The university courses that Cunard plans to offer on the Queen Mary 2 and the educational and cultural enrichment programs offered by cruise lines on other ships bring to mind the lecture hall that was originally installed on the first Queen Mary. It was available to first class passengers to present their expertise to their fellow passengers – a sort of "free university." We’ve recommended it be restored for use in an opening presentation for the first of a series of guided tours of the ship.
A rendering of a possible reconstruction of the lecture room, by Jeff Taylor.
There are a series of similar public rooms that survive in the forward portion of the ship that might be used as meeting rooms for a lecture and cultural enrichment program onboard the Queen Mary. These former third class lounges include a room that was used as a cinema and another that was dubbed "the library." Both the cinema and the library were furnished nearly identically and housed long library bookcases.
Third Class Library / Lounge
The cinema in 1936. Move the mouse over the image to see what it looks like today.
The third class garden lounge and the former third class smoking room – a handsome room that was partially disassembled for use as exhibit space in the Long Beach conversion are also candidates for this use.
Third Class Smoking Room
The Garden Lounge in 1936. Move the mouse over the image to see the room
today.
Located on the hotel decks – Main, A and B decks, these rooms are both adjacent to and isolatable from the hotel area. They are the perfect location for an on-going cultural enrichment program that might be made available to hotel guests, Club Queen Mary members and the broader public.
The program offers a rationale for restoring this area of the ship for an active revenue generating use while not "prettifying" out of recognition the solid, handsome interiors that were once here.
One of the several kitchens restored and/or created to serve the various dining rooms might be used as a presentation room for a Queen Mary Cordon Bleu School of Cuisine for hotel guests, club members and the paying public.
The proposed reconstructed wine cellars on current E deck might be used as the site for wine appreciation lectures and wine tasting parties.
This example of the programme available on the Queen Mary 2 gives some idea of the facility that might be offered on the Queen Mary.
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESENTS EXPERTS TO LEAD ENRICHMENT LECTURES ONTHE QUEEN MARY 2
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The third class lounges, when not in use for the attraction or on board lecture program might be made available on a targeted basis to the local organizations that serve as sponsors and/or supporters of the Queen Mary. For example, Long Beach Heritage might hold their semi-monthly board meetings here. Likewise the local Rotary Club, a long time supporter of the Queen Mary, might hold events in these rooms.