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Anyone Remember The Bremen???


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I would like to know if anyone is/was familiar with my uncle, who was a steward on the Bremen V. His name is Werner Schilhart. As far as I know, he was on the Bremen IV, as well, when he was a young man. I do believe he worked in the late 50's through the 60's aboard the Bremen V. Any info would be appreciated. Thank you.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
My dear Aunt met her second husband onboard the BREMEN the second week of November in 1969...she travelled on all the great ships - she & her friend decided to try a German ship - they met a man & his friend & alas 2 married couples were the result.

 

My Aunt honeymooned to Europe in 1972 - aboard the FRANCE!!!!

 

How have I missed this thread for so long????

 

My wife and I met on the Bremen but ours was the third week of November 1969 (sailing date 11/15/69). We met in the Pine Bar before we had even cleared the harbor, me drinking German draft beer and she a Screwdriver...price of a round of drinks 85 cents. I still have the drink menu and the passenger list from the cruise plus a North German Lloyd clay beer stein which was given to all the male passengers. I also have a lapel pin in the shape of the cruise line logo which is all we needed for identification for returning to the ship in port. Since this was a cruise and not a crossing the ship was not divided by class. It is such a by gone era, I remember the string quartet playing for dancing in the observation lounge. Late night dancing was all the way down in the Tavern. The prices seemed to be cheaper the lower the deck with the Tavern being the cheapest. Assigned seating in the dinning room breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

 

Two years later, in 1971, I talked my mother and father into going on a cruise and they also cruised on the Bremen. My father would have never cruised on any other ship if she had stayed in business.

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  • 3 weeks later...

HELLO DEEP WATER!

 

Sorry I did not see your post sooner...very busy lately.

 

AHHHH...the joys of the BREMEN! I, too, have that wonderful beer stein on my dresser. What great memories...the Lowenbrau beer for 25 cents...cocktails for 50 cents and a wine list that would be the envy of any grand hotel. I remember gala dinners in the dining room with complimentary bottles of Henkel champagne at each table. The string quartet also played at tea time...and what wonderful tea times they were. The BREMEN was a class act and you will never see the likes of her again. How wonderful that you were able to talk your parents into cruising on her. Back in those days very few people could be convinced to take a cruise. Do you remember the brass port holes in the dining room? They were gorgeous. I was on my honeymoon, in 1971...and I can still remember the cabin stewardesses...quietly saying "di honeymoonen"...which meant "the honeymooners". 39 years later, and we still have great memories...and a few good pictures of our honeymoon on the BREMEN.

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This weekend my wife was cleaning out a dresser and found a souvenir silver spoon, still in its box, given to the women passengers on the Bremen while the men got the beer stein. My wife and I met on the Bremen but honeymooned in Bermuda. The next year (1971) we took our first cruise as a married couple on the Rotterdam.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've never posted before..... but I can't resist this Bremen thread! I traveled from NYC to Bremen and back again in the summer of 1966. I was a teenager traveling with my grandparents. I saved everything, and recently looked through the lot. Menus, weather maps, passenger lists, and the daily 'event' paper (featuring movies in German/English every-other-night). Very different from cruises today. I remember the dinner announcement over a loud speaker : "Meine Damen und Herren ...."

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I sailed my first cruise on the TS Bremen on April 3, 1971 and met many wonderful crew members. Two in particular at the time were First Officer Arend Smid and Navigation Engineer Fredrich Otto. I would love to hear from them or anyone who might know their present whereabouts. Thank you.

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My Aunt only sailed once on the BREMEN & it was the only German ship she was on....the Italian, French & Home Lines were her usual lines...

 

 

How have I missed this thread for so long????

 

My wife and I met on the Bremen but ours was the third week of November 1969 (sailing date 11/15/69). We met in the Pine Bar before we had even cleared the harbor, me drinking German draft beer and she a Screwdriver...price of a round of drinks 85 cents. I still have the drink menu and the passenger list from the cruise plus a North German Lloyd clay beer stein which was given to all the male passengers. I also have a lapel pin in the shape of the cruise line logo which is all we needed for identification for returning to the ship in port. Since this was a cruise and not a crossing the ship was not divided by class. It is such a by gone era, I remember the string quartet playing for dancing in the observation lounge. Late night dancing was all the way down in the Tavern. The prices seemed to be cheaper the lower the deck with the Tavern being the cheapest. Assigned seating in the dinning room breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

 

Two years later, in 1971, I talked my mother and father into going on a cruise and they also cruised on the Bremen. My father would have never cruised on any other ship if she had stayed in business.

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  • 2 weeks later...

HI CRUISE 8218!!!

 

How nice of you to post here for the first time...and what a coincidence. My first sailing was a transatlantic crossing on the old Queen Elizabeth...in 1965! Isn't it funny how we remember certain details. I will never forget the smell of the ship when I first walked aboard. I was amazed with all the natural wood, the lighting, etc. Those memories never fade.

 

HI TEICOOK!!!

 

I hope you were able to find the Bremen Crew Site...and you can make inquiries there. I still remember our waiter...Barney B. He signed our menu the last night at dinner. And the memories keep coming...LOL.

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  • 5 months later...

June 1965; at the young age of 5, my mother, sister and I boarded the Bremen in NY for a trip to Europe to visit my aunts, uncles and cousins.

Sep 1965; return trip.

 

What a beautiful ship she was.

... my first experience falling out of a bunk

... a birthday party held for me on the return trip

 

So happy to have found this site.... brings back many memories.

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  • 2 weeks later...

HI AK!

 

Those memories are wonderful. You can find another site about the Bremen that was made by one of the crew members and has a lot of great pictures to look at.

