Queen Mary Foundation: Sun Deck Gallery

To Whom It May Concern:

While not a cruise per se, we are talking the historic Queen Mary here. We
received this information from the Queen Mary Foundation itself, and thought
it would be of interest to certain readers of this newsgroup as well.

Happy sailing,
John Sisker, SHIP-TO-SHORE CRUISE AGENCY®
(714) 536-3850 or toll free at (800) 724-6644 & (Agency No. 714.536.3850)
www.shiptoshorecruise.com



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Long Beach, CA

SUN DECK GALLERY ABOARD THE QUEEN MARY TO PREMIERE NEW 'ROCKIN HOLLYWOOD'
EXHIBIT JUNE 15-SEPTEMBER 3, 2007
Presenting 80 Images of Classic Rock & Movie Legends by Photographer Michael
Childers

The Sun Deck Gallery aboard the historic Queen Mary in Long Beach,
California, is proud to present Rockin' Hollywood, a new exhibition
featuring more than 80 images of classic rock and movie legends by
photographer Michael Childers. The exhibit will open June 15 and run
through September 3, 2007. An opening reception with Michael Childers and
celebrities featured in exhibit photos is scheduled at the Gallery on Sunday
afternoon, June 17, from 4:00 until 7:00 p.m., and the public is welcome to
attend free of charge.

The exhibition is part of a year-long 40th anniversary celebration of the
Queen Mary's 1967 arrival in Long Beach.

Childers, one of the entertainment industry's most renowned and highly
respected portrait, fashion and fine art photographers, began his career in
the sixties, and continues to influence the world of art photography today.

"Who better to feature in our gallery during this anniversary year than
Michael Childers," said Queen Mary President and CEO Howard Bell. "He has
been Rockin' Hollywood (thus the exhibit title) for years with powerful,
insightful, insider photography of his friends, and his body of work
reflects the same 40 years that the Queen Mary has been here in Long Beach,"
Bell continued. "Childers' images of art, film, TV and rock stars perfectly
capture the popular culture of the era."

"My work has always been difficult to categorize," Michael Childers
commented, "because I never stuck with one genre of photography. There are
so many areas that I explore on film - movement with great ballet dancers,
explosive moments from great theatre productions, portraiture, nudes,
flowers and interiors among them."

Movies were the photographer's childhood passion and infused his dreams and
fantasies. Early in his career he was invited to work for Sir Laurence
Olivier's National Theatre in London, an experience that allowed him to work
alongside and observe some of the greatest acting talent of the last
century. Shortly after that, he documented the extraordinary explosion of
artistic expression in fashion, music and film in New York City in the early
1970s as one of the founding photographers of Andy Warhol's Interview
magazine. Also in the '70s in Hollywood, he photographed a group of unique,
young talents with very strong and different personalities, his friends then
and now, who have become our current generation of film legends.

To quote artist David Hockney, "Michael Childers has created a living record
of Hollywood people he actually knew and admired. An insider on the edge -
a good position to be in."

The animated, screaming image that leaps from the Rockin' Hollywood exhibit
graphics (Stephen Brogdon Design) is a recent gelatin silver print of Henry
Rollins photographed in Hollywood in 2000.

The 80 photographs included in the Rockin' Hollywood exhibit cover a wide
spectrum of Childers' portraiture from Mae West to Natalie Wood and Lily
Tomlin, from Cat Stevens to Rod Stewart, Rock Hudson, Elton John, Andy
Warhol, Ringo Starr, George Hurrell and David Hockney. A very special image
of Sir Laurence Olivier aboard Natalie Wood's yacht shows the Queen Mary in
the background. Arnold Schwarzenegger as a young man at Muscle Beach is
also included alongside Al Pacino and Mel Gibson. Grace Jones, Cher, Demi
Moore, Raquel Welch, Michelle Pfeiffer - the list goes on and on.

The Exhibit is being curated by Dr. Lou D'Elia of Pancho Barnes Enterprises
who also produced the Sun Deck Gallery's first exhibit, "Lights! Camera!
Glamour!" - featuring the pioneering work of Hollywood glamour idiom
photographer, George Hurrell. Architect Michael Salazar of Pancho Barnes
Enterprises designed the flexible, new exhibit space that will premiere with
the Rockin' Hollywood show.

Limited merchandise will be available for purchase in the Sun Deck Gallery
including signed Michael Childers prints and an exhibition brochure.

