0:00:22 > 0:00:25MUSIC: TRUMPET SOLO
0:00:25 > 0:00:29The Queen Mary is the oldest surviving Transatlantic liner,
0:00:29 > 0:00:33one of the great ships that plied the ocean routes at high speed,
0:00:33 > 0:00:36in old world luxury and in all weathers.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39A little bit of England floating across the Atlantic.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45She now rests in gentle retirement in the warm sunshine of Long Beach, California
0:00:45 > 0:00:47as a hotel and tourist attraction.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54The Queen Mary is a reminder of the post-war decades when national pride and prestige were at stake
0:00:54 > 0:01:01as countries competed to build the most magnificent ships on the great ocean routes.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04Come on in, come on in.
0:01:04 > 0:01:13This was the social and shopping area for the first class passengers.
0:01:13 > 0:01:20And only for... the first class passengers.
0:01:20 > 0:01:28Before the jet age, liners carried passengers and goods en masse across the oceans from A to B.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32They linked the world, essentially, and they made the modern world possible.
0:01:32 > 0:01:39The Americans, with the steamship, United States had the fastest.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41The Dutch had the elegant, Rotterdam,
0:01:41 > 0:01:43the Italians the sleek Michelangelo
0:01:43 > 0:01:50and the French had the France as their supreme symbol of national culture and cuisine.
0:01:50 > 0:01:56Great ships that, like the Queen Mary, were envied, admired and even loved.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03The coming of the jet liner and the '60s assault on class and privilege
0:02:03 > 0:02:07should have swept this world away, but somehow it clung on.
0:02:07 > 0:02:15Today, more people than ever travel on big ships, ships that have a modern take on glamour and romance.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21The beauty of the ships is that they are technological masterpieces.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25Each has a character and personality of their own
0:02:25 > 0:02:30and they become much loved by the people who travel in them.
0:02:30 > 0:02:34And one great liner still travels the North Atlantic.
0:02:36 > 0:02:43Against the odds, the Queen Mary 2 carries on in the grand tradition of the long gone liners of old.
0:02:51 > 0:02:58# Gonna take a sentimental journey Gonna... #
0:02:58 > 0:03:02As peace dawned after the Second World War, Britain alone was ready
0:03:02 > 0:03:06to reopen the great sea route between the old and new worlds,
0:03:06 > 0:03:10firm in the belief that pre-war elegance and glamour
0:03:10 > 0:03:12could be seamlessly welded to a post-war world.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18MUSIC: FANFARE PLAYS
0:03:24 > 0:03:30ARCHIVE: On July 29th, the Mary left Southampton on a two day trial in the Channel.
0:03:30 > 0:03:36From Captain C G Illingworth downwards, to a crew of 1260,
0:03:36 > 0:03:40everybody was busy getting used to their jobs on the reconverted liner.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45BBC cameras on board recorded these typical scenes.
0:03:45 > 0:03:50Soon, everything was going on much as it did in the pre-war days,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53and as it will on many Atlantic crossing in the future.
0:03:53 > 0:03:59At the end of the Second World War, Cunard's Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth practically had the
0:03:59 > 0:04:00Atlantic to themselves,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04they were the last of the large, prestigious liners
0:04:04 > 0:04:08to have survived intact from the 1930s with their original owners.
0:04:12 > 0:04:18With the Elizabeth and the Mary, the Cunard Line had both the largest and fastest liners afloat.
0:04:18 > 0:04:24And with their associations with royalty, they were an ad-man's dream.
0:04:24 > 0:04:31For a few short years, these ships maintained the illusion that Britain still ruled the waves.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34The Queen Mary had a real aura,
0:04:34 > 0:04:39there was a whole generation of people who absolutely adored her.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56She had that glorious rich timber interior.
0:04:56 > 0:05:01Slightly old-fashioned, when it was put in.
0:05:01 > 0:05:06It appealed to the class of people she was built to attract.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11I do have a strong affection for the Queen Mary, the first Queen Mary,
0:05:11 > 0:05:13which of course is now in Long Beach
0:05:13 > 0:05:17as a floating hotel, convention centre and all the rest of it.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21And when you go there, you see this huge black hull
0:05:21 > 0:05:24with literally millions of rivets.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27She wasn't welded, she was riveted,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30and these three, huge Cunard red funnels.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34And, you go on board and it is like stepping back
0:05:34 > 0:05:38into the 1930s and 1940s when she was in her heyday,
0:05:38 > 0:05:42when she was the fastest passenger ship in the world.
0:05:42 > 0:05:47Are we ready, guys? Very good, this way please.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49This is the behind-the-scenes, yes.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54If you get one of the original cabins if you stay at the hotel,
0:05:54 > 0:05:59again you can imagine yourself in the 1930s.
0:05:59 > 0:06:04The taps, tap for salt water as well as fresh water.
0:06:04 > 0:06:11A myriad of taps on this huge bath, rather than just a shower.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14It is a wonderful experience.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17FLUSHING
0:06:17 > 0:06:21Also, in the bathrooms at that time, the towel racks where electrically heated.
0:06:21 > 0:06:26When you stepped out of the tub,
0:06:26 > 0:06:32you would have a nice, warm towel to wrap yourself in.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36During the war, the United States had to rely on the great Cunard
0:06:36 > 0:06:40liners to move her army across the Atlantic for the D-Day landings.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43Her war record is phenomenal.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45In July of 1943,
0:06:45 > 0:06:50she carried 16,683 human beings.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54That still stands as the largest number of human beings ever
0:06:54 > 0:06:57transported on one vessel in the history of the world.
0:07:02 > 0:07:08In the growing chill of the Cold War, America wanted her own independent means of moving armies.
0:07:08 > 0:07:13A ship that, like the two Queens could transport whole divisions,
0:07:13 > 0:07:15so fast that no submarine could threaten her.
0:07:18 > 0:07:23In 1952, she launched the largest American passenger ship ever built.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25The SS United States.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30A passenger liner that could be converted within 18 hours to work as a troopship.
0:07:30 > 0:07:36Winston Churchill said that the Cunard Queens during the war
0:07:36 > 0:07:39collectively shortened the war by nearly a year
0:07:39 > 0:07:42because of their huge transport potential.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46And certainly after the war, the Americans seized on this
0:07:46 > 0:07:49and decided they had to have a ship of their own.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54So funds were appropriated and directed to the United States Lines
0:07:54 > 0:07:59to build a new troopship come liner which was the SS United States.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03DANCE MUSIC PLAYS
0:08:03 > 0:08:07In true American tradition, this baby was fast and a real gas guzzler.
