Great Cruising Memories

[Lowiepete]

12 minutes ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Steve, I hope you put all of your observations above onto your timeline.  Well said!

 

CGT

Well, I think I have, but perhaps in a more subtle fashion over several headings rather than a single diatribe bordering on a rant. I am fully conscious that my experiences come from a different time. In those days the excitement for passengers was all ashore and the ship was the vehicle that took you there in style, as well as being the place to be pampered upon. Today, you step out of your cabin into a travelling circus that happens to be carrying you to places abroad, almost as an aside. Disney building huge floating monoliths proves its popularity, but I'm unsure that it's cruising!

 

The places abroad are clearly set up with tat in order to drain you of your last budget pennies only to find there is no respite when you climb back aboard. If that's what modern day cruising is, then so be it. People from back then would feel exhausted just from the description and people from today would probably be bored stiff by how it once was, or would they?

 

What if they spent the afternoon ashore in a hot and sticky Turkish city and upon returning to the ship they get greeted by name as they mount the gangway? How about then being met by their bedroom steward with a tray of iced-tea with extra lemon slices and some spiced sticky buns, with an assurance that fresh towels are in place if they want to shower before their dinner ashore at an esteemed bistro they have already been booked into? Oh, and your laundry, including your light suit, has been delivered and stowed. How soon would that become boring?  

 

The alternative is to go up on deck at 5.30pm almost every afternoon and watch yet another yearning departure from a potentially wonderful port (think Tangier, Naples, Istanbul or Venice out of hundreds of unique destinations on a Mediterranean cruise). Then to get dressed for dinner in an ever more familiar clip-joint, from what becomes a limited choice of ever more expensive clip-joints, serving variations of more or less the same food, (different day, same Chef) night after night, with the same company and "entertainment". Need I go on?

 

As someone who is attempting to record "history", it's very difficult to avoid the view through rose-tinted spectacles. Of course, there's a certain amount of nostalgia attached, but that only emanates from how much of your own personality you put into dealing with what was long hours and detail work. Of course, the antidote to working hard was playing hard and no-one missed out on that; certainly not me!

 

Unlike your charges, your personal space on board a 34,000 ton liner amounted to a tubular framed bunk and a 6'6" high locker with a 15" square footprint. All that in a cabin with 5 or 7 other occupants of all ages. If you were quick in an 8 cabin, you could nab a drawer for your socks and smalls in the single 6-drawer tall-boy, but you could not lock it. The showers were communal, 7 to 10 abreast with no modesty curtains to speak of. Oh, and if anyone snored in the cabin... tough! 

 

The redeeming feature was being fed like Lords! Apart from the privileged goods like caviar, we had the choice of whatever there was on the passenger menu. For a voyage you chose a pantryman or cook in the galley to put up your chosen grub at a certain hour and it would be ready for you to collect and take down to the stewards mess on completing your "wipe down".

 

With my station in the restaurant being hidden from the entrance, it was not unusual to eat at one of our tables, with a mate or three as "guests". The option was treated with respect, often when the pax had been served something special and there were portions left spare. How else could we accurately describe to our diners the true flavour of a Steak Diane or a Bombe Caronia with its boozy sponge, vanilla ice-cream and scorched soft meringue?

 

For a lad of 17 when I first stepped aboard, the first port of call where we could go ashore was New York. Just imagine being let loose down Broadway at that age, at dead of a summer night when the recently released Beatles film "A Hard Day's Night" was on constant 24 hour showing. When I first  joined this Forum, not long after starting the Timeline, someone got very upset that us "crew" should get to visit the Pyramids of Gizeh!

 

How else were we going to educate our passengers about the dusty journey to and from, and where to avoid the pick-pockets along with how to deal with constant barrage from street-sellers? No-one that had paid a fare to board the ship was missing out on anything, but the indignation shown over our access to such sites was a tad astonishing!

 

Having got this far, I think I've made enough comparisons between then and now. I have tended to avoid that on the Timeline and I'm unsure of the wisdom of doing so through that medium. Isn't it up to visitors to make their own comparisons, depending upon their experiences?

 

With Season's Greetings,

Steve

[CGTNORMANDIE]

Steve,

 

History is intricate.  You probably don’t even realize it but every time you respond here you are giving us nuggets and pearls that we did not get on your timeline.  I really think you should include it all in an appendage of personal commentary if necessary.  You are documenting first hand experiences that make the bland and mundane luxury cruises of today seem trivial.  People who love history want to know all the details from that era and you have made that history come alive.  

