Nieuw Amsterdam : Ritz-Carlton Room. 1938.

RITZ-CARLTON ROOM: The Ritz-Carlton room is located on the Upper Promenade deck, immediately above the Smoking Room and is reached by an impressive ebony and bronze Y-shaped stairway. On either side of the stairs where they divide port from starboard, is a large decorated coriander pillar, by Piet Starreveld, fifteen feet in height, rising from the deck below. Dolphins, in bas-relief, encircle them near the top, which tapers off into a leaping wave. White seagulls, with vertical outstretched wings, seem to mock the cascading water. The Ritz-Carlton is remarkable for the manner in which its architect, Wijdeveld, has designed it to derive every advantage from its elevated situation. Ten huge windows, and glass enclosed verandah, furnish magnificent sweeps of sea and sky. Light and air virtually pour into its white, gold and brown interior. Above the oval dance floor is a painted wood ceiling by Gidding and Wijdeveld. In delicate hues, in his own inimitable style, the collaborators have worked out a theme of union of melody and rhythm. Commencing at the orchestra dias, zig-zag lines shoot out to the right, representing the male element of rhythm. At the same time, melody, interpreted in the smoother, rounder contours of the female, meanders off to the left. At the far end of the ceiling, the lines merge into human form, and they meet. French doors divide the main Ritz-Carlton room from a semi-circular verandah, which looks down from a light elevation upon the upper promenade and sports decks. Trellises on either side from part of the division of the rooms. They are of aluminum painted in various colors, the work of Willem Nijs, who has incorporated small dancing figures in national costume in their designs. ( In Its chaste décor of oyster white, matte gold and plum, the Ritz-Carlton café is appropriately light and cheerful to suit the mood of the evening festivities. Far aft on the Upper Promenade Deck, with an intimate cocktail bar, a large oval dance floor and a broad verandah that faces a sweeping romantic deck open to the sky, this gay room encourages jolly cruise passenger to make merry to their hearts content, long into the night, without fear of disturbing their fellow voyagers. Here is where you will meet people who know their way about the world, who enjoy cosmopolitan society’s sophistication as much on a cruise ship as they do in New York, London, Paris or on the Riviera.