The Captain's Cabin (and invites to it)

[Michael Gallagher]

For junglejames....

[Louis De Sousa]

Nice shots.I have some good memories from that cabin. 

Louis

[cunardqueen]

Under the command of Captain Bates he threw a great party in his quarters, His tables guests were absolutely delighted to have pre dinner drinks there before heading on down to the Mauretania where he joined us shortly after for one of many memorable meals onboard... It was for me the pinnacle of all my cruises to be on that table, and a dream come true..
 One of the ladies was most eager to find out where his slept at...
 Thanks Nick !!! (If your reading this..)   

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Breathtaking pictures, Michael! It must have been the most wonderful place in the world to live...

My very first ever view of this very special part of the QE2. Where is this cabin located?

Did captains leave some of their private belongings on board when they went on leave?

[Michael Gallagher]

It was located directly below the Bridge. Lovely and homely. The Capts would bring along a few family pictures etc (which had to be blue-tacked down to stop them moving) but apart from that everything was left just as it was for the next Captain. Occasionally pictures on the wall would change but the layout and the desk is original.

[jdl]

Fantastic pictures, thanks for posting.  Probably like the majority of passengers I never managing to see inside the captains cabin so to be able to see these pictures is a treat indeed.

In terms of the cabins location under the bridge, would this be on the same level as the open observation deck?

jdl

[Stowaway2k]

In terms of the cabins location under the bridge, would this be on the same level as the open observation deck?

jdl

Yes, above the Wardroom

a bit of video on the way to and in the Captain's cabin at the end of this video
http://tinyurl.com/yfd3ack
fast foward to 12 minutes if you don't care to see the entire video, but why wouldn't you?   

[Twynkle]

jdl
You might be interested in Skilly56's Reply No.13 etc
here -
https://www.theqe2story.com/forum/index.php/topic,1358.0.html

[Chris]

Thanks for sharing Michael.

We showed Captain McNaught our manuscript for the QE2 Journey book sitting on those white couches!

He was very excited about the book and agreed then to write our afterword.

Happy memories!

[Rob Lightbody]

My Mum and I were invited to Captain Perkins cocktail party in his cabin on our cruise last year.  There was quite a swell at the time, and we spent the whole time hanging on to the table in the first photo, which is either very heavy, or bolted down!  Other 'celebs'  from on board were invited along too, including the authors and guest speakers.  The memorabilia on the walls is amazing, and i could have spent hours reading it all.  The cabinet next to 'our' table had gifts from Clydebank inside, amongst other things.

One reason I had trouble standing up is I'd lost my sense of direction and thought i was looking forwards when i was actually looking sideways!  With the net curtains closed, there was no way to know other than by the movement!

Mrs Perkins was great though, and shared tips with us about how to stand but still be elegant, while holding champagne and canapes!

[jdl]

Yes, above the Wardroom

a bit of video on the way to and in the Captain's cabin at the end of this video
http://tinyurl.com/yfd3ack
fast foward to 12 minutes if you don't care to see the entire video, but why wouldn't you?   

Thanks for this I've come across this video before and it's excellent, Thanks also Rosie for the link to another smilar topic I'll hopefully catch up on this one later tonight.

One question I have is why was the Captain's cabin desginated to be on a deck where passengers could directly see into the cabin and working space? 

Would it not have been better to position the cabin in the area behind the bridge, obviously I realise that the expansive suites were not added until much later in her service life so can only assume that the space behind the bridge simply didn't exist.

jdl

[jdl]

The above have been mentioned on a couply of threads and of course we have the excellent cabin cavalcade video that finishes up in Captain Mcnaughts cabin, however, my question's are:

What exactly did you have to do to end up with this most VIP of invites - were the invites restricted to friends and family of the crew, celebs and the most frequent travelling and high spending passengers?

If anyone on here has attended a party at the officers wardroom can they disclose what it was like and post some piccies - if the censors and alcohol police allow that is!  You never know it may be subject to the old rule; what goes on tour, stays on tour!

Yours in anticipation

jdl

[cunardqueen]

If anyone on here has attended a party at the officers wardroom can they disclose what it was like and post some piccies - if the censors and alcohol police allow that is!  You never know it may be subject to the old rule; what goes on tour, stays on tour!

The invite fairy is  amost wonderful creature, l have been touched by it a number times over the years, it always appears when your not there and you know its been when you enter your cabin and find the little white envelope resting under the door, and if you dont know what it is, your in for a most special surprise .

You never know your going to be invited , then when you do open it you find out exactly where your heading for and who the host is, its  a most marvelous experience to be invited to the wardroom, it happened on my very first voyage, it should never be taken for granted, and for some reason its happened mostly on every trip since then.
The hosted tables normally have a drinks party with the host, and usually a wardroom invite will follow.

