Monday April 17, 2023
A fascinating lecture by Dr. Stephen Payne, designer of the Queen Mary 2, talking about the history and design of the Queen Mary 2 in the theatre of Queen Mary 2. A very unique experience to hear the story of how watching the TV program “The Blue Peter” convinced him to be a Maritime design engineer, despite his school teachers trying to persuade him to continue in Chemistry as the need for designers of Transatlantic vessels were relegate to history as all will be flying across the Atlantic. One professor did believe in his dream and he took the route that landed him in the design team of Carnival that owns Cunard. He was given the directive to build an ocean liner (not a cruise ship) and was given US$1 Billion budget. He designed and came in on time and just under budget. Today to build a Queen Mary 2 would cost about $2 Billion. The design showed a much more pointed bow and double steel reinforced, more passenger room inside as crossing the North Atlantic can have conditions where it is not good to be outside. He designed the main Britannia Restaurant as close to the center of the ship so it would have the least amount of rocking back and forth during dinner. Overall, it was designed to be able to travel at the regular speed across the Atlantic, irrespective of the conditions, so as to make sure that the crossing between UK and New York City is always on-time.
Diane James spoke about the crime of the Princes in the Tower of London that were killed by suffocation in their beds. They were the rightful heirs, but through various trickeries Richard, who wanted the throne was able to claim it once the Princes were dead. She described the various scenarios and people with motive and opportunity, as if the case were being presented in a court today.
We decided on lunch at the main dining room and sat near an interesting British couple that we had not seen before even though we had been traveling with them for 4 months! After Dinner in formal Gala attire, we opted to go to the Commodore Club and have a drink, the first time on this trip we had done that even though it was our usual after dinner hang out on other voyages. It was the Cunard Singers and Dancers, that were doing another show in the theatre, which we have seen several times. They are very good, but after a few times, we decided to do something different.
Roger & Anne Travels 