Your first cruise ship

[Max2003]

My first cruise was in 1983 on the Rotterdam 5 on a Caribbean itinerary. And yes I got hooked. She still is the most beautiful ship I have ever cruised on. I still remember the Cruise director (David Lawton) and Asst CD (Elizabeth Lindsey Kearns (sp?)) and they were the best ever. The Captain was VanDerNordt (sp?) (whose nickname was "pipey" since he always had a bowl of tobacco going) who I met again on a subsequent Veendam (prior to the current) cruise.

[galipemi]

My first cruise was on the Zaandam in 2006. We were heading for Alaska out of Vancouver for the last cruise of the season. It was my first time on anything larger than a speedboat (which I hated) and I was going to be sailing as crew. I was excited and terrified all at once, I was petrified that I'd hate it just as much as I hate small boats.

 

After a small bout of sea sickness heading up to Alaska (we were not taking the inside passage;)), I found my sea legs and continued to work onboard various HAL ships for the next two years. And what did I do on "vacation"? Sailed the Ryndam, NCL's Spirit, the Veendam and now I'm planning on visiting the Eurodam for a week. Yep, guess you could say I'm hooked.:p

Edited December 27, 2009 by galipemi

[sswitenki]

What a coincidence. I was just going through my photo albums and came across my first cruise album. It was Song of America - RCCL in 1986! It had sample menus that they sold in miniature and a drink menu from one of the lounges. An average cocktail was $1.95, with a Crown at $2.25. The next year on the Nordic Prince - RCCL the drink prices went to $2.45 and $2.65! Wow did we look young. We sat at the First Officers table on our first cruise. It was such a good time. The ships didn't even look like they had balcony rooms. We had port holes. I remember having to book far in advace to get a room where the bed would be configured to a double!

Memories!

[u4ea]

This is my NEXT cruise ship.:D Thanks for all your posts Copper John.

Mark..

 

[seabourndt]

i remember it well i went on her in 1998 from los angeles to san juan (she is of couse the THOMSON DESTINY) which i have also been on.

 

MY 1ST CRUISE was CROWN DYNASTY in 1994 i left british rail was wanted to try a different kind of holiday(i did not even like the sea,but soon got hooked!

the DYNASTY is of course "BRAEMAR" for fred olsen.

dave

[Tangodont1]

I think it was 1995. Eastern carib. Great little ship. Was always stubbing my toes going through doorways.

[Calgon1]

First cruise was 1953 on the US Army Transport General Simom B. Buckner - Japan to Hawaii.

 

 

 

[pspercy]

Copper10-8

 

Great photos of the Queen Mary. I saw her in the late 50s in Southampton, often with (the original) Queen Elizabeth or one of the other biggies.

 

Was on a friend's boat when the Queen Mary left Cherbourg on her last scheduled trip to NY before being sold. At least she found a home, unlike QE's fate.

[cruzngal]

Haven't been on this site for a LONG time! And this string certainly brings back memories!

 

First cruise was back in the mid-80's. Didn't have much disposable cash back then, but found a GREAT deal for a cruise. It was around $299 for a 7 day, Western Caribbean on the Chandris Galileo. Also found a red-eye, 3 or 4 stop milk-run flight from Minneapolis to Miami for $69 to get there and back. The flight itself almost cost a divorce once my husband realized what I had signed him up for!

 

The ship was like an old lady, still in her best dress from 40 years ago. Rusty, worn, creaking, but every morning there was a beautiful breakfast buffet, laid out on tables with white linen tablecloths outside on the main teak deck. Her mostly Greek/Middle Eastern crew were lovely and gracious. Probably most of the spring-breakers on the cruise never realized the fine points of a bygone era of cruising. To be honest, at that point we didn't either. But it got us hooked.

Edited January 13, 2010 by cruzngal

[Copper10-8]

Haven't been on this site for a LONG time! And this string certainly brings back memories!

 

First cruise was back in the mid-80's. Didn't have much disposable cash back then, but found a GREAT deal for a cruise. It was around $299 for a 7 day, Western Caribbean on the Chandris Galileo. Also found a red-eye, 3 or 4 stop milk-run flight from Minneapolis to Miami for $69 to get there and back. The flight itself almost cost a divorce once my husband realized what I had signed him up for!

 

The ship was like an old lady, still in her best dress from 40 years ago. Rusty, worn, creaking, but every morning there was a beautiful breakfast buffet, laid out on tables with white linen tablecloths outside on the main teak deck. Her mostly Greek/Middle Eastern crew were lovely and gracious. Probably most of the spring-breakers on the cruise never realized the fine points of a bygone era of cruising. To be honest, at that point we didn't either. But it got us hooked.

 

ss Galileo Galilei (1963-1999) Built in 1963 by Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, Monfalcone, Italy as ss Galileo Galilei for Trieste, Italy-based Lloyd Triestino di Navigazione S.p.A. Galilei and her younger sister, Guglielmo Marconi, were designed to replace the line’s three older ships, Australia, Neptunia and Oceania on the immigrant service from Italy to Australia.