 The Captains Cabin invite was very special, it was laid on my bed under the pillow surprise, and l really didnt know which to open first . As a guest on his table l know exactly how mine arrived ,All the table had the invite and if we werent excited enough about being on Captain Bates table already this very special invite was the icing on the cake.
 The party wasnt a big party, but there were some celebs there some of the regulars and some of his friends, and all credit to the man himself, lm sure he spoke to everyone there.

 As for the drinks, well, l just accept what was on offer (believe me there is nothing worse than serving drinks and having to go away get another drink and return, and usually your met with a look of, what took you so long !!)

I do remember a while back being told, You never ask anybody about these invites or discuss these with other guests, or worse ask if anybody else has one. Youve passed the criteria laid down to recieve one of these, accept it with gutso, go forth and enjoy, and thats exactly what l did, Im not quite sure l believed him, But hey it sounded good

 So JDL thats my tale of the invite fairy, and yes there is a tiny part of what goes on tour stays on tour as well


 
   

[jdl]

Thanks for sharing these memories and posting up the actual invites - I'm now even more curious than ever!! But, I fully understand and respect your privacy and stand on the issue - you certainly wouldn't want it to jepordise a future invite! ( apologies for any spelling issues no spell checker on my phone)

now, I just need to work on becoming a celeb and then get an invite...LOL

jdl

[cunardqueen]

JDL
Only to happy to share the memories, l throughly enjoyed each and every one, perhaps one day you may encounter the Invite Fairy .. Its the upgrade fairy l have trouble with... l have yet to even catch a glimpse of it !!! the cabin number allocated at the time of booking never changes, but the upgrades are a whole new ball game, and lm not even going there...

[jdl]

Whey hey, the invite fairy no but thr upgrade fairy yes - onl once mind but it was a blinder. I'd booked a c1 cabin fir te Xmas party cruise in 2002 (albeit 12 months in advance and I had told them that I was planning to get engaged). 2 weeks before departing I had a call from my travel agent asking if I would mind upgrading to a q3 with no extra cost. I decided to play it cool and say I'd call them back, mainly so I could put the phone down and shout out loud.

We had a great trip and she did say yes, plus I enjoyed the best grill room afloat - happy days

jdl

[cunardqueen]

Cunard arent daft .....just think of the savings on EVERY cruise for not holding Wardroom parties ....captains cabin parties etc.....thats old cruising..its all about new age cruising.....you want to eat in a different place? great   add on $25.....they dont want to be bothered with 'special' parties anymore.... unless you want to PAY for it.......I even think captain cocktails  will scale down as  some of the clientelle cruising now just cant be bothered with it and they are the folks the cruise companies listen to. they arent interested about what happened in the past ....but trade their new wares on that basis.

I tended to think that these special parties were great PR for Cunards loyal passengers, there was nothing nicer than getting all dressed up and off to a party somewhere. The QE2 social scene was alway very kind to me, something l wont ever  forget, and you did meet many and varied interesting people, not to mention friends from previous voyages. It was always nice to think that in those days someone onboard actually took the trouble to be bothered to invite people to such parties.
 
 It seems to me that with QE2 she was the end of an era, the glory of the formal transatlantic crossings, even in the days of the Queen Mary/Queen Elizabeth you still read about the social parties. And now with the new brigade, Carnival, they seem to making Cunard conform to the rest of the fun ships, I always thought Cunard was just a step away from the rest, now it seems they are blending in with the rest, and who wants to pay for a meal in some hyped up onboard restaurant where the celebrity name hangs above the door and that as close as hes probably been in the past 2 month.
 My last view of the Kings Court on an embarkation day was nothing short of a feeding house for the mad, forgive me but the lido was never like that on any of my embarkation days, then again we did have the glorious afternoon tea to look forward to, remind me do they still do such things on the new ships on sailing days.
  It strikes me Cruise princess we saw Cunard at its best in our hey days of cruising, and while it was great back then, now it appears its not so great, BUT Not so great for a great many more which is what the new brand of cruise passenger wants.
 The dress code, years ago would anyone have dared trip the light fantastic on a formal night, in anything other than a formal outfit? Now people have the idea we can dress as we please, Is this really the way we want to be going??     
 (and forgive me if dared stray into the off topic waters)
 

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

 
The dress code, years ago would anyone have dared trip the light fantastic on a formal night, in anything other than a formal outfit? Now people have the idea we can dress as we please, Is this really the way we want to be going?? 
 

I enjoyed that. I am not a formal person at all... it takes a huge effort to extract me from my jeans and make me wear a skirt or dress -- but on QE2, that was my pleasure every evening! All the nice formal clothes I bought for her over the years, have been hanging in my wardrobe, untouched, since I stepped off her... and are likely to stay there, untouched, for the foreseeable future. Must check whether that wonderful QE2 smell still lingers among them...

