In mid-September we learned that Peter Shanks, President and Managing Director of the world famous Cunard Line would be arriving in the Port of Los Angeles aboard the Island Princess on Sunday, September 25 and wished to visit and tour our beautiful Queen. We were delighted and deeply honored by such a prestigious request. Cunard has now been the gold standard of ocean travel for over 170 years and operates one of the youngest, finest, fleets on the sea: Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria, and the brand new Queen Elizabeth.
Over the next week, all hands turned out with that extra “spit and polish” to make sure the Queen Mary was “shipshape and Bristol fashion” for England’s chief shipping exec.
Sunday the 25th dawned a cloudy, overcast, blue-gray day with mild temperatures. The Queen Mary is at home on these days with her three giant Cunard red smokestacks as big as castles, contrasting with the opaque sky. She could have been in Southampton about to board passengers for another crossing of the North Atlantic. I arrived on board just after 6 a.m. to make sure all was in place for the Managing Director’s ten o’clock arrival. There were a few last minute details I busied myself with, but most everything was in place. I was thriving with anticipation. The Queen Mary’s interiors were bathed in soft pink lighting. The autumnal colors of the striking English carpet shone lovely against the silver bronze and Brazilian Peroba wood paneling of the Grand Salon. We had a full ship this weekend and she was teaming with life. The Cunard house flag as well as the British Red Ensign had been struck for the occasion and were flapping in the gentle morning breeze. I went down on the wharf just before the appointed time to find the welcoming QM VIP’s already on hand and beaming with good humor and excitement. They included: Brian Panozzo, QM Director of Operations; QM Captain, Will Kayne; and QM ship’s photographer, Carol Cochrane.
At exactly 10 a.m., a shiny black Lincoln Town Car pulled up at the entrance canopy. From the driver’s seat stepped out Brian O’Connor, Cunard’s Director of Marketing in the U.S. He briskly opened the rear door and out stepped a smiling Peter Shanks. After introductions, Mr. O’Connor took his leave of us and the VIP party proceeded to a specially chosen table in the Grand Salon. Champagne Sunday Brunch was under way, and this room of stunning majesty was alive with music, people, and the wonderful smell of good food.
Once at table, coffee and champagne were served, and toasts were made to the Queen Mary, as well as the Cunard Line. Our distinguished guest was on a tight schedule, so after a half hour or so, we cast off on our tour through our once Cunard flagship. We took a nearby elevator to the Sun Deck where we walked forward under the lifeboats over the Mary’s Burmese teak decks, and eventually climed to Queen Mary’s flying bridge. (When touring the massive liner, it is always easier to start at the top and work one’s way down!) Captain Kayne looked almost as if he could be from some Jules Vern tale, and looked particularly smart in his dress white uniform as he and Peter chatted amongst all the navigational equipment in the wheelhouse.
Our next stop just below the bridge was the Captain’s quarters where Carol snapped some fine shots of the Managing Director sitting at the Captain’s desk in his dayroom. Other areas seen on the Sundeck were the Radio room, Verandah Grill, our signature restaurant Sir Winston’s, and the adjoining piano bar where I was thrilled to show off the African Cherry Steinway that was once in the Main Lounge when the Queen was at sea. We then made our way forward to the Main Hall on Promenade Deck where well cared for historical exhibits, the Observation Bar, Queen’s Salon, Royal Salon, and our wedding chapel were viewed with great interest and intrigue. Captain Kayne did a fine job of explanation on all the artwork in the various rooms.
We also visited our signature shop, ‘Stacks Aboard the Queen Mary’, where Peter was shown the uniform of one of Cunard’s most famous captains, Commodore Geoffrey Marr. Commodore Marr served many years over his life in the Queen Mary and eventually rose to be one of her 33 captains and was the very last captain of the Queen Mary’s splendid sister, the Queen Elizabeth. This uniform is the pride and joy of my personal collection as I knew the Commodore, often visiting him in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Commodore Marr was Staff Captain of the Queen Mary in 1954 and was personal liaison to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, when she travelled in the Royal Suite in the Queen Mary upon her return to England from a goodwill tour of Canada and the United States.
Many areas were toured including the Britannia Salon, the first-class Travel Bureau, and the Royal Suite, where the President of the Cunard Line took great pleasure in examining a porcelain wash basin baring his family’s name, still in pristine condition after 75 years of use! And, naturally, no visit to the Queen Mary is complete without a trip into the depths of her massive Engine Room.
All too soon time began to run short, and after another brief stop in Stacks to present Mr. Shanks with a small token of appreciation from Queen Mary management for his interest and time, Captain Kayne and I then accompanied this English gentleman forward to the Observation Bar where we chatted a short time more while we awaited his car to drive him to the airport. A conversation I found most interesting, cordial, and down-to-earth. As the Observation Bar clock ticked 1:15 p.m., it was time for Cunard’s top man to take his leave of us, and Captain Kayne and I escorted him pier side for his departure. One of his last comments to me was, “You really love what you do, don’t you?” Which I took as a great compliment. My reply was instant, “Indeed, I do, Sir, but I also love what you do!”
It was a proud day for the Queen Mary and all her ship’s company. For me, it was another fantastic dream come true.
Long Live the Queens,
Everette Hoard, Retail Manager
Chief Keir was born, raised and still lives in Clydebank Scotland where the Queen’s Mary, Elizabeth, & Elizabeth 2 were built. As a matter of fact Ronnie’s father helped build the Queen Mary at John Brown’s yard in the 1930’s. The chief started his apprenticeship as a lad of 16 at John Brown in 1965 and was present for the laying of the keel of the Queen Elizabeth 2. He worked in the many machine shops around the yard and one of his jobs at that time was to remove the burr (excess steel fragments) from the thousands of grooves in the turbine reduction gears -by hand- using a file. A job the chief refers to as a “character builder”!
Chief Ronnie was thrilled to see our lovely Queen. He went through our engine room and with great knowledge and expertise identified every switch, valve, pump, sump, nut, bolt, rivet, plate, line, collar, sleeve, bearing, blade, wire, telegraph…..you get the picture!! It was an amazing experience. He was also shown the splendors of the Grand, Queen’s & Royal Salons as well as the Chief Engineer’s and Captains quarters before going up to the navigation bridge. We ended our tour in the Observation Bar where a toast was made to the Chief, our Queen ships, and Cunard.
