Canberra

[BDeckD]

Hi. Does anyone know what happened to Canberra? I heard she was destined for Australia as a floating hotel back in the 1990's, but have since heard that she was scrapped in 1998. Is this true?

[Druke I]

Canberra was cut up for scrap some time ago - and there were pictures of the scrapping posted on this site, if memory serves correctly. Too bad - quite a lady in her day.

 

Her former running mate, Oriana (old, not new), partially sunk a couple of months ago in Dalian China, following storm. Picutres of that are about somewhere also.

 

Michael

[BDeckD]

Can't believe they scrapped her... a war hero too!! Shame as i have very fond memories of her... & am still in touch with a couple of the old crew.

[Druke I]

Unfortunately, we never sailed on Canberra (did sail on old Oriana twice).

 

Always wanted to, but wife was afraid that I would book a cabin w/o facilities!

 

Michael

[dougnewmanatsea]

Sadly, CANBERRA was indeed scrapped at Gadani Beach, Pakistan in 1997.

 

You can see photos of her being scrapped here, from the superb web site ssCanberra.com.

[Druke I]

Very graphic photos indeed. Sorry she came to be scrapped - she was a lovely ship in her day.

 

Michael

[BDeckD]

My god I'm shocked at seeing those pictures. Thanks for your replies. I still cannot believe that she didn't become the floating hotel in Oz that she was potentially intended to become. :eek:

 

Actually, seeing those pictures rbought back memories of the twin towers, as my wife & I went to the top of them only a couple of months before 9/11!

[dougnewmanatsea]

Yes, those are incredibly sad photos.

 

Amazing though that as late as 1997 P&O had a ship where more than have of the cabins didn't have private facilities!

 

I never had the opportunity to sail in CANBERRA but even so those photos were devastating the first time I saw them. She was a magnificently beautiful ship externally. The interiors by the time she was retired looked rather dull but the originals were quite stunning.

 

Incidentally does anyone know what happened to to Maori war canoe from the Pacific Restaurant (former first-class dining room)? It was moved to ARCADIA (the previous one, ex STAR PRINCESS/SITMAR FAIRMAJESTY, now OCEAN VILLAGE) but is not on OCEAN VILLAGE now so does anyone know where it is? I would like to see it fitted to ARTEMIS or the new ARCADIA.

 

Also, for the nostalgic, a few CANBERRA Pacific Restaurant chairs can apparently be found on MONA LISA (ex VICTORIA/SEA PRINCESS/KUNGSHOLM). Some of these were moved to VICTORIA in 1997 when CANBERRA was scrapped, though most of the chairs went to Gadani Beach with the ship. The majority of the chairs on MONA LISA are actually (poor, I am told) copies of CANBERRA's Pacific Restaurant chairs, which were probably fitted by P&O when KUNGSHOLM became SEA PRINCESS in 1979, but there are a few which are the real thing as they were used to replace some of the copies after CANBERRA's demise. The original designer of these chairs, Barry Banyard, is a friend of a friend and I am told that he rescued a few originals from VICTORIA when she was sold to become MONA LISA and restored them. They are now in Mr. Banyard's home in Ipswich.

 

(I sure hope I got that chair story correct!)

[Druke I]

Speaking of Sea Princess, later Victoria, now Mona Lisa:

 

We had the pleasure of sailing Sea Princess May 89, Kobe Japan to Vancouver BC via Honolulu, 15 nights. We we upgraded from an inside to a stateroom, equivalent to a mini-suite. She was another lovely ship, with a wonderful indoor pool, way down in the hull.

 

The first half of the trip, Kobe to Honolulu, the ship was half full, or if a pessimist, half empty, and they went to single seat dining.The second half of the trip, Honolulu to Vancouver, the ship filled up with Canadians, and they returned to traditional 1st and 2nd seatings. The Canadians on that trip got a wonderful price!

 

We had been scheduled to make a port call in Lahaina also, but as the ship had "tipped a prop" in Asia, they decided to slow her crossing and skip Maui. I believe she went into drydock after arrival in Vancouver, to change the prop.

 

My wife and I still talk about that trip, our first trans-Pacific, with fond memories.