[Heidi13]

8 hours ago, Lowiepete said:

In today's World we're left wondering: How did it all go so wrong?

 

Regards,

Steve

 

 

 

The demise of the Cunard standards started long before they were purchased by Carnival. In addition to the decline of liner shipping, in 1971 they were purchased by Trafalgar House Investments.

[Lowiepete]

2 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

People who love history want to know all the details from that era and you have made that history come alive.  

I don't want to be contradictory but in truth, most of what I have said in my previous post does appear in snippets on the Timeline. Start at the 1966 year index and work on through the monthly activity pages until the end...

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

The demise of the Cunard standards started long before they were purchased by Carnival. In addition to the decline of liner shipping, in 1971 they were purchased by Trafalgar House Investments.

Even before that. The bean-counters were at it in 1964 but their ideas of saving money, from shoreside, only echoed just how clueless they were about what really went on aboard a Cunard ship. Their strictures only impeded the level of service that they were still expecting the Officers and Crew to perform and often increased costs rather than save the company money. There was much muttering over their stupidity.

 

In the latter days it was impossible to obtain teaspoons from the silverman. Every waiter walked around with half a dozen in their jacket pockets. They were gathered together in a small paper towel bundle with elastic bands and guarded almost with your life. Passengers had been stealing them as souvenirs for years. Whether the central stores had run out from those gathered from redundant ships and no more could be ordered in is moot. It was nuts!

 

By the time the Caronia was withdrawn, absolutely nothing from the ship was transferred back to central stores. Passengers travelling under its new owners slept on Cunard branded linen, dined at tables with Cunard linen both as tablecloths and napkins. Plates, glasses and silver service ware, all came from that source. Even the menus were printed on old Cunard stock. I have no idea when that decision came and if Caronia was following other retired ships. Maybe the warehouse had been closed down. 

 

Probably the biggest kick in the teeth came in the late 1960s, from the Sterling Crisis in the UK and strict currency limits imposed upon US citizens as their government struggled to pay for the Vietnam War. The knock-on effects lasted quite a while and probably led to the bargain basement acquisition of Cunard by Trafalgar House. When the QE2 started playing up, or should I say, breaking down, it was almost curtains! 

 

When modern day marketers trumpet on about 180 years of "Cunard tradition", they have no clue about what it really means. It's annoying because today there is simply no resemblance to that which properly built the Cunard brand. Ostentation now challenges style.

 

With Season's Greetings,

Steve

[CGTNORMANDIE]

2 hours ago, Lowiepete said:

I don't want to be contradictory but in truth, most of what I have said in my previous post does appear in snippets on the Timeline. Start at the 1966 year index and work on through the monthly activity pages until the end...

Even before that. The bean-counters were at it in 1964 but their ideas of saving money, from shoreside, only echoed just how clueless they were about what really went on aboard a Cunard ship. Their strictures only impeded the level of service that they were still expecting the Officers and Crew to perform and often increased costs rather than save the company money. There was much muttering over their stupidity.

Yes...so true...but here it is without the varnish.  So much the better!

 

In the latter days it was impossible to obtain teaspoons from the silverman. Every waiter walked around with half a dozen in their jacket pockets. They were gathered together in a small paper towel bundle with elastic bands and guarded almost with your life. Passengers had been stealing them as souvenirs for years. Whether the central stores had run out from those gathered from redundant ships and no more could be ordered in is moot. It was nuts!

 

By the time the Caronia was withdrawn, absolutely nothing from the ship was transferred back to central stores. Passengers travelling under its new owners slept on Cunard branded linen, dined at tables with Cunard linen both as tablecloths and napkins. Plates, glasses and silver service ware, all came from that source. Even the menus were printed on old Cunard stock. I have no idea when that decision came and if Caronia was following other retired ships. Maybe the warehouse had been closed down. 

 

Probably the biggest kick in the teeth came in the late 1960s, from the Sterling Crisis in the UK and strict currency limits imposed upon US citizens as their government struggled to pay for the Vietnam War. The knock-on effects lasted quite a while and probably led to the bargain basement acquisition of Cunard by Trafalgar House. When the QE2 started playing up, or should I say, breaking down, it was almost curtains! 

 

When modern day marketers trumpet on about 180 years of "Cunard tradition", they have no clue about what it really means. It's annoying because today there is simply no resemblance to that which properly built the Cunard brand. Ostentation now challenges style.

