norboy76

17 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Thanks for posting the photos, brings back many great memories. I sailed with P&O for 7 years, with my favorite ship being SS Oriana.

I also have a spoon for the Oriana when she sailed under the Orient Steam Navigation Company from 1960 - 1966, and a spoon for the Oriana for P&O from 1966 till she retired in 1986. Which of the other P&O's were you on, in case I have any items from them too in my personal collection I can share photos of?

Sadly I haven't been on them, but I had friends who did back in the 1960's. I just have a small collection of nice souvenirs from that line, menus, spoons, playing cards, postcards. A friend of the family, she came over on the Canberra. If you were ever on P&O, what was your favorite ship in the fleet that's gone now if that ship has been scrapped? Here are some nice photos of items I have. One of the items is a neat Anchor Ashtray for the SS Orcades. There is also a photo of a November 13, 1965 Canberra menu. I have more photos, but I wont post them all at once.

On 7/13/2021 at 4:47 PM, rkacruiser said:

I have the same one as your first one for QM2.  I have never seen the others.  Since the brochure for Queen Victoria may be for World Club Members, my measly World Club patronage would not have probably gotten that brochure sent.  I do, though, still get The Cunarder magazine when it was produced pre-Covid.  

I came across an interesting postcard for the QE2, it's of her with the original funnel, but below the water line, she's sporting the *Blue Antifouling Paint* instead of the regular red paint normally used. I also have a postcard for a Cunarder with to me a very unattractive funnel? the Cunard Adventurer. And an interesting view of the QE2 in her Falkland War Grey Hull (please note the side of the ship which for some odd reason, it looks like a lot of doors or somethings are open? Not sure why they are open? Unless they're trying to sink her for some reason if a good storm came up?

6 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Yes, it is.  That's the way with other memorabilia that I have found or been given.  How did this or that find its way off the ship and to wherever it found a home?  

Not sure who it originally belonged too, but it's nice to have interesting info on the back and now it's safe with me in an album protected

6 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

On a cruise ship, such stats are routinely provided during a cruise.  On a troop ship, its doubtful that such information would be available to the soldiers.  I vote that the data was written by a crew member.  That conclusion then leads me to ask:  why would a crew member do so?  The post card was not mailed to anyone.  Unless, of course, it was mailed in an envelope.  

Could the crew member have also written it down and kept it just as a memento for when he was on the ship? No stamp or anything, so maybe he wrote it down and kept it as a souvenir of that voyage? Also I wonder if just regular crew or one of the officers on board? Maybe bridge crew or another officer on board? Intriguing postcard isn't it? soo many questions.

On 7/17/2021 at 3:53 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

I enjoy such research when I have time to do it.  She was a good looking ship.  There is a You Tube video of the wreck of the ship.  The ship is lying on her side, so it's a bit difficult to understand what one is seeking.  

Any thoughts on that Leviathan postcard and the info the person put on the back and the lovely shop of all the troops covering her from bow to stern and from deck to the top near the funnels? I can't tell if the person who put all the info would have been a crew member, because the person was able to give the food stats on the foods being eaten and how much was on board for this voyage? Just curious to what you though? Soldier or Crew Member?

13 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Based on those photographs, they require many, many hundreds of millions of dollars of work just to refurbish the pax areas. Never mind the mechanical spaces.

 

Don't know the US Regs, but a project of that scope in Canada would require upgrading to meet many of the current regulations.

The rest of the SS United States looks just as bad, no walls, no nothing, just exposed metal and everything, she was totally gutted as can be seen in these photos. 

1. Ballroom. 

2. First Class Observation Lounge 

3. First Class Cabins (You can see where the walls and the bathrooms were on the floor

4. Theater

5. Bar

5 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I enjoy such research when I have time to do it.  She was a good looking ship.  There is a You Tube video of the wreck of the ship.  The ship is lying on her side, so it's a bit difficult to understand what one is seeking.  