It is the mission of the new Sun Deck Gallery to present unique exhibitions
of fine art photography and explore the Queen Mary's historic photo archive.
The Gallery is open daily to the public free of charge; and hours are 10
a.m. until 6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and Noon until 8 p.m. Friday and
Saturday.

To learn more about Michael Childers and his work, go to
www.michaelchildersphotography.com. For additional information about the
Queen Mary, please go to www.queenmary.com.


Michael Childers Biography...
Born in North Carolina, Childers attended the UCLA Film School where he
directed student films and began his photography career by studying with
Robert Heineken and Edmund Teske. Childers created the mixed media work for
the record-breaking run of the hit off-Broadway musical "Oh! Calcutta!" for
Kenneth Tynan. It was Tynan who subsequently invited Michael to work for
Sir Laurence Olivier's National Theater in London. He remains the only
American photographer invited to photograph productions at the National
Theater. He went on to become a founding photographer for Andy Warhol's
Interview and After Dark magazines. For Dance magazine, he produced many
covers including those featuring the Joffrey Ballet, The Royal Ballet and
the Alvin Ailey Dance Company as well as co-authored a book, "The World of
Bejart."

From his Melrose Avenue and Venice Beach studios, Childers photographed over
200 magazine covers including GQ, New York, TV Guide, Esquire, Los Angeles,
Elle, Paris Match, Life, London Sunday Times Magazine, and both English and
Italian Vogue. He created more than 150 album covers and film posters for
major motion picture studios and worked as a special photographer on dozens
of films including Grease, Marathon Man, The Year of Living Dangerously,
Coal Miner's Daughter, Pennies from Heaven, The Terminator, Hammett, Torch
Song Trilogy, Endless Love, The Champ and Oceans 12.

Michael has been involved in fund-raising events for AIDS service
organizations, breast cancer, foundations for the performing arts, and film
organizations since 1989. He founded Divine Design for Project Angel Food,
the largest design event on the west coast, now in its twelfth year. In Los
Angeles, Santa Fe, New York and palm Springs, events he has founded or
helped produce have raised over twelve million dollars and been emceed by
such superstars as Lily Tomlin, Bruce Vilanch, Carol Burnett, Lauren Bacall,
Marsha Mason, Ali MacGraw and Bette Midler. In 2003 he co-produced The Palm
Springs International Film Festival and in Los Angeles he also produced the
BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Artists) Britannia Awards with
Russell Crowe, Peter Weir, Angela Landbury, Hugh Grant, Sandra Bullock, Alan
Cummings, Robin Williams and Billy Connelly. Other performers that Michael
has brought to the stage for various causes include Joanne Worley, Tim
Curry, Lainie Kazan, Stephanie Powers, Michael York, Robin Williams, Billy
Connelly, Sandra Bullock, Russell Crowe, Robert Wagner, Angela Lansbury,
Lorna Luft, Michael Feinstein, Valarie Pettiford, Jake Heggie, Julie
Migenes, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Boney James, Margaret Cho, Lynn Redgrave,
Davis Gaines, Jason Grae, Carol Channing and Jennifer Holiday.

Michael's work is in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the
Marion Museum of Photographic Studies in Santa Fe, the University of
California Riverside photographic collections, the Palm Springs Art Museum
photographic collection, the Chiat Day Collection in Santa Monica, the
Lincoln Center Library of Performing Arts in New York and the Laguna Art
Museum. He also produced "An Evening with k. d. lang" held in Palm Springs
in November 2006.

In 2003, the Palm Springs Art Museum presented a forty year retrospective of
Michael's work titled Icons and Legends. The three-month show was visited
by over 55,000 people, one of the largest audiences ever recorded by the
museum. Michael received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Hollywood
Photography at the Temecula Film Festival in September of 2004, and the
Lifetime Achievement Award for Hollywood Photography from the Provincetown
Film Festival that same year. At the Los Angeles Film Festival in June
2006, La Dolce Vita, the photography of Michael Childers, was presented.
The same year, the Palm Springs Art Museum presented a Celebration of Three
Hollywood Photographers: George Hurrell, Sid Avery and Michael Childers
and, in October 2006, the Tom of Finland Foundation inducted Michael into
their Hal of Fame for his erotic photography.