 

With Season's Greetings,

Steve

There by golly...you’ve done it again.  Everything you say is so true.  I well remember the restrictions that President Johnson placed on European travel in the 1960’s.  I also think that the Arab oil price gouging by OPEC really set off an adverse chain of events for trans ocean shipping.  I also remember the culture shock I had onboard the QE II in 1975 when I experienced first hand the demise of Cunard service and quality.  I believe your opinions as stated here deserve a book!

 

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!  Let’s just hope and pray that 2021 will be a much better year than 2020!

[rkacruiser]

10 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!  Let’s just hope and pray that 2021 will be a much better year than 2020!

 

There is so much, so very much to contemplate in these recent posts that I find it difficult to respond very much at this time.  I need time for gathering my thoughts.  A New Year's "project"--one that I anticipate enjoying doing.

 

A very Happy and Healthy New Year to all as well. 

 

I wish the UK's exit from the EU will develop into what the good people of the UK are expecting.  My hopes are the same for my fellow Americans for the in-coming Administration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and Kamala Harris.  

 

Both of our peoples need a respite from the chaos and uncertainties of recent years.  

[rkacruiser]

13 hours ago, Lowiepete said:

The bean-counters were at it in 1964 but their ideas of saving money, from shoreside, only echoed just how clueless they were about what really went on aboard a Cunard ship.

 

The same can be said in recent years about the changes in Holland America Line.  Bean-counters and Executive Vice-Presidents in charge of "this and that" that had no cruise experience (or at best, to be charitable, minimal) whatsoever. 

 

HAL has gone from "let's try this" to "well, that didn't work as expected, let's try this", etc.  Meanwhile, the Senior Officers have increasingly complained about being micro-managed from the Seattle "suits" which, then, takes away their time/effort/ability to deal with the on-board experience for their cruise guests.  

[rkacruiser]

15 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

The demise of the Cunard standards started long before they were purchased by Carnival

 

Carnival Corporation has gotten bad raps for years that I don't think are fair by acquiring Cunard and HAL.  If were not for Mr. Arison's interest in developing what was called the Tiffany Project, his interest in acquiring HAL might not have happened.  I don't think there would be a HAL today if Carnival Corporation had not acquired them.  

 

CCL's decision to keep each of the cruise lines as separate Operating Companies has been beneficial to each of the brands.  Surely, the oversight of the Executives and their results of the Operating Companies comes from Miami.  But, to say--just as a trivial example--a mixed drink will be served at the Ocean Bar without a stir stick--is a decision that comes from the Executive Offices at CCL headquarters is ridiculous.  Mr. Donald and the Board of Directors have more important issues with which to be concerned.  

[rkacruiser]

21 hours ago, Lowiepete said:

The only "difficult" part of that conversation is in saying "Hello". You'll soon put people at ease because they won't have to be guessing at what might be honouring you in future, or not. I dreaded the opening moments, but real friends will soon put you at ease. Don't put it off for a rainy day, rather, make hay!

 

With Season's Greetings,

Steve  

 

You offer good advice for which I thank you.  I need to screw up my courage in 2021 to have such conversations.  I am not getting any younger nor is my physical condition improving.  

 

Happy Year and Good Health To You!

 

                Bob

[CGTNORMANDIE]

20 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

The same can be said in recent years about the changes in Holland America Line.  Bean-counters and Executive Vice-Presidents in charge of "this and that" that had no cruise experience (or at best, to be charitable, minimal) whatsoever. 

 

HAL has gone from "let's try this" to "well, that didn't work as expected, let's try this", etc.  Meanwhile, the Senior Officers have increasingly complained about being micro-managed from the Seattle "suits" which, then, takes away their time/effort/ability to deal with the on-board experience for their cruise guests. 
 

Why do cruise ship companies hire airline executives to solve shipping problems??

[Heidi13]

27 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Carnival Corporation has gotten bad raps for years that I don't think are fair by acquiring Cunard and HAL.  If were not for Mr. Arison's interest in developing what was called the Tiffany Project, his interest in acquiring HAL might not have happened.  I don't think there would be a HAL today if Carnival Corporation had not acquired them.  

 

CCL's decision to keep each of the cruise lines as separate Operating Companies has been beneficial to each of the brands.  Surely, the oversight of the Executives and their results of the Operating Companies comes from Miami.  But, to say--just as a trivial example--a mixed drink will be served at the Ocean Bar without a stir stick--is a decision that comes from the Executive Offices at CCL headquarters is ridiculous.  Mr. Donald and the Board of Directors have more important issues with which to be concerned.  

