Your first cruise ship

[dulcimergirl]

My first "ship" was back in 1974-75. My hubs was stationed in Long Beach. I spent many, many days and nights aboard the Queen Mary. Never went anywhere, but they have wonderful dining, drinking, dancing places aboard. I never tired of exploring every inch of her. Saw one state room when a door was left open..lol

 

Finally got to "float" on one, back in 2004, the Mariner of the Seas, then Independence, next year is Monarch.. Love the ocean love the ships, and for me the ship is the destination! I will, however, enjoy a beach now and then..

[berwyn]

Copper10-8,

Thanks for all your updates. Do you have any info on Sun Viking?

Happy holidays.

[Copper10-8]

My first "ship" was back in 1974-75. My hubs was stationed in Long Beach. I spent many, many days and nights aboard the Queen Mary. Never went anywhere, but they have wonderful dining, drinking, dancing places aboard. I never tired of exploring every inch of her. Saw one state room when a door was left open..lol

 

Finally got to "float" on one, back in 2004, the Mariner of the Seas, then Independence, next year is Monarch.. Love the ocean love the ships, and for me the ship is the destination! I will, however, enjoy a beach now and then..

 

RMS Queen Mary (1934-present) Built in 1936 as RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Queen Mary by John Brown & Company Ltd. Clydebank, Scotland for the Cunard-White Star Line for transatlantic service. She was designed to be the first of Cunard's planned two-ship weekly express service from Southampton to Cherbourg, France to New York City, in answer to the superliners from the European mainland of the late 1920s and early 1930s.

 

With the Germans launching their Bremen and Europa into service, the British did not want to be left out in this ship building race. Cunard planned a 75,000-ton unnamed ship, then known only as "Yard Number 534", with construction beginning in December 1930. Work was halted in December 1931 due to the Great Depression and Cunard applied to the British Government for a loan to complete 534. The loan was granted, with enough money to complete the Queen Mary and to build a running mate, hull No. 552 which would become the Queen Elizabeth. One condition of the loan was that Cunard merge with the White Star Line, which was Cunard's chief British rival at the time and which had already been forced by the Depression to cancel construction on its Oceanic. Both lines agreed and the merger was completed in April 1934.

 

Work on the Queen Mary resumed immediately and she was launched on 26 September 1934. Completion ultimately took 3 1/2 years and cost 3 1/2 million pounds sterling in total. The ship was named after Queen Mary, the consort of King George V. Until her launch the name she was to be given was kept a closely guarded secret. Legend has it that Cunard intended to name the ship "Victoria", in keeping with company tradition of giving its ships names ending in "ia". However, when company representatives asked the King's permission to name the ocean liner after Britain's "greatest queen", he said his wife, Queen Mary, would be delighted. And so, the legend goes, the delegation had of course no other choice but to report that No. 534 would be called RMS Queen Mary. On 26 September 1934, the new liner was launched by Queen Mary as RMS Queen Mary.

 

In August 1936, Queen Mary captured the Blue Riband from the French liner Normandie, with average speeds of 30.14 knots (55.82 km/h) westbound and 30.63 knots eastbound. Normandie was refitted with a new set of propellors in 1937 and reclaimed the honor, but in 1938 Queen Mary took back the Blue Riband (the award received by the ship with the record for the fastest transatlantic crossing) in both directions with average speeds of 30.99 knots (57.39 km/h) westbound and 31.69 knots eastbound, records which stood until lost to the SS United States in 1952.