 

Michael

[Jenal2]

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[Slow Foxtrot]

Canberra truly was an exceptional ship, sturdily built (thank goodness) at Harland and Wolff, and with a character all of its own. In 1989 my wife and I were returning from Hong Kong to the UK as part of Canberra's world cruise. From Hong Kong to Gibraltar the weather was idyllic but coming out of the Mediterranean into the Atlantic the wind freshened and Canberra started to roll. Then, as we approached Biscay, we hit a violent Force 10 gale. Exterior doors were locked and sand-bagged and for almost 36 hours Canberra was tossed around in 40 ft waves, sections of the ship's rail were ripped off and deck furniture was smashed to matchwood.

Despite repeated announcements by the Captain many passengers were so terrified that they left their cabins, dragged their mattresses into the public rooms and tried to sleep there! Eventually the Captain declared that these were the worst conditions he had ever experienced in all his time at sea.

When Canberra belatedly limped into Southampton many people were amazed to see the damage to the ship. Needless to say, after enduring this experience, nothing on any consequent voyage has ever given us the slightest cause for concern.

Does anyone else remember the Great Gale of '89 ?

 

Foxy

[Vampire Parrot]

Force 10 in the Bay of Biscay is not something I'd like to be in on any ship.... 40 foot waves will move any ship around like the "nature's toy" that she is at sea, even a ship with such excellent seagoing capabilities as the Canberra.

 

I remember the great gale of '87.... the only major storm I remember in '89 was early in the year when air traffic throughout Europe was severely distrupted. Not as powerful as the '87 storm, but it affected a larger area.

 

VP

[nitwit]

Canberra truly was an exceptional ship, sturdily built (thank goodness) at Harland and Wolff, and with a character all of its own. In 1989 my wife and I were returning from Hong Kong to the UK as part of Canberra's world cruise. From Hong Kong to Gibraltar the weather was idyllic but coming out of the Mediterranean into the Atlantic the wind freshened and Canberra started to roll. Then, as we approached Biscay, we hit a violent Force 10 gale. Exterior doors were locked and sand-bagged and for almost 36 hours Canberra was tossed around in 40 ft waves, sections of the ship's rail were ripped off and deck furniture was smashed to matchwood.

Despite repeated announcements by the Captain many passengers were so terrified that they left their cabins, dragged their mattresses into the public rooms and tried to sleep there! Eventually the Captain declared that these were the worst conditions he had ever experienced in all his time at sea.

When Canberra belatedly limped into Southampton many people were amazed to see the damage to the ship. Needless to say, after enduring this experience, nothing on any consequent voyage has ever given us the slightest cause for concern.

Does anyone else remember the Great Gale of '89 ?

 

Foxy

 

I was on her in '79. Force 11 through the bay and we were playing table tennis!

Black Prince through the western approaches-Hurricane force 12!!!

I'm serious.

Glenn.

[Slow Foxtrot]

....I was on her in '79. Force 11 through the bay and we were playing table tennis!.......Glenn.

 

Are you sure you weren't walking on the water at the same time? It takes one hell of a gale to rip the ship's rails off!! A couple of pictures enclosed of the gale's aftermath!

[nitwit]

Are you sure you weren't walking on the water at the same time? It takes one hell of a gale to rip the ship's rails off!! A couple of pictures enclosed of the gale's aftermath!

 

It was rough alright but nowhere near as bad as being on the 11000t black prince in a 12 with both engines down. Now that is unexplainable. She rolled the main windows under blue!

[Slow Foxtrot]

...It was rough alright but nowhere near as bad as being on the 11000t black prince in a 12 with both engines down. Now that is unexplainable. She rolled the main windows under blue!...

 

Call that rough? Naah.... nothing to it. We were on the old P & O liner 'King George V1' in the Irish Sea when we hit a 200 miles per hour hurricane. The ship turned totally upside down and then righted itself as if by magic. We were playing snooker at the time in the main salon and never noticed a thing!

[nitwit]

Call that rough? Naah.... nothing to it. We were on the old P & O liner 'King George V1' in the Irish Sea when we hit a 200 miles per hour hurricane. The ship turned totally upside down and then righted itself as if by magic. We were playing snooker at the time in the main salon and never noticed a thing!

 

I'm bloody serious.

[sparkymarky]

I had the pleasure of sailing on the canberra in 1980 when i was 10 and it was a holiday i have never forgotten. We were in cabin E211 which was the lowest cabin with a port hole and a lift to it if i remember and the room had 4 bunkbeds and some drawers and no private bathroom.

