The Double Room (Double Up/Down Room)

[Rod]

I remember, one time for a wedding on board, or a renewal of vows at least, the happy couple coming down thos stairs, train, bridesmaids etc....Flowers everywhere, rose petals strewn around..... Pics were beautiful and spectacular... Definately a one off!

[riskygizmo]

What I remember most about those stairs was the polished aluminium strip just below the moulded handrail. Running about on nylon carpets in plastic soled shoes whilst wearing the full range of 1970's synthetic fibre clothing, I was a walking Van Der Graaf Generator and that strip was beautifully designed to be exactly the correct distance for a spark to jump from my fingertips 

[Rob Lightbody]

I was just wondering... was the Grand Lounge 90s refit, which turned it back to dark-red, a deliberate retro touch, looking back to the original room?  Does anyone know?

I would love to hear the stories of the designers behind the refits.

[Adam Hodson]

I was just wondering... was the Grand Lounge 90s refit, which turned it back to dark-red, a deliberate retro touch, looking back to the original room?

It would be interesting to find out whether it was, and it would also be interesting to find out why they got rid of the original double room in the first place - It was such a fantastic design!

[Graham Taylor]

I never saw the Grand Lounge in its original incarnation as I joined post 87 refit. There were members of the Pursers Office who were onboard pre 87 and I recall conversations on this subject. I believe Cunard wanted to give the room a more updated show lounge look befitting the A List acts that were booked to perform particularly on the World Cruise or the Xmas/New Year Caribbean Cruises. The problem with the spiral staircase, however attractive and iconic to the vessel, was that headline acts made their entrance down the staircase then effectively disappeared out of the room to make their way to the stage. The redesign gave the Acts a better entrance, however, as anyone who watched a show will attest it was not uncommon for passengers to come down those stairs during a performance much to the Acts' chagrin. There was an attempt by the cruise staff to block the top of the horseshoe staircase to stop this.

[Adam Hodson]

So I'm guessing that they started putting shows on, and therefore that's why they put the stage in in 1994?

[Hank Hargrove]

Except for the addition of ships upstairs, this room was largely unchanged until 1987 when it became the Grand Lounge.


DoubleRoom1984w by Captain Martini, on Flickr



110-08aw by Captain Martini, on Flickr


110-11aw by Captain Martini, on Flickr

Great photos! The Double Up/Double Down Room is one of my favorites on QE2.

[Adam Hodson]

Great photos! The Double Up/Double Down Room is one of my favorites on QE2.

And one of my favourites too!

[cunardqueen]

The thing l most remember about the stairs was the fact that on the outer side, when you walked down the steps, your feet landed in the most exact spot for being comfortable, if youve ever found steps like this you will know what l mean, you could walk down these with your eyes closed and feel at ease, try the same thing on any other steps and you will see what l mean.

But it was a most beautiful room to me as a 17 year old.  The Queens Room was nice, but that was out of bounds.

[Bob C.]

I'm not sure what this says about the QE2's cleaning staff but this is a picture of me in the summer of 1974 pointing at a tag that I stuck under the staircase in the summer of 1972.  For some reason I remembered it and ran straight to the DD room after dropping off our bags upon boarding in NY to see if it was still there.  Low and behold...


 

[Hank Hargrove]

And one of my favourites too!

 

[Adam Hodson]

Attached is a floorplan of the double room. After looking at it, that's when you realise what an amazing and special design it is.

I hope I am ok to post the picture here. It was taken from the 'Queen Elizabeth 2 celebrating 40 years of excellence' website. The link to the double room on the website is here (it is well worth a look): http://www.rmsqueenelizabeth2.com/dbldn.html
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The modified image by Adam Hodson - thanks Adam

[Hank Hargrove]

Attached is a floorplan of the double room. After looking at it, that's when you realise what an amazing and special design it is.

I hope I am ok to post the picture here. It was taken from the 'Queen Elizabeth 2 celebrating 40 years of excellence' website. The link to the double room on the website is here (it is well worth a look): http://www.rmsqueenelizabeth2.com/dbldn.html

Very interesting and unique! The black/white color of the plan is unusual. It's usually the other way around. It's refreshing, although some of the details are missed while looking at it on an iPhone screen.

[Adam Hodson]

I'm guessing the colours were normal, and that perhaps someone has inverted them.

[Hank Hargrove]

I'm guessing the colours were normal, and that perhaps someone has inverted them.

I hadn't thought of that. Good point. You can do it pretty easily.