Soundsgreat6

Btw, noticed your first cruise ship in your sig:

RMS Empress of England (1957-1975) Built in 1957 as RMS Empress of England by Vickers-Armstrong Shipbuilders Ltd, at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England for Canadian Pacific Steamships Ocean Services Ltd, a branch of Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). She was launched by Lady Eden, wife of the British prime minister, on 9 May 1956. One of her distinguishing marks was the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) prefix in front of her name while in commercial service with Canadian Pacific.

 

Her maiden voyage started on 18 April 1957, when she left Liverpool for Quebec City and Montreal, both in the province of Quebec. She operated on this trans-Atlantic passenger liner service, also calling at Saint John, New Brunswick, from both Liverpool and Greenock until 14 November 1969 but also made several cruises to the Caribbean from New York City.

 

 

She was then operated solely for cruising for four months until March 1970, when she was purchased by British-based Shaw Savill & Albion Line who renamed her Ocean Monarch. On 11 April 1970, she started a single round-trip voyage from Southampton, England to Australia. Shaw Savill had ambitious plans to increase their cruising market so intended to convert Ocean Monrach for full-time cruising. Unfortunately, the project was doomed almost from the start, as the conversion work at Cammell Laird Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders, Ltd, Birkenhead, England stretched to over a year.

 

 

She did finally emerge as a cruise ship in October 1971 and on 5 November of that year. sailed to Auckland, New Zealand via Barbados, Curacao, the Panama Canal, Acapulco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Honolulu, Tokelau (a territory of New Zealand) and Fiji. She was based at Auckland until 1973 when she commenced Pacific cruising out of Sydney, Australia. Withdrawn and sold for scrap in June 1975, she sailed from Southampton for Kaohsiung, Taiwan where she was scrapped that same year.

 

 

lol thanks John I did ask that a while back on your "Your First Cruise Ship Thread" I' looking for some old photos to send you but havn't been able to find yet. Think my brother had them. So will have to wait till I'm back from cruise. has he's away till I leave.

Thanks again I will check back in September. Cheers! M8

Copper10-8 can you tell me who the CD is for Zaandam On the October 4th 2009 Cruise will be?

My First Cruise - 1958 Was on the

Empress of England she was renamed the Ocean Monarch

The Empress of England was built in 1957 by Vickers-Armstrongs of Newcastle, following sister Empress of Britain into service by one year. Initially intended to run Liverpool-Quebec & Montreal in summer, and Liverpool-Saint John in winter, she soon began to spend winters on Caribbean cruising from New York. As time passed, more of her time was spent cruising as air travel hit the Atlantic market. Initial passenger capacity was 160 First Class and 898 Tourist Class on liner service, but less on cruising.

It is easy to tell the two sisters apart, since the Empress of Britain has windows spaced 2-2-2 on the boat deck each side under the bridge wings, whereas on Empress of England they are spaced 2-1-2. The third ship, Empress of Canada was quite distinct, with a different funnel top and more superstructure forward of the bridge.

In 1970 she was sold to Shaw Savill, who had ambitious plans to increase their cruising market. The project was doomed almost from the start, as the conversion work at Cammell Laird stretched to over a year. She reappeared eventually in October 1971 as the Ocean Monarch. She operated only until 1975, when she was sold for scrap. This page shows company and commercial postcards under both owners.

Empress of England details: 25500 Gross Tons, Length: 640ft, 1050 Passengers (650 on cruising), Speed 20 knots, Engines: Steam turbines, twin screw.

Ocean Monarch details: 25971 Gross Tons, 1372 Passengers

My First Cruise - 1958 Was on the

Empress of England she was renamed the Ocean Monarch

The Empress of England was built in 1957 by Vickers-Armstrongs of Newcastle, following sister Empress of Britain into service by one year. Initially intended to run Liverpool-Quebec & Montreal in summer, and Liverpool-Saint John in winter, she soon began to spend winters on Caribbean cruising from New York. As time passed, more of her time was spent cruising as air travel hit the Atlantic market. Initial passenger capacity was 160 First Class and 898 Tourist Class on liner service, but less on cruising.

It is easy to tell the two sisters apart, since the Empress of Britain has windows spaced 2-2-2 on the boat deck each side under the bridge wings, whereas on Empress of England they are spaced 2-1-2. The third ship, Empress of Canada was quite distinct, with a different funnel top and more superstructure forward of the bridge.

In 1970 she was sold to Shaw Savill, who had ambitious plans to increase their cruising market. The project was doomed almost from the start, as the conversion work at Cammell Laird stretched to over a year. She reappeared eventually in October 1971 as the Ocean Monarch. She operated only until 1975, when she was sold for scrap. This page shows company and commercial postcards under both owners.

Empress of England details: 25500 Gross Tons, Length: 640ft, 1050 Passengers (650 on cruising), Speed 20 knots, Engines: Steam turbines, twin screw.

Ocean Monarch details: 25971 Gross Tons, 1372 Passengers