SS Stevens - Heritage of Stevens - Comparison With Exochorda's Cabin Plan

Comparison With Exochorda's Cabin Plan

Formerly occupied by passengers aboard Exochorda, the staterooms located on Promenade deck, "A" deck, and the section of "B" deck forward of the lounge, remained unchanged except for the limited removal of furniture as required to accommodate desks for students. Most staterooms had been designed for three passengers and included upper and lower berths plus a convertible sofa berth. For these rooms, the sofa berth was removed to accommodate a desk. Other changes included replacement of carpeting, draperies and mattresses. Where possible, rooms not occupied by the traveling public, such as the crew and officers' quarters, were made available as rooms for students. Other rooms on Exochorda not suitable for use as either living quarters or public spaces were permanently closed.

Exochorda's dining hall — on "B" deck, paneled with light, figured walnut and displaying artwork by artist Loren MacIver — became the main lounge on Stevens. The room remained unchanged except for the removal of the artwork and free-standing tables and chairs. Once the location of a table-for-eight on the port side became the site for Stevens' ping-pong table . Despite sloping floors, at times accentuated by weather-induced listing of the ship, the ping-pong table was usually active.

Exochorda contained two suites, both on Promenade deck, that became room numbers 301 and 307 on Stevens.

A popular group of rooms, prominently featured in print ads for Exochorda and known as the Veranda rooms, were groups of four rooms adjoining a common public area that contained four large exterior windows.u Two groups of Veranda rooms were on the ship, one on each side of "A" deck. Veranda rooms, unchanged for Stevens, became room numbers: 214, 216, 218 and 220 on the port side, and 217, 219, 221 and 223 on the starboard.

Promenade's forward lounge, the former setting for captain's cocktail parties, and the aft lounge, known on Exochorda as the "bar and smoking lounge" which included Saul Steinberg's Life at Sea murals, remained unchanged except for the removal of free-standing tables and chairs. The center section of carpeting in the forward lounge was also removed, exposing a dance floor.

Exochorda's outdoor swimming pool was located on a small open area of Promenade deck immediately aft of Promenade's smoking bar and lounge. The tiled pool, which measured approximately 12 ft (3.7 m) by 6 ft (1.8 m),g was illuminated from above as well as underwater. For Stevens, the pool was deemed too small to be of practical use and was sealed.

Not occupied by passengers on Exochorda, crew quarters were used by students on Stevens. Located aft of the main dining lounge on "B" deck, these rooms were smaller and some lacked amenities such as portholes which were included in the passenger staterooms. The crew cabins, originally designed to sleep six crewmen, were converted into dormitory rooms for two students. Former crew's quarters, also on the aft portion of "B" deck, were used to create recreational rooms.

Sun decks which included the wheelhousem, chart room (immediately behind wheelhouse), tiled kennel and dog run (port side) were all closed on Stevens.

Passenger cabin numbers on Exochorda used a letter prefix to signify the deck location. Cabin number sequencing began on Promenade deck and increased to the next 100's block for each succeeding lower deck, such as, "P1", "A122" and "B201" for cabins on Promenade, "A" and "B" decks, respectively. Room numbers on Stevens omitted the letter prefix and were re-designated to begin in the 100's on the lowest ("B") deck and increased to the next 100's block for each succeeding higher deck, such as "112", "201" and "314" for rooms on "B", "A" and Promenade decks, respectively. Aside from the difference in level designator, plus a few exceptions for new rooms, correlation of room numbers on Stevens and Exochorda was maintained. For example, Exochorda's room "A122" became "222" on Stevens.

Captain's and officers' quarters (Boat deck)

"A" deck

"B" deck