Conte Di Savoia

We just booked and paid for an October cruise on Europa2 and due to a change of policy I was able to charge our passage on Amex.  Done deal

I had the priviledge of sailing with Peter Knego on a transatlantic voyage of Silver Spirit.  Great guy.  I've also purchased some Italian line china from him.  He is on Facebook.

I recently found an exceptionally beautiful item from the Michelangelo on 1st Dibs.  It is a mirror from one of the first class cabins.  I sailed aboard both the Michelangelo and Raffaello in first class cabins.  Each cabin had a different version of this mirror.  My research finds that the artist was Romano Rui, who had other sculptural pieces on the ships.  The asking price for this one mirror is $32,000!  How I would love to have this piece in my home but.....

You can see it HERE.

The original deck plans of the ship indicate that C189 was a Third Class cabin and was midship starboard side.  The port side of C deck accomodated storage facilities  for food supplies and was not open to the public.  

I found this picture of a typical outside Third Class cabin.  It is a good representation of what C189 would have looked like.  There weren't  any private facilities but there was a sink.  None of Queen Mary's cabins were air conditioned although the main lounges were retrofitted with AC but only after WWII.

C189 is clearly shown in this Queen Mary deck plan I have, the one used for her final voyage from the UK, around Cape Horn and on to Long Beach.  The cabin is not inside but actually outside but doesn't have private facilities.  Note the toilets and baths down the hall.  The steward had to coordinate bath time for his passengers.  I don't have any documentation about whether this was Cabin Class or Tourist Class.

I never got to sail on her but visited her at her pier in NYC.  At that time anyone could pay a small fee and get aboard.  I used to like to sit in the First Class lounge, listen to the band play while the champagne flowed at the bon voyage parties.  My father sailed on her when she left New York the day after D Day.  The troops were packed in, sleeping on deck, in lounges and even in the swimming pool.

I've stayed aboard her several times in Long Beach.  It's a wonderful thing to do if you love ocean liners.  It's sad to hear that she is in such finacial trouble now and faces an uncertain future.

Abolutely the best food video I've seen on CC!  

We will be on board the Muse in a few weeks and I'm already salivating!

22 minutes ago, bobby3334 said:

25 minutes ago, bobby3334 said:

If Leonardo burned in 1980 what did I see in the Caribbean around 1998 which had the same name and looked the same?   

I don't know.  Are you sure it was in 1998?  She did sail the Caribbean at the end of her career but was long gone in 1998.  There are other ships which had a similar profile....I'm thinking of Saga Rose and Saga Ruby, ex Sagafjord and Vistafjord respectively.

The Leonardo da Vinci was taken out of service in 1978 and burned while in layup in 1980. I'm not aware of any alteration of her original stabilizers .  Raffaello and Michelangelo were twin liners with identical deck plans although Raffaello had a very slightly larger gross tonnage.  I never could perceive where the increased space was.

  For some reason these two ships were built without portholes in some hull cabins which could easily accommodate portholes.  That was a very bad decision.

Andrea Doria and Christoforo Colombo were also twins sharing the same deck plan. 

Each ship had unique interior decor and unique ambiance.  I'll post some comparative images.

It wasn't just the French Line which used public rooms for Bon Voyage parties.  I had by 16th birthday party on board the Leonardo and my dad brought a box full of champagne.  Besides relatives there was a group of my high school buddies (who got quite buzzed).  The venue was the 1st class dining room but other lounges were also used.  I recall that while the line would not sell any alcohol while in port, it was possible to order hors d'ouevres.

Cunard also made use of their public spaces for parties.  I remember buying a pass to get on board the Queen Mary (50cents and you didn't even  have to know anyone who was a passenger).  I loved to sit in the First Class ballroom watching the parties and listening to the ship's band playing on the stage.  

I still have the pass from one of those visits.  This coming week I will be spending a night on board the Queen Mary in Long Beach.  I've done that in the past and always enjoyed the experience.  Looking forward to having a drink in the Observation Lounge Bar which remains much the way it was in "the old days"!

Here is a picture of the Cabin Class dining room which was smaller and more intimate than the one in First Class.  There were 550 Cabin Class  passengers accomodated in two sittings but there was only one sitting for 535 First Class passengers.

We have cruised with SS since 1994 and have never had an issue with them.  Over the years we've found more and more gays cruising with them and have had a great time.  We will be on the Muse in October and can't wait to see who is on board .