I did get ahold of an interesting postcard for ww1 which is interesting, it's for what used to be Hamburg America Line's Vaterland. This postcard though is for when the US seized her, the postcard is for her under her military name USS Leviathan (before she became the ocean liner SS Leviathan). So this is for her in her *Grey War Paint*, but the message on the back is unique too, as it was written in 1918 when still the trooper and the person has hand written the ship's *stats on weight, beam, draft, capacity, the engine's horsepower, number of boilers, speed, coal consumption, but also food facts such as bread, coffee, pies, eggs and the weight of the food for per day* and at the top says the first name of the person that came home aboard her (presumably a soldier or because of all the stats maybe one of the ship's crew, sadly no last name, only a first which doesn't help. I will post photos of the front and back as I haven't seen a military postcard with so much info hand written on the back. I noticed tug boats and a small excursion boat near her, so she must be returning to the United States by the looks of the photo. Please note the postcard front photo, I had to enlarge it for myself to see, and the entire deck and every lifeboat are filled with soldiers coming home in the photo, from bow to stern she's covered in soldiers and at the top too between the funnels are soldiers. 

On 6/10/2021 at 8:07 PM, Catnip said:

I have no memory of that outside staircase!  😂   I know I was up there, though! 
I met a waiter in the MDR on our Bermuda cruise in '85 and we kept in touch.  He was from Paris and I ended up flying over to see him on his vacation home in Sept and spent 10 days!  It was marvelous.  Ooh, la la!   😄    Then he came and visited with me for a few days on his way back to the ship.  Sad to say, we lost touch after that.  But that was the happiest cruise memory!

 

I managed to find a photo of the *Exterior Staircase* that would lead to the Viking Lounge. This is the one for the Song Of Norway

On 7/11/2021 at 3:17 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

Your post caused me to access the SS United States Conservancy's web site.  I have visited this some time ago and have heard nothing for a long time.  It was an interesting read about RXR Realty being involved in trying to develop plans for the ship as well as their submitting proposals to several American port cities.  But, that was in March, 2020.  

 

I wonder in what condition the ship is.  Pictures of her now show significant deterioration of the exterior of the hull.  Reportedly Queen Mary is in poor condition and I wonder if the United States may not be the same or worse shape.  Queen Mary has, at least, had a second life so there would have been some maintenance done on her since she was retired from service. 

 

Donations are still being solicited.  What would such money now be used?  

The SS United States looks terrible inside from photos that I've found, including what looks like a tree and ivy and plants growing inside one of the rooms and looks like a lot of water has been getting inside too judging by these photos. Sadly I think it's too late to save her and because of costs, scrapping sadly would be the best thing instead of letting her probably rust even more and capsize at the dock she's at. Might be time to let this Lady go to sleep gracefully instead of rolling over onto her side.

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I remember the artifacts that I once had collected going back to the late 1950's through 1982.  I have seen some of these same items for sale on E-Bay as well as on other sites.  That makes me more appreciative than ever of what I now have collected and have informed my Executor that if he throws all of this "stuff" into the dumpster, when the time comes for such a decision, he will be throwing money into that dumpster.  If he does, it will my Estate's loss which will impact him as well as my Alma Mater.  

I have a nice extensive collection of ocean liner and cruise ship paraphanalia, I'm sure over 1000 items or more. My collection spans from the 1800's to 2019 (which was when I took my last cruise). I have a lot of postcards and some items at least 100 - almost 140 yrs old.

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

That's rather what I thought, but, where and how would the Third Class passengers be housed?  Seeing a deck plan for that ship (or that Class of sisters) would be interesting.  I expected to find some indication that the ship was designed to be more of a cargo/passenger ship with such a large foredeck that ought to indicate, I thought, at least two holds of considerable size.  

 

I don't immediately recognize the name of General Von Steuben.  More research to do; you are keeping me busy!   😄

 

 

Lol sorry haha. The General Von Steuben: Owned by Norddeutscher LLoyd

1923: München

1930: SS General von Steuben

1938: Steuben

During World War II, she served as a troop accommodation ship, and from 1944 as an armed transport.