In early 2007, during the Palm Springs Film Festival, the M Modern gallery
presented BLOW UP, exhibiting the work of Michael Childers, William Claxton
and Douglas Kirkland. An exhibit titled Rockin' Hollywood, featuring
portraits of rock 'n roll icons and Hollywood legends, will open June 15,
2007, in the Sun Deck Gallery aboard the historic Queen Mary in Long Beach.
For more information, go to Michael's website at
www.michaelchildersphotography.com.


Michael Childers' work is exhibited at:

National Portrait Gallery, London
Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles
Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica
BGH Gallery, Santa Monica
Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles
Fahey-Klein Gallery, Los Angeles
Louis Stern Fine Arts, Los Angeles
Trinity Gallery, Atlanta
Schoolhouse Gallery, Provincetown, MA
Truro Arts Gallery, Massachusetts
Le Salon Prive, Santa Fe
Lew Allen Gallery, Santa Fe
Photo San Francisco - International Images
Imago Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach



The Historic Queen Mary and the Sun Deck Gallery...
With the 70th Anniversary Season of the Queen Mary's 1934 launch and 1936
maiden voyage just concluded, the legendary ocean liner is now celebrating
the 40th Anniversary of her 1967 final voyage and arrival at her permanent
home in Long Beach, California. During her years at sea, the art deco Queen
Mary captured the imagination of the public and came to represent the spirit
of an era that was characterized by elegance and style. Then, during World
War II and after, the Queen Mary served as a heroic troop carrier nicknamed
The Grey Ghost transporting more than 800,000 warriors and 25,000 war
brides. The Queen Mary, built on the Clyde by Scottish craftsmen, is
recognized throughout the world as the last surviving ship of the Golden Age
of transatlantic travel. Now permanently docked, yet still afloat, her
operation and preservation are entrusted to the RMS Foundation, Inc., a
501(c)(3) not-for-profit, public benefit corporation. The new Sun Deck
Gallery is dedicated to the exhibition of fine art photography and the
exploration of the historic ship's extensive photo archive. The Gallery is
located high atop the Queen Mary on the deck of the same name, convenient to
historic exhibits, tours, shows and entertainment, fine restaurants, unique
shops and leisurely promenades with panoramic views from the open Sun Deck
that surrounds the Gallery.

John, do you have any clue about how badly this place sucks?

Nonny

John Sisker wrote:
To Whom It May Concern:

While not a cruise per se, we are talking the historic Queen Mary here. We
received this information from the Queen Mary Foundation itself, and thought
it would be of interest to certain readers of this newsgroup as well.

Happy sailing,
John Sisker, SHIP-TO-SHORE CRUISE AGENCY®
(714) 536-3850 or toll free at (800) 724-6644 & (Agency No. 714.536.3850)
www.shiptoshorecruise.com



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Long Beach, CA

SUN DECK GALLERY ABOARD THE QUEEN MARY TO PREMIERE NEW 'ROCKIN HOLLYWOOD'
EXHIBIT JUNE 15-SEPTEMBER 3, 2007
Presenting 80 Images of Classic Rock & Movie Legends by Photographer Michael
Childers

The Sun Deck Gallery aboard the historic Queen Mary in Long Beach,
California, is proud to present Rockin' Hollywood, a new exhibition
featuring more than 80 images of classic rock and movie legends by
photographer Michael Childers. The exhibit will open June 15 and run
through September 3, 2007. An opening reception with Michael Childers and
celebrities featured in exhibit photos is scheduled at the Gallery on Sunday
afternoon, June 17, from 4:00 until 7:00 p.m., and the public is welcome to
attend free of charge.

The exhibition is part of a year-long 40th anniversary celebration of the
Queen Mary's 1967 arrival in Long Beach.

Childers, one of the entertainment industry's most renowned and highly
respected portrait, fashion and fine art photographers, began his career in
the sixties, and continues to influence the world of art photography today.

"Who better to feature in our gallery during this anniversary year than
Michael Childers," said Queen Mary President and CEO Howard Bell. "He has
been Rockin' Hollywood (thus the exhibit title) for years with powerful,
insightful, insider photography of his friends, and his body of work
reflects the same 40 years that the Queen Mary has been here in Long Beach,"
Bell continued. "Childers' images of art, film, TV and rock stars perfectly
capture the popular culture of the era."

"My work has always been difficult to categorize," Michael Childers
commented, "because I never stuck with one genre of photography. There are
so many areas that I explore on film - movement with great ballet dancers,
explosive moments from great theatre productions, portraiture, nudes,
flowers and interiors among them."

