Loveboat1995

Haven’t been aboard since 2014, and haven’t been on QV or QE, but I have to say QM2. First crossing with both Cunard and QM2 and hopefully the first of many.

However, if we are talking overall favorite Cunard ship, I’d go with the original Queen Mary now in Long Beach. I have visited her twice and am excited about all the repairs and restoration work going on, repairing the steel, and the painting of the whole ship. :)

Silly me, fancy not knowing about iterations and wanting to contribute something!

 

 

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No worries! Ship names are reused often within the same companies and it can get quite confusing. :)

There is a great book about Albatros and her three sisters: Clive Harvey's book, The Saxonia Sisters. It covers almost all of their career up until the book's publishing date in 2001. It's filled with great photos of the ships.

Just came across this picture.

Great photo!

I'm trying to add a cruise to my cruise history that l did as a child, my Mother, sister and l did the Patris Ship Jet in the early 1970s Melbourne to Singapore.

My sister has limited memory of the trip, mum has passed away and l can't find any info on this trip online.

Did anyone else take the Patris Ship Jet to Singapore in the 1970s?

How long would it have taken in 1970s to do this cruise voyage?

Thanks in advance for your help.

My apologies for any spelling errors😊

Thanks in advance for your help

weed1327

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Would this be the Patris of Chandris Lines? I'm afraid I don't have voyage length, but I googled Patris Ship Jet and several images and sites popped up about Chandris' Patris.

Two questions (actually several together but all kind of related under a theme):

Does anyone know of any interior pics of Dolphin IV? I've always wanted to see its interior under the Premier and post-Premier days. Did I miss any in this thread? I kind of just skipped to the end.

Second question:

Am I the only one that thinks that the Premier group wasn't very imaginative with names? There were an awful lot of Big Red Boats and only one Dolphin, though oddly that was named Dolphin IV. Was there any particular reason on naming it Dolphin IV? Was the name Dolphin popular with other ships or was there something special being honored?

I sailed on several lines in the 70's (Italian Line, Greek Line, Holland America, Sitmar) and there were no TVs in the cabins that I had.

I was on the Homes Lines' Oceanic when Reagan was shot in 1981? and we found out via the daily "newspaper" that was printed each day and delivered to the cabins.

TVs started showing up in the mid-late 80's and then only with sporadic local channels in port or satellite news.

Was the Oceanic one of the first ships to have TVs put on board, or was its most notable feature the sliding magrodome?

Her sister, The Marco Polo for CMV is still sailing, but will be retired after May 2018.

Apparently according to CMV's website, Marco Polo will be sailing in late 2018 as well. Perhaps it got an extension on life, which is always a wonderful thing for a ship.

It appears the Astoria (ex Stockholm of Andrea Doria fame) got an extension into early 2018 as well.

SS Seabreeze but at least she's at the bottom of the ocean instead of the scrappers in India

What was Seabreeze like? I've been fascinated by the old liners operated by Premier though I've heard both horror and love stories of the Premier product. I saw a video of the Seabreeze on Youtube and remember reading about its sinking in a book when I was young(er). It looked like a perfect retro and vintage liner to sail on. I saw your comment and thought I'd ask what stuck out to you about the Seabreeze.

NORWAY

 

REGAL EMPRESS

 

OCEANIC

 

we sailed em all once each! Norway was the all time fav, I think I liked the regal empress just a tic better than oceanic, but, regal empress was my favorite ship to shoot pics of in port for years after sailing her

 

and we did the oceanic as the big red boat, so although we saw her in the heyday of the white ships in Bermuda we didn't sail her till she was a gaudy old bird!

 

has she been scrapped finally? or sunk? I kind of thought she was back in service recently?:confused:

The Oceanic was sadly scrapped in 2012. I shouldn't complain as the ship had an enviable service life of 47 years and all of those years operated under steam power (a truly dead art of transportation) but I never even got to catch a glimpse of that Italian beauty from afar, let alone sail her. It's a wonderful thing you got to sail her, though, and as I said, 47 is a good life for a ship, since on average, a ship is really only designed to last for 25-30.

I know I posted this upthread somewhere but the Norway was one of our favs and we only got to crusie it one time!

