cruise memories - Song of Norway

[jules815]

Wow! Getting a little emotional here. My dad passed away back in February. (my mom passed away a few years ago.) I just received the remainder of my dad's things from his house in Florida, and among them was a box labeled photos and videos. It's full of pictures and videos from their cruises from the 70's into the 90's. I know their two favorite ships were Song of Norway and Song of America. They made photo albums with everything from their cruises. There's a passenger list book, luggage tags, landing card (sea pass). They saved everything...I had no idea! What a great box of memories I have here. All of their formal night pictures, too. It looks like they went primarily on RC; Song of America, Song of Norway and Nordic Empress, with some Holland America and a few on Princess as well.

 

You wouldn't believe the picture of their first staterooms. They appear to be ocean view, but so small! As the years go on, they moved up into nicer rooms.

 

Sorry for the random post. All these years I had no idea they had made photo albums of their cruises. And sort of touched that my dad saved everything after my mom passed away. I thought he'd gotten rid of a lot of stuff because he had such a hard time, but apparently he didn't.

[LMaxwell]

Would love to see some of those back in the day photos if you'd like to share with us.

[Janet524]

Sorry for your loss. I'm sure it was emotional for you to go through the mementos of your parents' cruises, but hopefully it brought back some happy memories of them. Song of Norway holds a special place in our hearts too, as we cruised on her for our honeymoon almost 30 years ago. Yes, by today's standards the staterooms were small, but at the time we were sailors and I was used to VERY small quarters, so then the room on Song of Norway seemed HUGE to me! I hope that you felt some comfort looking at the photos and seeing how happy your parents were together.

[jules815]

Would love to see some of those back in the day photos if you'd like to share with us.

 

I would love to. I'm a little crunched for time for the next couple of weeks. We're moving my inlaws into assisted living tomorrow, so I've been a little consumed with that, but once I get past this next hurdle in our lives, I'll scan and post some of these. Pictures of my mom doing the limbo on the pool deck?! These are too funny! She would have been around my age now (53) when these were taken.

[loubetti]

Song of Norway was RCCL's (Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines) first ship, and the first passenger ship ever to be "stretched" in length. Nordic Prince followed and was also stretched. The demand for the cruises made this necessary.

 

Sadly, what's left of her is at the breakers yard as we speak. :(

 

Here she was in the process of being stretched.

 

 

If I recall correctly, the Viking Crown Lounge was entered from stairs on the outside of the ship going up the back of the funnel.

[LMaxwell]

Lou, sounds like you would enjoy Under Crown and Anchor the first 25 years of Royal Caribbean. Tons of photos of the early ships and information on the stretching process. Try eBay or Amazon; great coffee table book.

[jules815]

Lou, sounds like you would enjoy Under Crown and Anchor the first 25 years of Royal Caribbean. Tons of photos of the early ships and information on the stretching process. Try eBay or Amazon; great coffee table book.

 

Oh wow, thank you for the recommendation!

 

I have my parents to thank for our love of cruising. They took us on our first cruise in 2006 and we were hooked. :)

[OCruisers]

Jules .... Bitter sweet memories but feel sure you're glad your dad saved the box.

Your eyes are not deceiving you: Those porthole cabins on Song of Norway were tiny. Happily, most of us had a wonderful time anyway. :)

LuLu

Edited July 1, 2014 by OCruisers

[Debitoo]

Song of Norway was RCCL's (Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines) first ship, and the first passenger ship ever to be "stretched" in length.

 

If I recall correctly, the Viking Crown Lounge was entered from stairs on the outside of the ship going up the back of the funnel.

Yes, you are correct. She was my first cruiseship. We did the Southern Caribbean route hitting the same ports that others go to now. It was extremely windy getting to the VC Lounge. You really had to hold on to the rails. And if you were in a dress.....well, showtime! :o:p

 

OP, I'm so sorry for your loss. When my mom passed, I also found all of her mementos from this ship. Such a wonderful era of cruising.

