1967

The golden age of transatlantic crossings aboard passenger liners might have ended with the rise of air travel in the popularly known as , as she awaits her launch from the John Brown and Company shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland. Smaller and more economical than older siblings and , eschewed the Art Deco style of her predecessors in favor of modern materials—aluminum, Perspex, and plastic laminates—and became just as much of an icon. The 1980s saw a brief stint as a troopship in the Falklands War and a refit to convert her from steam power to diesel; two further overhauls would take place the following decade. By the time was retired in 2008 after nearly 40 years in service, she had carried 2.5 million passengers, clocking up 806 transatlantic crossings and more than five million nautical miles at sea. Regrettably, post-retirement life under her new owners got off to a rough start. spent almost a decade moldering in Dubai before finally being reborn in April as a floating hotel and museum at the city’s Port Rashid.