0:08:07 > 0:08:13On her maiden voyage, she smashed the Atlantic record known as the Blue Riband, taking 10 hours off
0:08:13 > 0:08:20the Queen Mary's time and set a record for a passenger liner which remains unchallenged to this day.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25The main attraction of the United States was her speed.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30The accommodation was very modern, very tastefully decorated,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33but in comparison to the Queens and
0:08:33 > 0:08:37the other great ships of state, it was rather austere.
0:08:39 > 0:08:44As a small boy, naval architect, Stephen Payne was captured on home
0:08:44 > 0:08:48cine film when the mighty United States sailed into Southampton.
0:08:49 > 0:08:54On sea trials, it's rumoured that that ship achieved some 45 knots.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59When you are equate knots to mph, it is over 50 mph.
0:08:59 > 0:09:06I always enjoy saying to my American friends that had that ship been sailing down
0:09:06 > 0:09:11an American highway in the 1950s, she would've got a speeding ticket!
0:09:13 > 0:09:20Designed for military action, she was fitted with aircraft-carrier engines and fire-resistant asbestos
0:09:20 > 0:09:24to replace the opulent panelling of the Cunard Queens.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29The only wood onboard the United States was said to be the piano and the butcher's block.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33What the United States had in terms of speed,
0:09:33 > 0:09:36I'm afraid she didn't match
0:09:36 > 0:09:38the Queen Mary in terms of luxury.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40BELL RINGS
0:09:44 > 0:09:51Luxury was what the Queen Mary was about and in first class, it was about as good as it gets.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54ARCHIVE: 150 chefs cooking for critical, hungry mouths.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59Fare-paying passengers eating their money's worth all the way,
0:09:59 > 0:10:03taking five days off and putting 14lbs on.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09Hope I see you in good health tonight and I hope good appetite?
0:10:13 > 0:10:18I must congratulate you gentlemen on your choice of ladies.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20REFINED LAUGHTER
0:10:21 > 0:10:24ARCHIVE: Now, what is it like aboard?
0:10:24 > 0:10:30Like the society she was built for, the Queen Mary is rigidly divided by class.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34First class, cabin class and tourist.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38Only money makes it possible to rise from one class to another.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40That is the segregation gate, madam.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45I don't think you can mix
0:10:45 > 0:10:50Claridges and the Regent Palace can you really? I suppose you can...
0:10:52 > 0:10:56But if you are in the Regent Palace, you are in the Regent Palace, if you are in Claridges, it's Claridges!
0:10:56 > 0:11:03ARCHIVE: If you want to travel first class, you can have a small cabin with no porthole for £178.
0:11:03 > 0:11:09But a suite for two people is over £1,000 one way!
0:11:09 > 0:11:14If you don't feel up to the first class, there is the cabin class at the rear of the ship,
0:11:14 > 0:11:17gently vibrating over the propeller shafts.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20This costs £120 or so.
0:11:20 > 0:11:25Squeezed up in the bows there is room for 560 tourist passengers.
0:11:25 > 0:11:31# It was sad when the great ship went down to the bottom of the husbands and wives, children... #
0:11:31 > 0:11:35ARCHIVE: There, you can get a cabin for just under £100,
0:11:35 > 0:11:37but you'll will probably have to share for five days.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41# Oh, it was sad, it was sad... #
0:11:41 > 0:11:43RATTLING OF COCKTAIL MIXERS
0:11:43 > 0:11:50Life in the first class can be a round of cocktail parties beginning with the captain's reception.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54Good evening Mrs Keegan, welcome, nice to see you.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Captain Simmons, Mrs Keegan.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02- How do you do?- Good evening, sir. How do you do? Would you like to both come through...
0:12:02 > 0:12:07I believe basically there are three different kinds of people, yes.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12You take a menu to a first class passenger, he knows exactly what he wants. He can pick out...
0:12:12 > 0:12:16things and doesn't require much explanation of the dishes.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19But if you show it to a great majority of the tourist passengers,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22you show them the menu and they say, what is this?
0:12:22 > 0:12:25If it is in French, they don't understand the menu properly.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29Which is quite in order, everybody is happy to serve them.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32But you do find they are definitely different.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41ARCHIVE: Up in the first class, you can eat when you like, what you like
0:12:41 > 0:12:44and as much as you like.
0:12:44 > 0:12:51- A Waldorf salad... - And I'll have the artichokes.
0:12:51 > 0:12:57- I think I'll have the ribs of beef. - Ribs of beef.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59Very well done, you know.
0:12:59 > 0:13:02- Well done.- Cremated?- Yes.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06You couldn't even fly across the Atlantic in those days, so you had the cream
0:13:06 > 0:13:09of the world's traffic, if you like,
0:13:09 > 0:13:14the European, American, the British traffic travelling.
0:13:14 > 0:13:20You had all the government officials, actors, actresses, the chairmen of the big companies,
0:13:20 > 0:13:27both American, European and even the Russians used to travel with us in the main suites.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31I don't think you would have such a gathering anywhere in the world as you did in those days.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34It used to be terribly chic and fun,
0:13:34 > 0:13:36I am snobby enough to like it.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38Everyone dressed for dinner.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42Nowadays people come down in the most extraordinary clothes.
0:13:42 > 0:13:47Every night looks like a fancy dress party and...
0:13:47 > 0:13:50it used to be such fun. It was chic.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55Ladies, gentlemen, boys and girls,
0:13:55 > 0:13:57enter!
0:13:57 > 0:14:01You have just entered...
0:14:01 > 0:14:06one of the most beautiful rooms
0:14:06 > 0:14:10on board this ship.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14She is three decks high.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18This room was filled with overstuffed chairs and couches.
0:14:18 > 0:14:24During the day, passengers would come into this room to socialise with other passengers
0:14:24 > 0:14:28or just listen to music.
0:14:28 > 0:14:34Now, at that time, dinner was never, ever served in this room,
0:14:34 > 0:14:40but promptly at 4:00pm each day, tea was served.
0:14:40 > 0:14:47After the tea was served, they would play games such as...bingo.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51ARCHIVE: Eyes down, look in, think lucky, you'll be lucky.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55The first lucky number, 2-0, 20.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59Blind 60, 6-0, 60.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03Two little ducks on the water, 22.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05ALL: Quack, quack!
0:15:10 > 0:15:18The '50s were golden years for the Cunard Line, as post-war austerity blossomed into post-war boom.
0:15:20 > 0:15:26Soon, every nation desired a share of the prestige and the profits.
0:15:29 > 0:15:35In the '50s, Manhattan became a parking lot for the finest liners the world had ever seen -
0:15:35 > 0:15:39the national flag carriers, the ships of state.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43So, there was enormous competition between the great lines
0:15:43 > 0:15:50to see who could have the best ships and the ships that showed the better face of their countries of origin.