Movies were the photographer's childhood passion and infused his dreams and
fantasies. Early in his career he was invited to work for Sir Laurence
Olivier's National Theatre in London, an experience that allowed him to work
alongside and observe some of the greatest acting talent of the last
century. Shortly after that, he documented the extraordinary explosion of
artistic expression in fashion, music and film in New York City in the early
1970s as one of the founding photographers of Andy Warhol's Interview
magazine. Also in the '70s in Hollywood, he photographed a group of unique,
young talents with very strong and different personalities, his friends then
and now, who have become our current generation of film legends.

To quote artist David Hockney, "Michael Childers has created a living record
of Hollywood people he actually knew and admired. An insider on the edge -
a good position to be in."

The animated, screaming image that leaps from the Rockin' Hollywood exhibit
graphics (Stephen Brogdon Design) is a recent gelatin silver print of Henry
Rollins photographed in Hollywood in 2000.

The 80 photographs included in the Rockin' Hollywood exhibit cover a wide
spectrum of Childers' portraiture from Mae West to Natalie Wood and Lily
Tomlin, from Cat Stevens to Rod Stewart, Rock Hudson, Elton John, Andy
Warhol, Ringo Starr, George Hurrell and David Hockney. A very special image
of Sir Laurence Olivier aboard Natalie Wood's yacht shows the Queen Mary in
the background. Arnold Schwarzenegger as a young man at Muscle Beach is
also included alongside Al Pacino and Mel Gibson. Grace Jones, Cher, Demi
Moore, Raquel Welch, Michelle Pfeiffer - the list goes on and on.

The Exhibit is being curated by Dr. Lou D'Elia of Pancho Barnes Enterprises
who also produced the Sun Deck Gallery's first exhibit, "Lights! Camera!
Glamour!" - featuring the pioneering work of Hollywood glamour idiom
photographer, George Hurrell. Architect Michael Salazar of Pancho Barnes
Enterprises designed the flexible, new exhibit space that will premiere with
the Rockin' Hollywood show.

Limited merchandise will be available for purchase in the Sun Deck Gallery
including signed Michael Childers prints and an exhibition brochure.

It is the mission of the new Sun Deck Gallery to present unique exhibitions
of fine art photography and explore the Queen Mary's historic photo archive.
The Gallery is open daily to the public free of charge; and hours are 10
a.m. until 6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and Noon until 8 p.m. Friday and
Saturday.

To learn more about Michael Childers and his work, go to
www.michaelchildersphotography.com. For additional information about the
Queen Mary, please go to www.queenmary.com.


Michael Childers Biography...
Born in North Carolina, Childers attended the UCLA Film School where he
directed student films and began his photography career by studying with
Robert Heineken and Edmund Teske. Childers created the mixed media work for
the record-breaking run of the hit off-Broadway musical "Oh! Calcutta!" for
Kenneth Tynan. It was Tynan who subsequently invited Michael to work for
Sir Laurence Olivier's National Theater in London. He remains the only
American photographer invited to photograph productions at the National
Theater. He went on to become a founding photographer for Andy Warhol's
Interview and After Dark magazines. For Dance magazine, he produced many
covers including those featuring the Joffrey Ballet, The Royal Ballet and
the Alvin Ailey Dance Company as well as co-authored a book, "The World of
Bejart."

From his Melrose Avenue and Venice Beach studios, Childers photographed over
200 magazine covers including GQ, New York, TV Guide, Esquire, Los Angeles,
Elle, Paris Match, Life, London Sunday Times Magazine, and both English and
Italian Vogue. He created more than 150 album covers and film posters for
major motion picture studios and worked as a special photographer on dozens
of films including Grease, Marathon Man, The Year of Living Dangerously,
Coal Miner's Daughter, Pennies from Heaven, The Terminator, Hammett, Torch
Song Trilogy, Endless Love, The Champ and Oceans 12.