 

 

The 27,888 gross registered ton ocean liner was launched on 2 July 1961. Her new owners took delivery of her on 23 March 1963 and she operated some Mediterranean cruises for them. She would then depart on her official maiden voyage from Genoa to Sydney on 22 April 1963, arriving there on 15 May 1963. Due to their increased speed, both Galileo Galilei and Guglielmo Marconi were able to reduce what used to be a month-long voyage to twenty three days, simultaneously introducing a new standard of luxury to immigrant travel.

 

Originally the ships traveled to Australia via the eastern route, passing through the Suez Canal in both directions, but in the later years the return trip to Europe was via the Panama Canal. Both ships sailed successfully for several years until the 1973 oil crisis struck which, combined with the increasing use of commercial airliners, contributed to the demise of the ocean liners. Galilei was scheduled to operate a cruise from Sydney in December 1973 however this was cancelled and she laid idle until 3 January 1974. On 13 January 1975, she struck a reef off the coast of West Africa which forced her to divert to Monrovia, Liberia. She sustained substantial damage to her hull plating and sailed for Genoa where she entered dry-dock for repairs, returning to service in March of that year.

 

 

Galileo Galilei continued to operate on the Italy-Australia run until quietly departing Sydney on 13 April 1977. (Her sister Marconi had left Australia for the last time on 23 November 1974). It had been originally planned for Galilei to operate the Aussie service until the end of 1977, however a 23 May 1977 departure was suddenly cancelled without explanation, stranding some 1,000 passengers. Upon arrival back in Genoa, she was withdrawn from service and laid up. Her lay-up was short however, and on 21 October 1977 she arrived at the Cantieri Navali Riuniti’s Palermo, Sicily yard for a lengthy reconstruction into a full-time cruise ship.

 

On 24 March 1979, Galileo Galilei started Mediterranean cruise service from Genoa for Italia Crociere (owned by Italia di Navigazione S.p.A., also known as the Italia Line). However, this venture proved unprofitable as soon as 29 September 1979 when Galilei was withdrawn from service and laid up again, this time for four years, interspersed with occasional charters. (Italia Crociere ceased trading in 1980).

 

In August 1983, the vessel was purchased by the Greek-owned Chandris Group. She was again rebuilt, this time with additional cabins on her forward deck, and her name was shortened to just Galileo. In 1984, Galileo began operating Caribbean (short) cruises from Miami, Fl on charter to Fantasy Cruises. This was followed in May 1985 with summer cruises, mostly to Bermuda from New York, but also to Nova Scotia, the Bahamas plus some cruises to ‘nowhere’. After her summer season, Galileo returned to Miami from where she operated five-day cruise to Key West, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel.

 

In October 1985, Chandris purchased Fantasy Cruises outright, making it their new subsidiary, Chandris Fantasy Cruises, and operating the Galileo (but also their Amerikanis, Britanis and the Victoria) under that banner. Galileo would receive a refit in early 1986 and would continue to operate Caribbean cruises during the winter and Bermuda cruises during the summer seasons.

 

 

When Italy-based Home Lines collapsed in 1988, Chandris made a decision to enter the upscale market. Galileo was therefore sent to the German Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven for a multi-million dollar refit between October 1989 and February 1990. Most of her interiors were rebuilt, and externally her rear superstructure enlarged. On 1 March 1990 she emerged as the ss Meridian, the first ship of Chandris’ new subsidiary, Celebrity Cruises. She received a more stylished white “X” (Greek for “CH” or Chandris) on her funnel, dark blue markings on the upper part of her hull and would operate Caribbean cruises from Port Everglades, Fl as well as a Boston/New York to Bermuda run during a very successful Celebrity career.

 

 

In 1997, following Royal Caribbean International’s acquisition of Celebrity Cruises, Meridian was sold to Singapore-based Sun Cruises, which operated her as ss Sun Vista, cruising throughout the Malaccan Straights from her home port of Singapore. In doing this, Sun Cruises took on giant Star Cruises (the owner of Norwegian Cruise Line) who operated similar itineraries but with newer and superior ships, a battle Sun Cruises would lose.

 

 

During the night of 20 May 1999, while enroute back to Singapore from Phuket, Thailand in the Straits of Malacca, a fire broke out in Sun Vista’s engine room. During the following morning, only a small amount of smoke was observed near the ship’s funnel. However, the fire would spread uncontrollably and this would ultimately result in a total loss of power on the ship. During the late afternoon of 21 May 1999, Meridian’s master, Captain Sven Hartzell ordered the ship abandoned. All 472 passengers and 632 crew were safely evacuated and rescued. Sun Vista went down on 22 May at 0121 hours, 45 nautical miles west of Penang Island in the Andaman Sea.

 

[Copper10-8]

Some additional pics of Galileo Galilei:

In Naples, Italy in 1965

Off Fremantle, Australia in 1975

Off Fremantle, Australia in 1975

 

In 1980 at London (Tillbury)

 

As Meridian at Nassau, the Bahamas in 1990

 

As Sun Vista in 1998 in Singapore

[duck tune]

Thank you so much Copper 10-8 for the great photos and historical comments about these great cruising vessels. I appreciate your time and effort with this informative thread!:) I actually stayed on the Hotel Queen Mary in Long Beach in July 1974 with three other college friends prior to taking our California State Board Exams to become Registered Nurses. Thousands of new grads from nursing programs in California converged on the Long Beach Arena (the Dome) in July for two days of 8 hour written exams. My friends and I from San Diego booked two rooms on the beautiful Queen for three nights - it was very cheap at the time. It sparked my desire to cruise but it was 28 years before that first cruise happened. Better late than never!