[Cruise_Princess]

the formal nights were part of the magic and as yu say Isabelle your wardrobe smells of Qe2....how true!!  It was a magical era and each and every one of us were touched by that magic..millions werent...we have been so lucky....we just wanted it to last forever......

[Peter Mugridge]

For me, too, the formal evenings are part of the attraction.  It just "feels right", if you know what I mean?

[Pat Curry]

His real cabin, as photographed above, was on the deck immediately under the Bridge.
Outside the cabin's door was a staircase which led to the Bridge.
When I first sailed on the ship the Bridge door (top of that staircase) was always unlocked, if I recall correctly.
Later by early 2000s it was locked and had a numeric pad to open it.  Security considerations had arrived.  Even the Radio room became off limits to passengers
Incidentally, the captain had another cabin (small bedroom) on the starboard side of the bridge,
Oh, and the Captain's steward was called the Tiger Steward.

[Twynkle]

Post No.9 above

Mrs Perkins was great though, and shared tips with us about how to stand but still be elegant, while holding champagne and canapes!

Hello Rob -
This is interesting...
Will there be a charge for letting us into 'Mrs Perkin's secret'?
Rosie

[QE2postcards]

Hi everyone.

Thanks for the video of Captain Ian McNaught's cabin.  We were very lucky to be invited to a gold & platinum Cocktail party in his cabin in November 2006.  We were sailing from Portsmouth to Fort Lauderdale and then flying home.  Unlike today where you only go up a grade of world clum membership on completling you voyage we were given our gold badge halfway to Fort Lauderdale and since the Gold etc coctail party was to be held after Fort Lauderdale we were invited to the catain's cabin along with about 8 other people so we almost had the captain to ourselves.  I remember telling him I had a website about the QE2 and he insisted I gave him it's address so he could check it out.  When I met him the following day he had already looked at it and gave me his seal of approval.

QE2postcards.

[skilly56]

JDL,

In post 11 you wondered if anyone had taken any photos at a wardroom party - see attached. We had a very enjoyable session, the atmosphere was good, the food was excellent, the noise level became very loud as time wore on, and it didn't take long before I could no longer holde the cameera stweady!

Very fortunaytely, it was only eight stepps from the wardy door to our cabin!

Skoll!

Skilly

[cunardqueen]

Skilly56
 Was this a special party? Great photos as always !!!

[skilly56]

I don't think it was for any special occasion - the wardroom president & committee make the decision of when the 'gatherings' happen - It didn't take too long before the wardroom was nearly at bursting point - a very popular venue.

Skilly

[Lynda Bradford]

Fantastic to see the captain's cabin photos and to hear about the cocktail parties held there.  I was never fortunate enough to be invited to one of these parties but it sounds like it would have been a wonderful experience. I always welcome the invites to the Cunarder World Club and Engineers cocktail parties that are held on QM2 and Queen Victoria as it is a good opportunity to mingle but they are not so exclusive as what has been described here.

I have enjoyed reading about all the experiences posted. 

[bigbob]

I was reading the RCI website which has an interview with a captain who says that the tradition is for the captain's cabin to be behind the bridge starboard side. Am I right in saying on qe2 the cabin is below the bridge midships? If so why was tradition not followed?

[Michael Gallagher]

Bigbob - not sure if that was tradition but the Captain's cabin was below the Bridge on Sun Deck. There was a small room with a bed in it on the starboard side of the bridge for use by the Captain. I've posted photos of the Captains Cabin on here.

However... some history about the cabin for those interested:

Early plans for QE2 had the total space which eventually became the Captain’s Cabin divided in half with the starboard side allocated to the Captain’s Day Room (with Captain’s Bedroom aft of the space) and the port side allocated to the Chief Engineer’s Day Room (with his bedroom aft of the space). A separate Sea Cabin for the Captain was to be included aft and opposite the Bedroom.

During Cunard’s first-ever Masters’ Conference in December 1966 (held in Winchester and where it was announced that Captain Warwick would become the new Master of the ship) it was made quite clear that the new company policy dictated that the Master was “supreme on board”. This would result in the upgrading of his accommodation on board the ship to reflect this new status.
 
Managing Director John Whitworth became involved in a plan to re-allocate the entire forward space on Sports Deck to the Captain (something Captain Warwick was in full agreement with). John Whitworth approached Dan Wallace about the change in early 1967 and a formal plan was submitted to the Chairman’s Progress Meeting on 24 January 1967. Dan Wallace was concerned that the shipbuilders may have objected as this space was at the top of the vessel.

