some ships we have been on

How many people have sailed (or even remember)?

1. NCL Skyward (all 17,000 tons)

2. NCL Seaward (a sister ship of Skyward - way back then)

3. Costa Marconi

4. P&O Canberra (and it's one year trying to do the Caribbean)

5. HAL Rotterdam V

6. NCL Norway/SS France

When we sailed the Canberra, we chose a room with no bathroom (remember the old first and second class ships). We did have a sink in our room, but no toilet or shower---those were down the hall. You took a bath in the "bathroom" and used the facilities of the "lavatory". We were young, foolish, and loved to cruise, so we took what room we could afford. I don't know of any ships today which do not offer private bathrooms.

It is amazing, as I tried to put together my CC signature, how many defunct ships we have sailed on.

So much for getting old!!

I sailed the Seaward and the Skyward in the late 80s/early 90s. Took the Seaward to, I believe, western Carribbean and the Skyward on a memorable trip out of Puerto Rico to the Southern Caribbean -- loved Virgin Gorda, Curacao, Aruba. I sailed with Singleworld groups both times. Great, great memories

SKYWARD was sold by NCL in 1991 and has been a gambling in Asia since. Her current name is LEISURE WORLD.

SEAWARD (19 years newer and and 2.5x larger than SKYWARD) became NORWEGIAN SEA in 1997 and since 2005 has been SUPERSTAR LIBRA with NCL parent Star Cruises.

GUGLIELMO MARCONI became COSTA RIVIERA in 1984 and sold by Costa for scrap and broken up at Alang, India in 2002.

CANBERRA was sold by P&O for scrap and broken up at Gadani Beach, Pakistan in 1997.

ROTTERDAM was sold by HAL to Premier Cruises in 1997 and was laid-up in Freeport, Bahamas after Premier went under in 2000. In 2003 the ship was sold to become a museum and hotel in Rotterdam and has since been in Gibraltar; Cadiz, Spain; Gdansk, Poland and finally Wilhelmshaven, Germany, the ship's current location, for refurbishment. The ship is expected to return to Rotterdam in late 2007 and be open to the public in early 2008.

NORWAY had a boiler explosion in Miami in 2003. Following this the ship was laid up first in Bremerhaven, Germany and then off Port Klang, Malaysia. In 2006 Star Cruises sold the ship for scrap and the ship was towed to to Alang, India and beached. However, she cannot be broken up until the Indian Supreme Court rules on a legal challenge by environmentalists. At this time it is unknown when or how the court will rule, however it would be unfeasible to remove the ship from the beach so she must either be scrapped (if the court will allow) or simply allowed to become a wreck.

We never sailed on Canberra (the Great White Whale), my wife was afraid that I would book one of those cabins "without facilities" (and I might well have, as the price was right).

I sailed on her running mate, the original Oriana. First time I was in a court cabin, and ship was still sailing for Orient Lines (not the current Orient Lines) with corn colored hull. Second time we were down in steerage. She then had all white hull, and was sailing under P&O-Orient flag.

Great ship in her day.

The Skyward was our very first cruise for our honeymoon. We had a wonderful trip even though our room was on a very low deck and it always smelled like diesel. I still remember the skit that the crew did - rubba balloons. My husband still talks about it even though we have been on a lot of cruises since then.

We sailed on the other sister ship, the Sunward II, formerly the Cunard Adventurer. Amazingly she is still sailing as the Coral for Louis Hellenic cruises and still looks attractive. But boy, were those cabins small!!!

I also sailed on some ships probably many of you don't even know...

My all time favorite, the SS Stavangerfjord of the Norwegian America Line...she sailed the North Atlantic for 45 years on a regular schedule year round...she was one sturdy, wonderful little ship. She took the worst the North Atlantic could dish out and just kept going. had some very rough crossings on her and always felt safe. About 13,000 tons....No private baths on her either...no one seemed to mind! I adored her.

Also the Swedish America Line Gripsholm...the older one...

And the sister ship of Stavangerfjord, the MS Bergensfjord..also sister ship of Sagafjord who is now Saga Rose for Saga cruises...a lovely ship, still elegant looking today. what can I say...I'm Scandinavian...we always crossed on Scandinavian ships, usually the Norwegian ones.

Today I sail on the QM2 and love her...but I still miss the oldies!

Cheers, Penny

Penny’s Affair to Remember QM2 Review

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=471053

November 10,2007...the “Affair” continues....

I sailed on her running mate, the original Oriana. First time I was in a court cabin, and ship was still sailing for Orient Lines (not the current Orient Lines) with corn colored hull. Second time we were down in steerage. She then had all white hull, and was sailing under P&O-Orient flag.

 

Great ship in her day.

I remember Oriana very well. I sailed on her (as a teenager) in 1965 through the Panama Canal. A great ship and a memorable cruise from Los Angeles to Nassau! It's amazing that Oriana appears relatively small now compared with contemporary cruise ships!

Here's my photo of Oriana at Acapulco.

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2366597430095049190FDGEpo?vhost=travel

Andy