norboy76

I have some nice ones, but not for sale as they're part of my personal collection. Some are souvenir, but I do have a couple of actual dining room dinner plates that were used on board ships in the past. I have one really nice HAL plate showing the fleet, but the plate is interesting as every ship on it was sold, so not one HAL ship on this plate is with the company anymore. I'll include pictures of my fave plates in this post, including a nice vintage Delta Queen plate from between 1948 - 1973, a 1960's Dinner Plate from the NS Savannah, A metal souvenir plate from Sitmar Fairsea (it's heavy), and a nice 1991 World Cruise on the QE2.

The HAL Plate Fleet:

MS Rotterdam: 1997 - sold in 2020

MS Veendam: 1995 - sold in 2020

MS Ryndam: 1994 - sold in 2015

MS Maasdam: 1993 - sold in 2020

MS Statendam: 1992 - sold in 2015

MS Westerdam: 1989 - sold in 2002 *Laid up, expected to be scrapped

MS Noordam: 1984 - sold in 2004 *Sold for scrap 2020

MS Nieuw Amsterdam: 1983 - sold in 2000 *Scrapped in 2018

I admit to wearing tshirts on my cruises, I try to wear tshirts for that line, including if the tshirt has a ship no longer in that fleet. I think the um most interesting tshirt I wore was when was in Alaska with all the Ice and Galciers around, and there's me walking around in a tshirt for the RMS Titanic. I had just grabbed tshirts at home making sure were for the line but didnt notice until got on the ship I had that in the pile lol, oops. Some passengers thought it was funny though and asked if my tshirt was a sign to watch out for icebergs.

My first cruise was in 2007, mom an dad arranged this big 50th anniversary cruise, I think we had 6 cabins total on the Norwegian Spirit. For me it was a painful cruise as I fell sleep on the sun deck by the pool and ended up with major sunburn to both legs, took about a month for the legs to totally heal. Lets just say that made dining painful as had to wear pants in the dining room so imagine severe sunburn rubbing against pant legs. ouch. 

Not just me, but I do have the cards for the ships my mom and dad also cruise on, so including their ships too *see list below

Celebrity Summit, Celebrity Infinity, Norwegian Gem, Celebrity Equinox, MV Bolero, Nieuw Amsterdam, Sun Princess, Norwegian Sun, Celebrity Eclipse, Explorer Of The Seas, Grandeur Of The Seas, Sun Viking, Norwegian Escape, Carnival Pride, Norwegian Dawn, Celebrity Constellation, Costa Europa, Sun Cruises Sunbird, Sun Cruises Sundream, Norwegian Spirit,  Seawind Crown, Norwegian Dynasty, Norwegian Dream, Song Of Norway, Celebrity Solstice, Norwegian Escape.

On 10/29/2021 at 3:17 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

Very utilitarian looking decor which is what I saw when I visited Petropavlovsk during a shore excursion in 2002.  The view of a Lounge in the upper left corner picture shows a bit more color; looks interesting.  

I took 3 photos of my 1967-1968 Chandris SS Regina Brochure. The cabins are very non descriptive and the library on board, I've never seen such a huge library, it's almost as though it was amalgamated into the main lounge it's so big. The colors too inside, one cabin is gold and purple and the other is shades of green, and the library is colorful too as you'll see in these photos. As can see in photos #3 this is a giant library on board an lots of sitting areas. History of the ship:

Panama (1939–1941)

James Parker (1941–1946)

Panama (1946–1957)

President Hoover (1957–1965)

Regina (1965–1973)

Regina Prima (1973–1985)

Scrapped (1985)

14 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

That was our impression, too.  We must have had a brochure or two, and been attracted to the exterior and size of Gruziya.  But even the brochure showed a rather plain interior, more like a college dorm, perhaps, than a ship as we know now.

Did you know Chandris had some interiors like that? I have a 1967 - 1968 brochure for the SS Regina and she had some of the most boring boring boring looking cabins I have ever seen, the ones shown in the brochure, there's not even pictures or art on the walls. just plain boring walls an terrible looking beds and very very little furniture. Ill have to take a photo and post them on my next post so can see what I mean.

On 10/27/2021 at 3:58 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

Sailing on one of the Russian cruise ships must have been a different cruise experience.  

the interiors were ok, I read that by the time the Admiral Nakhimov sank, a lot of passengers said she was really beat looking inside and outside. The ships were just so-so interior wise, some public rooms were kinda plain and boring, especialy the cabins as you'll see in this postcard, note the cabin, no art on the walls, kinda plain blue couch, a sorta chocolate carpet floor. Also this shot of a bar in a lot of olive greens and sorta mustard.

5 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

I had a friend who sailed 2 or 3 times on Marco Polo aka Alexander Pushkin and loved the ship.  She was aboard during a crossing of the Tasman Sea when King Neptune was upset.  She said that the ship was very steady and handled those rough seas well.