Although now long gone, the influence of these beautiful transatlantic liners extends into the design of 21st century cruise ships.  The first class Excelsior dining room of the Raffaello has been a frequent source of inspiration.  Having had the priviledge of dining there, I can say it was one of the most stunning rooms on any midcentury vessel.  Its tree-like fluted columns were reinterpreted in the Queens Room aboard QE2 and now, the most recent homage is aboard Seabourn's Encore in the dining room designed by Adam Tihany.  It is a marvelous reinterpretation and clear inspiration for what is in my opinion a gorgeous setting.  Even the blue chairs of the original Raffaello room have been reinterpreted in blue.  Great job Mr. Tihany.  Bravo!

The Liberte started life as the Moore-McCormack liner Brasil and was actually constructed at the Pascagoula,Mississippi shipyard of Ingalls.  So she was American before becoming HAL's Volendam.  She had many name changes in later years.

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This has been, by far, the most interesting posting about travel with Hapag Lloyd that I have read on these boards because it accurately,in toto, summarizes the pluses and minuses of current travel with this company. Of still existing historic passenger shipping companies only Cunard andP&O, compete with its story. That it still survives and is doing so well (2+ years advance for reservations…really?) gives me hope that all is not lost in the current cruise world of ocean-going apartment buildings with water parks.

I have had the privilege of traveling with them twice, once around 1985 on the Europa (1981 build,now sailing as Saga Sapphire) and a cruise on the Great Lakes on the chartered C.Columbus in 2005. The former was an attempt at reintroducing their product to a North American clientele (after all they had a strong presence in the North Atlantic from the 19thcentury into the 1960’s). The latter was a chartered ship, not run to the same high standards. Still, it was a terrific experience and gave us the opportunity to arrive in Chicago by ship!. Since then, the line has had ambivalent feelings about going after non-German speaking clientele. When they introduced Europa 2 it sounded as though they were serious about capturing part of that market, but they have not been particularly proactive in aggressively pursuing that audience. Although I love their product, I do not recommend it to the average non-German cruiser. Those seeking major social interactions with fellow passengers are bound to be disappointed. Although Germans can be very fluent in English, they are not prone to reveal that and, speaking if I may for North Americans, we are not likely to be very fluent in German, although my husband knows some high school German. Still, I am one of those passengers who enjoys sitting in my deck chair reading watching the waves roll by and smiling at those promenading along the deck. The cuisine, as discussed in this posting was always outstanding as was the entertainment, which emphasized, at least on my cruises, cabaret and classical composition. There were no tributes to Broadway/The West End or Disney. On Europa we had a classical quartet playing Mozart in the Horizon Lounge as we sailed in and out of the fjords. It brought me to tears, a great travel moment. And opera in the lounge, I was in heaven…except when I exited the performance reeking of tobacco. It’s interesting, that despite the long interval since I travelled with them, the basic product hasn’t changed that much. Still, I flirt with the idea of getting back on board. Maybe one day although after 57 years of traveling on ships, starting from my teenage years to my retirement years, I’m not so fascinated by the current offerings……..except for Hapag Lloyd.

Reading between the lines, I think it doesn't sound very hopeful, but that's my mantra...."You can never be too pessimistic". The cost of replacing her engines is likely to be extremely high.

You are right to surmise that the ship was likely one of the "Fair" ships of Sitmar which ran an immigrant service in this time period to Australia....not sure if they stopped in NZ or not, but Sydney is pretty close. She was probably either on the Fairsky (1958-1977) or Fairstar(1964-1997). You can Google both ships to obtain more information. Ancestry.com is also a helpful resource to get at information on immigrant ships.

I said previously "SS France was the last "pure" major liner constructed, and she turned out to be a financial white elephant for the French Line and Government".

In fact the last "pure" major liners constructed were the Italian Line twins, Michelangelo and Raffaello both introduced in 1965, three years after the maiden voyage of the France. Of the two, the Raffaello is technically THE last, having her maiden voyage in August, 1965, three months after the Michelangelo. Both ships were recognized as anachronisms upon their introduction. They were constructed as three class vessels, unlike the Rotterdam,, France and QE2. Initially both the Michelangelo and Raffaello were used exclusively for transatlantic liner service. When they were eventually used for cruising, the line sold only the First Class and Cabin Class cabins. The tourist class cabins and public rooms were empty. They were configured as liners, not cruisers and very unprofitable. I had the privilege of sailing on both ships on transatlantic crossings as well as cruises and also on the France (transatlantic) and QE2(transatlantic and cruises).