Edited January 14, 2010 by duck tune
Add content

[Copper10-8]

Thank you so much Copper 10-8 for the great photos and historical comments about these great cruising vessels. I appreciate your time and effort with this informative thread!:) I actually stayed on the Hotel Queen Mary in Long Beach in July 1974 with three other college friends prior to taking our California State Board Exams to become Registered Nurses. Thousands of new grads from nursing programs in California converged on the Long Beach Arena (the Dome) in July for two days of 8 hour written exams. My friends and I from San Diego booked two rooms on the beautiful Queen for three nights - it was very cheap at the time. It sparked my desire to cruise but it was 28 years before that first cruise happened. Better late than never!

 

Hi duck tune and thanks! I was lucky enough to have attended a week-long Crime Scene Investigation school/seminar onboard the Queen in the eighties. Lots and lots of history on that ship!

[lucky1ns]

My first was Admiral's Stardancer (became the Viking Serenade), I went on it twice in 1 year (1st Alaska then Mexico) and was so hooked I got a job as a purser on the Emerald of the Seas for 6 months.

 

I was on the Azure of the Seas (also Admiral) afterwards as a passenger and Haiti was a port which was very interesting.

 

I think that's why my heart leans towards a smaller, more traditional ship as opposed to the newer monsters of the sea.

[Copper10-8]

My very first one was a school trip, on some converted car ferry type ship which sailed from Brindisi in Italy, in 1983.

 

My first proper cruise was with Cunard Crown, on the Crown Jewel from Fort Lauderdale in about 1993. Anyone know what happened to that ship?

 

ms Crown Jewel (1992-present) Built in 1988 by Unión Navale de Levant SA, Valencia, Spain as ms Crown Jewel, initially for U.S.-based Commodore Cruise Lines, a subsidiary of Effjohn International, itself a Scandinavian (Swedish/Finish) maritime holding company and ferry operator. Crown Jewel and her sister ship, Crown Majesty (1993), were 19,046 grt ships, the largest ever built in Spain, with mostly Scandinavian deck officers and a Filipino crew. They were intended for the U.S. market. Before her delivery however, EffJohn made an operational change after taking over a small operator by the name of Crown Cruise Line with one ship, the Crown Monarch, in July 1991. They then decided to move Crown Jewel and Crown Dynasty to this new line for a more “up market experience”, rather than under the more “economic” Commodore umbrella. Subsequently, Crown Jewel was delivered to Crown Cruise Line on 20 July 1992.

Her first order of business would be to move up the coast to Barcelona where she became a (chartered) accommodation ship during the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Summer Games from 25 July until 9 August 1992. On 11 August, she departed Barcelona for New York City from where she sailed so-called “Fall Foliage” cruises to Canada and New England. On 6 December 1992, she made her first Caribbean run from her new home port of West Palm Beach, Fl. The Crown operation turned out to be an unsuccessful business venture however, so Effjohn attempted to salvage the venture by contacting Britain-based Cunard Line. As a result, Cunard agreed to enter into a ten-year agreement to charter both ships (plus Crown Monarch) and in January 1993 Cunard Crown Cruise Line (under Cunard’s management) was born.

This operation consisted of four ships: Crown Jewel (now known as Cunard Crown Jewel), Crown Dynasty (known as Cunard Crown Dynasty) and two of Cunard’s own smaller vessels, Cunard Countess and Cunard Princess. Cunard Crown Jewel’s voyages would take her from the Caribbean and Panama Canal to Europe. However, it would last for less than two years. In 1994, Effjohn, still the owner of both ships, suffered financial losses of $30 million ultimately resulting in them giving up their North American cruise ship operation. In December 1994, Crown Jewel was sold to Malaysia-based Star Cruises, owners of Norwegian Cruise Line for $32 million, and Crown Dynasty was bare-boat chartered to Cunard. (In mid-July 1995 EffJohn sold Commodore Cruise Lines to a group of American investors, Crown Monarch to a Far East gaming operator, and in September, changed their own name to Silja OY).

The ship was delivered to her new owners in May 1995 and, after a minor refit (karaoke bar/casino) and a name change to Superstar Gemini, began operating 5-night cruises from Singapore to ports in Malaysia and Thailand on 20 July 1995. On the weekends, she operated 2-night cruises to Tioman Island in Malaysia. Her target audience was the international budget market from Asia, Australia and Europe. Superstar Gemini would become a popular ship and her 5-night cruises would soon to be extended to 7-nights, dropping the 2-nighters. On 28 February 1997, a fire broke out in her engine room that unfortunately resulted in the death of one crewman and injuries to nine more. Superstar Gemini had to be towed back to Singapore where repairs were carried out.

The ship continued her cruises to her various destinations in the South China Sea, Straits of Malacca and Gulf of Thailand however would experience a serious drop in reservation after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks and the subsequent bombings in Bali, Indonesia. Early in 2002, she was pulled out of Singapore and sent to China in an attempt to develop a market there. This proved unsuccessful and within a year she was redeployed to Keelung, Taiwan from where she would sail on short cruises which were very popular. By late 2005, international travel to Asia had picked up again so Star made a decision to return Superstar Gemini to Singapore. Her new itineraries would see her travel to ports in Vietnam, Cambodia and Borneo, Indonesia. She would also do longer cruises of up to 21 nights as far north as Hong Kong.