 

In late August 1939, RMS Queen Mary was on a return run from New York to Southampton. The international situation led to her being escorted by the Royal Navy battlecruiser HMS Hood. She arrived safely, and set out again for New York on 1 September. By the time she arrived, the Second World War had broken out and she was ordered to remain in port until further notice alongside the Normandie. In 1940 the Queen Mary and the Normandie were joined in New York by Queen Mary's new running mate Queen Elizabeth, fresh from her secret dash from the Clydebank. The three largest liners in the world sat idle for some time until the Allied commanders decided that all three ships could be used as troopships

 

Queen Mary left New York for Sydney, Australia, where she, along with several other liners, was converted into a troopship to carry Australian and New Zealand soldiers to the United Kingdom. Eventually joined by the Queen Elizabeth, they were the largest and fastest troopships involved in the war, often carrying as many as 15,000 men in a single voyage, and often travelling out of convoy and without escort. During this period, because of their wartime grey camouflage livery and elusiveness, both Queens received the nickname "The Grey Ghost". In December 1942, she was carrying exactly 16,082 American troops from New York to Great Britain, a standing record for the most passengers ever transported on one vessel. During the war, Queen Mary carried British Prime Minister Winston Churchill across the Atlantic for meetings with fellow Allied forces' officials. He was listed on the passenger manifest as "Colonel Warden" and he insisted that the lifeboat assigned to him had a .303 machine gun fitted to it so he could "resist capture at all costs".

.

From September 1946 to July 1947, Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service, adding air conditioning and upgrading her berth configuration to 711 first class, 707 cabin class and 577 tourist class passengers. Following refit, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth dominated the transatlantic passenger trade as Cunard White Star's two-ship weekly express service through the latter half of the 1940s and well into the 1950s.

 

In 1958, the first transatlantic flight by a jet began a completely new era of competition for the Cunard Queens. By 1965, the entire Cunard fleet was leaving a trail of red ink. Hoping to continue financing their still under construction Queen Elizabeth 2, Cunard mortgaged the majority of the fleet. Finally, under a combination of age, lack of public interest, inefficiency in a new market, and the damaging after-effects of the national seamen's strike, Cunard announced that both the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth would be retired from service and both were to be sold off.

 

Many offers were submitted, but it was Long Beach, California who beat the Japanese scrap merchants. And so, Queen Mary was retired from service in 1967, while her running mate Queen Elizabeth was withdrawn in 1968.

 

After her retirement in 1967, she steamed to Long Beach, where she is permanently moored as a tourist attraction (museum, restaurants, banquet space and hotel). From 1983 to 1993, she was accompanied by Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose, which was located in a large dome nearby (the dome is now used by Carnival Cruise Line as a cruise terminal).

 

On 8 May 1971, the Queen Mary opened its doors to tourists. Initially, only portions of the ship were open to the public as Specialty Restaurants had yet to open its dining venues or the hotel. This did happen eventually however, it has been a financial struggle over the years. The latest plans as of 2007, are to refurbish the ship, and develop a Universal Citywalk type (open air shopping, rerstaurant and entertainment center) Theme resort, shared with Carnival Cruise Lines, and the ships previous operators, The RMS Foundation, which will include, a marina, hotels, retail, and restaurants.

 

On 23 February 2006, RMS Queen Mary 2 saluted her predecessor as she made her port of call in Los Angeles Harbor, while on a cruise to Mexico. The event was covered heavily by local and international media. The salute itself was carried out with the Queen Mary blowing her one working air horn in response to the Queen Mary 2 blowing her combination of two brand new horns pointing forward and an original 1932 Queen Mary horn (donated by the City of Long Beach) aimed aft.

[Copper10-8]

The Queen Mary museum and hotel

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Leaving Southampton for the last time on her way to Long Beach, CA - October 1967

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And at her home in Long Beach with the Spruce Goose dome (now the Long Beach Cruise Terminal) in the background

 

[Copper10-8]

Copper10-8,

Thanks for all your updates. Do you have any info on Sun Viking?

Happy holidays.

 

Happy holidays Berwyn!

 

 

ms Sun Viking (1972-present) Built in 1972 by Oy Wärtsilä Ab/Wartsila Shipyards in Helsingfors (Helsinki), Finland as Sun Viking. She was one of the three original ships ordered by then Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (now Royal Caribbean International) as part of their early fleet. Sun Viking was 18,556 gross registered tons, 563.2 feet long. 78.8 feet wide with a 20.6 foot draft. She was registered in Oslo, Norway and manned by Norwegian deck and engine officers and an International hotel staff.

