The Most Missed....

[cruiselover57]

Yes...but don't forget the Fairsea and Fairsky. :) I miss them all.

 

I sure remember those old Sitmar ships as well - I've been on both of those plus Fairstar (3 times) and the Fairwind. I can honestly say I do miss the old Fairstar (as dumpy a ship as it was compared to the newer ones these days) but since I was one of very few Americans on board ship, those Aussies sure knew how to live it up! I had the best time and I was sorry to hear when she was scrapped! Oh well - good memories will always live on, that's for sure!

 

Laurie

[cruiselover57]

It was our first cruise, and although we have cruised many times since then, it will always be our favorite.

It's size gave it such an intimate feel, and it had the look of the classic cruise liner.

It is so sad that it is now at the bottom of the ocean. That was heartbreaking news to us.

 

I sailed on the Meridian in Nov. 1995 to the Panama Canal. Nice older ship, smaller but had a great time. I guess I didn't know she sunk. I tried looking up what happened to old ships - must've missed that one. It makes me sad to think about a liner being at the bottom of the ocean (kinda like the Titanic in a way)!

[Post Captain]

Like CGTNormandie, I rate the Bremen very highly--never had the opportunity to sail on her, but went aboard her several times in New York in the late 1960s (I think it was) when my father worked for North German Lloyd.

 

And of course I have special memories of the Rotterdam (the "real" one, not the current upstart). Glad to know she's being preserved; I hope to visit her in Rotterdam someday.

 

But, if it had to be just one ship, that one for me would be Furness Bermuda Line's Queen of Bermuda--the ship by which I judge all others. Again, my reasons are highly personal--although I only sailed on her once (in childhood, at that), I also spent many Saturdays aboard her in New York; dined in her dining room many times; explored all the public rooms; spent time on the bridge; & enjoyed private parties in the purser's cabin with her captain (Magnus Musson), first officer ("Number One," Ian Saunders), purser (Ray Pusshe), and my father. What more could a young boy ask for? On top of that, she was a magnificent ship--the Queen Mary on an intimate scale. The day she went to the breakers in December 1966 was a sad day indeed. There's been nothing like her since.

 

As a tribute to my runner-up, see the picture of Furness's Ocean Monarch, below.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

HI POST CAPTAIN!!!

 

FUNNY THING...I was just going to mention the OCEAN MONARCH...another gem of the ocean. I have a 30 minute video (in color!!!) of her from 1956...in my collection. I grew up in a small town in Massachusetts. One of the factory owners chartered the OCEAN MONARCH to sail from New York to Trinadad...he had another factory there...and then back to New York. I had friends who went on that cruise and they said it was the best ship they were ever on. I also have a coffee creamer from the QUEEN OF BERMUDA...I loved that bird pattern on their china...absolutely FIRST CLASS!!! I also have many menus from the 30s-40s-and 50s...FURNESS ran a top notch operation...and we will never see the likes of it again.

 

ROSS

[Post Captain]

HI POST CAPTAIN!!!

 

FUNNY THING...I was just going to mention the OCEAN MONARCH...another gem of the ocean. I have a 30 minute video (in color!!!) of her from 1956...in my collection. I grew up in a small town in Massachusetts. One of the factory owners chartered the OCEAN MONARCH to sail from New York to Trinadad...he had another factory there...and then back to New York. I had friends who went on that cruise and they said it was the best ship they were ever on. I also have a coffee creamer from the QUEEN OF BERMUDA...I loved that bird pattern on their china...absolutely FIRST CLASS!!! I also have many menus from the 30s-40s-and 50s...FURNESS ran a top notch operation...and we will never see the likes of it again.

 

ROSS

Hello Ross,

 

Small world! One of the jobs my father had at Furness in the 1950s was to "sell" bookings and charters to large groups (e.g., businesses and professional associations).

 

My mother had an aunt who swore by the Ocean Monarch--she never sailed on any other ship, but took a cruise on the Ocean Monarch every year (if not twice a year).

 

I believe the Ocean Monarch was the first (and possibly the only ever?) passenger ship to have all outside (or "oceanview," as they're called today) staterooms. I'm told she bounced around quite a bit in heavy (or even not-so-heavy) seas, but IMHO she was one of the handsomest single-funnel ships of the 1950s. The old Statendam is my "ideal" single-funnel ship of that era; but in her small size category, the Ocean Monarch was unmatched.

 

Is the Ocean Monarch video available commercially? That's something I'd really love to see.

 

If you don't already have it, I highly recommend the book Queen of Bermuda and the Furness Bermuda Line, by Piers Plowman and Stephen J. Card, published in 2002 by the Bermuda Maritime Museum Press. A terrific coffee-table-size book, 288 pages, recounting the history of the Furness Bermuda Line, with numerous photos (& deck plans) of the Queen of Bermuda and Ocean Monarch as well as other Furness ships.