0:15:50 > 0:15:57The SS Rotterdam was the first of a new breed of European ships to carry their nation's flag and pride.
0:15:57 > 0:16:02The Holland America lines, succeeded not on speed or size,
0:16:02 > 0:16:07but by designing a dual-purpose ship that was at least a decade ahead of its time.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10The watchwords at the time were size and speed.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13You were either the biggest or you were the fastest.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17The Dutch said, no, that era is over
0:16:17 > 0:16:22and what they planned was a smaller ship,
0:16:22 > 0:16:29by today's standards a very small ship, although in her day she was in the top 10, but only just.
0:16:29 > 0:16:35And she wasn't particularly fast, she was designed to do the trip from Rotterdam to New York,
0:16:35 > 0:16:37I think in seven or eight days,
0:16:37 > 0:16:43rather than the four and a half to five from Southampton that Cunard were doing.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47The Dutch alone seemed to see the future.
0:16:47 > 0:16:54A future where the liner crossing had less importance and the real profits lay in cruising.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58With the Rotterdam, the Dutch had re-cast the role of the liner,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01but everyone else continued playing yesterday's game.
0:17:04 > 0:17:10The Italians dressed their national colours on the sleek Michelangelo and her companion, the Raffaello.
0:17:10 > 0:17:16Bold and beautiful ships designed for a new Italian Renaissance.
0:17:16 > 0:17:23The Italian line was very proud to represent the best of post-war Italian design.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26The top architects were commissioned to design the ships -
0:17:26 > 0:17:33and they had a wonderful mix of minimalism with Italian flamboyance.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40But more than any other nation, it was de Gaulle's France
0:17:40 > 0:17:44that wished to recreate the pre-war glory of its ocean liners.
0:17:44 > 0:17:51All French hopes were placed in one showpiece ship called simply, the France.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54The longest in the world by just four feet.
0:17:58 > 0:18:03It was a ship for the rich and the fashionable in their bijou apartment suites.
0:18:03 > 0:18:072000 passengers pampered by over 1200 crew.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10The French Line ships were legendary.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14It was said more seagulls followed French Line ships than
0:18:14 > 0:18:21of any other company, hoping to catch delectable bits of haute cuisine thrown out from the galley.
0:18:23 > 0:18:27I think this was terrifically important to France,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30the country itself, its culture, its design values,
0:18:30 > 0:18:33its engineering, were there to be seen.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36Very much, the France was very much
0:18:36 > 0:18:41a national flag carrier in that truest sense of a ship of state.
0:18:41 > 0:18:46She was very, very much a statement of France afloat.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51Originally they were going to build two fairly modestly-sized liners,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53but during the de Gaulle era,
0:18:53 > 0:19:00there really was the need for some great nationalist, prestigious project.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03And he chose the building of a great new liner
0:19:03 > 0:19:09which became the SS France, which entered service in 1962.
0:19:09 > 0:19:13FRENCH COMMENTARY
0:19:13 > 0:19:20But even as these bold, new ships enjoyed their maiden voyages, dark clouds appeared overhead.
0:19:20 > 0:19:26Jet aircraft started to cross the Atlantic non-stop in hours rather than days.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30The jet age was a body blow for the Atlantic liner companies.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34At first they didn't know how to respond.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37They'd been coining money during the 1950s,
0:19:37 > 0:19:42suddenly just over a decade later, passenger numbers were dropping off.
0:19:42 > 0:19:49I think what's sometimes forgotten in those early days of airline travel, it was extremely expensive.
0:19:49 > 0:19:56What happened was, the early airliners were taking out the first class passengers
0:19:56 > 0:20:03and it was the first class passengers, essentially, who were paying the profits.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07# Volare, oh, oh... #
0:20:07 > 0:20:15Even in the late 1960s, Cunard were attempting to operate a year-round Transatlantic service.
0:20:15 > 0:20:20And certainly in the latter years of their life, the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth,
0:20:20 > 0:20:26sailing in the middle of winter would sail with more crew members than they had passengers on board.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31Chic travel had moved to the skies.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34A new term was coined, the jet set for a group of the rich
0:20:34 > 0:20:40and famous who lived La Dolce Vita in New York, London, Paris or Rome.
0:20:40 > 0:20:46The whole imagery of air travel began to dominate the culture.
0:20:46 > 0:20:53So liners began to look increasingly dowdy, no matter how modern the ships themselves were.
0:20:53 > 0:20:59That was a real problem. Suddenly, young boys wanted to be airline pilots
0:20:59 > 0:21:06rather than work on ships, for example, because that whole culture was the fashionable thing.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13Although the Transatlantic lines enjoy the prestige,
0:21:13 > 0:21:17the other great sea routes were where most of the money was made.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20The routes to Australia and New Zealand were popular, lucrative
0:21:20 > 0:21:25and effectively out of reach of long-range jets for the next decade.
0:21:25 > 0:21:31From the early '60s onwards, the premier ship on the six week route to Australia was P&O's Canberra.
0:21:33 > 0:21:39The Peninsular and Orient Line had great success serving these long-distance passengers.
0:21:39 > 0:21:44Longer routes such as the routes from the UK to South Africa
0:21:44 > 0:21:50and the route down to Australia were still viable.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53Now, these ships were still liners in the true sense,
0:21:53 > 0:21:58but they were quite different from the Atlantic liners because they had to travel further distances
0:21:58 > 0:22:05before refuelling and they also carried, invariably, a lot more cargo than the Transatlantic ships.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10Liners went all over the world, just as airlines today.
0:22:10 > 0:22:17And looking at this from a British perspective, throughout the whole period of the Empire,
0:22:17 > 0:22:24the way civil servants and visitors and friends and families travelled around the world was by liner.
0:22:24 > 0:22:30So whilst the Transatlantic routes had the prestige, it had the famous liners,
0:22:30 > 0:22:35they were in the minority, most liners weren't on the transatlantic route.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41Some of the most popular liners featured the lavender-coloured hulls and black and red funnels
0:22:41 > 0:22:43of the Union Castle Line.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48Ships that ran a scheduled service on the South Atlantic routes to South Africa.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52Union Castle, it ran like clockwork, literally.
0:22:52 > 0:22:58It was always said that when the Union Castle vessel blew her parting whistle at,
0:22:58 > 0:23:03I think was a 4pm on a Thursday, Southampton could set their watch by it.
0:23:04 > 0:23:09A purserette on the Edinburgh Castle during the '60s was Ann Haynes.
0:23:09 > 0:23:14Welcome to my bureau, my little office of Union Castle treasures.
0:23:14 > 0:23:20Pictures, various items of happiness and memorabilia in here.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23And of course, one of my favourite items is...
0:23:23 > 0:23:25my curtain.