 

I sailed through a big storm on the Bremen and can vividly remember all the paneling creaking away as the ship pitched through the 40 foot waves...lol. The stewardess gave me a sea sick pill and I was good to go after that...LOL.

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  • 4 weeks later...

As a teen, went with family during the summer of 1965 on a trip to Germany to vist relatives. Our return trip back to the US was via the TS Breman. I remember it as one of my favorite parts of the of the whole trip. We left from Bremerhaven with stops in Southampton, England, and Cherbourg, France before sailing on to New York. One of the big events of our trip was that the Captain passed away halfway through the voyage.

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  • 3 years later...

I was on the Bremen - I think in 1966- NY to San Juan, St. Croix, & St. Thomas. I was 16, hung out all night with a kid that was I think 15 in a lifeboat. I caught hell from Daddy the next morning.

 

The three guys that worked at JC Penny - ages 20-22 or so - jumped ship at the first stop because the other pax were really old & they were looking for a party. They should have hung around, because the Crew party, down in the crew quarters was pretty darn good (caught hell again :confused:).

 

I remember having dinner at the Captain's Table, the St. Croix beach with some of the crew, and my mother never ever getting on a cruise ship again because she was sooooo seasick.

 

I don't remember all of the fancy wood and brass on the boat, but I do remember getting the best sleep of my life with the vibrations from the boat lulling me to sleep every night.

 

Also remember going to the Casino in Puerto Rico. I was underage, but the dealer didn't care... he was 'feeding' me. That's also where I was told to never take insurance unless you have blackjack as well - by some Texan in a ten gallon cowboy hat!

 

Good memories.

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  • 2 years later...

I sailed to Germany on The Bremen in fall of 1969. Of course, being four years old at the time, my memories are a little fuzzy. We sailed home on The QE2, so I'm not totally sure which memories go with which ship.

I do recall there being kid-friendly activities and crew being very nice to us.

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  • 4 months later...
On the Bremen in October were lots of German emmigrants, all of whom were seasick. Except for one beautiful German girl, a nurse, moving to Chicago. The seas were really scary, 80 foot high waves and windy!!!!

 

Bill, what year was that??

 

The Bremen could really sail through rough seas. We ran into the end of a hurricane in October 71 and we hit some 50 foot waves that actually bent the iron rails on the fore deck. We loved the way the paneling would creak and moan. My bride (we were on our honeymoon) loved the way she was rocked to sleep with the motion of the ship. I spent the night with one arm wrapped around the toilet bowl until the Stewardess came in and gave me a couple of pills so I could sleep. We woke up the next day just before lunch and we were hungry enough to make it to the beautiful dining room. We had smooth sailing after that and we have not stopped cruising since.

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Hi Bill,

 

Always good to reminisce about the old liners with someone who was there. You were lucky to have been on the Bremen in 1961 when the ship was fresh from her 1958 relaunch. The Saturnia was a beloved ship...I think she or her sister ship, Vulcania, was featured in a Fellini movie. The Italian Line was great...especially in the 1950's when the line was rebuilding after WWII.

The Arkadia was an early Greek ship...also rising from the ashes of WWII. She was saved from the scrap yard and rebuilt. I believe it was Aristotle Onassis, who owned the Greek Line at that time, who saved her. The Greeks also ran very comfortable ships with exceptional food and service...and good value $ wise. Onassis insisted on serving the best on board his ships. The Olympia was built under his direction in 1953 and was in service until 2009! That is an incredible record of 56 years! You are very lucky to have experienced that part of maritime history.

 

Ross

Edited by CGTNORMANDIE
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  • 2 weeks later...
......The Arkadia was an early Greek ship...also rising from the ashes of WWII. She was saved from the scrap yard and rebuilt. I believe it was Aristotle Onassis, who owned the Greek Line at that time, who saved her. The Greeks also ran very comfortable ships with exceptional food and service...and good value $ wise. Onassis insisted on serving the best on board his ships. The Olympia was built under his direction in 1953 and was in service until 2009! That is an incredible record of 56 years! You are very lucky to have experienced that part of maritime history.....

 

Hi Ross,

 

sorry Ross - but must correct you. Onassis owned a passenger line, Olympic Cruises with the sistership "Agamemmnon" and "Achilleus". He bought the ships from Nomikos Lines 1958 and sold it 1963 to Dorian Cruises

Achilleus_001.jpg?resize=620%2C330

 

The Greek Line was owned by the Goulandris Group / Goulandris Family. Later in 50th´s the passenger department was given to Leonidas Goulandris who let built the "Olympia". Later they bought the dutch liner "Johann van Oldenbarnevelt" who sailed as "Lakonia" only operating as a cruiseship until the fire disaster Dezember 1963. From this insurance money they bought later their final liner - "Queen Anna Maria" ex "Empress of Britain" which later became, after Greek Line filed for bankrupty 1975 - 1976, the "Carnivale".

 

https://www.andriaki.gr/news/62-greek-shipping-miracle-goulandris

 

back to theme "Bremen" V

 

shortly at ebay a travelagency model of "Bremen" was offered for minimum bid Euro 3.500,-- , but bidding ended without any offer!

s-l1600.jpg

 

 

Ahoi - Frank

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Hi Frank,

 

Thanks for the clarification...I was speaking from memory...looks like I need a tune up...lol Perhaps what I read and heard is incorrect...with regards to Onassis. He did have his hand in a lot of deals at that time. I do remember the Goulandris name being associated with the Greek Line. Didn't Onassis give up all his passenger ship investments to pursue his Olympic Airways?

 

Back to the Bremen V:

The price of 3,500 Eur. was ridiculous for that type of a model. No wonder there were no bids.

 

Thanks Frank

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