 

My brother and I both collect Furness dinnerware--plates, bowls, cups, creamers, etc., with the Bird of Paradise pattern often turn up on eBay; the bone china is Royal Doulton. My mother's aunt had an extensive collection of Ocean Monarch menus, but I don't know what became of those. The artwork on the menu covers was exquisite; I seem to recall being told that all the printing was done on board. All in all, I'm sure you certainly won't see dinnerware and printed menus of that caliber in today's "freestyle" fast-food outlets at sea!

 

Thanks for sharing your memories of those wonderful ships.

 

Cheers,

John

[CGTNORMANDIE]

HI JOHN!!!

 

What a small world it is. The company that chartered the OCEAN MONARCH was Simplex Time Recorder in Gardner, Mass. The owner, Curtis Watkins was a one hot ticket. Those of us youngsters in the Drum Corps called him "Uncle Curt". I was too young in 1956 but I had friends who were in the Corps at that time. Curt chartered a train to take them to New York and he chartered the entire ship and sent it to Trinidad. This turned into a 2 week extravaganza just in time for Carinival Time in Trinidad. Curt took along 200 plus people from his main company in Gardner and then decided to take his Drum Corps and the high school band as well as a load of parents and teachers. Like I said...Uncle Curt was a charactor.

 

I will see if I can find you a copy of the video. Curt actually had Bay State Films go along with a film crew to record the entire thing.

 

Years later...when I was a young drummer in the Corps...1965...Curt chartered most of the First Class section of the Queen Elizabeth...running mate to the Queen Mary...and took us to England where we toured England and Scotland for 2 weeks. It was my first time on a big liner...I was only 16 years old...and had the greatest time...and I fell in love with ocean liners for life!!! We had the run of all 3 classes on that QE crossing...we were allowed to go anywhere we wanted onboard the QUEEN ELIZABETH...and I have a bunch of great stories in that regard...LOL. What great memories...LOL!!!

[Post Captain]

I will see if I can find you a copy of the video.

Ross, thank you very much. Please don't go to any trouble; but if you happen to find a copy, I'd really appreciate it, & of course will reimburse you accordingly.

 

You can contact me by e-mail at castlepoet AT yahoo DOT com.

Years later...when I was a young drummer in the Corps...1965...Curt chartered most of the First Class section of the Queen Elizabeth...running mate to the Queen Mary...and took us to England where we toured England and Scotland for 2 weeks. It was my first time on a big liner...I was only 16 years old...and had the greatest time...and I fell in love with ocean liners for life!!! We had the run of all 3 classes on that QE crossing...we were allowed to go anywhere we wanted onboard the QUEEN ELIZABETH...and I have a bunch of great stories in that regard...LOL. What great memories...LOL!!!

Wow! That must have been quite an experience!

 

When my parents planned our trip to England in 1966 we were originally booked on the Queen Mary, but the British merchant seamen's strike that year resulted in the entire British merchant fleet being laid up, and so we switched over to the Rotterdam. I remember being very disappointed when I learned that we wouldn't be sailing on the Queen Mary, but my disappointment evaporated the moment we stepped aboard the Rotterdam at Pier 40 in Manhattan. Despite my first encounter with seasickness, I had a wonderful time; I was just old enough to really appreciate the experience of a transatlantic voyage aboard a great liner.

 

That was at the tail end of the transatlantic crossing heyday. Amazing to think that there we so many lines and ships to choose from if you wanted to sail from New York to England, France, or Italy... Now it's just the QM2 (impressive though she is), or else wait for a one-off repositioning "cruise."

 

Cheers,

John

[CGTNORMANDIE]

HI JOHN!!!

 

I will email you with some info. Great that you could catch the ROTTERDAM V...she was a beautiful ship...and very much loved. We were certainly lucky to catch the twilight of an era...when the dinosaurs of the machine age ruled the oceans. Check out the memories on SAGA RUBY right here on the "OTHER LINES" site.

 

HI GANG!!!

 

The SITMAR ships were wonderful. I tried to get on a cruise but the timing was wrong. You can only do so much with your life...but I was very sorry that I missed SITMAR.

[DeepWaterMariner]

We started sailing on Sitmar when we began taking our daughters with us on cruises. Sitmar had an unmatched (at the time) youth program and lots of cabins for 4. One memory of those Sitmar cruises were the repeater parties for the Circolo de Comandante members. It was special compared to the repeaters parties on other lines. Each person attending got a picture taken with the captain which was complimentary, a bottle of wine delivered to their dinning room table that evening, and very nice souvenir glass.

 

That also makes me recall how some ships use to give small gift remembrances of the cruise. I still have my treasured beer stein with the North German Lloyd logo. My future wife got a silk scarf.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

LOL!!! HI DEEPWATER!!!

 

My stein sits proudly on top of my bureau...LOL!!!

 

SITMAR was a great line. It was the inspiration and creation of Boris Vaslov who had been behind the great HOME LINES. Hence...the big V on the smoke stacks of the SITMAR LINE. It is too bad that there is not a niche cruise line like that in business today. There is nothing like the Italian service at sea.