0:23:25 > 0:23:30A lovely gift from a friend in South Africa, but he and his wife only gave me the one curtain,
0:23:30 > 0:23:34but isn't it lovely with all of the various Union Castle ships on it.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37Another treasure I like...
0:23:37 > 0:23:42is an advertising item from the 1960s.
0:23:42 > 0:23:47If I want to say I'm leaving on the Edinburgh Castle on a particular Friday,
0:23:47 > 0:23:52I can put the Edinburgh Castle against the day of the week for Southampton
0:23:52 > 0:23:55and then discover where the rest of the fleet are.
0:24:15 > 0:24:21It was an exciting adventure on a liner and we were on a voyage,
0:24:21 > 0:24:25going from point A, to point B, C and D and back again.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27The true liner voyage, I think.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30The cargo was varied.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34I've got records showing that things like heifers,
0:24:34 > 0:24:38cows and horses and lots of animals were carried on deck.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42Locomotives, railway locomotives were carried, all sorts of things.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47Wool from South Africa came to the UK and one of the cargoes, of course,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50was gold bullion which came from South Africa.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52I didn't know about this for a long time,
0:24:52 > 0:24:57just shows how secret it was. I didn't know about things like that.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01I was told if I could lift one, I could have one.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05You probably know how heavy they are, so of course I couldn't lift one.
0:25:06 > 0:25:12A favourite ritual on the Union Castle Line was celebrating the crossing of the equator.
0:25:15 > 0:25:20One of the ceremonies that took part on the Union Castle ships was crossing the line.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22It was very much look forward to.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27So there would be King Neptune, his queen who was usually a male,
0:25:27 > 0:25:32with things in strategic places and weird and wonderful costumes.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36There would be a policeman in a little tiny policeman's hat.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40All the victims for the crossing of the line ceremonies were volunteers.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44They knew they were going to get covered in revolting-looking things.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48You have transgressed and upset the King!
0:25:48 > 0:25:53King Neptune asked you to come here and account for your sins.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57Put in a chair and put on a table, but everybody got a certificate
0:25:57 > 0:26:00with their name on, signed by King Neptune and the date.
0:26:00 > 0:26:02Lovely certificates.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08Ann sailed her last voyage on the Edinburgh Castle in 1967.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11For her, an era had passed.
0:26:13 > 0:26:18The late '60s were also pivotal years in the lives of the transatlantic ships.
0:26:20 > 0:26:26First the jumbo jet and then Concorde captured most of the passengers
0:26:26 > 0:26:29who would have travelled by ship a decade earlier.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33The final blow is the onset of the 747.
0:26:33 > 0:26:40When flying becomes a mass market and pretty well everybody who could have afforded to cross the Atlantic
0:26:40 > 0:26:43on a liner can afford to cross the Atlantic on an airliner.
0:26:43 > 0:26:48And then the liner becomes an anachronism.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50It is the end of that era.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56No passenger line could escape the new economic reality.
0:26:56 > 0:27:01Cunard had two ageing ships in the Queens, Mary and Elizabeth.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Ships designed in the '30s for a world now gone.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08They were old-fashioned and expensive to run.
0:27:08 > 0:27:14The much-loved Queen Mary bowed out in style in a long, valedictory voyage to her new home
0:27:14 > 0:27:16in Long Beach, California.
0:27:16 > 0:27:22The Queen Mary was out at sea for 31 years, she is here in Long Beach now for 42 years.
0:27:22 > 0:27:24So, she has become
0:27:24 > 0:27:28a part of Long Beach history longer than she was out at sea.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33She is literally responsible for putting Long Beach on the map as a convention town.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37If you say, Long Beach anywhere in the world, people say Queen Mary.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40It you say Queen Mary anywhere in the world, people say Long Beach.
0:27:40 > 0:27:48She has had good days and bad days, money has been spent to try and keep her up.
0:27:48 > 0:27:53She is still a very, very fine representation of one of the old ships of state.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57ARCHIVE: On the quayside, even an American-style celebration
0:27:57 > 0:28:01is dwarfed by the huge bulk of the old lady herself.
0:28:01 > 0:28:08The final commanding captain of the Queen Mary, Captain John Treasure Jones.
0:28:11 > 0:28:17As the very last captain serving with Cunard of the Queen Mary you brought her here.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20What sort of experience did you find that last voyage?
0:28:20 > 0:28:25I found the last of voyage a thrilling experience in many ways.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28Because I knew I was bringing the ship on an adventurous voyage,
0:28:28 > 0:28:33if you like, round Cape Horn to a home where I felt she would be appreciated and
0:28:33 > 0:28:38become the jewel of the port of Long Beach and the centre of the harbour.
0:28:38 > 0:28:43So I didn't feel bad about it, in fact I was delighted to bring her here.
0:28:43 > 0:28:47From time to time during rough weather,
0:28:47 > 0:28:52the Queen Mary would rock and she would roll!
0:28:52 > 0:28:55And she would rock and she would roll!
0:28:55 > 0:29:01And if the passengers became seasick, looked a bit green
0:29:01 > 0:29:08about the face, they could look into the peach plate mirrors,
0:29:08 > 0:29:13see a healthy complexion
0:29:13 > 0:29:19and hopefully feel just a wee bit better!
0:29:22 > 0:29:26The Queen Elizabeth was always considered the Mary's dowdy sister.
0:29:26 > 0:29:30She was the unsung partner in the famous double act.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33Elizabeth was an altogether more modern ship than the Queen Mary.
0:29:33 > 0:29:39She had benefited from at least a decade's design development.
0:29:39 > 0:29:40On board, however,
0:29:40 > 0:29:43there is a bit of a paradox because the Queen Elizabeth was
0:29:43 > 0:29:49actually slightly more conservative in her design than the Queen Mary.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52She didn't have the Queen Mary's...
0:29:52 > 0:29:56cult following, to put it in a modern parlance.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00She didn't quite hit it with the punters in the same way.
0:30:00 > 0:30:06Compared with Queen Mary, she was less warm, less comforting.
0:30:06 > 0:30:12The Queen Elizabeth, she was sold to a Chinese businessman, CY Tung.
0:30:12 > 0:30:17He decided to buy the ship and rebuild her as a floating university.
0:30:17 > 0:30:24His idea was to sail the ship on long cruises with passengers and students.
0:30:24 > 0:30:30The ship was undergoing a huge rebuilding programme whilst anchoring at Hong Kong and towards the end
0:30:30 > 0:30:36of that process in January 1972, the ship suddenly caught fire.
