Thursday Doors: Caronia Room, RMS Queen Mary

The awesome Norm from Norm 2.0 has a fun weekly feature called, “Thursday Doors”.  He invites fellow bloggers to share unique and interesting doors that we happen to stumble upon.

I took this photo during my recent trip to California.  This door is the entrance to the “Caronia Room” aboard the RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California.

Once used as the third-class cinema, it’s now a banquet room for lack of a better term.  The name “Caronia” stands for a sister ship of the Queen Mary (RMS Caronia, built in 1947).  The Caronia unfortunately did not survive its grandeur and was sold for scrap in 1974.  It was being towed to Taiwan to be disasembled when its fate was further sealed when it was caught in a severe storm.  Having the tow-lines cut resulted in the ship continuously crashing against a rocky breakwall in Guam.  The Caronia eventually broke into three sections.

Well!  Back to the doors! Art Deco is prevalent throughout the Queen Mary, including the doors to the Caronia Room.  The woodwork and glass inlay are stunning.  I’m happy that there is a room dedicated to the RMS Caronia.  The beautiful doors are a silent tribute to that lovely ship.