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S.S. Constitution


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Whatever happened to the American Hawaii Line's S.S. Constitution? I took my first cruise on that ship and loved the line and the classic style of the ship. I had a single outside cabin with one single bed, a closet that was literally about a foot wide, and a shower that was about 18 inches in diameter! :p [Makes me greatful for the new ships' amenities!!] I had a fantastic time on that cruise!

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Wow - She was a really beautiful ship -- not in a glitzy way like today's ships, but more quietly elegant. I hope NCL uses her again. That was our teenage son's first cruise, and we had such a great time. Somehow we had our meals at the Captain's table (don't know how, because we had very inexpensive inside accommodations) with a fantastic family from New York, and we had such a great time. Cheryl

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  • 1 month later...
We went on her sister, the Independence, in August 2001. My husband and I were just saying last night that that was our favorite cruise. I'm not sure where they are now. :) -- Cheryl

Gotcha beat. I sailed on her in 1958 from Naples to NYC. I was about 11 at the time. I remember the FOOD more than anything else! <g>

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Gotcha beat. I sailed on her in 1958 from Naples to NYC. I was about 11 at the time. I remember the FOOD more than anything else! <g>

Wow! You sure do have us beat! That ship must have been really something back then, and how lucky you were to be on a cruise ship in 1958 at age 11! Not many people had the opportunity to cruise then like they do now. We loved that ship and that cruise, and part of what made it special was knowing it had a lot of history and a lot of famous people had sailed on her. I hope you have made many more happy cruise memories since then. Cheryl

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Wow! You sure do have us beat! That ship must have been really something back then, and how lucky you were to be on a cruise ship in 1958 at age 11! Not many people had the opportunity to cruise then like they do now. We loved that ship and that cruise, and part of what made it special was knowing it had a lot of history and a lot of famous people had sailed on her. I hope you have made many more happy cruise memories since then. Cheryl

Yes, I was so lucky to have had that experience. But my next cruise was not until I was married and age 43!:eek:

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  • 2 months later...
Yes, I was so lucky to have had that experience. But my next cruise was not until I was married and age 43!:eek:

 

I took her from NYC to Naples 3/1956 on the way to my first post (Istanbul, U.S. State Dept.) The 1st passenger ship for me since 1939 and 1937 when I took the Matsonia to and the Lurline back from Honolulu. My father was Chief Steward, on the Matsonia 1935-47. I was on a troop ship Oakland to Whittier, AK in 1950, but troop ships don't count.

 

Chief Steward on Independence was old ship mate of my father's and so was the Chief Purser. No bar bills, no laundry bills and bartenders were told to introduce me to a single girl. They did. Francine from Nice. Almost deserted my job and got off with her ;) on the tender in Cannes. Probably wouldn't happen today.

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My previous Independence post does not belong here, Sorry.

 

I took the Constitution from Genoa to NYC in 3/1958. As I was still single, I hooked up with another single U.S. State Dept guy going home and we hung out with 3 showgirls returning home after working the Italian Riviera during the winter. It was Voyage #100 and we hit the worst storm ever according to a crewmember that had been on her since her maiden voyage. She was also known to be top heavy and we were rolling about 20 degrees left and right. We were all dressed up in a booth in the 1st class bar watching folks trying to come in the room. If they let go of the rope, that was put up to hang on to while walking to the bar, some would fall and slip (harmlessly) clear across the dance floor. After many cocktails (they were cheaper on ship in those days then they were in your neighborhood bar, no taxes) and eating lots of free shrimp, we started singing "Nearer my God to Thee". We did that until the Purser came to us and told us to stop or we would be locked in our staterooms. It was so bad they served only salad and steaks for dinner that night and there were broken bones among passengers and crew.

 

Suit and tie every night, if not Tux.

 

No band that night either. Bands were furnished by the Meyer Davis firm in NYC then.

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Wow, Sidney! That trip sounds like it was a hoot! My family and I truly loved that ship. She was so very elegant in an understated sort of way -- Not flashy like today's ships. I can only imagine what she was like back then. It sounds like you made some great memories on that voyage.

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My aunt and I left NY Aug 1951 aboard USS Constitution for the first of my love of the sea voyages. We returned home six months later on Cunard"s HMS Mauretania II. I was only ten, but I knew then that I loved the sea, and would try my best to be on or near it all my life. Right now I am booked on my next transatlantic this Nov. on Brilliance of the Sea. Really can't wait.:)

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  • 2 weeks later...