0:30:38 > 0:30:44The final death throes of this once great ship were reported by Blue Peter's Valerie Singleton.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47'Soon, the whole ship was alight and despite all the efforts of
0:30:47 > 0:30:52'the Hong Kong Fire Brigade, it became obvious the liner was doomed.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56'For five days and nights she blazed and television viewers
0:30:56 > 0:30:58'all over the world were appalled by these pictures.'
0:30:58 > 0:31:05She caught fire in several places at once, so it's assumed it was the work of arsonists.
0:31:05 > 0:31:09And, as with the Normandy in New York during the war,
0:31:09 > 0:31:16so much water was poured onto the ship to put out the fire that it made the ship unstable
0:31:16 > 0:31:20and so she rolled over and sank and was subsequently scrapped.
0:31:20 > 0:31:27It takes a long time to cut up and carry away 83,500 tons of ocean liner.
0:31:27 > 0:31:33But every day she gets just a little bit smaller and soon even this rusting hulk will disappear.
0:31:33 > 0:31:38It's rumoured the salvage is being sold across the border to mainland China.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42It's odd to think that the imperial grandeur of RMS Queen Elizabeth
0:31:42 > 0:31:45will end her days as scrap in communist China.
0:31:45 > 0:31:53This is the Blue Peter annual from 1972, which I received as a youngster for Christmas that year.
0:31:53 > 0:31:58If we open up, one of the articles here is about the Queen Elizabeth,
0:31:58 > 0:32:00Queen of the seas.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02And the very last paragraph reads,
0:32:02 > 0:32:06"It was a sad moment for everybody who loves great ships.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10"The Queen Elizabeth was the last of a great age,
0:32:10 > 0:32:14a super liner and nothing like her will ever be built again".
0:32:14 > 0:32:20It just so happened at the time we were learning to write letters of complaint at school
0:32:20 > 0:32:26and my English teacher, Miss Bootle, she said the most important letter you can learn to write
0:32:26 > 0:32:27is a letter of complaint.
0:32:27 > 0:32:35So I wrote for my homework, a letter of complaint to Blue Peter saying when I grew up I wanted
0:32:35 > 0:32:39to design and build a new ship that would rival Queen Elizabeth.
0:32:39 > 0:32:45So, I sent it into Blue Peter and lo and behold I received, by return,
0:32:45 > 0:32:48the blue Blue Peter badge.
0:32:48 > 0:32:55I was rather upset that they didn't give me a gold badge, I must say, I was rather precocious.
0:32:55 > 0:33:00Cunard had the confidence to commission a new ship
0:33:00 > 0:33:03to replace the retired Queens, Mary and Elizabeth.
0:33:03 > 0:33:08Like the Rotterdam, she would be dual purpose, a liner and a cruise ship.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14I name this ship, Queen Elizabeth the Second.
0:33:14 > 0:33:16CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:33:18 > 0:33:21The Queen Elizabeth 2, or QE2 as she is commonly known,
0:33:21 > 0:33:26became the flagship of the Cunard line for nearly 40 years.
0:33:26 > 0:33:31From 1969 to 2008, she was the most famous British liner of the modern age.
0:33:31 > 0:33:36Sleek and spacious, she was built to take Cunard into a new era.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39The big difference physically between the liner and
0:33:39 > 0:33:43the cruise ship is that the line has to be significantly stronger
0:33:43 > 0:33:48than the cruise ship, because it has to be able to be driven hard through bad weather.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52The bow of a liner is much finer, much more like an arrow
0:33:52 > 0:33:57and again it's to push its way through that rough weather.
0:33:57 > 0:34:03All those things combined amount to about a 40% increase in the price of the ship.
0:34:03 > 0:34:09So if you build a cruise ship and a liner of the same size, the liner would probably cost you about
0:34:09 > 0:34:1540% more and that's a big premium to pay to call your ship a liner.
0:34:15 > 0:34:21The QE2 really, in many ways was the bridge between Transatlantic
0:34:21 > 0:34:25liners of the traditional kind and modern day cruise ships.
0:34:25 > 0:34:29She was potentially able to operate as a two class ship,
0:34:29 > 0:34:31equally as a one class ship.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35She had all the facilities one would expect of a modern cruise ship.
0:34:35 > 0:34:41She was like a modern hotel on board, her design was extremely progressive.
0:34:41 > 0:34:46She was rather jet age and also in many ways, space age,
0:34:46 > 0:34:50both in her external design and internal outfitting.
0:34:55 > 0:34:58There were 50 luxury suites, and 300 deluxe cabins.
0:34:58 > 0:35:03The QE2 was much more a floating hotel than a means of transport.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09The new ship attracted a visit from Blue Peter.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13PETER PURVES: 'After a fabulous lunch, I changed my clothes to go to the engine room
0:35:13 > 0:35:15'as I thought it would be very dirty,
0:35:15 > 0:35:19'but it looked more like Mission Control at Cape Kennedy than on board a liner.
0:35:19 > 0:35:23'There were dials, meters, switches, knobs by the dozen, each one controlling or
0:35:23 > 0:35:28'metering some part of the engine, so a constant check could be made by the control room's computer.'
0:35:31 > 0:35:34'On the bridge I met the captain of the QE2.'
0:35:34 > 0:35:38- Good afternoon, Captain Warwick, John Noakes of Blue Peter. - How do you do?
0:35:38 > 0:35:40The QE2 also had the unique distinction of being
0:35:40 > 0:35:44the only Cunard liner to be captained by both father and son.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48A huge great wheel, a relic from the past also.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50The wheel was right on top of the rudder.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53I first stepped aboard the QE2
0:35:53 > 0:35:59to visit my father when it was at Kingston, Jamaica on a cruise.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01This was the very first time I'd been aboard the ship
0:36:01 > 0:36:05and I just couldn't believe what I saw, a fantastic modern ship and
0:36:05 > 0:36:10it left me with the burning ambition to be captain of it one day.
0:36:10 > 0:36:15And I achieved my goal in 1990 when I was appointed Relief Master.
0:36:20 > 0:36:25But for the Dutch, the Americans and the French, the Atlantic game was up.
0:36:25 > 0:36:29In 1969, the Rotterdam with her advanced design moved exclusively
0:36:29 > 0:36:34into cruising and was a sought after ship for the next 30 years.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38But there was no escape for the gas-guzzling United States,
0:36:38 > 0:36:41brute economics sank her as a going concern.
0:36:41 > 0:36:48Losing 3 million a year, she was taken away for a refit and never returned to passenger service.
0:36:52 > 0:36:59The sudden loss of America's rocket ship left her devoted passengers high and dry.
0:36:59 > 0:37:03There are always some people who would always go by ship.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07I still get letters from people asking whether or not they can
0:37:07 > 0:37:11travel as a passenger, even in these container ships we are operating.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13They still want to run in a ship,
0:37:13 > 0:37:18but as far as operating a passenger ship the size of the United States,
0:37:18 > 0:37:23I rather doubt whether we could even assemble a crew.
