QE2 Restaurants

[Chris]

Hello,

Did any one dine in the Caronia while it was briefly located on Upper Deck?

Similarly, did any one dine in Mauretania when it was located on Quarter Deck?

I did the latter - our first trip in 1995 - we dined in this location. I was quite young and don't remember it too much except for the appropriateness of it being located so close to the Mauretania Model (or should I say edited Lusitania model )

Here's an interesting shot of the Upper Deck Crystal Bar entrance to Mauretania - before the 1999 refit, still sporting the Caronia design:

[Twynkle]

Hi Chris,
Thank you for this.
I don't remember it as in your photo, and I expect several others will.

Interesting photo, it makes me think of a sort of mix and match between the 2 - entrance as you say, in a way, like the Caronia, as it was till November 2008  ('tears still rolling'), combined with the sort of partial room dividers of the Mauritania - looks very elegant doesn't it!


( trying to send a photo - not sure whether it'll manage to make the journey!)

[Chris]

You know it's funny - my post about the Mauretania was the one where I became a "Mauretania Diner" How appropriate!

[Twynkle]

Hello Chris - The Mauritanian Diner

Congratulations!

I think our tables might be at opposite ends - mine is near the A Stairway entrance - one of my favourite inside views - down those two / three little steps, a slop of the hand wash and make a slightly hesitant entrance.
Hesitant so that I can continue to pinch myself about the realiity!

( I think I can l can feel another Topic coming on - Do you think we can handle any more??!!  My slightly age-ing brain is finding the 'finding' quite tricky now!)

[Chris]

Thank you, very happy to be here in the lovely Mauretania.

[Chris]

When the Coloumbia was redesigned it was meant to become the ship's second class restaurant. Originally there were a lot of large tables for eight or twelve with plenty of space about them. When large tables became less popular extra small tables were added in place of these large tables. This made the space between the tables very tight.

The décor wasn't "old fashioned" because of its style but was old fashioned because it looked like what it was - something put in in the 90s to look as if it belonged on an old ship.

Malcolm,

Columbia was redesigned a number of times. 1994 saw it turn into Mauretania before reverting to Caronia. Soon thereafter it had an interim refit and finally in 1999 it was redefined as the current Caronia restaurant.

Just curious as to which one of these refits you are referring to it being turned into a "Second Class Restaurant"? I believe that the 1999 refit saw it become a bold statement, a tribute to the past (not QE2's past but more that of the liners of the 1900's, especially those of the German lines) and a room that left a very strong positive impression on nearly everyone who visited it - hardly the call of a design brief to dress the room down. Sure, it clashed absolutely with many other elements of QE2 but the beauty of her design was that each room could work in unison or independently of one another - which made her not only appeal to a wide clientele but also fantastically fun to explore and photograph.

However, you may be referring to a different incarnation of the Columbia / Caronia space?

Chris.

[Malcolm]

Columbia was redesigned a number of times. 1994 saw it turn into Mauretania before reverting to Caronia. Soon thereafter it had an interim refit and finally in 1999 it was redefined as the current Caronia restaurant.

I only consider there to have been one "refit" though That wasn't when the name was changed or when tables were moved about but the entire decorative scheme of the room was changed. That was in 1999, after the Mauretania had moved there. I did not realise that the new Caronia moved back into its present location as soon as the refit of the restaurant was over, My understanding was that the present Caronia was designed to take Mauretania passengers.

(BTW - my use of the term "Second Class Restaurant" was a way of differentiating The Britannia Restaurant/Tables of the World/Mauretania from  the First Class Restaurant  - Cloumbia/Caronia. I did not mean to make any criticism of the restaurant or its passengers)

[Chris]

Hi Malcolm,

Thanks for clarifying

Columbia actually became Mauretania during the 1994 Project Lifestyle refurbishment where it was given a new theme, colour palate and furniture. It retained the classic Columbia ceiling however the glass dividers were replaced, and a model of Mauretania was given pride of place in the centre of the room.

The space was later renamed Caronia (while Mauretania went to Upper Deck) and given a refurbishment which featured a new ceiling of suspended glass tube lighting with soft down lights and bolder colour palate.

Finally, in 1999 the Caronia Restaurant was totally redeveloped to the current appearance of the Period Germanic Style restaurant. The current design was always intended for Caronia guests.

[Malcolm]

I remember that restaurant move - the new Caronia was where the Mauretania is now. My understanding is that it was moved back because, as the restaurants serve in different styles, the respective kitchens had great problems coping rather than it just being part of the plan that it should move back when the old Columbia was renovated.

By the time of the restaurant move the ship was only one class so there was no need to have restaurants with segregated access. The ship was also starting to reduce her average speed on transatlantics so it was no longer as important to have a restaurant in a stable position. The Upper Deck restaurant was designed to have it's own bar which was shared with the Princess and Britannia Grills (when did it stop being Princess Grill Starboard and become the Britannia Grill?).

[Louis De Sousa]

It became Britannia Grill in December 1994.


Louis

[Louis De Sousa]

Before the Crystal Bar was born in 1994 there was no bar in that place the Princess Grill had its bar on 1 Deck and the Princess Grill Starboard had its own bar too.This bar was situated on the Staboard side of where the Crystal Bar stands today.

The whole area of the Crystal Bar before the refit in 1994 was divided ino 3 areas.On Portside you had the entrance to the Mauretania rest.,in the middle section roughly where the bar stands today was the dinning area for staff and on the Staboard side you had the Princess Grill Staboards bar.

Louis

[Michael Gallagher]

The present Caronia name was given to the room in April 1997 after the space had been refitted in blue and gold in December 1996. Apart from placing some Mauretania items in it, new bar access and reupholstering the chairs in cream it received very little work in the Project Lifestyle 1994 work - and was one of the few spaces to receive little work.

The restaurants were named as follows:

CURRENT CARONIA

Columbia Restaurant (1969 - December 1994)
Mauretania Restaurant (December 1994 - April 1997)
Caronia Restaurant (April 1997 - today)

CURRENT MAURETANIA

Britannia Restaurant (1969 - December 1977)
Tables of the World (December 1977 - April 1987)
Mauretania Restaurant (April 1987 - December 1994)
Caronia Restaurant (December 1994 - April 1997)
Mauretania Restaurant (April 1997 - today)

The change in 1994 was to move the former first class restaurant to a higher deck - aspirational etc and share the bar facilities with Grills. QE2 was 'classless' from 1995.

The change is April 1997 was done to appease those regular Columbia passengers who complained about the loss of "their" bar (Midships Bar / Chart Room). They did not like having the Crystal Bar forced on them!

[Chris]

Hi Michael,

Do you have any images of the room in the 1997-1999 set-up when the room was Caronia, but before it was refurbished into the current appearance?

I have some overexposed images from February 1999 which as a bit hard to make out.

Chris.

[Malcolm]

the Princess Grill Starboard had its own bar too.This bar was situated on the Staboard side of where the Crystal Bar stands today.

I never got into that bar and it and gone by the time I became a regular cruiser on the QE2 Does anyone have any pictures or a plan of it?

the middle section roughly where the bar stands today was the dinning area for staff

Somewhere I never knew existed. I had always just assumed that the Princess Grill Starboard Bar ran up to the entrance to the Mauretania. Again I'd love to see pictures and/or a plan

[mickey g]

I am so glad that my onboard memories of QE2 only relate to my three voyages in 2008, what I saw I loved, don't have to compare with the past thank goodness, just have very fond happy memories of her