Ocean liners

[Deleted]

In the early part of my life, the Atlantic Ocean was crossed by ship, which would take about five and a half days. The French Line would leave from New York. Then, one morning, it would stop in Southampton before continuing to Le Havre to arrive in early afternoon. The "boat train" would await the ship right on the dock to take the great majority of the passengers to Paris.

I doubt if there were many things in the world more exciting to a little boy at that time than crossing a huge ocean on a ship. There were so many places to explore, new people and strange languages. On top of that, there was a constant vibration and a gentle movement up and down (yes, my brother and I would always spend at least one day seasick, usually in the exact middle of the trip) -- it was so different from spending days on land.

For some reason, some of my most vivid memories concern the ceremony of the meals. Even though we were in 3rd class (the three classes were called "First Class," "Cabin Class," and "Tourist Class"), the dining room was a very elegant place with starched tablecloths and starched napkins and more different silverware and glasses than I had ever seen, even at breakfast. We would be presented with engraved menus to show what would be served, and the meat would be carved in front of us on the silver serving cart and vegetables deftly added with a flourish. I felt like the king of the world.

In all, I crossed the ocean seven times by ship in one direction or the other.

Strangely enough, even though I had already flown back and forth several times in the intervening years, when I finished my university studies and packed all of my belonging to come and claim Paris as my own, I sailed across the Atlantic one last time, on the Italian Line's Michelangelo, and arrived on French soil in Cannes.

[Deleted]

Lucky lad. Our family took a cruise from N.Y. to Nova Scotia when I was very young (5,6ish). I think the liner was called Blue Nose but will need to check with my mother or brother. It was the last time my family took a big trip all together. It all seems like such a far away dream now. There were so many places to play and hide. Nova Scotia was like a fairy land but cold!

[Deleted]

The main thing I knew about the Michelangelo is that it was hit by a "rogue wave" in 1966, killing 3 and injuring 50.

It was such a fright to the other transatlantic companies, that the Raffaelo, the United States and the France were all reinforced after that incident in case they ever encountered such a wave. I didn't see any news about the Cunard Line reinforcing their ships, because perhaps what they build is unsinkable.

[bixaorellana]

In June of 1959, my family returned to the United States on the SS Constitution. It was a great trip for me and my brother, as my mother was pregnant & threw up for the entire crossing. I imagine my dad took adult advantage of being on this great liner, but it was great for us kids. We'd come from Madrid to Gibraltar on the train, along with a classmate of mine, Tim, and his family, including a little brother my brother's age. That was fun, as Tim had a supply of steely marbles and taught us the fun of throwing them at the signal lights along the railroad track. Once onboard, it was six days of fairly unsupervised fun for us, and we thought we were in heaven, what with a movie theater and mealtimes in a dining room without adults. My mother had told us that it was possible to get anything one wanted on this type of a ship, so after much pondering, my brother and I requested pistachio ice cream at one meal and were overjoyed to get it.

I remember the grand saloon, with the dusky pink round sofa -- an upholstered seat surrounding a sort of cone in the middle, which I thought the height of sophistication, and the great big globe as tall as I was. This was where I had hot tea for the first time. A kindly steward actually served us kids with all the proper tea accoutrements, leaving me with a nostalgic taste for oversweetened tea with milk long after I knew better.

I definitely remember the end of the trip, with everyone getting up early to see the Statue of Liberty as we steamed past it.

[Deleted]

I've always wanted to sail into NY harbor on an ocean liner and wake up to see the Statue of Liberty. I can only scantily imagine what my grandparents felt coming over from Poland to the same. I have the name of the ship written down somewhere, must dig for it.

[Deleted]

It's true that the early morning sight of the Statue of Liberty was such a thrill (but so was the afternoon sight of the statue disappearing in the distance with the WTC towers behind it the last time I left by ship -- they had just been built).