On 11 September 2007, Star Cruises reported that Superstar Gemini had been sold to the Clipper Group/Jewel Owner limited, a Bahamas-based company. She was immediately chartered back to Star Cruises. Between November 2007 and February 2008, the ship embarked on a three month Pacific voyage that included a full circumnavigation of Australia and port calls at Melbourne, Sydney, Perth (Fremantle), Brisbane, Komodo and Bali. For her final 2008 season for Star Cruises, Superstar Gemini sailed a combination of 7-night Straight of Malacca cruises and six 21-night roundtrips from Singapore to Koh Samui (Thailand), Laem Chebang (Thailand), Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon, Vietnam), Da Nang (Vietnam), Nha Trang (Vietnam), Halong Bay (Vietnam), Hong Kong, Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia) and Kuching (Malaysia). Her last Star cruise departed Singapore on 28 December 2008, returning on 4 January 2009. She left Singapore for Port Klang, Malaysia that same evening for a refit.

Her new operator would be Spain-based Vision Cruises who leased the ship and renamed her Vision Star. The plan was for her to be marketed by Mediterranean Classic Cruises (the former Monarch Classic Cruises) but, as fate would have it, Vision Cruises went out of business and ceased operations in March 2009.

That same month she was renamed Gemini, sailed to her birthplace of Valencia, Spain and, since April, is operating Mediterranean cruises for Spain-based operator Quail Cruises. Her ports of call are Villefranche-sur-Mer (France), Livorno, Civitavecchia, Olbia (Sardinia) and Mahon (Minorca, Spain). Her former sister Crown Dynasty, is now the flagship of the Fred Olsen Cruises fleet, Braemar.

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[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was in 1934 on the SS Wolverinw on the Great Lakes. This wasthe world's largest sidewheller and was converted into an aircraft carrier for the Greeat Lakes Naval Station during wwII. I was hooked and I still am I am sailing on the Norwegian Jewel transatlantic next month Lonfon the NYC.

 

ss Seeandbee (1913-1947) Built in 1913 by the American Shipbuilding Company, Wyandotte, MI as ss Seeandbee for the U.S.-based Cleveland and Buffalo (hence, the name See and Bee) Transit Company as a side-wheel coal-burning excursion steamer destined for their Great Lakes service. The ship, made out of all-steel, 6,381 grt, with a passenger capacity of 1,500 souls on four decks, was the largest and most costly inland steamer on the Great Lakes. One of her trademark features was an elegant ballroom.

 

 

On her maiden voyage, she carried members of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce to Buffalo, NY. Regular trips began in 1913 from the East 9th Street Pier operating on a Cleveland to Buffalo route with special cruises to additional ports such as Detroit, MI and Chicago, IL.

 

 

The Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Co. (C&B), a popular steamship line and later a trucking firm, was established by Morris A. Bradley in 1885 and incorporated in 1892. Passenger and freight service was initiated between Cleveland and Buffalo on the “State of Ohio” and the “State of New York,” leaving Cleveland from the foot of St. Clair Ave, and in 1896, the “City of Buffalo” was added. The “City of Erie” replaced the “State of Ohio” in 1898, providing a night-time service from Cleveland to Toledo. In 1914, Cedar Point, Ohio and Put-in-Bay, Ohio were added to the C&B route. At the time the Seeandbee joined the fleet, C&B and the Detroit & Cleveland (D&C) Line obtained a 50-year lease from Cleveland for property at the foot of 9th Street for $55,000. There, the two companies built the E. 9th Street Pier and a new lake terminal dedicated in 1915. In exchange, the city built a bridge over the E. 9th Street railroad tracks, paved the E. 9th Street approach, and provided a street railway to the pier.

 

 

Seeandbee was the pride of the C&B Transit Company and a consistent moneymaker for them on her summer cruises. However, the destruction of the “City of Buffalo” by fire in 1938, along with the effects of the Great Depression and increasing competition from trucks and railroads caused heavy losses and ultimately resulted in the bankruptcy and liquidation of the Cleveland and Buffalo Transit Company in 1939. That year, the Seeandbee was sold to the Chicago-based C&B Transit Company who operated her on a regular schedule through 1941.

 

The entry of the United States into World War II saw a massive increase in the demand for carrier-qualified pilots. However, it was not always possible to remove a combat carrier from the theater of war to use as a training ship, although some escort carriers occasionally served in this capacity. A unique solution was found to this problem.

 

On 12 March 1942, the ss Seeandbee, complete with 470 staterooms, 24 parlors, loads of mahogany trim and two side paddle wheels that made her look more like a Mississippi riverboat then a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, was acquired by the U.S. Navy for $756,000. She was initially designated as an unclassified miscellaneous auxiliary. The ship was stripped of all her plush amenities at the American Shipbuilding Company in Cleveland, Ohio She was then towed to Buffalo, NY were on 6 May 1942 1,200 men worked around the clock to transform her into a training aircraft carrier. Her upper work was removed and replaced by a 550-foot-long wooden flight deck that extended well past her bow and stern and a small island was affixed to her starboard side. There was no need for a hangar since trainee pilots landed and, if successful, immediately took off again. Upon completion of the refit, she was commissioned on 2 August 1942 as the USS Wolverine, IX-64, in Buffalo, NY with Commander George R. Fairlamb as her CO. The name “Wolverine” was chosen to honor the state of Michigan, the Wolverine state. Another paddle wheeler, the Greater Buffalo, was also converted and assumed the name of USS Sable, IX-81.

