I stumbled upon a Club Atlantic room picture the other day and felt like I had discovered something new. I would love to know more about this and how it relates to the various conversions of the Grill Room/Columbia Restaurant Extension/Princess Grill. I thought the Princess Grill was "the most original" looking space on the ship.
When the Columbia Restaurant expanded into it and the Club Atlantic was installed, did they change the colors of the walls to of the old Grill Room to match the then Columbia Restaurant?
And, when the Princess Grill was (re)created, was the room returned to it the old Grill Room's original burgundy colors?
What happened to the 4th statue "Fire" during this Club Atlantic/Extended Columbia restaurant period?
It would be fascinating to learn more about this flip-flop and the design changes. Any one have any info?
-Scott
Scott
Here are my notes on the questions you asked:
Club Atlantic: During the 1972 refit the One Deck Shop was moved from One deck to a new location on Boat deck near the new Shopping Arcade and the space was converted into a new, exclusive bar, the One Deck Bar. This large, handsome room was later renamed Club Atlantic when the liner France ended her service of the Atlantic (1974). Staff members from the France were employed on board QE2 to work in the Club Atlantic and service was offered in five languages. Décor in the new Bar consisted of leather seating, wood grain, paintings and the ‘Earth’ statue from the Grill Room was placed here as the centrepiece. Club Atlantic lasted until at least 1976 / 1977.
Expansion of the Columbia Restaurant: To improve the QE2 product and increase her economy, new owners Trafalgar House concluded that the following had to be undertaken - increase the capacities of the restaurants and improve the associated kitchen facilities in order to be able to provide a first-class experience in a one-sitting operation and increase passenger capacity (particularly at the top end of the tariff). The Queens Grill was built the Britannia Restaurant was expanded and given its own Kitchen (in place of the Lookout) and the Columbia was expanded in two ways:
The original Grill Room on Quarter deck was closed and the space became part of the expanded Columbia Restaurant. (Passengers previously assigned to the Grill Room would now dine in the Queens Grill). To incorporate the former Grill Room into the Columbia Restaurant the settees in the Grill were recovered and new carpeting and furnishings were introduced. The Grill Room Bar on One deck was also closed with the space being used for storage purposes. However, the spiral staircase linking Grill and Lounge was retained.
Columbia Restaurant: In order to obtain an additional 225 seats to give the Columbia Restaurant a capacity of 810, the restaurant was enlarged and extended forward taking in, and replacing, the Grill Room on the port side. Additional space was obtained utilising part of the main galley on both the port and starboard sides and more space was gained with the re-design of the main galley and the re-positioning of the bulkheads between the restaurant and the galley further forward – the Quarter Deck galley did not need to be as large now with the creation of a dedicated galley for the Britannia Restaurant on Upper Deck. The extension into the galley area resulted in the necessary provision of 12 windows in the ship’s starboard side to provide daylight into the new area.
In order to provide a continuous design theme, the whole area was refurbished in beige, bronze and cream. To help divide what became a very large area, bronze-tinted glass screens were installed between the webs. The carpet was in donkey-brown and heavily sculptured, wall panels were ochre leather and off-white curtains, with yellow velvet dress curtains, were hung. The two little side areas of the restaurant, which would be used for private parties, were decorated with yellow wall panels and curtains.
Two of the four Janine Janet statues from the old Grill Room (‘Air’ and ‘Water’) were re-located to the central area of the Columbia Restaurant.
There were complaints afterwards that the old Grill area looked like a poor section of the ‘new’ room and the new area looked like it belonged in the Britannia Restaurant and that the lighting was inconsistent throughout.
Entry to the new section was gained through the main room or via the staircase up from One Deck below where the former Grill Room Bar had been.
'Fire' statue was originally to go to the Queens Grill but instead went into storage on board.