Along with her sister ships, Song of Norway and Nordic Prince, the class comprised the first purpose-built ships intended for Caribbean-based cruise travel. In the early 1990s, Sun Viking cruised the Mexican Riviera (Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan) on a seven-day itinerary out of Los Angeles (San Pedro) during the winter season. Summers found her cruising Alaska out of Vancouver, BC.

 

 

Out of the three sister ships, Sun Viking would be the only one not to be stretched. At about the time this was scheduled to happen and Sun Viking to return to the Finnish yard where she was built, Wärtsilä executives approached Royal Caribbean with plans for an entirely new design of ship, one with almost twice the capacity of Sun Viking. That ship became Song of America, and Sun Viking continued to sail in her original configuration.

 

In her later years, Royal Caribbean used Sun Viking to blaze trails into new parts of the world. Her last assignment was to lay the RCI groundwork for Asia, having been assigned there full time.

 

Sailing in Asia resulted in Sun Viking being noticed by the owners of Star Cruises, parent of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), who subsequently made an offer for her, based on her superb upkeep and maintenance. This was an offer Royal Caribbean's management could not refuse so in January 1998, the ship was transferred to Star ownership. They renamed her SuperStar Sagittarius and operated her from her new home port of Port Kelang in Malaysia however, this would only last for eight months.

Her two virtually identical sister ships Nordic Prince and Song of Norway were eventually sold by RCI also. Unlike those sisters where they were removed prior to their sale, Sun Viking when sold, maintained her former RCI trademark Viking Crown Lounge; she still does.

In the early Fall of 1998, SuperStar Sagittarius fell victim to the Asian economic downturn so she was sold to South Korea-based Hyundai Merchant Marine Company in September of that year. Hyundai renamed her Hyundai Pongnae. November 1998 saw her transporting South Korean pilgrims to North Korea. In 2001, she was laid up and put up for sale, still in South Korea - there were no takers. Early 2002 saw her involved in some charter cruises, one by the name of Tropical View and in August 2002, she was running casino cruises into Halong Bay from Haikou on Hainan Island.

In September 2002, her name was shortened to "just" Pongnae (Korean for the traditional oriental fairyland) and she started sailing from Pusan (Busan), South Korea.

 

 

In April 2003, she was chartered by Hong Kong-based Kong Way Cruises who renamed her Omar III and used her on casino cruises from that same city (Hong Kong).

 

 

In June, 2007, she was purchased outright by Real Win, Ltd and renamed Long Jie. She is still used a casino ship out of Hong Kong.

 

 

Edited December 25, 2009 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

Some add'l pics of Sun Viking and her subsequent identities:

 

 

In Miami, FL in 1989

 

Departing the port of London in 1990

 

 

On the Noordzeekanaal (North Sea canal) departing Amsterdam in 1990

 

As Omar III

 

As Long Jie off Singapore in FEB 2009

 

As Long Jie departing Singapore in AUG 2009

[dulcimergirl]

Wow, thanks for those terrific pictures and info on the Queen Mary, I remember her very well. I wish some pictures would surface of one of the Bars aboard, I remember the terrific wrap-around bar stool/chairs. Spent alot of time in them I guess..lol

 

Love this thread, am really enjoying reading about all the fine cruise ships.

[Copper10-8]

Our first was the Dolphin IV in 1989. and YES we were hooked!

 

ss Zion (1956-2003) Built in 1956 as ss Zion by Deutsche Werft, Hamburg, (then) West Germany for Israel-based Zim Lines as part of Germany's World War II reparations (Reparation Payments Agreement) to the state of Israel. As the second passenger-cargo carrier ever built for the young Jewish state, Zim operated her on their Haifa to New York (Kent Street, Brooklyn) service alongside her sister ship, ss Israel. She had four cargo holds with a capacity of approximately 4,000 tons each, including refrigerated space. In addition she had a drive-in car deck for up to 30 vehicles.