 

Thanks for the info, as I don't have any experience with HAL, but am well aware of the Carnivalisation of P&O/Princess. When the P&O Group created a separate company for the cruise division, they were a prime target for merger/acquisition. Prior to the Carnival purchase they had an agreement with RCI to merge, with the proposed combined company being bigger than Carnival. Just prior to the merger, Carnival came in with more money, so they had to pay off RCI.

 

Since I remained in contact with a number of the P&O Masters, I heard about the changes. Then our son started with Princess as a cadet, staying to Senior 2nd Officer. He started on a N/American contract, which paid him monthly when aboard ship. No benefits or training allowances. Compare that to the pre-Carnivalisation, when I was a cadet. We received a monthly salary on board and on leave and all schooling/exams were paid for. When 3rd Officer, he was switched to a UK contract, which paid more and had some benefits, but nothing like we had pre-Carnival.

 

Would P&O have survived without Carnival, unlike HAL, I have no doubt they would have, but not expanded so quickly, due to reduced levels of capital investment.

 

I recall a meeting with a Senior Carnival VP, where he mentioned that each of their brands consider their other brands as their biggest competition. Yes, each brand operated separately, setting their own standards. This all changed after the Costa Concordia, at least with Bridge procedures. All brands had to implement the P&O/Cunard Bridge Team Command & Control. They also created a Corporate standards group that visited all ships to ensure compliance.

 

Their latest re-org also lumped Princess, HAL & Seabourn into the Holland America Group (HAG). While each of the original brands had their own individual managers for each department, when HAG was created, many positions were amalgamated across the 3 brands. Lots of people let go or re-assigned.

[marco]

A Happy and HEALTHY!!!!! New Year to all my CC friends!

[George C]

Happy new year y’all. 2021 has to be better than 2020. 

[rkacruiser]

On 12/31/2020 at 5:00 PM, CGTNORMANDIE said:

Why do cruise ship companies hire airline executives to solve shipping problems??

 

One can ask that same question when Amtrak hires former airline executives to run Amtrak.  

[rkacruiser]

On 12/31/2020 at 5:47 PM, Heidi13 said:

I recall a meeting with a Senior Carnival VP, where he mentioned that each of their brands consider their other brands as their biggest competition. Yes, each brand operated separately, setting their own standards. This all changed after the Costa Concordia, at least with Bridge procedures. All brands had to implement the P&O/Cunard Bridge Team Command & Control. They also created a Corporate standards group that visited all ships to ensure compliance.

 

A strength of the Carnival Corporation Cruise umbrella was having a diverse mix of brands which where allowed to operate separately.  The initial Executives hired to oversee these Brands were well qualified for their positions.  Then, as time passed, less experienced Executives were hired, some of whom may not have known "bow" from "stern", and the changes began to the detriment of the cruise product, in my opinion.  Someone(s) in the Executive Suites of CCL in Miami, I think, began to realize this and for a couple of years prior to the arrival of Covid, I saw changes that I thought were positive.  What will the post-Covid future hold?  

 

The loss of the Costa Concordia and those guests who were injured and passed did provide a standardized Bridge program that, one wonders, was not in place previously.  When a HAL Master can be transferred to a Seabourn Master, etc., why wasn't that considered before the Costa Concordia tragedy?  

 

Yet, on those few occasions that I have had to speak with or hear a ship's Master or a Hotel Director, the phrase of "micro-management" from Seattle (on HAL) is prevalent.  Is this a "best practice" for a Company?  

 

 

[Heidi13]

24 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

The loss of the Costa Concordia and those guests who were injured and passed did provide a standardized Bridge program that, one wonders, was not in place previously.  When a HAL Master can be transferred to a Seabourn Master, etc., why wasn't that considered before the Costa Concordia tragedy?  

 

Yet, on those few occasions that I have had to speak with or hear a ship's Master or a Hotel Director, the phrase of "micro-management" from Seattle (on HAL) is prevalent.  Is this a "best practice" for a Company?  

 

 

 

They did have a Standardised bridge Procedures (BTCC) that was developed by P&O/Princess and Cunard about 2002/03 and was implemented in mid 2000's. They even had their in-house simulator building outside Amsterdam running well before 2012. Sadly Carnival Corporate did not require this best in practice procedures to be used by all brands.

 

On the brands that implemented BTCC, it was clearly stated that all Masters must buy into the program, or seek alternative employment. I was impressed with the procedures, using much of their content in developing similar procedures for my company.

 

Affirmative, I have heard the micro-management comment from many friends that remained with Carnival UK.

[rkacruiser]

Heidi13,

 

Your above post is very informative.  Thank you.  

 

I am aware of the micro-management issue that drove an experienced HAL Master to decide that he was done with his time at sea.  As far as I know, though, he is still involved with the Company as a trainer at their European training facility.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

On 12/30/2020 at 4:01 PM, Lowiepete said:

 

The beef on board was best Scotch (not Scottish - that refers to male humans) and it was celebrated! If a blood ordered a "well done" steak at the beginning of their cruise, they appreciated it done "a point", with the "a" properly accented, by the end... The result was somewhere between blue and rare and extremely tasty, with only a smidgeon of horseradish sauce as its accompaniment!!

Scotch beef is renowned in GB for its quality.  I remember dining at Simpsons in London back in the 1970’s and Scotch beef was the order of the day.  Simpsons always served their beef from a great silver cart.  The beef was carved at the table and you always tipped the carver...a time honored custom at Simpsons.  

 

Roast rib was properly prepared on a spit with charcoal as its fuel. It was then taken into the restaurants (Plural on cruises) on a wonderful, and ancient, silver-domed trolley, from where passengers could order cuts from steak sizes to thinly sliced. Your wish was our command, in every sense! The chef put in charge of roasting would have very rare beef at only one end of the carcass. Of course, it was cut "off the bone"!

This is really amazing that the rib roast was slow roasted on a spit over charcoal.  As a former chef I cannot think of any better way to do standing ribs.  It speaks volumes about the quality that was Caronia.  There were very few ships that went to these lengths.  I know that charcoal cooking was also done on the Rotterdam and the SS France.  I don’t think there were any others.  

 

On 12/30/2020 at 4:01 PM, Lowiepete said:

 

I'm not being rude about Americans, but their "buttons" back then were about what they had and what they wanted and about where they had been and where they wanted to go. So, all we did was play to the tunes they wanted to hear. It wasn't without affection, for goodness sake, they royally kept us in the manner to which we had become very well accustomed. Bless their golden socks, but has anything changed in the meantime!  
 

I wonder what the biggest tips were in those days and what was average??  I remember a head waiter on the SS France telling me about a gentleman from Texas who routinely handed out $100 bills.  This was in the 1960’s !!   

 

The beef service was just the tip of many icebergs. (pun intended!)  All that we did aboard the RMS Caronia was to set a standard. Many, many ships emerged to challenge the standards that she (we?) set. In today's World we're left wondering: How did it all go so wrong?

Timing is everything.  The Caronia got caught in between the eras of crossing and cruising.  Even if the seaman’s strike didn’t happen I think the Caronia could never have maintained the quality while doing shorter and less expensive itineraries with a less discerning (and less wealthy) clientele.  Then came the high oil prices.  

 

On 12/30/2020 at 4:01 PM, Lowiepete said:

I just wish I had been able to sail on her.  
 

Regards,

Steve

 

 

The next big question:  What ships did you wish you had sailed on???

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

What ships did you wish you had sailed on???

 

How long of a list ought I post?

 

Any and all of the Cunard line ships and not just Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth.  Media/Pathia, Brittanic, Sycthia, et al.  There deck plans and photos of the accommodations attracted me.  I was so pleased to have been able to sail on a former Cunarder:  Fairwind and Sunward II.  Two really different from those of the past.  

 

All of the Italian Line ships.

 

The S. S. United States

 

Liberte and Ile de France of the French Line

 

Bremen and Berlin of North German Lloyd Line

 

Home Lines' Homeric and Homeric II

 

Any and all of the ships of the Swedish American Line and the Norwegian American Line.  (A port departure visit prior to a North Cape Cruise of the Kungsholm reinforced my desire to do this.  Which I did on Royal Viking Sky.)  

 

Grace Lines was in the running for my first cruise.  Moore-McCormick's Argentina and Brazil always attracted me, but, I didn't care for their itinerary.  Del Norte, etc., also was on my radar.  But, not their itinerary.  

 

I probably would be well pleased on Titanic, Lusitania, Costa Concordia......until.  

 

 

 

 

[CGTNORMANDIE]

49 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

How long of a list ought I post?

 

Any and all of the Cunard line ships and not just Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth.  Media/Pathia, Brittanic, Sycthia, et al.  There deck plans and photos of the accommodations attracted me.  I was so pleased to have been able to sail on a former Cunarder:  Fairwind and Sunward II.  Two really different from those of the past.  

 

All of the Italian Line ships.

