The arrival in New York Harbor of the gigantic ocean liner S.S. Normandie in 1035 inaugurated a new era in transatlantic travel. The Normandie set new standards of luxury and speed, steadiness, comfort and safety when traveling aboard ship.

The Royal Mail Ship TITANIC was the last grand dream of the Gilded Age. It was designed to be the greatest achievement of an era of prosperity, confidence and propriety. Although no one knew it, the world was about to change drastically. Radio had been invented in 1901. The Wright Brothers’ first successful flight was in 1903. The old presumptions about class, morals, and gender-roles were about to be shattered. If the concept of Titanic was the climax of the age, then perhaps its sinking was the curtain that marked the end of the old drama, and the start of a new one.

RMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line (known as Cunard-White Star Line when the vessel entered service). Built by John Brown & Company … Read More

The Queen Mary was a modern ship. The British combination of traditionalism and modernity was considered too sterile by the some critics of the 1930^s. But whatever said, the Queen Mary was a beautiful ship – inside and out. Her interiors had over fifty different woods, collected from all over the British Empire. Inside the Queen Mary’s staterooms, you could easily make out that you were on a ship. Previous liners had disguised their interiors to palaces and manor houses, but the Queen was not afraid of looking like a ship. Around the vessel nautical touches were displayed and the round portholes were proudly exposed. The first class lounge was a two deck high creation with little groups of tables and chairs cosily put together around fireplaces and in the room’s corners. But perhaps the highlight of the ship was her first class dining saloon. The long tables of the old ocean liners had been long gone, and just as in the lounge the tables were grouped with two to four chairs a each. For larger companies bigger tables were naturally available. On the short-side wall a giant map of the Atlantic was mounted. It showed the exact position of the Queen Mary during a transatlantic voyage. When Queen Elizabeth entered service after the war, you could see the position of the sister-vessel as well, and thereby knowing when they would meet on the Atlantic. The first class accommodations were vast with plenty of elbow room, all with a light touch of Art Deco, the new type of art introduced by the Île de France in 1927. One beloved feature was the small and exclusive Verandah Grill, just below the main mast. The Queen Mary had been intended to have three classes: First, Second and Third.