00:00I sailed on this ship 15 times, yeah, from 1979 up till then. So naturally it
00:12changed over the years as you'd expect. The Golden Lion pub was installed in
00:181986 when they re-engined the ship. Originally it had steam engines and they
00:24were always breaking down, sometimes in mid-Atlantic. And on one occasion they
00:30took the passengers off the ship in mid-Atlantic and in the lifeboats. But
00:35they served champagne in the lifeboats. This hasn't changed. I can see that. This
00:39hasn't changed at all. Exactly the same. The QE2 was the only cruise ship in
00:44those days and it was the only ship conducting transatlantic sailings. So it
00:49was that or nothing. I've always sort of been attracted to the sea for some
00:53reason. I don't know what it is. It goes way back to when I was just so big. I
00:57thought someday I'll sail on a ship. And that was how it came about. The Ace
01:01Aircase is the only one on the ship that goes from the top right to the bottom.
01:07And you can look right down the depth of the entire ship all the way down.
01:12So things have not changed? No, that hasn't changed that much. The decor has
01:18been changed. The carpets have been changed, some of them. I see they put
01:22in windows and things like that here. And it's a little bit bigger. But it's
01:26still, it's the same shop. So this is the Queen's Grill lounge? Lounge, lounge. You'd
01:34come in here and have cocktails before dinner or lunch. Sit around here and
01:38there's canapes and all the rest of it. This is for the top paying passengers.
01:43The Queen's Grill. Were you one of those? Yes. It was formal everywhere. Everywhere.
01:51Yeah. You walk out with just a sea of tuxedos and evening gowns and all the
01:56rest of it. And so everybody had their very best of behavior. Very civilized.
02:09There used to be a table for six right there where the piano is. They've taken
02:15it out. But that's where I used to sit all the time. A few times. The serving
02:23station is still there. But a few times I sat down at the other end. Back at the
02:28back a couple of times. But this was my favorite table. Because I used to sit
02:31there and survey the whole place.
02:368209. Yes. Yes, I'm home.
02:44Now they've moved. Ah, is this? Yes. I thought so. Yes. You can check out the
02:53facilities here. This is it. I always requested this room. Why? Because this is
03:00the highest in the ship. The highest for the grade of accommodation that I
03:05requested. This was a single cabin. Just a single cabin. Now it's a double as you can
03:10see. But everything, the decor's all changed. They put in this flat TV. There
03:15used to be a TV here in the corner. But the bathroom is the same. The walk-in
03:23closet is still the same. Naturally they would put, the carpet is all new.
03:27Naturally you'd expect these things. So I used to come home at 2 a.m. and I'd look
03:35out the window here at the sea going by. Huge waves all over. Yeah, now naturally,
03:43yeah. But this was the best room on the ship as far as I was concerned.
03:46Normally I didn't sit here like this. I usually slept.
03:51Yeah, this has totally changed. This is, there was nothing like this.
04:09What do you remember of this? They, back in the glory days, they had skeet shooting here. Right down on
04:16the stern they would have skeet shooting. So that you could fire when the ship is
04:20moving. You'd move away. There was no chance of getting shot. There was a place
04:23for the band. And I don't know, now here I don't see any place for the band. And
04:29this is where, this guy, Colin Bryant's Hot Rhythm Orchestra played here. They
04:35sang here. And on those nights it was standing room only. It was jam-packed. And
04:41a lot of the officers came here and mingled with the passengers. And we
04:45listened to all this great music. After dinner and after the show we'd all come
04:49to the Golden Lion. Yeah, packed. It was standing room only. If you didn't get
04:55here early you couldn't sit down. But it was much smaller than this. It's been
04:59expanded in both directions. There used to be a puzzle, a big big big table with
05:06a puzzle here. You know these puzzles where you put the, a jigsaw puzzle, yeah a jigsaw puzzle.
05:14And so anybody passing by could stop and put a couple of pieces in it. And until
05:18by the end of the voyage it's all put together. Well naturally it brings back
05:22memories. It would, wouldn't it after all? Yeah. Especially when you had such a
05:26great time on it.
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