[loubetti]

Lou, sounds like you would enjoy Under Crown and Anchor the first 25 years of Royal Caribbean. Tons of photos of the early ships and information on the stretching process. Try eBay or Amazon; great coffee table book.

 

Thanks, but that book is somewhere in a box in my garage (still have stuff in storage after moving to Florida). I bought it when it first came out, and know the author, John Maxtone-Graham. I actually had it signed by Kasper Skjerve. He was one of the first three captains for RCCL and had retired from RCCL and was a relief captain on Regal Empress for my friend captain Rolf Bassenberg. My wife and I spent an hour in his cabin chatting with him during a short cruise that he commanded and, of course, he signed the book! :) Low key, very nice gentleman.

 

Edit: OMG! I just did a search on Kasper Skjerve, and he lives in our city of Boca Raton, FL, and he is 91! Bless him!! I figured he had to be in his 90s, as he was mid-70's on Regal Empress back in the 1990s.

Edited July 1, 2014 by loubetti

[LMaxwell]

Thanks, but that book is somewhere in a box in my garage (still have stuff in storage after moving to Florida). I bought it when it first came out, and know the author, John Maxtone-Graham. I actually had it signed by Kasper Skjerve. He was one of the first three captains for RCCL and had retired from RCCL and was a relief captain on Regal Empress for my friend captain Rolf Bassenberg. My wife and I spent an hour in his cabin chatting with him during a short cruise that he commanded and, of course, he signed the book! :) Low key, very nice gentleman.

 

Edit: OMG! I just did a search on Kasper Skjerve, and he lives in our city of Boca Raton, FL, and he is 91! Bless him!! I figured he had to be in his 90s, as he was mid-70's on Regal Empress back in the 1990s.

 

Believe you me, I'm flashing you two thumbs up now. Very interesting stuff. And I should have known that you probably have this in your collection. I don't know if it's your "thing" or not, but a lot of the thrift/donation/Goodwill shops in the area tend to get lots of 1970's-1990's cruise ephemera too; again you probably have enough for a museum on your own.

 

And if you have not made it to the Port Everglades inlet by the beach try it out on a Saturday or Sunday in high season for a true ship parade.

 

And a fascinating article I jut found on Mr. Skjerve

 

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1989-11-27/news/8702080557_1_cruise-ship-crown-cruise-cruises-to-nowhere

Edited July 1, 2014 by LMaxwell

[setsail]

SON also had port hole windows in the hallways below the pool deck which allowed one to look into the pool area.

[cruzin lady]

Song of America was our family's 2nd cruise, and along with friends, we

thought she was a lovely lady. As I recall, we sailed from San Juan, and that's

the ship that caused our chronic addiction. I believe it was around 1982.

 

That sailing was made extra special, because we were invited to join the Chief

Engineer at the Captain's table. It was made memorable by the very friendly,

informative CE, as well as two sisters who always cruised together.

 

We did have the tiny cabin, tiny windowed state room. It was, however, so

much better than our first cruise where we had an older NCL inside (tiny)

room for DH, DD, and I.

 

As a much older cruiser, I feel that the cruising pictures, momentoes the

0P's father left were probably left purposely for his daughter to find and cherish.

 

Our daughter & her family have a home which has a "Mother-in-law's" suite,

decorated with pictures my DH took during our many travels and cruises. I

doubt that she will ever do away with them.

 

Jules 815, thank you for starting a lovely thread.

 

Cruzin Lady

Edited July 1, 2014 by cruzin lady

[Seawitch]

I too remember getting off the Song of America and receiving a booklet with the names and home cities of all the passengers aboard that cruise.

If Royal Caribbean did that now, when we get off the Oasis/Allure they would hand us a booklet the size of a phone book. :)

[reney313]

If Royal Caribbean did that now, when we get off the Oasis/Allure they would hand us a booklet the size of a phone book. :)

 

No kidding, I lived in a town for a while that had less residents than are on Oasis/Allure.

 

OP-I'm very sorry for your loss but happy you were able to find a great treasure in those memories. I lost my dad tragically on March 7. He took me on my first cruise when I was 18 and then did not cruise again until I took him in 2012 and then again in January of this year. I really cherish that last cruise which was 5 weeks before his accident. Oddly enough, it was the first time I insisted on an embarkation photo of the 4 of us (my dad, his wife, my boyfriend and I). The only reason they indulged me was because I convinced them we needed it for the facial recognition. We never buy photos (which is why it was even harder to convince them we needed facial recognition..haha), but for some reason I bought that one and the one of all 4 of us in the MDR during the formal dinner. I don't think I'll ever not buy a picture on a cruise again. Those 2 mean so much to me now.

Edited July 2, 2014 by reney313

[maureencruiser]

I too remember getting off the Song of America and receiving a booklet with the names and home cities of all the passengers aboard that cruise.

If Royal Caribbean did that now, when we get off the Oasis/Allure they would hand us a booklet the size of a phone book. :)

 

I have one, as well. I think it is from sailing through the Panama Canal.

[grab007]

Oh my goodness...my folks got me excited about cruising too. We were lucky enough to cruise with them several times and our first was on Song of America. I had a post a while ago (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1947077) about her. We actually were on her twice but the cruise with my folks was awesome. My Dad being a Navy officer in WWII shared so much insightfull info.

 

My heart was in my stomach when I read your post remembering cruising with them and how they planted the seed.

 

Thanks!!!

[grab007]

Wow! Getting a little emotional here. My dad passed away back in February. (my mom passed away a few years ago.) I just received the remainder of my dad's things from his house in Florida, and among them was a box labeled photos and videos. It's full of pictures and videos from their cruises from the 70's into the 90's. I know their two favorite ships were Song of Norway and Song of America. They made photo albums with everything from their cruises. There's a passenger list book, luggage tags, landing card (sea pass). They saved everything...I had no idea! What a great box of memories I have here. All of their formal night pictures, too. It looks like they went primarily on RC; Song of America, Song of Norway and Nordic Empress, with some Holland America and a few on Princess as well.

 

You wouldn't believe the picture of their first staterooms. They appear to be ocean view, but so small! As the years go on, they moved up into nicer rooms.

 

Sorry for the random post. All these years I had no idea they had made photo albums of their cruises. And sort of touched that my dad saved everything after my mom passed away. I thought he'd gotten rid of a lot of stuff because he had such a hard time, but apparently he didn't.

 

Just noticed we'll be with you on FOS in Sept! Looking forward to meeting you.

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

I am sorry for your loss. I have some wonderful memories from these early Royal Caribbean ships. I cruised aboard the Sun Viking (the sister of the Song of Norway and Nordic Prince that was never lengthened) in 1983 and the Song of America in 1985. Yes, the cabins were very small, but these were very nice ships. The food and service were excellent (after all of these years and many subsequent cruises, I still remember the name of our waiter on the Sun Viking).

 

I have a copy of the Under Crown & Anchor book by John Maxtone-Graham. This is an excellent book. I wish they would release an updated a version with the more recent ships.

 

Chuck

[jebl]

OP, so sorry for your loss but glad you have thephotos and mementos of you parent's. They mean so much.

 

Funny that Captain Skjerve is mentioned in this post. He was captain of the Nordic Prince on my very first cruise in 1986. And yes you did have to go outdoors to climb the stairs to the Viking Crown lounge.

 

Captain Skjerve had a dry sense of humor and we would wait for his noontime announcements. One day he advised that the pool temp was the same as the air because it was empty. We were really rocking and rolling the first day or two. At the Captain's reception he told all of the ladies that the hatchets seen about the ship were to chop off the high heels if you wore them on the slippery decks.

 

The first photo is Nordic Prince at what is now Havensight in St. Thomas and the second is the reception for the Captains Welcome Reception with Capt. Skjerve.

[mets07]

Jules, so sorry about your Dad.... and a nice post.

 

Lou, reference your photos, I believe the Regal Empress was the first ship I cruised on. It was with my parents in 1972 as the Olympia (Greek Lines).

 

Quite the experience and quite the storm the first night going around Cape Hatteras (NY to Puerto Rico).