2 T-shirt in the shop in 1997. Biscuits, shortbread and Harrods bears for the grandchildren were excellent purchases. 

What did you buy at the Harrods shop onboard QE2. 

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

What did you buy at the Harrods shop onboard QE2.

I used to have a look at the shop now and again and stroll through it, but never found anything that I was at all interested in. Never lingered there -- the items all seemed pretty-pretty and not very nautical.

Now, the Nauticalia shop on board Caronia was a different matter altogether! But here am I, telling myself off for veering off-topic...

[Rob Lightbody]

I think we almost need a separate topic for the original large Harrods with its dedicated QE2 items. It was very, very special and quite different to the later one. In fact most of the shops in the late 80s seemed posh, exclusive and special,something that I felt was totally absent when I returned in 2007.

[cunardqueen]

What did you buy at the Harrods shop onboard QE2.   

Mugs, key rings,T shirts,biscuits,the door stop bears.In later years l always took a look into the Harrods shop on the boat deck and left with nothing. It really was quality in the early years...

[cunardqueen]

  In fact most of the shops in the late 80s seemed posh, exclusive and special,something that I felt was totally absent when I returned in 2007 

I would agree with that, my first time round the shops in 86 when they were all along the windows on Boat Deck l was only interested in the logo souvenirs and dont really remember much of the rest of them .
 But in 87 it had all changed and the top names were there.But then they were run by Allders Duty Free, l remember the staff used to curse changing from $ to £s for the UK cruises.

When you consider the $10 shop and the various inches of gold sale , it summed up how down market cruising had become heck even the flyers under the cabin door and some of the logo souvenirs were hardly top class, But under Harding Brothers the prices were !.And sadly some souvenirs had the generic Cunard brand and were not specific to a ship.
Souvenirs were always my downfall and always filled the cases

[Graham Taylor]

I used to buy a Harrods teddy each year at Xmas, with the year embroidered on the foot. Kept it up for several years after I left until my Great Niece came visiting; she decided that they needed adopting, so she has them now.

[Michael Gallagher]

The shop was designed with the distinctive olive green and gold Harrods carpet and offered exclusive items bearing the famous Harrods logo.

According to Cunard:

      “We are delighted to be able to offer our passengers the opportunity to shop at Harrods. We already have a superb shopping arcade but, as always, we want QE2 to offer the very best so it is marvelous that our passengers will now be able to shop at ‘Harrods Afloat’”.

On 14 June 1984 British actress Hermione Gingold had been invited to open the branch but at the designated time she could not be found (for reasons Captain Arnott was reluctant to divulge). The assembled media were getting impatient so the Harrods Manager asked Captain Arnott to perform the opening.

During QE2’s December 1996 refit, Harrods was closed as the concession left the ship. The space remained empty until the ‘Cunard Collection’ was opened selling Cunard-branded merchandise.

Harrods returned to QE2 in a new location (Boat Deck Royal Promenade) in the 1999 refit replacing the ‘Toy Box’ shop aft

Harrods remained with the ship until 11 November 2008 – the concession was not available on the Final Voyage.

[Rob Lightbody]

Here is a photo of the original Harrods

https://www.flickr.com/photos/annexxxcdscotland/4415410328/

Photos of the original shop are surprisingly hard to come by - do you have any?

[jdl]

I think we almost need a separate topic for the original large Harrods with its dedicated QE2 items. It was very, very special and quite different to the later one. In fact most of the shops in the late 80s seemed posh, exclusive and special,something that I felt was totally absent when I returned in 2007.

Rob,

Totally agree, the shopping arcade was top class and befitting a queen originally but then became 90% tat IMHO - an inch of gold - come on!

I bought several pot pouri harrods green mini pillows on my RT TA - mainly because I was 14 and they were affordable, who knows where they are now!

Michael - interesting that the shop closed/was not available on the last voyage, are you able to allude to why this was?

Jdl