 

but it was super special, the old timey promenade, just everything about it exuded class, except for some tiny rooms! but we had a great room upper and lower and a double bed I think, we had our two kids with us:loudcry:

How wonderful that the whole family got to experience it! I bet it's something you all will talk about for a long time.

Thank you everyone! This is quite helpful. If I go with one I will probably go with a four day one. Will there be less of a change on a four day? I probably wouldn't notice it anyway since I've never sailed with HAL, but I thought I'd ask.

S.S. Azure Seas, August 1986. Los Angeles to Mexico. This ship was originally the Southern Cross, built in 1955. I fell in love with cruising.

 

 

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What a ship! Wish I had been able to sail it!

Reading through quite a few of these, it's interesting to note that a lot of the first cruise ships that people sailed on were old ocean liners being used as a makeshift cruise ship. :)

My first "voyage" was a seven night transatlantic on the newish ocean liner QM2. It was in 2014 and yes, it got me hooked to crossing and excited for taking a cruise someday very soon hopefully.

The SS United States still has an enclosed promenade deck but is no longer in service.

Her sister, The Marco Polo for CMV is still sailing, but will be retired after May 2018.

She may still exist, I don't know... but it was the " SS Independence" a beautiful ship that sailed around the Hawaiian Islands with the American Hawaii Cruises.

 

Darn...she was scrapped in 2009... :(

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Independence#/media/File:SS_Independence_1951.jpg

She unfortunately broke in two under tow and was scrapped on the spot near India: http://maritimematters.com/2010/06/brokeback-platinum/

Rotterdam V is my favorite.

 

Royal Viking Sky shares many fond memories for many different reasons with S. S. Montery of Pacific Far East Lines (she was a former Matson ship) as a number 2. Both are drastically different ships with quite different cruise experiences. Both were "gems" in their own right.

Just wanted to tell you that two of the ships you mentioned are happily still with us! I thought you might want to know about them. :)

Rotterdam V is still around. It is preserved as a hotel/museum ship in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Royal Viking Sky is also still around and in service as the Boudicca for Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.

The Monterey is sadly gone but sounds wonderful and I am glad you got to experience it.

We honeymooned on the SS Rembrandt in 2000, which was part of Premier Cruise Lines. It was the former Rotterdam of Holland America. I just remember how romantic and quaint the ship felt.

 

I just read that the ship was purchased by the city of Rotterdam and it is now a museum.

 

Of course Premier and their Big Red Boat concept is probably responsible for today's family programming on several lines (including Disney).

 

 

 

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It also doubles as a hotel so if you are ever in Rotterdam for anything, I suspect it would make for a worthwhile visit. I certainly hope to visit one day and see 'Grand Dame' as she was known.

There Home Lines - Oceanic & Homeric is one of my best cruise ships thet no more exists

That being said, the Oceanic had an amazingly long life from 1965-2012. It's one of the blessings of being built as a genuine transatlantic ocean liner capable of taking the rough waves, the dents, and the dings. It's even more amazing when one considers that fact that it was steam powered to the end.

Living here in NY the Italian LIne & Home LInes were the best...we did not sail on Sitmar until we flew to California & the several times out of Ft Lauderdale. I also loved the Lauro Line - my first!

 

All 3 lines were exceptional all around..people sailing today do not know what they missed!!!

I'm sad that I never did experience all the old liners and the wonderful Sitmar. Does that count as having a hint of an idea of what I've missed? :I

My ship is the QM2 and no other! :rolleyes:

I love your loyalty to the true liner! My feelings are the same way (Not to diss the QE, but I prefer the liner to the cruise ship any day).

Thank you all! I have seen that HAL is now offering a four day coastal next year as well as several one and three days that all look appealing. If I go for one, I will probably go for a longer one unless I don't have that option in which case I will take the one day one to get my foot in the door so to speak and take a longer one in the future.

Hi all, looking at HAL's website, and was curious about the one night Pacific coastal cruises. Has anyone ever been on them? What are they like? Is it a good way to sample Holland America for those on a budget? Thanks!

I would second the others' posts that if you have the time to try out both ships before putting down a lot of money on a world cruise, then go for it. The QM2 does a short July 4th cruise every year and several quick Belgium trips. The QE does those quick Belgium trips as well. If you have the time to sail both ships before putting down money on a world cruise, I would do it just to get a feel for both ships. I would love to hear all about your world cruise when you get back!