[DeepWaterMariner]

An often used trivia question on Sitmar was "What does the V stand for on the funnel?" I could remember that it was for the owners name but I could never remember his name. We also sailed on Home Lines's Oceanic in about 1976. My wife sailed it in 1968 before we met.

[HelloSailor]

You are all forgetting, the best, the very best of them all ROYAL VIKING LINE!!!! (The three original ones in particular)!

[tvaud]

I sure remember those old Sitmar ships as well - I've been on both of those plus Fairstar (3 times) and the Fairwind. I can honestly say I do miss the old Fairstar (as dumpy a ship as it was compared to the newer ones these days) but since I was one of very few Americans on board ship, those Aussies sure knew how to live it up! I had the best time and I was sorry to hear when she was scrapped! Oh well - good memories will always live on, that's for sure!

 

Laurie

 

Laurie,

I had a friend who worked on the Fairstar for a while and used to write to me about all of the wild things the Aussie partiers woud do. One night they tried throwing a grand piano overboard! Crazy! I did get a very nice Fairstar t-shirt in the mail one day. Still have it, and won't get rid of it either. Maybe I'll take it with me next cruise where I'll see a former Sitmar officer. Could be fun.

Here's one for you....remember Lampadina's? Watch your eyelashes! :eek: :D

[torpeedo]

Although this ship still sails with another line, I do miss the Oceanic. My first cruise was in 1968 and fell in love with that ship. Cruised several times on the Oceanic in the 10 years that followed. Elegant ship with a fantastic crew.

[Alessandrina]

We have fond memories from Sitmar.

tvaud: Yes, I have had that drink called "Lampadina"!! It was on the old Dawn Princess. Anyone know the recipe?

[cal516]

I sailed on Home Lines Homeric ('58, thru '63) and Oceanic ('64 thru '68) as a pre-teen and teen. What great memories of a class of cruising no longer available at any price.

 

Also once tried NLC Starward (the elder).

 

I later sailed on the renamed StarShip Oceanic (marketed by Premier Lines as one the Big Red Boats) but it was nothing like sailing under Home Lines.

 

I've since done a Celebrity and several RCI cruises and found them very enjoyable ... but clearly not up to the old world standard. Bigger is not always better!

[caliber35]

You are all forgetting, the best, the very best of them all ROYAL VIKING LINE!!!! (The three original ones in particular)!

 

Yes! The Royal Viking Sun was my favorite of all time. In modern times, only the Crystal Harmony came close, and she has now gone to Japan.

[Giannap]

Alessandrina,were you last year on the Coral?

I have some old friend still working on ships,so soon I will ask about that and let you know.

[Giannap]

VLAZOF, the name of the owner.

[SeaPeaInn]

Yes, Royal Viking was the best. We were on the second cruise of the Sun and was our best cruise ever. We were on the final cruise of the Star before it went to NCL. We had dinner with the captain and cocktails in his cabin. He was quite shaken to see RVL come to an end even though he was staying on as captain with NCL.

 

What great memories!

[HelloSailor]

Hi PNickle

 

Do you remember the name of the captain on the Star? My hubby and I sailed with many as crew.

[wdrl]

1. She had one dining room and one seating.

 

2. All of the officers were assigned a separate dining table and actually they showed up for dinner!

 

3. You only had to tell the waiters once if you liked or disliked an item and they remembered! E.g. my DH never drinks coffee, when he sat down they would automatically remove his cup. They remembered I always drank regular coffee. For breakfast my DH preferred Raisin bran cereal and when they ran out they brought him bran cereal with a bowl of raisins apologizing the whole time.

 

4. Formal nights really meant tuxedos and evening gowns. Probably 90% of the men wore tuxes and the ones that didn't were on their first cruise.

 

5. On Norwegian night all of the officers gave the pax free Aquavit (sp?) shots and beer and did one toast after the other and newbies like us foolishly toasted with them. I think that was my last and worst hang over:o .

[wdrl]

where2next wrote:

I just read your cruise history....

 

If you miss the old Royal Viking ships...

 

The Prinsendam is a wonderful ship to sail on...

 

I was actually on the Royal Viking Star the same year you were ...

maybe our paths have crossed at some time!

 

Actually we've thought about the Prisendam. A DH friend we met on Royal Viking loves to cruise on her. Thanks for the info. BTW. Your message got posted to my current roll call so I copied it and brought it back to this thread.

 

--Denise

[Rotterdam]

SITMAR is short for.......

 

 

 

SEX IS TOO MUCH AFTER RAVIOLI!!!!!!!

 

 

The Fairsea & Fairwind are favorites of mine also!!!!

[DeepWaterMariner]

We sailed on the Prinsendam when she was the Seabourn Sun. A couple of our fellow passengers kept saying it was nice but not as good as when she was part of Royal Viking.

 

A favorite Seabourn Sun story for us is about my wife on a low sodium diet and the maitre 'd brought her a menu each evening so she could make her selections for the next night for special low sodium preparation.

One evening we decided to try the alternative Italian restaurant. During dinner in the alternative restaurant the maitre 'd from the main dinning room showed up at our table with the next days menu so my wife could make her selection. I was floored by the service.