0:37:23 > 0:37:27The type of crew we had to operate that ship again, because
0:37:27 > 0:37:30a lot of these people have retired,
0:37:30 > 0:37:33a lot of them have died off and a lot of them have gone elsewhere.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36I don't think she'll ever go to sea.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41At one point she was towed across to Turkey to have her asbestos removed.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43Of course, being an American ship
0:37:43 > 0:37:47she was absolutely stuffed with asbestos for fireproofing reasons.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51The job was done, but the owners couldn't pay,
0:37:51 > 0:37:57so in lieu of money, they paid by allowing the scrappers to take her life boats away
0:37:57 > 0:38:00which were made of aluminium and the davits.
0:38:00 > 0:38:06So the remains of the United States, the gutted shell was towed back
0:38:06 > 0:38:10across the Atlantic and she now lies as a hulk in Philadelphia.
0:38:12 > 0:38:19Finally, even the world's longest ship, the France, the ultimate symbol of national pride would fall.
0:38:19 > 0:38:25In 1974, with her 10 million subsidy removed by the French government,
0:38:25 > 0:38:29her owners were forced to concede that her days on the Atlantic run over.
0:38:29 > 0:38:34France was laid up in Le Havre, her home port for several years
0:38:34 > 0:38:38before she was bought by Norwegian Caribbean Lines.
0:38:38 > 0:38:43They had her rebuilt as the SS Norway.
0:38:43 > 0:38:49She was a very successful cruise ship for many years in a modified
0:38:49 > 0:38:54form and has only recently been finally retired and sent for scrap.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57As the France, this ship was the last of the ocean greyhounds.
0:38:57 > 0:39:03Built for speed and to dash across the North Atlantic in competition with other great liners.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07But in these days of rising oil prices, it's a recipe for economic disaster.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13Perhaps the most curious fate of all befell the France's predecessor, the Ile de France.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18The Ile de France was a very significant ship
0:39:18 > 0:39:21in that she was the first,
0:39:21 > 0:39:27effectively the first passenger ship to introduce the new Art Deco style.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30She continued in service until
0:39:30 > 0:39:36the late 1950s when she was sold for scrap to Japanese firm in Osaka.
0:39:36 > 0:39:43But, it was the early days of the disaster movies and before they scrapped her,
0:39:43 > 0:39:50the Japanese hired her out to an American film studio who were making a film called, The Last Voyage.
0:39:54 > 0:39:59ARCHIVE: 1500 carefree passengers, happily unaware of a note to the captain.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02They sent the ship out to sea
0:40:02 > 0:40:07and created various explosions inside and on the open decks,
0:40:07 > 0:40:11sent the forward funnel crashing down onto the bridge.
0:40:11 > 0:40:16All realistic and I think the film won Oscars for the special effects
0:40:16 > 0:40:20because they weren't made up, they were actually real.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24You could see this great ship being destroyed for the purposes of the film.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33Hold it, the piano's gonna fall!
0:40:33 > 0:40:35CRASHING
0:40:44 > 0:40:46EXPLOSION AND SCREAMS
0:40:46 > 0:40:48Help!
0:40:48 > 0:40:54Poor Dorothy Malone, the star of the film, spends about three quarters of the film up to her neck in water.
0:40:54 > 0:40:59It's very difficult to give a good acting performance under those circumstances, I should've thought.
0:40:59 > 0:41:05TRAILER: Never before has the screen flamed with adventure and suspense so real.
0:41:05 > 0:41:10Every dramatic moment was filmed at fever pitch, entirely aboard the world's most glamorous luxury liner.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12Hurry it up, for God's sake!
0:41:12 > 0:41:15I can't hold her out of the water much longer.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23- The telephone cord! - SHE SCREAMS
0:41:28 > 0:41:32She was then partially sunk for the finale of the film.
0:41:34 > 0:41:40The French were absolutely scandalised by the use of the Ile de France in this film,
0:41:40 > 0:41:45and they ensured that all references to Ile de France were very carefully erased.
0:41:45 > 0:41:49In fact in the film, the ship is given the name Claridon.
0:41:49 > 0:41:53I think that she was so much a ship of the movie age,
0:41:54 > 0:41:58so many famous film stars had travelled on her,
0:41:58 > 0:42:01her decor was so much before the war,
0:42:01 > 0:42:05so much Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers,
0:42:05 > 0:42:11that maybe that was a suitable final role for this great ship,
0:42:11 > 0:42:15a starring role in a big-budget movie.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18Not all liners met such a dramatic end.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21Most were adapted for the expanding cruising market.
0:42:24 > 0:42:29In 1981, Robert Robinson took a slow boat to Madeira.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32The ship was the former liner, the Canberra.
0:42:32 > 0:42:37It was now supposedly a one class ship, but reminders of the old days weren't hard to find.
0:42:37 > 0:42:42Where some passengers had every convenience, some had very few.
0:42:42 > 0:42:46Did you know you were in for this? I mean you're four strangers.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49Can you switch the radio off please?
0:42:52 > 0:42:55You knew in for this kind of chummery?
0:42:55 > 0:42:57It's economics.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02A single cabin would have cost another £200 extra.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04But I wanted the company.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07I like the company and this is where you get it.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09It was company I was after.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12Perhaps this situation wasn't quite the company I was looking forward to.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15Fairly early on in the cruise,
0:43:15 > 0:43:20people tend to split into two fairly well demarcated groups.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23The people in the cheaper cabins, the old Second Class,
0:43:23 > 0:43:26tend to congregate at the Alice Springs at lunchtime.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29The Alice Springs is the casual bar where people sit in shirtsleeves
0:43:29 > 0:43:32and the old classic Blackpool in the braces syndrome.
0:43:32 > 0:43:37# I want to play a little game with you
0:43:37 > 0:43:40# A little game that should be made for two... #
0:43:40 > 0:43:44There are the people who live up in the front end of the ship,
0:43:44 > 0:43:49the old First Class, the days of the Raj still sort of lives on up there.
0:43:50 > 0:43:56ROBERT ROBINSON: As it were at the top end, the Commodore hosts a cocktail party on his private deck.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59I wouldn't hear a word against it.
0:43:59 > 0:44:05I honestly wouldn't. It's straightforward and I don't think you'd get better value for money.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07'While at the other end, it's pub night.'
0:44:07 > 0:44:11- So the Irishman walks in... - LAUGHTER
0:44:11 > 0:44:16Big Paddy walks in, he says, "Paddy, there's a cabbage and potato a knife, which is the odd one out?"
0:44:16 > 0:44:20Paddy says, "Jaysus, sir, I reckon it's the cabbage..."
