The Cabin Class Cocktail Bar
One of the most popular passenger areas on cruises was the Cabin Class Cocktail bar, better known as the Raleigh Room. It was sited on the aft end of Main Deck, being the only public room on that deck, other than the midships hairdressing salons. The style of the bar itself was almost a mirror image of its 1st class equivalent.
On transatlantic crossings it also incorporated the Cabin Class Smoking Room. One of the reasons for its popularity on cruises was the far more relaxed and light-hearted atmosphere than its counterpart up forward. It was a noisier and merrier place than the more formal 1st Class cocktail bar.
The conviviality could easily be compared to that of a good English public house, with people gathered for a sing-song around the piano at the most forward end. On balmy nights at sea it also offered a romantic outside deck space, with a wonderfully relaxing sound-track from the ship's propeller-wash, with the foam reflecting the ship's lights.
After the 1965 refit, all of the port side and the central section of the Smoking Room space was used as the Cruise Office, having been displaced by the extensions made to the aft end of the Promenade Deck. All that remained was the section on the starboard side of the starboard access doors. The piece below the “Raleigh Room” indicated on this plan.
Notoriety
The Raleigh Room attained a certain notoriety and there is a famous story of a lady passenger making a beeline for this room, then bribing the barman to fill a Gin bottle with water, specifically for her husband.
Later, the hapless husband would appear, enquire as to whether his wife had left her instructions, and upon confirmation, a further gratuity would be passed to the barman upon his accepting that Gin would be made available in the water-jug.
I've no doubt that many other stories like this abound. With its situation right at the aft end of the ship, the Raleigh Room was quite a long walk away from main activities taking place in the Lounge on the deck above, so it was a place to escape to.
The picture is taken from the raised port side alcove looking toward the starboard side with the doormat showing where the starboard side exit doors to the aft deck were. Hidden from view are the port side exit doors. In later years, immediately to the cameraman's left would have been the aft entrance to the Cruise Office.
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