Feb 10, 1945 she was torpedoed by a soviet submarine, estimated almost 4000 lives lost

In 1923, München was the first German trans-Atlantic passenger liner both to be launched, and to enter New York Harbor, since the end of World War I.

On February 11, 1930, after docking and discharging passengers and most of her crew from a voyage from Bremen, Germany, a fire broke out in a paint locker which quickly spread to another storage hold; the massive fire and explosion resulting in a five-alarm fire with all fire equipment in New York City being sent to the burning ship. The fire could not be controlled and the ship sank next to the wharf where it had docked. In one of the largest shipping salvage efforts of its time, München was raised, towed to a dry dock, repaired, and returned to service and renamed General Von Steuben.

I got a couple of nice Italian Line postcards, 1 for the SS Raffaello and 1 for the SS Leonardo Da Vinci, but one reason I really like these postcards is, besides the ship being on them, so is a portrait of the famous Artist each ship is named after which I thought was a nice touch. The Raffaello one is unique because the ship was not built yet, this was an artists impression of what she  might look like and when you see the postcard, she looks nothing like how she would actually turn out. 

On 7/14/2021 at 3:36 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

 

My research as to why such a long foredeck was built turned up nothing.  She was the 4th of 4 sisters for the Company.  As built, she carried a surprising (to me) number of passengers in First, Cabin, and Third Class.  Over 2100 in Third Class plus less than 200 in each of the other two Classes.  

Maybe because of the high number in third class, just guessing, I wonder if they were primarily built for the immigration trade, hence the high numbers for that class? I also got ahold of another German Liner which sadly ended badly during the war with the loss of almost 4000 people, the SS General Von Steuben. And a really nice 1900's Kronprinz Wilhelm with the Captain postcard. I'll be adding an unique postcard to the Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo chat thread.

On 7/7/2021 at 3:58 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

It's remarkable that they still exist in decent condition after all this time.  

I have a couple of nice Inaugural brochures for Cunard, nothing old, but for the Queen Mary (the one that's out now) and the Queen Victoria and a nice 1980's brochure for the Cunard Sea Goddesses

Oh wait, I did find an antique shop in Alaska at one of the ports our ship stopped at and found some neat Ocean Liner and Cruise Ship items though, which was interesting. Found some menu covers (No menus inside though) for the Alaska Steamship Company from 1941 and some On Board photos from the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth (The original ones, not the ones out now), as these are really old black and white photos.

I don't shop a lot on the islands, I find a lot of those tourist trap shops sell the same things over and over again and try to gouge you. I did a cruise to St Thomas, Puerto Rico and when was there, one of the tourist stalls was asking $50 for a wood statue, and down the road I went to a name brand shop and saw an almost duplicate statue for only $25. I usually buy souvenirs only on the ship with the ship's name and company logo.

5 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Were these ships considered "cruise type ships"?  Or, simply transportation from point A to point B?

 

 

Would it not be unusual if these ships were  "ferries" and not cruise ships to produce spoons such as these?  

I do have a couple of spoons for New Zealand ferries too. some were Ferries, and some were actual cruise ships and one was a small liner.

2 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

Norboy, You certainly do have an extensive collection!

What is the ship name on the third spoon?  When I lived in Sydney, I could see the ship that sailed to Tasmania every Thursday evening.  There was also one between Melbourne and Tasmania, which we took once.  I don't recall the name of either one, but I did love seeing them sail.

The third spoon? That one if for the *Spirit Of Tasmania* (1993 - 2002). The one above it is the *Abel Tasman* (1985 - 1994). The one below it is the *Princess of Tasmania (1959 - 1975). The very bottom one the *TSMV Manoora* its from (1935 - 1961). The very top one the *MV Westralia* its from (1929 - 1959)

Here is another photo of a different *Abel Tasman* spoon, same ship as one the posted earlier just a different looking spoon.

5 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

"How lovely"....If you had seen it, you would not have used that adjective.  I'll look on Ebay, but, if any were saved, it may have been the crew retrieving them from our waste baskets.  