 

 

Once in service, their training operations were conducted on Lake Michigan. As the only inland aircraft carriers ever commissioned by the U.S. Navy, they became part of a fleet, commonly known as the “Corn Belt Fleet”. Since access to the Great Lakes was limited by the Saint Lawrence River, neither carrier mounted any weapons since they operated beyond the reach of potential German or Japanese submarines. The hybrids had two unique features. First, they were the only U.S. Navy carriers to use coal for fuel. Second, their primary, and only, propulsion was provided by side paddle wheels, making them the only paddlewheel carriers in history.

 

 

Wolverine and Sable, based at Chicago, IL, trained pilots and flight deck personnel, specifically Landing Signal Officers or LSO’s, seven days a week, year round (weather permitting), throughout the war. Together they logged over 135,000 landings and qualified 17,820 Navy and Marine Corps aviators, among them a young pilot by the name of George Herbert Walker Bush who would later become the 41st President of the United States. Wolverine and Sable were a far cry from the Navy’s front-line carriers, but they were found suitable for accomplishing the Navy’s purpose of qualifying naval aviators, fresh out of operational flight training, in carrier landings. The two carriers had certain limitations such as having no elevators or a hangar deck. When crashes used up the allotted spots on the flight deck for parking dud aircraft, the day’s operation would be over and the carriers headed back to the Navy Pier in Chicago.

 

Once the war was over, USS Wolverine was decommissioned on 7 November 1945, three months after VJ-Day, and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 November 1945. On 26 November 1947, she was transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal and in December 1947 she was sold for scrap and as part of her final disposition broken up at Cleveland, Ohio.

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was when I was 7 years old, over thanksgiving in 1990. Emerald by Admiral line. I still have the pen with the ship in it, when you move the pen up/down the little ship moves. Haha. I remember it was a small boat and we hit rough waters I was very excited because the boat was rocking a lot!! I was hooked on cruises and have been cruising ever year since!

 

Crown Princess in December!

 

General W. P. Richardson AP-118 (1944-2004) Built in 1944 by Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Kearny, NJ in 1944 as General W. P. (Wilds Preston) Richardson. AP-118 was laid down under Maritime Commision contract on 2 February 1944 as General R. M. Blatchford on 15 April 1944. She was renamed General W. P. Richardson on 1 July 1944 and launched on 6 August 1944. She was acquired by the United Staes Navy on 31 October 1944, and commissioned at Bayonne, NJ on 2 November 1944 with Captain Joseph S. Rosenthal, USCG, in command.

General W. P. Richardson sailed from Boston, Mass on 10 December 1944 with over 5,000 fighting men and, after delivering them to Southampton, England on 21 December, returned to New York, arriving there on 4 January 1945 with troops and casualties. Ten days later the busy ship got underway from Newport News, VA with 5,000 soldiers bound for Naples, Italy, disembarking them on 25 January and then returning to Newport News on 9 February with rotation troops and casualties. Underway again on 18 February with 5,000 more soldiers, she disembarked them at Naples on 1 March and subsequently carried 5,500 British troops to Marseilles, France. She once again returned to Naples on 9 March to embark 4,600 homeward-bound American troops and casualties who were delivered safely at Boston, Mass on 21 March 1945.

 

General

She then sailed to Le Havre, France in April 1945 with 2,500 troopers and carried over 1,000 liberated American prisoners of war from France plus 2,900 troops and casualties from Southampton, home to New York on 28 April 1945. Following a troop-carrying run from New York to Naples and Trinidad and back, she sailed from New York to Southampton, putting in at Boston on 26 June with 4,300 wounded and other troops. Through the summer and fall of 1945 the transport made four more round-trip voyages from Boston to France, two to Le Havre and two to Marseilles, to help insure an even flow of men and supplies from the New World to the Old.

On 14 October 1945 she sailed from Boston to Karachi, (British) India, via the Suez Canal and returned to New York on 24 November with over 5,000 World War II veterans. On 30 November she embarked 4,500 rotation troops at New York and delivered them to Naples on 10 December 1945, then steaming via the Suez Canal to Koorramshar, Iran to take on board 3,800 men of the Persian Gulf Command, returning via Naples and Casablanca, Morocco to New York on 23 January 1946.

General W. P. Richardson was decommissioned at New York on 14 February 1946 and returned to the Maritime Administration for peacetime operations as a U.S. Army transport until 10 March 1948 when she was laid up.

 

Between 1948 and 1949, she was converted at Pascagoula, Miss. to a civilian passenger liner and then chartered on 6 May 1949 by American Export Lines as La Guardia. Her first voyage took her from New York to Naples to Genoa, Italy on 27 May 1949. She would also make port calls at Palermo, Sicily, Piraeus, Greece and Haifa, Israel. Her last Mediterranean voyage begun in New York in November 1951. She was returned to the U.S. Maritime Administration on 1 December 1951 and returned briefly to troop service as USAT General W.P. Richardson for the Korea conflict, before being laid up as part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet on the James River in November 1952 for the next four years.