0:44:20 > 0:44:25At the Commodore's party, one of the guest remembers what cruising was like in the '20s.
0:44:25 > 0:44:27They made their own amusements.
0:44:27 > 0:44:33Appointed a sports committee when they had the first day out,
0:44:33 > 0:44:38helped by the senior officers on board.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40# Go Johnny, Go
0:44:40 > 0:44:44Go, go, Johnny Johnny be good. #
0:44:52 > 0:44:57The following year, the Falklands War created new roles for the QE2 and Canberra.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00MILITARY PIPING MUSIC PLAYS
0:45:00 > 0:45:04Like their predecessors in the Second World War, these welded
0:45:04 > 0:45:11leviathans were the only realistic means of transporting an army over long distances in all seas at speed.
0:45:12 > 0:45:15They are ready to fight if they have to, but we, in the government,
0:45:15 > 0:45:19will do our very, very best to see that that is not necessary.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22But if they have to, I know they'll equip themselves with honour.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24How do you feel now as the ship is sailing away?
0:45:24 > 0:45:28I think I'll be quite tearful in a few moments, actually.
0:45:28 > 0:45:31- What about you? - Just about the same, very tearful.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34As long as they come back safely, that's the main thing.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46It took the QE2 to just 16 days to reach the South Atlantic.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49These grand ladies could lift up their skirts when they had to.
0:45:52 > 0:45:56The QE2 was kept at arm's length from the Argentinians.
0:45:56 > 0:46:00The Canberra was sent into San Carlos Water, in the thick of the action.
0:46:00 > 0:46:05She received a heroine's welcome on the return to her home port of Southampton.
0:46:07 > 0:46:13By the 1980s, the new cruise ships looked very different from the classic ocean liners of the past.
0:46:19 > 0:46:24Whereas as traditional liners had their ladies' retiring rooms and
0:46:24 > 0:46:28smoking rooms, and all kinds of spaces for sitting and relaxing,
0:46:28 > 0:46:36the modern cruise ship is built around revenue-earning spaces like bars, casinos and shops.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39The new purpose-built ships were designed in that way.
0:46:41 > 0:46:44It was only in the 1970s when cruising came for the mass market.
0:46:44 > 0:46:50That's when various new operators started, like Royal Caribbean Line,
0:46:50 > 0:46:54Carnival Cruise Lines, Norwegian Cruise Line.
0:46:54 > 0:47:02They brought in specialist ships that were very successful, high-density ships,
0:47:02 > 0:47:05that really supported the mass market.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08# The Love Boat... #
0:47:15 > 0:47:20This new-world was soon attracting drama treatment in the hit television series The Love Boat.
0:47:20 > 0:47:26Its glossy take on cruising helped to make floating holidays even more mainstream.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29The Love Boat, with its mixture of romance and comedy,
0:47:29 > 0:47:32changed middle-America's perception of what went on in cruise ships.
0:47:38 > 0:47:43It generated a huge boom in affordable cruising in the USA.
0:47:43 > 0:47:48The Love Boat herself was the Pacific Princess, operated by a British company, P&O.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50Here they come, out of starting gate.
0:47:53 > 0:47:59This hit the imagination of the American public, so that people
0:47:59 > 0:48:03maybe in middle-America who had never dreamed, maybe never seen the sea,
0:48:03 > 0:48:08suddenly realised that cruising was not for the toffs, it could be fun.
0:48:08 > 0:48:13There was always a hint of romance, drama, whatever.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17The Love Boat really put mass-market cruising on the map.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20One can never underestimate the power of television.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26Television was making cruising seem accessible.
0:48:26 > 0:48:30Travel programmes were quick to democratise its packaged glamour.
0:48:30 > 0:48:34'Parting can be such sweet sorrow, but not for long on a ship like this,
0:48:34 > 0:48:38'where you'll soon find plenty of shallow water to drop anchor again.'
0:48:38 > 0:48:42The last thing you need in this heat is more heat!
0:48:43 > 0:48:46'Good job then there are so many pools like this on board.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54'Naturally, a lot of activities are arranged around the pools.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58'I found there was still enough space to enjoy your own privacy if you so desired.
0:48:58 > 0:49:03'For those that have been before, what's the appeal of a cruising holiday?'
0:49:03 > 0:49:06If you get on a beach and you get covered in sand, you get covered in
0:49:06 > 0:49:10people, here, your room and shower are just a few yards away,
0:49:10 > 0:49:15the bar stewards are passing by every couple of yards, every couple of minutes...
0:49:15 > 0:49:17The pool is there to dive into.
0:49:17 > 0:49:19It's very easy.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22Thank you very much. They tend to do things in style on cruise ships.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24This is not a meal, it's a drink - a blue Caribbean.
0:49:24 > 0:49:28Normally, you'd have to carry around two wallet loads of money to pay for it.
0:49:28 > 0:49:32Like everything else on board, you simply pay for it with a credit card.
0:49:32 > 0:49:39Over the last four decades or so, the cruise market has changed very much.
0:49:39 > 0:49:42Cruise ships have changed very much.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46Most of them are much bigger now, they've much better facilities.
0:49:46 > 0:49:51People now very often demand that they should have a balcony outside their cabin.
0:49:51 > 0:49:59Also, cruising has become, in real terms, very much cheaper than it was.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01How about coming into my room?
0:50:02 > 0:50:06This is it. That's the shower room and toilet in there.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09You get a fridge, two single beds, there's a television.
0:50:09 > 0:50:13You get a telephone and you can actually phone home from the boat.
0:50:13 > 0:50:17This particular room has a balcony, which of course costs extra.
0:50:17 > 0:50:22It's independently air-conditioned and I'm sure as ship's cabins go, it's quite spacious.
0:50:22 > 0:50:28If you have any ideas about bringing the sort of trunks that you see in the movies, well, I'd think twice.
0:50:28 > 0:50:36The cruise ship was not a means to transport its passengers, it was now a destination in its own right.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39A destination with no revenue stream untapped.
0:50:42 > 0:50:46Drinks cost extra, and make Carnival money.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48They've found a way to sell as many as possible.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52My salary is very small, about 48 a month.
0:50:52 > 0:50:55Then you get 15% of all your sales.
0:50:55 > 0:50:57If you don't run, you don't make money.
0:50:57 > 0:50:59That's the way it is.
0:51:19 > 0:51:21Passenger numbers soared,
0:51:21 > 0:51:25by the turn of the century, two important milestones had been passed.
0:51:25 > 0:51:30Miami, with easy access to the Caribbean, became the largest passenger port in the world.
0:51:30 > 0:51:36And for the first time, the largest passenger vessel afloat wasn't a liner, but a cruise ship.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42Cruising is now very big business.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46In the course of events, they've gobbled up
0:51:46 > 0:51:49a lot of the smaller companies.
