In his book Merchant Steamships, Basil Greenhill praised the interiors of sister ships Campania and Lucania. The maritime historian said they represented Victorian opulence at its peak “an expression of a highly confident and prosperous age that would never be quite repeated on any other ship. Later vessels' interiors degenerated into grandiose vulgarity, the classical syntax debased to mere jargon.”
Oak, satinwood or mahogany paneled the first class rooms. Thick carpets and velvet curtains added a touch of luxury. Styles of decor charmed and delighted. For the first-class entrance hall, Cunard chose French Renaissance. Elizabethan style warmed the first class smoking room which sported the first open fireplace ever to be used aboard a steamship passenger liner.
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The most elegant of all was the magnificent first class dining saloon, 98 feet long, 63 feet wide with 10 foot high ceilings. In Italian style, its coffered ceiling gleamed in white and gold. The paneled walls were inlaid with ivory and rich carved woods. In the center, a skylight sent a shaft of light down three decks to bathe the room in sunlight gold or cloudy gray. British ocean liners Lucania and Campania had the largest engines in the world at the time. The engines were 47 feet high and reached from the double-bottom floor of the engine room to the top of the superstructure--over five decks. The Lucania was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding of Govan, Scotland and was launched on Thursday, February Second, 1893.
   
On her second voyage, she won the prestigious Blue Riband as the fastest passenger liner afloat, a title she kept from 1894 to 1898. Her two engines produced 23,000 kilowatts of power and set a record speed of 23 and a half knots per hour (27 MPH).
Average fares for Cunard Ships dipped in 1899 from about $120.00 ($3500.00 now) to about $98.00 ($2800.00) Of course, there was a huge variety of price levels depending upon the desirability of the rooms. Steerage price was around $30.00.
  
Lucania Dining Room Clerestory
The "clear story"of gleaming glass rises up five decks above the First Class Dining Room |