Lol true, I hope lines don't still give ugly gifts. I have a nice little statue mom and dad got on the inaugural cruise of the Sun Princess in 1995, It's a neat little statue. What did you think of the 3 Cunard postcards and their ages that I posted?

4 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

There a few lines that are new to me:  Adelaide Steamship Company and Huddart-Parker Line as examples.  

Adelaide Steamship, Huddart Parker Line were Australian ship lines, they had both liners, cruise ships and ferries and cargo ships that did Melbourne, Tasmania, Adelaide runs, but I have spoons for their passenger ships in my collection.

1. Adelaide Steamship Company: 1875 - 2006 (bought and now fully owned by Maersk)

2. Huddart Parker Line: 1876 - 1961 (Ceased to exist after being taken over by an Oil Refinery Company

20 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

During my 2008 World Cruise aboard Amsterdam, full cruise guests were given many pillow gifts.  One of which was either a plate or a platter that had the itinerary imprinted on it.  It was made of quality china:  Rosenthal.  I ought to get into my two large storage boxes that contains the items that we were given and I collected during that cruise.  What else is there?

 

One item that we received which I discarded before I even disembarked (others did as well), was a piece of what, I guess could be "generously" called a piece of driftwood that had something--maybe a plaque--I don't remember--attached to it.  It looked like crap!  (Maybe if i had kept it, might it now be "valuable"?  😀)  Or, still "crap"? 

I just got in the mail 3 really really really old Cunard postcards.

1. RMS Saxonia & RMS Ivernia Postcard: 1910 (it's used and stamped on the back) 111 yrs old

2. RMS Lucania Postcard: 1893 - 1909 (Unused) 112 - 128 yrs old

3. RMS Etruria Postcard: 1885 - 1908 (Unused) 113 - 136 yrs old

*Photos will be in order of the list above

7 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

 

 

One item that we received which I discarded before I even disembarked (others did as well), was a piece of what, I guess could be "generously" called a piece of driftwood that had something--maybe a plaque--I don't remember--attached to it.  It looked like crap!  (Maybe if i had kept it, might it now be "valuable"?  😀)  Or, still "crap"? 

Lol how lovely, a hunk of driftwood with metal attached to it, but who knows, maybe it's worth something? have you checked Ebay to see if anything like it on there?

7 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

😍   WOW!  That's quite a collection!  

Thankyou, I have spoons for many lines, some that don't exist anymore. I have spoons for these lines:

Cunard, P&O, Orient Line, Sitmar, Canadian Pacific Steamships, NYK Line, Hamburg-Atlantic, Royal Caribbean, Princess, Carnival, Chandris, Holland America Line, White Star Line, Blue Funnel Line, Furness-Withy, Anchor Line, Anchor-Donaldson, Townsend Thoreson, Sally Cruise Line, Saga Cruises, Pacific Steam Navigation, Adelaide Steamship Company, Norwegian Cruise Line, Fred Olsen, TT-Line, Huddart-Parker Line, Australian-National Line, Sundance Cruises, American Hawaii Cruises, Commodore Cruise Line, Dolphin Cruise Lines, Cape Canaveral Cruise Line, Crown Cruise Line, Costa, Chandris, Celebrity Cruises, Regal Cruises, Regency Cruises, Admiral Cruises, Imperial Majesty Cruises, Bahamas Cruise Line, Premier Cruise Line, Sun Cruises, Seawind Cruise Line, Royal Viking Line, Greek Line, Hamburg-America Line.

5 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

On your second Sagafjord dish, is that "NAC" in blue print next to "Cunard"?

 

Cruise lines during those years must have liked to produce small souvenir itinerary dishes for their guests.  I am relatively certain that these were given to guests and were not sold in the ships' gift shops.  

Yes, I had to use a magnifying glass and both Cunard and NAC are on that dish, which I though was interesting. Also enjoy the photo I posted in cruise memorabilia, see what you think of my spoon collection of 246 spoons all from cruise ships and ocean liners, except for 3 from the Royal Naval Lifeboat Institute in the UK.