0:51:49 > 0:51:51Well, I say smaller.
0:51:51 > 0:51:56For example, Carnival has taken over Cunard.
0:51:56 > 0:52:03One thinks of Cunard as being a big company, but in today's world it was a mere minnow.
0:52:03 > 0:52:08More berths at sea at the moment, as we speak were people are sleeping on
0:52:08 > 0:52:13cruise ships on the oceans than ever there were back in the liner era.
0:52:14 > 0:52:20And in an ironic twist, an old enemy was now a new best friend.
0:52:20 > 0:52:26It's strange to consider that the cruise industry today really
0:52:26 > 0:52:31does rely on the aeroplane bringing in vast numbers of passengers
0:52:31 > 0:52:34from all around the United States,
0:52:34 > 0:52:40to the ports of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, New York, and the other areas.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44Whereas jet airliners had been disastrous for the liner trades,
0:52:44 > 0:52:50they were actually very advantageous for the cruise ship companies
0:52:50 > 0:52:54because jet aircraft can fly passengers straight to
0:52:54 > 0:52:59sunny departure ports like Miami in shiploads.
0:52:59 > 0:53:03In 2008, the two great liners that had pioneered the transition
0:53:03 > 0:53:07to cruise ships sailed to their final resting places.
0:53:07 > 0:53:12First, the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands saw her most famous ship come home.
0:53:14 > 0:53:17Against all expectations,
0:53:17 > 0:53:23and much to my delight, the one ship that was saved from
0:53:23 > 0:53:27the '60s era of transatlantic ships of course is the SS Rotterdam.
0:53:27 > 0:53:33Back in her home port, the port of her birth, back in Rotterdam.
0:53:33 > 0:53:38This ship was just too beautiful to see off to a scrap yard.
0:53:38 > 0:53:44So, Rotterdam has finally, after many misadventures,
0:53:44 > 0:53:48has finally found her way back to the port of Rotterdam.
0:53:48 > 0:53:53There were amazing scenes on 4th August 2008.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56I feel so lucky to have been there.
0:53:58 > 0:54:04The port was heaving, immense numbers of people turned out!
0:54:04 > 0:54:08A huge flotilla accompanied her in.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12To be part of it was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life.
0:54:12 > 0:54:17The day that the Rotterdam came back
0:54:17 > 0:54:21into our port was a celebration that gives you goose bumps.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25It was as if a lost child was welcomed home again.
0:54:25 > 0:54:31You can't describe that feeling, that one didn't think about,
0:54:31 > 0:54:35but when one saw the emotions of the people here in Rotterdam.
0:54:35 > 0:54:39So proud, and so tearful almost,
0:54:39 > 0:54:44seeing her back into port, knowing she was going to stay this time.
0:54:45 > 0:54:50400 work men are racing against time
0:54:50 > 0:54:53to open the ship as a museum and hotel in the summer of 2009.
0:54:53 > 0:54:59When restored, all the Rotterdam's period features including the famous Odyssey murals by the Dutch artist,
0:54:59 > 0:55:06Nico Nagler, will help preserve the legend that is the Rotterdam for future generations.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19Also in 2008, the QE2, once Cunard's flagship,
0:55:19 > 0:55:24and for a decade part of the Carnival empire, bowed to the inevitable.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28After nearly 40 years on the oceans of the world,
0:55:28 > 0:55:34she was sent off in style to drop anchor in her new home of Dubai.
0:55:34 > 0:55:40The idea is that her heritage, all the artefacts on board,
0:55:40 > 0:55:47will be on display to show future generations just what a great ship the Queen Elizabeth 2 was.
0:55:47 > 0:55:52But the story of the ocean liner is not quite over.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56In 2004, a new queen was launched, the Queen Mary 2.
0:55:56 > 0:56:03Once again, a Cunard ship is the largest, longest and fastest passenger ship afloat.
0:56:03 > 0:56:07The dream of the small boy who wrote to Blue Peter...
0:56:07 > 0:56:13My brief from my management was simple, I had to design a ship
0:56:13 > 0:56:17that could be constructed in the modern era,
0:56:17 > 0:56:20using modern materials and modern methods,
0:56:20 > 0:56:24that would be able to do the Transatlantic route, and that would
0:56:24 > 0:56:32make the same return on investment as if we'd spent the money on building cruise ships for cruise service.
0:56:32 > 0:56:38The Queen Mary 2 is an attempt by Cunard to recapture
0:56:38 > 0:56:43what they want to promote as being the golden age of liner travel.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46Her hull is absolutely that of a liner.
0:56:46 > 0:56:51The naval architect Stephen Payne, who designed it, is a very brilliant man.
0:56:51 > 0:56:58In designing that vessel, he actually had to look back to ships from the 1960s, to find
0:56:58 > 0:57:06the inspiration for a hull form that would be able to sail across the Atlantic quickly all year round.
0:57:06 > 0:57:10Up top however, the QM2 is most definitely a cruise ship.
0:57:10 > 0:57:15This is a ship that's a high-tech, super modern ship,
0:57:15 > 0:57:18dressed in historic fancy clothes.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21One of the things they're selling is the heritage.
0:57:21 > 0:57:25Although there are now largely American-owned,
0:57:25 > 0:57:29they still want to give a rather British atmosphere.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33To think something as amazing as this was inspired by Blue Peter!
0:57:35 > 0:57:38Steve, I see that you've got a nice nautical tie-pin.
0:57:38 > 0:57:40I'd never be without it.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43I've something even better than that which I hope you'll never be without.
0:57:43 > 0:57:49- Wow!- Yes, it's our highest accolade, a gold Blue Peter badge.
0:57:49 > 0:57:52- I'm going to pin it on you. - Wow, that's marvellous!
0:57:52 > 0:57:54I bet you didn't think you'd get this as a young child.
0:57:54 > 0:57:58- I certainly didn't.- Congratulations. - Thank you, very much indeed.
0:57:58 > 0:58:04Ladies, gentlemen, boys and girls.
0:58:06 > 0:58:13Have a fantastic day on board the Queen Mary, and thank you
0:58:13 > 0:58:15- for coming on board. - APPLAUSE
0:58:17 > 0:58:24# Gonna make a sentimental journey
0:58:24 > 0:58:29# To renew old memories...
0:58:30 > 0:58:34# Got my bag, got my reservation
0:58:37 > 0:58:38# Spent each dime I could afford
0:58:43 > 0:58:46# Like a child in wild anticipation
0:58:46 > 0:58:48# I long to hear that "all aboard". #
0:58:48 > 0:58:52Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:52 > 0:58:54E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk