Caronia's Private Dining Rooms
Up until the late 1965 refit, the Balmoral Restaurant had two private dining rooms. They were known as the “P.D.R.s” and were regularly used as meeting rooms. The smaller of the two was also used as a dining area by the Restaurant Manager, Head and Section Waiters.
Both PDR's were situated at the aft end of the restaurant on the starboard side. The larger of the two rooms seated up to 16 people, and the smaller one just 8. Unlike the main restaurant, these two rooms had portholes, so there was a source of natural light.
On transatlantic crossings, the larger room would often be used by passengers from both first class and cabin class.
Rotarians met in the morning and the Freemasons in the afternoon. Similar rooms were not annexed to the Sandringham Restaurant.
On cruises these meetings were mostly held in the port side Garden Lounge, up on the Promenade Deck. Late in 1965, the PDR's were swept away to be replaced by an open annexe. However, the portholes were not left visible, so no natural light entered the main restaurant area.
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