The plans were changed. The Captain was given this entire forward space with his Office and Day Room remaining where originally placed and his Bedroom and Bathroom placed in the space originally allocated to the Chief Engineer’s Day Room.

The Chief Engineers was eventually located aft of the port side opposite the Staff Captain – both of these positions were considered to ‘level-peg’ and the design of these two rooms would be the same.

[Matron]

Just to pick up on the 'invites fairy' mentioned earlier.  Not quite sure how things worked for the Captain's cocktail party, but for the wardroom parties, all invitations were from the Officers themselves.  So if you had happened to have a good conversation with one of us at some point and we knew who you were, there was a good chance that a wardie invite would head your way.  I loved that system, as it meant that there was a good mix of interesting people - and not necessarily all composed of regular cruisers (although of course many of our regulars were so lovely we invited them anyway!). 

[Rod]

His real cabin, as photographed above, was on the deck immediately under the Bridge.
Outside the cabin's door was a staircase which led to the Bridge.
When I first sailed on the ship the Bridge door (top of that staircase) was always unlocked, if I recall correctly.
Later by early 2000s it was locked and had a numeric pad to open it.  Security considerations had arrived.  Even the Radio room became off limits to passengers
Incidentally, the captain had another cabin (small bedroom) on the starboard side of the bridge,
Oh, and the Captain's steward was called the Tiger Steward.

Small correction Captains Tiger.
Cabin off the bridge was called the Captains sea cabin. Most of the time I was on there it was used as a storage room.
Don't forget that when I was on their until Dec 88, ALL Deck officers had to have their Masters liscense, so they were entitled to be Captains in their own right.

[Rod]

Regarding Wardroom coctail parties:
I was Wardroom President on 2 occasions.
At the start of the voyage the president would be given a pax list including VIP list. VIP list would include both long time pax, disgruntled pax and celebs.
It was up to the W/R Pres to pick from the lis....but also from invites from individual Officers. The celebs etc were invited to make up the numbers. When I was Pres. The magic number was 80. So if the Officers asked for invites for 40 guests 40 would come from the VIP list. I also used to pick a few names at random. Just to give the no names a little thankyou. I also used to listen to some cabin stewards...They might stop me and say...well this little old lady is just getting over the loss of her husband of 50 years...her kids sent her on a cruise with no friends etc etc...."Come on UP!"
When I greeted them at the W/R door and they said something like " I dont know why I was invited" I would say " Because the Officers wanted you here!"

[Twynkle]

QE2's 8 - 13 May 1994 Southampton to New York crossing was designated as her official Silver Anniversary Crossing to mark the 25th Anniversary of her first crossing to New York (2 - 7 May 1969).

The Central Office of Information sent a photographer (Alan Chandler) on that voyage and below are some portraits he captured - of Commodore Bil Warwick who was sailing with his son Ron. And of Commodore Burton-Hall who was in command that trip.

Hello Michael,

These are Fantastic photos -Thank you so much.

The Captain's Office is stunning - both in design, as well as furnishings.
Please - did it remain exactly how it is here until 2008?
Hoping so - very, very much.
This must have been one of the Best cabin/ rooms at sea - Ever!
The wood - is it genuine paneling varnished, or were the 'wall's given the same treatment as those for example in C stairway on QM2?
The lighting too - that is superb.
Plaques, pictures and The Bell, and the lovely chairs and table,  - are these all catalogued and safe?
It looks as if there may be a ceremonial sword above the bookshelf.

I wonder who designed it - and if it was always the same?
Keeping fingers tightly crossed that none of it has been destroyed.
(PS - No Desktop or anything remotely like it.
PPS - It would be intriguing to know if that was an antique tantalus - can you see it?!

Rosie.

[Michael Gallagher]

For Rosie:

QE2's overall design co-ordinator, Dennis Lennon, designed the Captains Cabin free of charge as a gift to Cunard. As you can see the cabin originally had a totally different layout with the bedroom off the Dayroom and the Chief Engineer alongside the Dayroom to give him a view out front! That was changed in 1966 to a more compact design and gave only the Captain a forward view.

Here are the respective layouts together with Dennis Lennon's concept and how the cabin looked in 2008.

[Olivia]

That’s a lovely red dress the captain has 

[Thomas Hypher]

From what I could deduce in Dubai, from what I've heard and also seen looking in to the corridor just behind the cabin from the bit beneath the bridge, the captain's cabin is being turned into at least two suites which I think will be somewhere around the penthouse but not grand suite level (top still) in the hotel system's room grade hierarchy. Workers were busy on the area the times I was up there but seemed to be nearing completion.

[Michael Gallagher]

Apologies - I thought I'd attached the original layout of the Captains Cabin to my post. I have below (top pic) and reattached the final layout of the room (bottom pic) for easy reference.