 

 

Her primary route would take her from Haifa, Israel to New York City across the Atlantic with stops at Palma de Mallorca, Spain and Gibraltar, UK in the Mediterranean. Return trips to Israel would include stops at Gibraltar and Piraeus, Greece. On some journeys, stops at Naples, Italy and Halifax, Nova Scotia were included. During 1961 and 1962, she worked a route from Haifa to Marseilles, France with stops at Limassol, Cyprus and Genoa, Italy (or Naples). Although she could accommodate a total of 323 passengers, only 24 of them were in First Class. Those cabins were located on Boat Deck, comprising of two berths with some upper Pullmans. First Class lounges were located forward on Promenade deck with Tourist class cabins mid-ships and a Veranda Cafe, serving strictly Kosher food, aft. Additional Tourist Class cabins were located on Main Deck with a synagogue mid-ships and a Tourist Class Smoking Room, as well as a swimming pool, aft. The dining rooms were located on A-Deck, as were the balance of the Tourist Class cabins, most with private facilities.

 

 

In 1966, she was purchased by Portugal-based Sociedade Geral de Industria e Commercio, who renamed her ss Amelia de Mello and operated her between Lisbon, Portugal, their West African colonies of Guinea and Angola, and their Atlantic Isles (Sao Vicente, Madeira, etc). In 1967, they sent her back to the Deutsche Werft for upgrading and refitting. As the Portuguese colonies achieved their independence, liner services came to a halt and Amelia de Mello was withdrawn from service in 1971.

A plan to convert the Amelia do Mello into a full time cruise ship was considered but before it could be executed, her Portuguese owners sold her in late 1971 to Greek interests, specifically the London-based Vlassopoulos family.

 

 

John and Nick Vlassopoulos had her extensively rebuilt as a full-time cruise ship at Bilbao, Spain from which she reappeared, now having a total capacity of 780 passengers, as the ss Ithaca, named after their hometown/island, for their newly created Ulysses Line. Converting the ship into a 13,000 ton cruise liner entailed extensive reconstruction of all existing spaces as well as extension fore and aft of her superstructure to provide room for the entertainment and lounge areas required for her planned 700+ passengers. Involving no pretense of grandeur, designers and owners opted for simplicity and convenience, building well over 200 new cabins and fitting private facilities in all 294 cabins aboard. She emerged a substantially new ship but with her once pleasing profile ruined by a top heavy look forward. Worst was an unusual "bonnet" cladding her funnel, installed both to deflect smoke and disguise her origins further.

 

While in Ulysses Line service, she would operate on Mediterranean and Atlantic Isles cruises starting in 1973, that were largely marketed by UK tour company Thomson Holidays as very inexpensive cruises for a British clientele. Following severe increases in oil prices in the mid-seventies, Thomson decided that cruising was no longer economically and financially feasible for them so the charter was not renewed at the conclusion of the first four year period.

 

During 1977 and 1978, Ithaca was chartered to Canadian tour operator Strand Cruises for two years offering fourteen-day Mediterranean fly-cruise packages to both Canadian and American passengers. When Strand went belly-up, Vlassopoulos moved the ship to the Caribbean in 1979 under the new name Dolphin IV. This would be her area of operations for the rest of her career. Ulysses Line/theVlassopoulos family had entered into a joint venture sales and marketing agreement with French shipping company Paquet, known as Paquet Ulysses Cruises, to operate her on three and four-day cruises to the Bahamas from Miami, FL.

 

 

In 1984, Paquet pulled out and Dolphin Cruise Line was born (once again owned by the Vlassopoulos family) taking over the operation. The Vlassopoulos family later formed a holding company, called Cruise Holdings, which bought out both Premier and Seawind Cruise Lines. By 1996 however, Dolphin IV did not fit in anymore, even with the aged Cruise Holdings fleet and with the impending merger of their three lines into a reborn but ill-fated Premier Cruise Line, they sold her in 1998.