 

The S. S. United States

 

Liberte and Ile de France of the French Line

 

Bremen and Berlin of North German Lloyd Line

 

Home Lines' Homeric and Homeric II

 

Any and all of the ships of the Swedish American Line and the Norwegian American Line.  (A port departure visit prior to a North Cape Cruise of the Kungsholm reinforced my desire to do this.  Which I did on Royal Viking Sky.)  

 

Grace Lines was in the running for my first cruise.  Moore-McCormick's Argentina and Brazil always attracted me, but, I didn't care for their itinerary.  Del Norte, etc., also was on my radar.  But, not their itinerary.  

 

I probably would be well pleased on Titanic, Lusitania, Costa Concordia......until.  

LOL!!  You certainly are ambitious RK.  I would have loved to sail on the Bremen again and the SS France in First Class.  Of course my biggest wish would be a First Class ticket on the SS Normandie!!  I would also like the Leonardo DaVinci, Raffaello and Michelangelo.  Sitmar Fairwind and Fairsea definitely and Incres Victoria.  The old Neiuw Amsterdam is another ship I would have loved and the Rotterdam V.   

 

 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2021 by CGTNORMANDIE

[Lowiepete]

11 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

I wonder what the biggest tips were in those days and what was average??  I remember a head waiter on the SS France telling me about a gentleman from Texas who routinely handed out $100 bills.  This was in the 1960’s !!   

 

 

Probably the best tipped guys on the Caronia would be the Lift (elevator) Operators. These jobs were a "reserved occupation" for disabled men; I won't use the term of those days. As a Commis Waiter (Bell Boy) I'd be one of the "jack of all trades" aboard. It was usually the lad assigned to messenger-boy duties who could find himself "diverted" to the lifts, either for a full shift or to cover toilet breaks. 

 

The lift shifts were limited to 4 hour stints and the best shifts to do were the 14:00 to 18:00 or the 18:00 to 22:00hrs for the best tips. Bearing in mind, our basic wage was just under 17GBP per month, i.e. 4 x 56 hour weeks,  or about 50USD a month. On a good single shift you could gather anything up to $100. The next best job was "on the Doors" - being there for all meals, opening the Restaurant Doors. This even at those of the Sandringham on a Transat and Cabin Class pax.

 

There was a big difference twixt the two sources. The Commis tips in the restaurants were pooled and shared out; this because while we were parked in the lobby gossiping, our mates were running around like blue-ahsed flies fetching and carrying for waiters in a "work-up". Else, at the start of the meal pushing trolleys around serving hot buns, smoked-salmon or the hors d'oeuvres 

 

The income from the lifts was exempt from this pooling as these shifts were rare. Being that I could speak French, I made a few dollars from those bloods who wanted the menu explained beyond the Chef's suggestion, which on Transats always appeared in that language. For that skill, I made sure those tips were my own! 

 

More on "The Gravy Train"

 

Regards,

Steve

Edited January 5, 2021 by Lowiepete

[Lowiepete]

12 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

No, Lowiepete didn't say "I wish I had sailed on her..."

The next big question:  What ships did you wish you had sailed on???

...then none of you guys mentioned the RMS Caronia! Now, you're all just taking the mickey 😉 

 

My answer would be any ship that would take me to two large countries I never visited, like India and Canada, but it would need to be back in the day when Britain had a proper Merchant Navy. Was the Caronia the only Cunard ship never to get to a Canadian port?

 

Regards,

Steve

[marco]

As I'm not old enough to have sailed on them, but if I had a time machine I would have loved to go back and have sailed on the "Conte Di Savoia" and the "Normandie".  In 1937 my grandparents, father (he was 12) and my uncle (he was 9) sailed to  Italy and back on the "Rex".  I have a few photos in my "treasure chest" of memorabilia. 

[George C]

My first ever job was a computer operator for US Lines located at 1 Broadway in lower Manhattan with a perfect view of the Statue of Liberty. I was just 17 at the time but one of my coworkers would fill in for a job every Christmas on the SS United States, he said his main job was to tell the bartenders when to close the bar , unfortunately I also never got to sail on her. 

[CGTNORMANDIE]

3 hours ago, Lowiepete said:

...then none of you guys mentioned the RMS Caronia! Now, you're all just taking the mickey 😉 

 

My answer would be any ship that would take me to two large countries I never visited, like India and Canada, but it would need to be back in the day when Britain had a proper Merchant Navy. Was the Caronia the only Cunard ship never to get to a Canadian port?

 

Regards,

Steve

The Caronia...c’est entendue!!  Of course it is understood that Caronia tops the list!