 

 

In 1956, she was bought by the Hawaiian-Steamship Company, renamed Leilani, and refitted for California - Hawaii service. Her first voyage from San Francisco to Honolulu took place on 5 February 1957. Her itinerary would include San Francisco or Long Beach to Hawaii, but she also completed several Mexican Riviera cruises in 1958. This service turned out not to be popular and was discontinued in December 1958. She was laid up in San Francisco and then moved across the Bay to the Todd Shipyard in Alameda. She was seized by the U.S. Government on May 12, 1959, put up for auction in June and bought once again by the U.S. Maritime Commission.

 

 

She was purchased by American President Lines in July 1960 and sailed to Seattle, WA for a $10 million refit for luxury liner service which started in March 1961. She subsequently sailed from Seattle to San Francisco in May 1962 as President Roosevelt and began her first voyage from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Yokohama, Japan on 11 May 1962. She conducted a world cruise in 1966.

[Copper10-8]

 

In 1970, she was purchased by the Greece-based Chandris Line and extensively refitted (she was cut down to two decks above the waterline and had her upper hull and superstructure completely rebuilt) at Perama, Greece for cruising. She was renamed Atlantis and commenced cruising from New York and Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale to the Bahamas.

 

In October, 1972, she was sold to the Eastern Steamship Company as Emerald Seas and used on three and four-night cruises to Nassau, The Bahamas, Western Caribbean and Mexico out of Miami, Fl. She was one of the first cruise ships to offer moderately priced short duration (3-5 days) cruise vacations.

Eastern

 

Steamship Lines became Eastern Cruise Lines and then Admiral Cruise Line. Changes weren't done yet as Admiral Cruises was taken over by/merged into Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL). RCCL had no use for Admiral's two older ships (Emerald Seas and Azure Seas) so disposed of them in 1992.

 

 

In 1992, she was bought by Festival cruises and renamed Sapphire Seas, cruising to Egypt and Israel. She was laid up at Piraeus in October 1994. In the summer of 1998, she was renamed Ocean Explorer I for use at Lisbon, Portugal as one of three Hotel ships for the Expo 98. At the conclusion, she returned to Eleusis, Greece and was laid up once again.

 

 

Beginning in November 1999, the World Cruise Company, of Ontario, Canada, began operating her for global cruising with three back to back world cruises from Athens.

 

 

In May 2000 however, she was taken out on service at the completion on only the first circumnavigation, and she once again was laid up at Eleusis, Greece. Discussions of her possible use as an hotel-ship for the 2004 Olympics in Greece came to nothing. Her long life finally came to an end when, in April 2004, she was sold for scrap to breakers in India.

[Cinema15]

1988 maybe 1989..my 50 year old brain cannot remember the exact year. However it was cruise to Bermuda rt NYC on Chandris Fantasy Crusies which would evolve into Celebrity. Enjoyed the cruise but did not cruise again until 2003 and became addicted at that time. Making up for lost time and have been on 11 since 2003 and 2 booked for 2010!

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was also on the Carnivale, it was in 1981. I went with a female friend and we were booked into an inside cabin with 2 other women who we did not know....and had 2 sets of bunk beds! Our TA neglected to inform us that we were booked into some kind of singles cruise! The cabin had a pole in the middle of it, like a support beam that you would find in your basement, and you probably had the same line-up that we encountered for the bathroom.We departed from Miami and I remember going to St. Thomas because I remember buying duty free liquor. I was 23 years old and the cruise cost me $999 with airfare from Canada. I guess Carnival had the market on cruises back then...especially for those of us in our 20's. Were you on a singles type cruise?

 

ss Empress of Britain (1956-2008) Built in 1956 as ss Empress of Britain by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering, Govan (Glasgow), Scotland for the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company. She was launched on 22 June 1955 by HM Queen Elizabeth II, nearly fifty years after the first CP Empress of Britain was launched from Govan in November 1905. Eleven months later, she set off on a maiden voyage from Liverpool to Montreal, Quebec departing on 20 April 1956.

 

 

The 25,516-ton vessel had a length of 640 feet, and her beam was 85.2 feet. The ship had one funnel, one mast, twin screws and an average speed of 20 knots. The ocean liner provided accommodation for 160 first class passengers and for 984 tourist class passengers. She would sail for Canadian Pacific Line until 1964 when she was sold to the Greek Line and renamed Queen Anna Maria.

 

 

Her new owners had her rebuilt at the Marriotti shipyard in Genoa, Italy to 21,716 gross tons with accommodations for 168 first class passengers and for 1,145 tourist class passengers. She sailed on the Piraeus, Greece to Naples, Italy to New York route. Towards the latter part of her career with the Greek Line, she provided service on the Haifa, Israel to New York route. In 1975, after her owners ran into financial problems and ultimately collapsed, she was laid up at Perama (Piraeus), Greece.

 

 

She was sold to Carnival Cruise Line in 1976. Her former stable mate with Canadian Pacific, the third Empress, the Empress of Canada, was already at Carnival as their Mardi Gras. Queen Ana Maria entered drydock in Newport News, VA and emerged as Carnivale in February 1976. Carnival placed her on weekly cruises from Miami, FL to the Caribbean, alongside Mardi Gras. By the late eighties, she had been placed on three and four-night "party cruise" runs to the Bahamas from Port Canaveral, FL.

