Resorts at Sea: January update

During a typical ocean liner's career, her decor was rarely, if ever, changed. She would go in for her annual overhaul, and given and good scrubbing inside and out, top to bottom. When done, she looked as good as the first day she sailed. Furniture may have been reupholstered, but it was renewed, not changed to reflect current trends.

This was the case -- from what I can determine -- for all major ocean liners. Ships like the Queen Mary, Christoforo Columbo, and Rotterdam may have received mechanical upgrades over the years, but the interiors were left alone. I can't remember where I read this, but the woodwork on the Rotterdam contained varieties so rare, repairs had to be made from other pieces of wood already on board.

Now I did find one instance where the Cabin Class Dining Room on the United States was repainted from a midnight blue to beige. Mmm ... beige ... *yawn*

(above) A rendering of the Cabin Class Dining Room on the United States

in the original midnight blue. (below) I started to repaint the walls

in beige, but since that color is so boring, I started to doze off.

Today's cruise ships are frequently overhauled. New amenities are needed to compete. Public spaces are added, renovated, or completely redesigned. Despite being advertised as one of the last ocean liners, the QE2 received more face lifts than Joan Rivers. Her original late '60s mod designs slowly gave way to a traditional British Art Deco as the company embraced its heritage. Which was a good thing, I don't think a room looking like a set from 2001: A Space Odyssey could really carry it off today.

It was frequently the case for the retired or laid-up American passenger ship to find new owners overseas. Holland America took Moore-McCormack's Argentina and Brasil. Chinese interests picked up APL's Presidents Cleveland and Wilson, plus two of the "4 Aces." Several Greek companies bought the pre-World War 2 Grace and Matson liners. Perhaps the biggest "get" was Chandris' acquisition of USL's America upon her retirement in 1964.

The America from a postcard in my collection. Under ownership

by Chandris, her dummy forward funnel was removed. Two days after

 she ran aground in 1994, she broke apart just behind the second funnel,

roughly in front of the last three lifeboats.

As cruising took hold, these ships would see numerous overhauls as they changed owners, usually increased capacity with more cabins and/or more berths in existing ones. While the America would see these changes as the Australis, her public spaces remained virtually unchanged from 1939.

In fact, those areas were remarkably well preserved up to the point when, while under tow to Asia for transformation into a floating hotel, her tow chains broke during bad weather and she ran aground off one of the islands in the Canary chain in 1994. While scavengers ransacked her for any piece of brass or copper they could lay their hands on, it's tough to say whether any of interior decoration made it off. Doubtful, as some murals were up to 20 feet long; tough to carry down a rickety ladder welded to the hull.

Parts of this Charles Baskerville mural around the Main Lounge

entrance on the America were still visible after her grounding

in 1994. This August 1940 image is part of the Gottscho-Schleisner

Collection in the Library of Congress.

Whatever didn't make it off was slowly destroyed over the next dozen years as nature slowly wore her down, each wave scooping out her insides. If any pieces did survive, who knows where they're at now.