 

 

Their new owners were a company called Cape Canaveral Cruise Line who would operate her under her same name of Dolphin IV on short cruises to the Bahamas out of Port Canaveral, FL. In 2000 however, she was taken out of service because of corroded fresh water and sewage tanks. Cape Canaveral Cruise Line attempted to find a replacement for her but this proved unsuccessful. Dolphin IV was subsequently laid-up at Freeport, the Bahamas due to reoccurring problems with her fresh water and sewage holding facilities. In February 2003, she was sold for scrap to Indian Breakers. Upon her arrival at Alang, India in April 2003, she was beached and broken up.

 

[crusinpsychRN]

Queen Elizabeth, 1964, transatlantic. What a grand ship!

[LBumb]

RCCL song of america seven day cruise from new york to bermuda. I will always remember that cruise that got me hooked for life.

[CruiseDirections]

Our first cruise was in 1989 on NCL's Norway sailing to St Maarten, St Thomas (plus St John) and we missed GSC because of bad weather. We had such a fabulous time we were able to sail on her 2 more times, the last time was in October 2002 and unfortunately my DH was alergic to something (mold maybe?) in the dining room.

 

Our first cruise started an obsession with cruising, we will be on our 37th cruise on NCL's Spirit January 17, 2010 (two weeks!) from tomorrow. Some of the ships we have sailed have had the same fate as the Norway, but they will live in our hearts forever.

 

Nancy

[familycruzr]

My first cruise was in 1987 on the Carnival Holiday. I travelled with Singleworld out of Miami to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios. It was a great cruise and I did get hooked on cruising. My 12 and 14 year old daughters are hooked as well.

[Randy48]

Carnival Holiday in 1995 to the western Caribbean. I'd never seen a cruise ship in the flesh before and was truely amazed at it's 'size', and I was hooked. I retire in 18 months and forsee lots of cruises in the future.

[lovevacadays]

Mine was Carnival Tropicale back in 198?. We went to the Mexican Riviera. Had a nice time but the one that really got me hooked was my second cruise on the RCCL Sovereign of the Seas to the Eastern Caribbean back in 89 or 90 I think. What a difference between these two ships.

[CroozinFamily]

my very first cruise was as a little girl in 1967 on board the SS United States sailing back to the United States from Great Britain.

 

My first cruise as an adult was in the early 80's aboard Home Lines SS Oceanic. It was glorious and most DEFINITELY got me hooked!!!

[Ov3rride]

Well mine was in summer 1996 on the M/S Seawing (Owned by Airtours back then)

 

Embarked/Disembarked at Palma and called at Gibraltar, Cadiz, Lisbon and Tangiers.

[bbqman]

SS Norway in 1985 and then 5 more times on her before she was scrapped.

[annieandbillyb]

QUOTE: "Ours was Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's m/s Viking Serenade, a converted car ferry, back in NOV 1991, a 3-day L.A. - Catalina Island - Esenada, Mexico - L.A. cruise. Never forget our first impressions - we were hooked from that day on!"

 

Our first cruise was also on the Viking Serenade. It was "free" with points from a credit card that was terminating it's point program. According to my husband, that was the most expensive "free" thing he ever got. We have cruised almost every year, at least once, since that beautiful day in March of 1998. Bill and Ann Buckley

Edited January 17, 2010 by annieandbillyb

[Itzmyn]

Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas, 1997, parents 50th anniversary cruise. 36 of us went to Western Caribbean, Cozumel, Jamaica, Grand Caymans. What a trip!! Been hooked ever since. Did Viking Serenade in 1999 too.

[cruizinonup]

My first cruise was in 2000 with my DH on the Commodre Enchanted Capri. 5 nights to Cozumel and Progresso Mexico. Definitely got me hooked. Thank God I had nothing to compare it or I would have realized just how awful it was. It was actually a very old converted ferry.