 

When I learned that a book had been written about the loss of Mikhail Lermontov in New Zealand waters, I tried to buy that book.  Not available from any source in North America that I contacted.  Booksellers agreed that it existed; they could not obtain it.  When I visited New Zealand, I started shopping.  A book dealer in Auckland could obtain it, but I would be long gone from New Zealand when it would arrive.  Booksellers in other ports that I visited, including the Maritime Museum in Wellington, did not have the book.  Visiting the Maritime Museum of Australia in Sydney, I was checking out their gift shop.  Lo and behold, they had 2 copies of the book.  They had only 1 copy when I left the shop.  In interesting read with good photos in the book.  

As you can see, I have a pin, a nice 45 rpm record and a couple of nice postcards for the Mikhail Lermontov. 

I have some nice vintage Soviet Era Cruise Ship memorabilia, a nice collection of pins, postcards, and 2  45 rpm records. I have these cruise ships in my collection: *most of the names listed are the pins*

1 Admiral Nakhimov
2 The Ship "Ukraine"
3 The Ship "Georgia"
4 Byelorussia
5 Azerbaijan
6 Taras Shevchenko
7 "Ivan Franko"
8 Russia (above)/Dnipro (below)
9 Ship "Latvia"
10 Rustaveli
11 Dnipro
12 "Colchis"
13 Uzbekistan
14 Abkhazia
15 Baltiкa
16 Riverflot Ukraine 
17 Mikhail Kalinin
18 Adjara

19.Mikhail Lermontov

20.Alexander Pushkin

21.Gruziya

On 6/26/2005 at 1:18 PM, bandgbasset said:

hi all:

 

the azure seas was also our first cruise, took a 4 day monday to friday, just took a short one to see if we liked cruising 😄 , boy were we hooked, just took a ten day to alaska, have been on about 6 total. and do we love cruising.

I have various items from her different names she went under. I have items for her:

3 Items from when she was the Southern Cross: Spoon, Postcard, Playing Cards

1 Item as the Azure Seas: Spoon

1 Item as the Ocean Breeze: Spoon

The only nice souvenir I have for this line is a souvenir scarf from the SS Rhapsody, which I have a photo of. I had to edit the photo a bit to show the name as it didn't come out too clear, hence why the name is brighter then the rest of the scarf. 

15 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

Norboy, You mentioned two of our favorite ships!

Transvaal Castle/SA Vaal/Festivale/Island Breeze was a beautiful ship, both exterior and interior. Great open decks, too.

Sun Vista we sailed as Meridian.  Years later, on a different ship, our cabin steward told us he was on Sun Vista when she sank.  All aboard were rescued.

I have an inaugural brochure for the Meridian and the Horizon. The brochure is interesting as both *Chandris* and *Celebrity* are on front cover. Celebrity Cruises is at the top, but look at the bottom and you'll see Chandris. The brochure is dated 1990. Here are photos of the brochure, a Meridian deck plan and a Chandris spoon for the Galileo.

On 9/26/2021 at 5:45 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

Thank you.  The post card got to the receiver after the disaster since it was postmarked in Nassau.  That might be a reason why the recipients saved the post card.  

Got an interesting deck of playing cards, it's for the MS Sunward, but I have never seen these cards before. I know she was a ferry before becoming the NCL cruise ship, but I don't know if these are from her ferry days or when NCL had her. MS Sunward is the *only* ship name on the boxes and cards which is interesting. Also have a weird color deck for Princess Cruises as it's not blue and white, it's this deep green and white. Also got a nice double deck from Safmarine for the S.A. Vaal (which became the Festivale for Carnival). And a deck for the Sun Vista which would catch fire during a cruise and sink in 1999.

4 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

What is the postmark on the post card?  If there is a message written on it, would you please share it with us?  

The postmark on the back is Nov, 9, 1965, only 4 days before the disaster, and sure, I'll post a photo of the back showing the message.

On 9/15/2021 at 3:19 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

Thank you!  I am somewhat embarrassed that I didn't remember that.  

I have an interesting cruise postcard, it's a little sad as I don't know if the person who wrote it survived or not the disaster, but I have a November 9, 1965 SS Yarmouth Castle postcard, the ship would catch fire and burn November 13, 1965. I hope she survived, but she must have if I have the postcard now. this is the dated postcard for *that* fateful cruise.

On 3/8/2008 at 1:44 AM, goldenrod said:

This was our very first cruise in 1971. We wanted to try cruising to see if we liked it , we lived in Miami at that time so it was easy since the ship sailed from Miami we went with another couple ,the fare was $69 a person for a three day cruise it went to Freeport and Nassau. We had ajoining rooms with our friends which was nice. When we walked in the room it was about the size of a small closet. But we sure had fun and we were so young. they had no casino but they did have a small room with mechanical slot machines I had never played a slot machine before, they had 1 cent up to 25 cent single coin machines, I played the 25 cent machine and won $75 jackpot on the third pull, I was thrilled it paid for my cruise! The ship was quite old but as I said we sure had a blast sucking down those 50 cent drinks. How times have changed! Would love to here from others who were on this old lady.

Jerry and Jeanie

PS we decided we loved cruising after our little three day cruise and will be going on #18 this Aug.