Michael has been involved in fund-raising events for AIDS service
organizations, breast cancer, foundations for the performing arts, and film
organizations since 1989. He founded Divine Design for Project Angel Food,
the largest design event on the west coast, now in its twelfth year. In Los
Angeles, Santa Fe, New York and palm Springs, events he has founded or
helped produce have raised over twelve million dollars and been emceed by
such superstars as Lily Tomlin, Bruce Vilanch, Carol Burnett, Lauren Bacall,
Marsha Mason, Ali MacGraw and Bette Midler. In 2003 he co-produced The Palm
Springs International Film Festival and in Los Angeles he also produced the
BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Artists) Britannia Awards with
Russell Crowe, Peter Weir, Angela Landbury, Hugh Grant, Sandra Bullock, Alan
Cummings, Robin Williams and Billy Connelly. Other performers that Michael
has brought to the stage for various causes include Joanne Worley, Tim
Curry, Lainie Kazan, Stephanie Powers, Michael York, Robin Williams, Billy
Connelly, Sandra Bullock, Russell Crowe, Robert Wagner, Angela Lansbury,
Lorna Luft, Michael Feinstein, Valarie Pettiford, Jake Heggie, Julie
Migenes, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Boney James, Margaret Cho, Lynn Redgrave,
Davis Gaines, Jason Grae, Carol Channing and Jennifer Holiday.

Michael's work is in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the
Marion Museum of Photographic Studies in Santa Fe, the University of
California Riverside photographic collections, the Palm Springs Art Museum
photographic collection, the Chiat Day Collection in Santa Monica, the
Lincoln Center Library of Performing Arts in New York and the Laguna Art
Museum. He also produced "An Evening with k. d. lang" held in Palm Springs
in November 2006.

In 2003, the Palm Springs Art Museum presented a forty year retrospective of
Michael's work titled Icons and Legends. The three-month show was visited
by over 55,000 people, one of the largest audiences ever recorded by the
museum. Michael received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Hollywood
Photography at the Temecula Film Festival in September of 2004, and the
Lifetime Achievement Award for Hollywood Photography from the Provincetown
Film Festival that same year. At the Los Angeles Film Festival in June
2006, La Dolce Vita, the photography of Michael Childers, was presented.
The same year, the Palm Springs Art Museum presented a Celebration of Three
Hollywood Photographers: George Hurrell, Sid Avery and Michael Childers
and, in October 2006, the Tom of Finland Foundation inducted Michael into
their Hal of Fame for his erotic photography.

In early 2007, during the Palm Springs Film Festival, the M Modern gallery
presented BLOW UP, exhibiting the work of Michael Childers, William Claxton
and Douglas Kirkland. An exhibit titled Rockin' Hollywood, featuring
portraits of rock 'n roll icons and Hollywood legends, will open June 15,
2007, in the Sun Deck Gallery aboard the historic Queen Mary in Long Beach.
For more information, go to Michael's website at
www.michaelchildersphotography.com.


Michael Childers' work is exhibited at:

National Portrait Gallery, London
Couturier Gallery, Los Angeles
Patricia Faure Gallery, Santa Monica
BGH Gallery, Santa Monica
Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles
Fahey-Klein Gallery, Los Angeles
Louis Stern Fine Arts, Los Angeles
Trinity Gallery, Atlanta
Schoolhouse Gallery, Provincetown, MA
Truro Arts Gallery, Massachusetts
Le Salon Prive, Santa Fe
Lew Allen Gallery, Santa Fe
Photo San Francisco - International Images
Imago Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach



The Historic Queen Mary and the Sun Deck Gallery...
With the 70th Anniversary Season of the Queen Mary's 1934 launch and 1936
maiden voyage just concluded, the legendary ocean liner is now celebrating
the 40th Anniversary of her 1967 final voyage and arrival at her permanent
home in Long Beach, California. During her years at sea, the art deco Queen
Mary captured the imagination of the public and came to represent the spirit
of an era that was characterized by elegance and style. Then, during World
War II and after, the Queen Mary served as a heroic troop carrier nicknamed
The Grey Ghost transporting more than 800,000 warriors and 25,000 war
brides. The Queen Mary, built on the Clyde by Scottish craftsmen, is
recognized throughout the world as the last surviving ship of the Golden Age
of transatlantic travel. Now permanently docked, yet still afloat, her
operation and preservation are entrusted to the RMS Foundation, Inc., a
501(c)(3) not-for-profit, public benefit corporation. The new Sun Deck
Gallery is dedicated to the exhibition of fine art photography and the
exploration of the historic ship's extensive photo archive. The Gallery is
located high atop the Queen Mary on the deck of the same name, convenient to
historic exhibits, tours, shows and entertainment, fine restaurants, unique
shops and leisurely promenades with panoramic views from the open Sun Deck
that surrounds the Gallery.




--
---Nonnymus---
You don’t stand any taller by
trying to make others appear shorter.