[red132]

Our first was our honeymoon on NCL's Seaward in June 1990. My father-in-law and his wife had just started to cruise and offered to pay half as our wedding gift. What a great way to start out. We have not gotten to cruise since because life and kids have gotten in the way. This summer we get to cruise on the Jade for our 20th! We can hardly wait:D

[jazzbabe]

My first was on the P&0 good ship Oriana.This was in June 1979 but my last cruise November 09 was just as thrilling.:)

[Copper10-8]

My very first one was a school trip, on some converted car ferry type ship which sailed from Brindisi in Italy, in 1983.

 

My first proper cruise was with Cunard Crown, on the Crown Jewel from Fort Lauderdale in about 1993. Anyone know what happened to that ship?

 

ms Crown Jewel (1992-present) Built in 1988 by Unión Navale de Levant SA, Valencia, Spain as ms Crown Jewel, initially for U.S.-based Commodore Cruise Lines, a subsidiary of Effjohn International, itself a Scandinavian (Swedish/Finish) maritime holding company and ferry operator. Crown Jewel and her sister ship, Crown Majesty (1993), were 19,046 grt ships, the largest ever built in Spain, with mostly Scandinavian deck officers and a Filipino crew. They were intended for the U.S. market. Before her delivery however, EffJohn made an operational change after taking over a small operator by the name of Crown Cruise Line with one ship, the Crown Monarch, in July 1991. They then decided to move Crown Jewel and Crown Dynasty to this new line for a more “up market experience”, rather than under the more “economic” Commodore umbrella. Subsequently, Crown Jewel was delivered to Crown Cruise Line on 20 July 1992.

 

Her first order of business would be to move up the coast to Barcelona where she became a (chartered) accommodation ship during the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Summer Games from 25 July until 9 August 1992. On 11 August, she departed Barcelona for New York City from where she sailed so-called “Fall Foliage” cruises to Canada and New England. On 6 December 1992, she made her first Caribbean run from her new home port of West Palm Beach, Fl. The Crown operation turned out to be an unsuccessful business venture however, so Effjohn attempted to salvage the venture by contacting Britain-based Cunard Line. As a result, Cunard agreed to enter into a ten-year agreement to charter both ships (plus Crown Monarch) and in January 1993 Cunard Crown Cruise Line (under Cunard’s management) was born.

 

 

This operation consisted of four ships: Crown Jewel (now known as Cunard Crown Jewel), Crown Dynasty (known as Cunard Crown Dynasty) and two of Cunard’s own smaller vessels, Cunard Countess and Cunard Princess. Cunard Crown Jewel’s voyages would take her from the Caribbean and Panama Canal to Europe. However, it would last for less than two years. In 1994, Effjohn, still the owner of both ships, suffered financial losses of $30 million ultimately resulting in them giving up their North American cruise ship operation. In December 1994, Crown Jewel was sold to Malaysia-based Star Cruises, owners of Norwegian Cruise Line for $32 million, and Crown Dynasty was bare-boat chartered to Cunard. (In mid-July 1995 EffJohn sold Commodore Cruise Lines to a group of American investors, Crown Monarch to a Far East gaming operator, and in September, changed their own name to Silja OY).

 

 

The ship was delivered to her new owners in May 1995 and, after a minor refit (karaoke bar/casino) and a name change to Superstar Gemini, began operating 5-night cruises from Singapore to ports in Malaysia and Thailand on 20 July 1995. On the weekends, she operated 2-night cruises to Tioman Island in Malaysia. Her target audience was the international budget market from Asia, Australia and Europe. Superstar Gemini would become a popular ship and her 5-night cruises would soon to be extended to 7-nights, dropping the 2-nighters. On 28 February 1997, a fire broke out in her engine room that unfortunately resulted in the death of one crewman and injuries to nine more. Superstar Gemini had to be towed back to Singapore where repairs were carried out.