She's always been a favorite of ours, having made most of our Silversea cruises aboard her starting with cruises 2 and 3 when she first appeared on the scene. At least she will remain in the family and makes it more likely that we will finally take an expedition cruise. Never liked the smaller vessels assigned to those trips.

And she looks very fine with a black hull!!!

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It wasn't unusual to meet some famous personalities when those sorts eschewed 707's for the liners. I met Buster Keaton on board the Michelangelo in 1965. He spent most of the time playing bridge. On a crossing on the Raffaello I had the opportunity to talk to George Kelly, a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright who also happened to be the uncle of Princess Grace. He was on his way home to California after having spent the summer in Monte Carlo with his niece. Never mentioning her by name he informed me that "she lives there." And then there was the time when I literally bumped into Leonard Bernstein as he stood outside his suite on the Boat Deck of the Leonardo Da Vinci. Those were the days!! How I miss them.

Back in the 1960's and 1970's I had the opportunity to make several transatlantic crossings on the now defunct but much missed Italian Line. Depending on the ship, it was 5 or 6 days to Gibraltar, 7 or 8 to Naples and 8 or 9 to the last stops, Cannes and Genoa. These afforded a relaxing week to get to the Med on voyages which were far more sunny than the dreadful northern route and afforded a passing glimpse of the Azores and The Rock. Back in the 1960's Cunard tried to compete on this route by placing Mauretania in that service but it was a total failure for them and Mauretania wound up going to the scrap heap. But now the market is Cunard's for the taking. How I wish they would use QM2 for an occasional crossing from NYC to the Med but then they want to promote UK tourism, not Italy's. So it's unlikely to happen but I would seriously consider such a dream trip.

The image used on the front of this brochure isn't one of the new ship. In fact it's the Voyager. I finally found a rendering of Seven Seas Voyager here. She looks top heavy above the bridge. It would be great to see some computerized renderings of her interior. Unfortunately many cruise lines fail to promote their ships, preferring to include pictures of the ports rather than their "luxurious" vessels. Years ago it wasn't like that. It used to be about the ship.

We have booked this cabin on several occasions and obviously love it! It is a bit larger than other Vista suites being longer in length from the entry to the window. Because of the curvature of the hull in this area there is deep sill to the window and I love contorting myself so that I can sit in it and stare at the waves passing by.

There is some noise associated with this location. You can feel and hear the anchor being lowered and raised in ports where the ship does not dock and if you listen carefully you can here waves slapping against the hull of the ship. I love that experience, others may have problems with it. Last year when we cruised on the Wind I was disappointed that this cabin had been reassigned to the crew's quarters during a redo a few years ago.

So this is my biased opinion on this cabin.

Note for all of my posts: Unless the internet gets faster, I will not be correcting errors - my apologies in advance.

What I do is open up the word processing program they use on board, compose my posting and then spell check it. Read it over and make sure it's the way you want it. Then copy the posting and paste it into CruiseCritic, when you finally get it open. That way you're not wasting valuable time composing and editing. Just a thought. I'm enjoying your commentary and comparison of the two lines. We've never been on board Oceania but it has gotten our attention.

Well, I have to say that I really enjoyed your review of Funchal. After all it isn't so often that you can travel in a time machine back to the world of 1961! Travel can sometimes be more of an adventure than we bargained for and that was what happened here. I've never experienced, or hope to experience departing for one city with the expectation of meeting up with the ship only to be diverted elsewhere. I feel your anxiety over that circumstance.

I sometimes wonder if I were able to reboard the Leonardo Da Vinci, my first liner in July, 1961, what would I think? Would it be as great as I remember?

As much as I love the old ships, the one thing I don't miss are the cabins. That has certainly improved over the years. When we sailed on Saga Rose, at the beginning of the original thread, I warned the DH that this stateroom would be like no other he experienced. Two non-movable berths and one chair, no sofa, two portholes and just a small bath. Wonderful, but not arrangements that any current cruiser would find in anyway acceptable.

Still, the ship has a certain sense of a specific ethnic milieu. Was the staff Portuguese? I had the chance to see her on our last two trips to Lisbon, where she was idle at the pier, awaiting her fate. Luckily she is still sailing, but of course, she was never a deluxe liner, even in her prime. Still, it's great to see that much of her midcentury interior is still intact. I would travel on her if she were sailing from a nearby port, but sadly I doubt that we will ever see her on this side of the Atlantic.

I will always be an Italian Line refugee.

I recently discovered a Facebook entry for the Italian Line, mostly with postings from former crew members. Although the postings are frequently in Italian, the pictures also hold some interest. It can be found here