My brother and I travelled on the Constitution in 1952. We left Naples on March 22, 1952 and arrived in New York City March 31, 1952. Our first stop was in Genoa Italy, then onto France, where more passengers embarked. The weather was calm until we passed the Gibraltar Strait. A storm with high waves greeted us as we entered the Atllantic Ocean. The weather turned cloudy and windy, and the boat was in turmoil at times. Many passengers including my brother and I became quite sea sick.

 

My first memory of the USA was seeing the Statue of Liberty and the skyline of New York City. We arrived at Pier 81 in Manhattan. I have been a proud American citizen and I am happy that I took the Constitution to my new home the USA ......God Bless America.

 

Evelina and Camillo

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I came to the UNITES STATES on the S. S. Constitution. I embarked at Naples on Sunday January 20, 1957 to New York via Genoa, Cannes and Algeciras. It was the most enjoyable sailing on the ship that refused to be shredded into pieces. She now rests in the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. I still have the list of the Tourist Class Passenger list. Anybody wants to ck a name?:)

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As a boy I think I was really lucky, my dad was in the Foreign Service and the only way we traveled was by ship!! :) We sailed to Spain on the SS Independence in 57, then back to the states on the same ship in 60, back to Spain on the SS Constitution. Best that I can recall I had a blast. My folks would always take me to the bingo and horse race games and Neptune must have liked me because I would always win (Drove my brother nuts)!:D

 

When we left Spain for the last time in 63 and we were on an Italian liner called the Vulcania. It was a really old ship built in the 20s. Mussolini used it as a troop ship for a while during WWII. Later the US seized it and used it as well. But is was a really majestic ship and the food is something I still dream about. We crossed the Atlantic in January hit some enormous storms, saw a large herd of whales and saw three submarines. For a 12 year old kid that was neat.:cool:

 

Ahh the memories!!!!

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  • 6 months later...

Hi, all. Glad to see someone wondered what ever happened to her. And Tarheelbelle, I was an entertainer when you sailed in 1985 (a member of the Sea Breeze quartet (production shows)?).

 

Anyway, I just had the pleasure of helping a historian (Reuben Goosens) with pictures and deck plans for his wonderful website, which discusses many past great liners:

 

http://www.ssmaritime.com/ss-independence-constitution.htm

 

I enjoyed reading everyone's stories.

 

Steven.

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We had a great, but fairly rough cruise on Constitution, Dec 84, San Francisco to Honolulu, via Los Angelses. She had been in San Francisco having her bottom scraped, and was repositioning back to the Islands.

 

Great ship in her day - pity she sank in Dec 97.

 

Her sister, Independence is still tied up down near Hunter's Point, San Francisco.

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  • 11 months later...

My uncle, Fred Hirst, was the Chief Engineer on the SS Constitution in the 1950's-'60's. My parents & I were passengers on the Constitution traveling from Genoa to NYC in the summer of 1961 or 1962. We were members of the Bottle Slingers Assiciation...we threw messages in a bottle over the side of the ship. I have a photo of myself on the bridge. We were given the key to the ship & I lost it. When the passengers were being tendered ashore in Barcelona, no one could find me. They thought I had gone ashore by myself, but they found me in the playroom. I enjoy the book by Wm. H. Miller about the Constitution & the Independence. The Life Magazine dated 6/27/55 has a photo of the Constitution crew on the cover. Remember the episode of Lucy being lowered onto a ship by helicopter?...that was the Constitution!

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Does anyone know how much it cost to sail on the Constitution from Italy to the US in 1951 or around that time? Is there anyway of seeing what a ticket would have looked like? My father arrived to the US in the '50's on board that ship and we were hoping to see what it looked like then and to find out how much it cost.

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In reply to the costs I will guess maybe less then $500 as immigrants usually traveled 2nd class and shared a cabin with 3 other men. Ticket was maybe several sheets with the contract and details typed in on the passenger and all other information needed to cover the trip and conditions .. It could be actually much less as it was back in '51.:confused:

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  • 1 year later...

My family traveled from Italy to NYC on the SS Constitution in 1964 but was paid for by the Army. We have many nice photos from all the ports and we had a great time even if I was only 9 y/o. I believe this was in the month of February. We stopped in Monaco and the Island of Madeira.

God what memories. I'm sad just to find out that it's on the bottom of the sea.

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Gotcha beat. I sailed on her in 1958 from Naples to NYC. I was about 11 at the time. I remember the FOOD more than anything else! <g>

 

Hey PaperSniper4 - don't have you beat but I think I tie you as I took the Constitution from NYC to Naples in July 1958 arriving one day before my 5th birthday. Though I was very young I still remember much about the cruise including my dad and dog being seasick almost the whole trip (my dog was kept in an outdoor kennel container on the ship's top level).

Would be wild if you took the return trip back to NYC.

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