 

 

The ship continued her cruises to her various destinations in the South China Sea, Straits of Malacca and Gulf of Thailand however would experience a serious drop in reservation after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks and the subsequent bombings in Bali, Indonesia. Early in 2002, she was pulled out of Singapore and sent to China in an attempt to develop a market there. This proved unsuccessful and within a year she was redeployed to Keelung, Taiwan from where she would sail on short cruises which were very popular. By late 2005, international travel to Asia had picked up again so Star made a decision to return Superstar Gemini to Singapore. Her new itineraries would see her travel to ports in Vietnam, Cambodia and Borneo, Indonesia. She would also do longer cruises of up to 21 nights as far north as Hong Kong.

 

On 11 September 2007, Star Cruises reported that Superstar Gemini had been sold to the Clipper Group/Jewel Owner limited, a Bahamas-based company. She was immediately chartered back to Star Cruises. Between November 2007 and February 2008, the ship embarked on a three month Pacific voyage that included a full circumnavigation of Australia and port calls at Melbourne, Sydney, Perth (Fremantle), Brisbane, Komodo and Bali. For her final 2008 season for Star Cruises, Superstar Gemini sailed a combination of 7-night Straight of Malacca cruises and six 21-night roundtrips from Singapore to Koh Samui (Thailand), Laem Chebang (Thailand), Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon, Vietnam), Da Nang (Vietnam), Nha Trang (Vietnam), Halong Bay (Vietnam), Hong Kong, Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia) and Kuching (Malaysia). Her last Star cruise departed Singapore on 28 December 2008, returning on 4 January 2009. She left Singapore for Port Klang, Malaysia that same evening for a refit.

 

 

Her new operator would be Spain-based Vision Cruises who leased the ship and renamed her Vision Star. The plan was for her to be marketed by Mediterranean Classic Cruises (the former Monarch Classic Cruises) but, as fate would have it, Vision Cruises went out of business and ceased operations in March 2009.

 

 

That same month she was renamed Gemini, sailed to her birthplace of Valencia, Spain and, since April, is operating Mediterranean cruises for Spain-based operator Quail Cruises. Her ports of call are Villefranche-sur-Mer (France), Livorno, Civitavecchia, Olbia (Sardinia) and Mahon (Minorca, Spain). Her former sister Crown Dynasty, is now the flagship of the Fred Olsen Cruises fleet, Braemar.

 

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was in 1934 on the SS Wolverinw on the Great Lakes. This wasthe world's largest sidewheller and was converted into an aircraft carrier for the Greeat Lakes Naval Station during wwII. I was hooked and I still am I am sailing on the Norwegian Jewel transatlantic next month Lonfon the NYC.

 

ss Seeandbee (1913-1947) Built in 1913 by the American Shipbuilding Company, Wyandotte, MI as ss Seeandbee for the U.S.-based Cleveland and Buffalo (hence, the name See and Bee) Transit Company as a side-wheel coal-burning excursion steamer destined for their Great Lakes service. The ship, made out of all-steel, 6,381 grt, with a passenger capacity of 1,500 souls on four decks, was the largest and most costly inland steamer on the Great Lakes. One of her trademark features was an elegant ballroom.

 

 

On her maiden voyage, she carried members of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce to Buffalo, NY. Regular trips began in 1913 from the East 9th Street Pier operating on a Cleveland to Buffalo route with special cruises to additional ports such as Detroit, MI and Chicago, IL.

 

 

The Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Co. (C&B), a popular steamship line and later a trucking firm, was established by Morris A. Bradley in 1885 and incorporated in 1892. Passenger and freight service was initiated between Cleveland and Buffalo on the “State of Ohio” and the “State of New York,” leaving Cleveland from the foot of St. Clair Ave, and in 1896, the “City of Buffalo” was added. The “City of Erie” replaced the “State of Ohio” in 1898, providing a night-time service from Cleveland to Toledo. In 1914, Cedar Point, Ohio and Put-in-Bay, Ohio were added to the C&B route. At the time the Seeandbee joined the fleet, C&B and the Detroit & Cleveland (D&C) Line obtained a 50-year lease from Cleveland for property at the foot of 9th Street for $55,000. There, the two companies built the E. 9th Street Pier and a new lake terminal dedicated in 1915. In exchange, the city built a bridge over the E. 9th Street railroad tracks, paved the E. 9th Street approach, and provided a street railway to the pier.