[spindrift]

I have always longed to travel on an ocean liner. Several years ago I was invited to take afternoon tea with a friend before the liner sailed. She was sailing first class on the QE2. Oh I was so excited. I waited what seemed like an eternity before she arrived at Southampton. She had been delayed for an hour or two on the M3 motorway. By the time we got on board it was too late to order tea. A whistle was blowing. We had to leave the ship but the twenty minutes we were on board were one of the biggest diappointments of my life. I found the QE2 shabby-looking and vastly over-rated.
My friend's crossing to New York was one of the stormiest ever....she was very ill most of the way.

[Deleted]

It's true that the constraints of shipbuilding make the experience of being on a ship far less elegant than we imagine. It all seems clunky and inconvenient. But once the ship is out to sea, the magic sets in.

[spindrift]

I'd like to sail on this ship that take supplies to St. Helena in the South Atlantic. I have a friend who has done this and he went on down to Namibia and South Africa.

www.rms-st-helena.com/

[Deleted]

Oh, I have drooled over that website for years. Perhaps we can make the trip together.

[spindrift]

Perhaps...I don't want to go alone. The journey takes several months. I sent for their CD. The ship is far from luxurious and the cabins are very plain but it appeals to me. I'd like to get off at St. Helena and spend at least a week there. One of my daughter's friends is from St. Helena and so I have a 'contact'. I would very much like to see Marchwood the house were Napoleon was incarcerated. Poor fellow.

[Deleted]

Perfect. But I don't care so much for the 'historical' aspect, just the isolation and difficulty of getting there. And just to use stamps from St. Helena, I would probably write something to every person I had ever met. I learned a long time ago that mail from distant incredible places sets off time bombs in people who have been longing to go somewhere for their entire life yet have never gone anywhere. If I could get just one or two of those people to follow their dreams, I would be really and truly content.

Some of my colleagues speak wistfully of visiting Brussels or Bruges some day and look at me oddly when I tell them that it is less than a 3-hour drive from Paris.

[spindrift]

Yes. St. Helena will not be the same when an airport is finally built.

If you like isolation and the difficulty of getting somewhere.....also try Lo Manthang, Upper Mustang... I know I do carp harp on about it

or


The Ancient Kindgom of Guge

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guge

[bazfaz]

Because my father worked for a multinational company I was constantly moved as a boy: South Africa-Canada-England-South Africa. All those were voyages on ocean liners. The first was at the end of 1940 from Durban to Australia and New Zealand; change of ship then across the Pacific to Vancouver. What a shame I was too young to have any memories. We had 300 Australian air force pilots on board (I have heard my mother was very popular) and were a prime target for German submarines, some nights even having to sleep on deck in case of attack.
At the end of 1946 it was New York to Southampton on the QE1. Even that I don't remember.
But the route between England and South Africa I did several times. Once it was from Durban up the east coast of Africa putting in at Beira, Mombasa, Mogadishu, Aden, then through the Suez canal and across the Med to Venice. I was nearly 18 and this was my first sight of continental Europe - Venice at dawn. What an eye-opener. I knew then that Europe was where I wanted to be.
When I worked in advertising one of the clients was a cruise company. Against my protests I was sent on one of their cruises: Southampton-Gibraltar-Casablance-Funchal-Gran Canaria. I hated it as much as I knew I would. Ships were real travel; cruises are floating holiday camps.

[Deleted]

I am sometimes tempted by the intermediate solution -- the ship placement cruises, when some of the cruise ships are moved between the Caribbean and the Mediterranean (as well as other places around the world). I have seen things like 10-day crossings from Miami to Lisbon or Naples going for prices like US$500, and I know that the ships are 75% empty on those totally erratic off-season trips.

The cruise ships take much longer to cross the ocean because they are fitted with quite small engines, not at all comparable to real ocean liners.

[spindrift]

Kerouac - how can I find out about these ship placement cruises?

[Deleted]

Oh, I get the offers every month and delete them to avoid mental suffering, but I will save the link next time and send it to you. They are theoretically special rates for "interline and military" ("interline" means airline staff), but on empty ships, they are happy for any passengers they can get and bend the rules easily.

[spindrift]

Thanks...sounds good to me.

[hwinpp]

Jesus! I feel so young! Longest time I've been on a ship was from Algiers to Marseille.