 

Compared to todays cruising it is exceptioanlly basic but we all had a lovely time seeing tenerife vigo and maderia and we still have one of the menus from the restaurants.

[nitwit]

I had the pleasure of sailing on the canberra in 1980 when i was 10 and it was a holiday i have never forgotten. We were in cabin E211 which was the lowest cabin with a port hole and a lift to it if i remember and the room had 4 bunkbeds and some drawers and no private bathroom.

 

Compared to todays cruising it is exceptioanlly basic but we all had a lovely time seeing tenerife vigo and maderia and we still have one of the menus from the restaurants.

 

Hi,

In 79 I was 11. The cabin sounds the same as ours but we had no port hole and was in F201. We were on her for a month and did the west indies and florida and like you I will never forget it.

Glenn.

[Marmaduke]

Did they ever have Norovirus on the Canberra ?

 

When I first started cruising, about 15 years ago there was never any mention of Norovirus. It is only during the last 5 years or so that there has been so much coverage of Norovirus on cruise ships. All cruise lines seem to send out health advisory notices now with suggested tips for avoiding the virus, such as frequent thorough hand washing, using your own cabins toilets where possible etc. Since many of the cabins on Canberra had to share bathroom facilities I would have expected norovirus to be rife on board, but somehow I doubt it was.

[nitwit]

Did they ever have Norovirus on the Canberra ?

 

When I first started cruising, about 15 years ago there was never any mention of Norovirus. It is only during the last 5 years or so that there has been so much coverage of Norovirus on cruise ships. All cruise lines seem to send out health advisory notices now with suggested tips for avoiding the virus, such as frequent thorough hand washing, using your own cabins toilets where possible etc. Since many of the cabins on Canberra had to share bathroom facilities I would have expected norovirus to be rife on board, but somehow I doubt it was.

 

I don't remember it being on our trip, but at 11 years old I didn't take much notice.

Ask slow foxtrot, he seems to know everything!

Glenn.

[EtherlyCC]

Hi all, nice to remember the old Canberra. I worked on her as a bell boy from August - November - 1978, red tunic, black trousers and highly polished shoes. I used to work the aft lift which went up to stadium deck (think it was called that) but to get to the theatre where all the shows were you had to go out on deck and walk to the front of the ship, this could be very windy and wet in those days. What I used to do was stop at A deck and advise the passengers to walk through the accommodation and either walk 1 flight of stairs or take the forward lift. Always telling the lady that the wind would spoil her perfect hair and outfit. I used to get well rewarded for this at the end of the cruise, once I had really laid it on thick for 10 days to a perticular couple and at the end of the cruise my reward on the last night was 2 apples and an orange from the restraunt:eek:

 

But she was a loverly ship and I hold very fond memories of her.

[Slow Foxtrot]

...I don't remember it being on our trip, but at 11 years old I didn't take much notice. Ask Slow Foxtrot, he seems to know everything!.....Glenn.

 

 

Nice one Glen, but do I perchance detect a modicum of sarcasm in your final remark? Surely not. I must say that I don't particularly remember Norovirus on the many times I sailed on Canberra BUT I do remember that there were odd outbreaks of what became widely known as The Canberra Cough. The probable explanation was that in those days the majority of the passengers were old, and some very old! It was inevitable that some of them brought on board their coughs and colds and, in a closed environment, these were easily passed on. Hence, The Canberra Cough! However, it rarely seemed to prevent anyone from having a damned good time. Incidentally, the ship carried a very good hospital, capable of dealing with almost everything!

 

Foxy

[The Monocled Mutineer]

I spent 22 nights on Canberra in 1990 and the experience put me off cruising for 6 years!

 

Canberra worked in reverse vs the new builds (like Ventura etc) as regards looks, inside & out.

[Bruce62]

Being a veteran of 6 cruises on Canberra from 88-96, at the time I though she was the best thing since sliced bread, and couldn't believe all the nonsense about a new superliner 'Oriana'. How on earth could this new ship be better than the Canberra?

 

Then in 97 I went on the Oriana, and all I could think was 'What an old rust bucket the Canberra really was'.

 

Time and a place for everything, I suppose!