 

 

As Carnival's market expanded and the company was able to afford buying new ships, the ship was transferred in to a Carnival Latin market subsidiary cruise line by the name of Fiesta Marine Cruises in 1993. With Fiesta Marine, and as the Fiesta Marina (her new name), she became something of a test ship in a cruise-line expansion venture, sailing out of San Juan,Puerto Rico and Caracas, Venezuela. After only three months, this ultimately proved to be unsuccessful.

 

In 1994, Fiesta Marine sold her to Greece-based Epirotiki Line. She sailed for Perama, Greece and emerged in the spring of 1995 as the Olympic for Epirotiki's Mediterranean cruise program. She was loved by her passengers and for a while, was once again "queen" of a Greek fleet. In 1996, Epirotiki Lines merged with longtime competitor, Sun Lines, to form Royal Olympic Cruises.

 

 

In 1997, the former Olympic was sold to Greece-based Topaz International and, after a rebuilt at Eleusis, Greece, the ship was re-named Topaz on a bare boat charter to British tour operator Thomson Holidays in the spring of 1998.

 

[Copper10-8]

 

In 2003, the vessel was placed on a long-term charter through 2006 with the Tokyo, Japan-based Peace Boat International orginazation, still as Topaz for world-wide cruising. Peace Boat is an international non-governmental organization based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, seeking to establish a global network among people, grassroots movements and NGOs working on issues such as peace, human rights development and environmental protection.

 

 

In the past 15 years it has chartered passenger ships to make 25 voyages and taken over 10,000 people to more than 80 ports.Through personal exchange and co-operation with people in other countries, particularly in areas of conflict and former conflict, it works to increase mutual understanding and bridge the gap between peoples, countries and cultures. By inviting guests from all over the world to join the voyage and participate in conferences on board it offers a global perspective on events and issues.

 

 

In April 2008, she was retired from the Peace Boat organization; and she was laid up at Singapore Roads. On June 15, while she was anchored there, she was struck by the chemical tanker Champion Brali. The collision severed off part of her bow.

 

She was subsequently sold for scrap to Indian shipbreakers and in the late summer of 2008, she arrived at Alang, India where she was beached awaiting to be scrapped. She was placed not too far away from where the remains of the former liner ss France (later NCL's ss Norway) are located. The ship's demolition was started a few months after being beached. As of November 2009, most of the former Empress of Britain had been scrapped.

[Copper10-8]

Some add'l pics of Empress of Britain

As Empress of Britain

As Queen Anna Maria at Gaspe Bay, Quebec in 1972

 

As Carnivale off Miami in 1989

As Topaz in Barcelona in 1999

 

As Topaz approaching Yokohama, Japan in 2006

 

As Topaz in New York in 2007

[DRWhit]

My first cruise was on the "Starship Majestic" of Premier Cruise Lines many moons ago. Here is a photo from Copper's wonderful post #1220 about her. In retrospect, it was a great crew and a wonderful ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oddly enough, I enjoyed the cruise a great deal, but did not get the cruise bug. A few years later we tried another cruise on a Carnival ship out of New Orleans, and I really did not have a good time. I had some back problems and was worried about sea sickness, so I took Dramamine. I was in pain from the back and sleepy from the Dramamine the whole time.

 

It wasn't until last year that I tried another cruise, this one on Royal Carribean's Freedom of the Seas. I ditched the Dramamine, the back was in good shape, and we had a wonderful time, so I think I have the cruise bug now.

Edited January 21, 2010 by DRWhit

[lucky1ns]

There she is!

 

There's my ship!

 

I have that pen too, the one with the ship that moves.

 

Boy do those photos bring back memories.

 

Imagine working on a cruise ship in your 20's in the Bahamas.

 

Zowie.

[Copper10-8]

I think that my second cruise was on Epirotiki, on the World Rennaisance. It was indeed offered by Regent Holidays and we took the package departing Toronto that included the airfare as well as an overnight prior to the cruise. Our hotel was up on a hillside with a very nice view of the ocean. In the morning I took a city tour while my husband lounged around at the hotel. When I got back he informed me that something was not right, that there was a lot of packing and unpacking of the luggage on the bus that was to take us to the pier. When we arrived at the pier there were 2 Epirotiki ships, the World Rennaisance and the Pegasus. We were instructed to indentify our luggage that was set out on the pier. If the luggage was on the left side of the ship we were to get on and turn left, if on the right side get on and turn right. Ours was on the left side, as we boarded we were served free drinks and snacks and asked to make ourselves comfortable. I said to my husband that something was up...why the free liquor? Anyhow, we were told that the ship that we were supposed to go on had sank and that we could either go on the World Rennaisance or we could go home! The Pegasus was at capacity and so we were told that we would be upgraded on the World. Then we were told that the World was not doing the same itinerary as we had booked! So we took the upgrade (a huge outside cabin) and went on our mystery tour. As this was a repositioning cruise we spent a lot of days at sea and still laugh at the 2 forms of entertainment that were offered to us in the evening....1 professional ballroom dancing couple and the crew that did skits for us every night for 14 days. Just thought that I'd share our Regent holiday with you!