While not a new ship by any means, we found the historic significance of the
Queen Mary both charming and interesting, especially knowing of all the
famous people who have sailed upon her. Of course, it does lack the new
spick and span look of today modern cruise ships, so if one is expecting
everything from a casino to super dinners shows, with the glitz and glitter
of Vegas, yes they will indeed be disappointed. However, being a historic
monument should overcome some of that.

In fact, why not explore the Queen Mary yourself. I took these pictures
about a month ago. Just click on... http://picasaweb.google.com:80/jsisker.

Happy sailing,
John Sisker, SHIP-TO-SHORE CRUISE AGENCY®
(714) 536-3850 or toll free at (800) 724-6644 & (Agency No. 714.536.3850)
www.shiptoshorecruise.com



"Nonnymus" wrote in message
...
John, do you have any clue about how badly this place sucks?

Nonny

"John Sisker" wrote
While not a new ship by any means, we found the historic significance of
the Queen Mary both charming and interesting, especially knowing of all
the famous people who have sailed upon her. Of course, it does lack the
new spick and span look of today modern cruise ships,

It also lacks maintenance and some one who knows how to clean.

We had a group on the QM before a group cruise and it was one of the worst
hotel experiences I have ever endured. The ship itself is falling apart and
absolutely filthy. Go into the Grand Salon and shake the heavy draperies...
but do it at arm's length because you'll be buried in dust.

Service in the restaurant was abysmal and the "deli" was a joke. $6 for a
hot dog?

Frankly, the group's experience with this "hotel" was so terrible that I
wouldn't stay there again if it were offered to me for free.


everything from a casino to super dinners shows, with the glitz and
glitter of Vegas, yes they will indeed be disappointed. However, being a
historic monument should overcome some of that.

History doesn't mean anything to me when I am standing in the midst of
disrepair and filth.


--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com

October 14, 2007 MOAGC 3 - http://www.moagc-3.com
January 20, 2008 - GGC2008 - http://cruisemaster.com/adventure.htm
June 5, 2008 9 nt from NJ - http://www.cruisemaster.com/explorer.htm

Hi George,

My wife Deborah and I did stay overnight on the Queen Mary ourselves many
years ago, but have not done so since. While we had no concerns nor saw any
obvious maintenance or cleaning issues at that time, I will be the first to
admit that today the Queen Mary is not quite up to par in this department,
no-doubt because of budgets. Therefore, what you and others have described
is certainly a genuine complaint.

Even though we did tour her again recently, we did not do so with a
white-glove treatment, purposely looking for things that were wrong.

However, we have been hearing of similar concerns from this newsgroup as
well. This certainly can't help the Queen Mary Foundation's image for more
tours and hotel guests. Likewise, now with the tie-in to Carnival Cruise
Line, especially for early check-ins, that is something we all need to be
aware of.

Since I do have a personal contact because of press releases, and my close
location to the Queen Mary itself, it would be interesting to see their take
on all this. Perhaps they can reposition some of that budget to address
these more important issues.

Thanks to you and the others for making this a priority.

Happy sailing,
John Sisker, SHIP-TO-SHORE CRUISE AGENCY®
(714) 536-3850 or toll free at (800) 724-6644 & (Agency No. 714.536.3850)
www.shiptoshorecruise.com

For current pictures aboard the Queen Mary, click on:
http://picasaweb.google.com:80/jsisker.




"George Leppla" wrote in message
...

"John Sisker" wrote
While not a new ship by any means, we found the historic significance of
the Queen Mary both charming and interesting, especially knowing of all
the famous people who have sailed upon her. Of course, it does lack the
new spick and span look of today modern cruise ships,

It also lacks maintenance and some one who knows how to clean.

We had a group on the QM before a group cruise and it was one of the worst
hotel experiences I have ever endured. The ship itself is falling apart
and absolutely filthy. Go into the Grand Salon and shake the heavy
draperies... but do it at arm's length because you'll be buried in dust.

Service in the restaurant was abysmal and the "deli" was a joke. $6 for a
hot dog?

Frankly, the group's experience with this "hotel" was so terrible that I
wouldn't stay there again if it were offered to me for free.


everything from a casino to super dinners shows, with the glitz and
glitter of Vegas, yes they will indeed be disappointed. However, being a
historic monument should overcome some of that.

History doesn't mean anything to me when I am standing in the midst of
disrepair and filth.