All I have is 4 postcards for the Bahama Star, and I'll post a photo of one of them, but I am also going to include in this post a photo of my SS Yarmouth Castle postcard, as the Bahama Star rescued 489 people from the burning SS Yarmouth Castle, and I actually have a dated postcard for that disaster, the date stamped on the back of my Yarmouth Castle postcard is November 9, 1965 and the ship caught fire on November 13, 1965.

5 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I had that disappointing experience as well.  What was the camera that seemed prone to that?  A Kodak Instamatic?  I remember that it would often not fire the flashcube when it ought to have done so and I lost some good photos.  

 

 

I made particular note of the photo of the couple formally dressed meeting the Captain.  Would one find that today on a NCL vessel?  

 

Reinforces my memory of my Sunward II cruise.  It was the best cruise value that I have ever experienced, but it was also a quality cruise experience.  

I don't have many souvenirs of the Southward, except a deck of round playing cards, a model of the ship which came in a lil plastic case and a couple of postcards and a nice glass souvenir dish.

On 9/11/2021 at 2:56 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

Given the heading on that card, the red color might have been chosen because of the urgency to have the task done.  I wonder how these cards would have been gotten to the necessary department heads quickly.

 

The United States Line's Gala Menu covers all seem to be of the same design with only the ship picture changing.  The ones that I have from the America have that ship on the covers.  

The final remainders of my SS United States items arrived today, so can finally post the photos of the last of the items I was waiting for. Just some small things like 2 envelopes, one is for Airmail, a postcard and 2 unused luggage stickers for First Class.

On 9/6/2021 at 2:22 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

You probably know that deadlights are the steel coverings of portholes usually found associated with the portholes of staterooms on the lowest decks.  Orders for those to be closed are issued when rough seas are expected that might cause waves to hit the portholes and break the glass.  "Officer of the water"??  Looking forward to seeing that form.  

More of my SS United States items came in, I'm just waiting now on the 2 first class sticker tags. Here are the photos I took of the items that arrived today including that one I told you about the deadlights and ports. And a June 27, 1960 Gala Dinner Menu, and a sign saying the dining room is closed. And a daily steward overtime report form (unfilled). More photos will be added as haven't taken photos of everything yet.

7 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

You probably know that deadlights are the steel coverings of portholes usually found associated with the portholes of staterooms on the lowest decks.  Orders for those to be closed are issued when rough seas are expected that might cause waves to hit the portholes and break the glass.  "Officer of the water"??  Looking forward to seeing that form.  

lol Oops I made a typo, I mean *Officer Of The Watch* not water. Not sure why I typed water. The form is not what you'd expect, it's more of a pink colored card instead of a sheet.

6 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Your guess is as good as any.  Sometimes, the more one learns, the more questions one has.  

Once they arrive, I'll take photos of the other items including 2 First class sticker tags, a sign saying *Dining Room Closed*, A 1954 Sailing Schedule, Staff Daily Overtime Report Sheets to keep track of crew hours, and a cleaning sheet listing all the cabin numbers showing all the rooms that need vacuuming and shampooing and a cabin class landing card, a menu and a card from engineering to department heads to close somethings called Ports And Deadlights On The Decks which had to be signed by the Officer of the water, the engineering department and steward department.

8 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Yes, I did.  Interesting.

 

 

But, why was this necessary for the Pursers to do?  

I'm not sure, the letter doesn't say, but maybe to keep track of passengers so they didn't lose any? Not sure, sadly no way to find out.

7 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

The letter from the Chief Purser concerning the hotels that some passengers are going to makes me wonder as to why such a list would be needed.  I would assume that the hotels listed would be expecting guests from the ship.  There's probably some detail which I am not considering.  

If noticed, I also had a couple of signs from the dining rooms and such too? As for the Chief Purser letters, it has to do with the fact that a purser from each class has to check destination of each landing passenger going to one of the hotels listed on the front page of the letter seen in the one photo, which would be marked with a check on a list and the list turned over to a Mr. Gray upon docking. There is a second Chief Purser letter which I haven't taken a photo of yet and it's in regard to passengers that transfer to a higher class during the voyage and the collection of the difference of the fare will be 50% per diem. Once I take more photos, I will post them.

On 8/25/2021 at 2:34 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

I didn't realize you were still exploring what you received.  I have been given a few items in the past that I wouldn't have known what they were or their significance if the person who gave them to me explained what they were.  (And, how he acquired them.)  

You'll be happy to know my items have arrived in the mail and I have taken photos of some of the unique items. I have photos of repair pads from the SS United State's Chief Engineer, Board Signs for some of the areas of the ship such as for the dining rooms, linen, baggage, Disembarkation cards, ect. I hope will enjoy these photos of crew items probably we wouldn't normally see. I have more items but haven't taken photos of them yet.

7 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

The spoon looks more like a mini-shovel.  

I think the mini shovel spoons and the dangly charm spoons from the ships are some of my favorite, or the unique ones like the spears one for the Britannis. I also have a teensy fork, but it's not really a cruise ship, it's for a Canadian car ferry that's been scrapped, the souvenir fork is only 2 1/2 inches long. I also like the ones where the ship is etched into the bowl part of a spoon.