 

ms Renaissance (1966-present) Built in 1966 by Chantiers de l’Atlantique, Sainte Nazaire, France as ms Renaissance for Compagnie Francaise de Navigation, a subsidiary of France-based Paquet Cruises. She was intended as a dual purpose vessel on the line’s regular Marseille to Haifa, Israel run but also for cruises, primarily to the Eastern Mediterranean. Renaissance was delivered to her new owners on 10 May 1966 as their flagship.

Compagnie Francaise de Navigation was set up by Paquet to run their (Paquet’s) passengers to Israel and thus allow the company to bypass the Arab Legion’s boycott of firms dealing with Israel. Paquet itself was seriously involved in trade with Arab Morocco. Renaissance would sail successfully for four years but the increasing use of commercial airliners as well as the expense for French passenger line companies to operate under the French flag, contributed to less than stellar financial results.

Paquet, in turn, made a decision to wind down their passenger and cruise ship fleet and formed a new company, Nouvelle Compagnie de Paquebots (NCP). This company wound up taking over the operation of several of those ships, one of them being Renaissance in 1970. Paquet continued to market her and NCP would use her on voyages from Marseille to the United States.

On 28 October 1977, ownership passed to Greece-based Epirotiki Lines who, after purchasing her, added some cabins to her, renamed the vessel Homeric Renaissance and made her the line’s flagship. Epirotiki's operations stretched back to 1830, when it was founded as a shipping company by George Potamianos, making it one of the world's oldest continuously operating shipping lines. Epirotiki went on to develop a leading position in the Greek cargo and passenger transportation trade, and began operating cruises among the Greek islands in the 1930s. In the 1950s, Potamianos's grandson, Anastassios, took over the direction of the company and focused it entirely on the cruise ship market, which was then undergoing a transformation from being a privilege of the wealthy to becoming a common vacation option affordable to the larger, middle-class traveling public.

In 1978, Italy-based Costa Crocieri S.p.A./Costa Cruises made a substantial offer to charter the ship, which was accepted by her Greek owners, and with that came yet another name change to World Renaissance. Upon completion of that charter, she resumed full-time cruising operations for Epirotiki but kept the name World Renaissance.

From 25 November 1983 until April 1984, she was chartered again, this time by South Africa-based travel company TFC Tours for a voyage from Plymouth, England to Cape Town, South Africa. In 1985, back with Epirotiki, who used her, among other itineraries for some cruises to the Caribbean and down the Amazon River in Brazil.

By 1993, however, the company seemed unable to resist the prevailing mood of consolidation sweeping the cruise ship industry, which was hard hit again by the global recession and by the collapse of the tourist industry following the outbreak of the Persian Gulf War. While rumors suggested that Epirotiki would pursue a marriage with domestic rival Sun Line, the company instead turned toward a partnership with industry heavyweight Carnival Cruise Lines in 1993. In August 1995 however, after the Carnival partnership had collapsed in the face of Greek cabotage rules, Epirotiki did agree to a merger with Sun Line, creating a new company, Royal Olympic Cruise Lines (ROC), in 2003 changed to Royal Olympia Cruise Lines. Operated as a joint venture between the two families, ROC initially maintained its two brand names, with Sun Line orientated towards a more affluent, older, and primarily American customer base, and Epirotiki attracting a younger, more diversified passenger list.

 

In 1995 World Renaissance was purchased by the Jakarta, Indonesia-based Awani Modern Group/Club Awani and renamed Awani Dream. She received a refit in 1996 and was promoted as a luxury cruise ship. Awani Cruises, however, never really got off the ground, after being hit both by the collapse of the Asian economy and the political instability in Indonesia.

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In January 1998, she was reacquired by the “new” Royal Olympic Cruise Lines, once again assumed the name of World Renaissance, and put on mostly 3 and 4-day Aegean cruises starting in March of that year. Her 3-day itinerary left Piraeus and included Mykonos, Rhodes, Patmos and Kusadasi, Turkey while her 4-day schedule included port calls at Mykonos, Patmos, Rhodes, Crete, Santorini and Kusadasi.

By this time however, ROC had an aging fleet, high labor costs and increased foreign competition. The events of 11 September 2001 dealt a fatal blow to Royal Olympic/Royal Olympia and by December 2003, it was downhill. The company was able to survive the summer of 2004 but collapsed for good that autumn.

On 6 April 2005 after a period of lay-up at Piraeus, World Renaissance was sold at public auction for $3.4 million to the Pelorus Maritime Inc. (USA-based Ravenscroft Ship Management), renamed Grand Victoria, and placed under Elysian Cruise Lines management. She was promptly chartered out until the end of 2006 to Russia-based Metropolis Tur.

In 2007, the ship was chartered once again, this time to Blue Monarch Shipping Inc. (managed by newly formed Monarch Classic Cruises) and renamed Blue Monarch. After an extensive refit, Monarch Classic Cruises used her on 3,4 and 7-day cruises in the Aegean to the various Greek islands. Blue Monarch Shipping decided to purchase her outright in the beginning of 2008 however, was unable to come up with the purchase price of $8 million by 25 August 2008 and her charter continues.

Edited January 22, 2010 by Copper10-8