 

 

Seeandbee was the pride of the C&B Transit Company and a consistent moneymaker for them on her summer cruises. However, the destruction of the “City of Buffalo” by fire in 1938, along with the effects of the Great Depression and increasing competition from trucks and railroads caused heavy losses and ultimately resulted in the bankruptcy and liquidation of the Cleveland and Buffalo Transit Company in 1939. That year, the Seeandbee was sold to the Chicago-based C&B Transit Company who operated her on a regular schedule through 1941.

 

The entry of the United States into World War II saw a massive increase in the demand for carrier-qualified pilots. However, it was not always possible to remove a combat carrier from the theater of war to use as a training ship, although some escort carriers occasionally served in this capacity. A unique solution was found to this problem.

 

On 12 March 1942, the ss Seeandbee, complete with 470 staterooms, 24 parlors, loads of mahogany trim and two side paddle wheels that made her look more like a Mississippi riverboat then a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, was acquired by the U.S. Navy for $756,000. She was initially designated as an unclassified miscellaneous auxiliary. The ship was stripped of all her plush amenities at the American Shipbuilding Company in Cleveland, Ohio She was then towed to Buffalo, NY were on 6 May 1942 1,200 men worked around the clock to transform her into a training aircraft carrier. Her upper work was removed and replaced by a 550-foot-long wooden flight deck that extended well past her bow and stern and a small island was affixed to her starboard side. There was no need for a hangar since trainee pilots landed and, if successful, immediately took off again. Upon completion of the refit, she was commissioned on 2 August 1942 as the USS Wolverine, IX-64, in Buffalo, NY with Commander George R. Fairlamb as her CO. The name “Wolverine” was chosen to honor the state of Michigan, the Wolverine state. Another paddle wheeler, the Greater Buffalo, was also converted and assumed the name of USS Sable, IX-81.

 

 

Once in service, their training operations were conducted on Lake Michigan. As the only inland aircraft carriers ever commissioned by the U.S. Navy, they became part of a fleet, commonly known as the “Corn Belt Fleet”. Since access to the Great Lakes was limited by the Saint Lawrence River, neither carrier mounted any weapons since they operated beyond the reach of potential German or Japanese submarines. The hybrids had two unique features. First, they were the only U.S. Navy carriers to use coal for fuel. Second, their primary, and only, propulsion was provided by side paddle wheels, making them the only paddlewheel carriers in history.

 

 

Wolverine and Sable, based at Chicago, IL, trained pilots and flight deck personnel, specifically Landing Signal Officers or LSO’s, seven days a week, year round (weather permitting), throughout the war. Together they logged over 135,000 landings and qualified 17,820 Navy and Marine Corps aviators, among them a young pilot by the name of George Herbert Walker Bush who would later become the 41st President of the United States. Wolverine and Sable were a far cry from the Navy’s front-line carriers, but they were found suitable for accomplishing the Navy’s purpose of qualifying naval aviators, fresh out of operational flight training, in carrier landings. The two carriers had certain limitations such as having no elevators or a hangar deck. When crashes used up the allotted spots on the flight deck for parking dud aircraft, the day’s operation would be over and the carriers headed back to the Navy Pier in Chicago.

 

Once the war was over, USS Wolverine was decommissioned on 7 November 1945, three months after VJ-Day, and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 November 1945. On 26 November 1947, she was transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal and in December 1947 she was sold for scrap and as part of her final disposition broken up at Cleveland, Ohio.