Page 2 of 2: Tour of S.S. LEONID SOBINOV, the former Cunarder
SAXONIA/CARMANIA laid up up at Iliychevsk, Ukraine.
View facing aft along the starboard enclosed Promenade Deck.
In many ways it is reminiscent of the larger promenades aboard her preserved fleetmate
QUEEN MARY. Photo by and copyright Peter Knego, 1998.
A three deck high cinema occupied the midships portion of Promenade and
Main Decks. This view is facing forward from the stage area on Main Deck
toward the balcony on Promenade Deck, which was originally SAXONIA/CARMANIA's
first class section. Architecturally, the room was kept in its original form
throughout the ship's life. Photo by and copyright Peter Knego, 1998.
While this portion of the Promenade Deck was slightly reconstructed
in the SAXONIA to CARMANIA conversion, it has changed little since its tenure as
CARMANIA's first class Albany Room. A bar was added in the forward portion of the room when
the ship became LEONID SOBINOV. In July of 1997, the dance floor was host to a forest of
decaying potted plants, as seen in this aft-facing view. Photo by and
copyright Peter Knego, 1998.
The Ocean Room is distinguished from its counterpart
aboard the SHALYAPIN by the grand staircase in the aft center portion of the room, which was
T-shaped. On her sister, the same ascent is a sweeping arch. All the furniture had since been
stripped, leaving the room a phantom of itself as CARMANIA's Nantucket Room. Photo by and
copyright Peter Knego, 1998.
The grand staircase shown in the previous image leads up to the
U-shaped Boat Deck level of the Ocean Room, which served as the SOBINOV's Nightclub. With
a view over the ship's lido area, a separate dance floor, and a bar along its port flanks,
it had changed little from CARMANIA's Island Club. The "winter scene" mural in the aft/center
portion of the room and the heavy chairs date to the Cunard era. Photo by and
copyright Peter Knego, 1998.
The larger of the two dining rooms, the Volga Restaurant,
is located aft on Restaurant Deck. Formerly the CARMANIA's tourist class dining room, the
space was relatively spartan, with no portholes and a low, plain ceiling. In
this aft-facing view from the starboard side, the original wooden Cunard tables and backlit panels to simulate portholes are evident. The first class
Black Sea Restaurant is farther forward, separated from the Volga by the ship's galley. Photo by and
copyright Peter Knego, 1998.
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