Home Lines employees/memories?

[Mark]

S,

 

Sorry but I have never been on a Costa cruise...SORRY...but I was thinking it would be nice to be get together on the Home Lines Homeric while she is still in service for Costa...hey if you go and if I go there would make two of us and maybe others would also follow...where are you from? I am from Brooklyn...live in the Dyker Heights Area if you know where that is...

 

If I do the Home Line reunion cruise on Costa Europa, it would have to be 2009 since I booked myself on Carnival Triumph on Nov 9 out of Miami for this year...

 

Mark:cool:

[Marge106]

I sailed on the maiden voyage of the Costa Europa, the ship broke down in Malaga, Spain and we all had to be flown home from there. It was quite an adventure. At the time I was single and had a friend on board so I got to stay an extra 2 days until they were able to get a space in dry dock to repair it. The ship looks nothing like it did when it was run by Home Lines, they actually cut it in half and added a new middle section. If your thinking of doing Costa to get that old Home Lines feeling, don't bother, there are actually very few Italians working on board. The crew is mixed, depending on the department, there are primarily philipino and spanish, with a very good mixture from some of the other countries. Most of the officers are italian. If anyone remembers Captain Marossa from Home Lines (now retired) his son is a Staff Captain for Costa. I've done lunch with him a few times, I actually remember his entire family living in Bermuda for the summer and waiting for their husband/father everytime the ships sailed into port. Its hard to believe he was only 5 at the time and I might say he turned into quite a striking young man.

I'm happy to say that Home Lines was very good to me. I met many friends while cruising and hanging out on Saturdays, some friends whom I very rarely get to see, but I know that we will remain friends for the rest of my life. And I know deep in my heart should I ever need anyone of them, they would gladly come no matter how far away they are. I've developed a very special personal relationship with a crew member whom I speak to at least once a week, and he too, holds a very special place in my heart. Some of my friends went on to marry crew members and its strange to think how much each and every one of our lives have changed in the past 32 years. Yes indeed, like my good friend Cruizin says, Home Lines is part of what defined us to be the women we are today.

Cruizin, I was going through some old stuff today and I found a picture of you, Debbie, Debs aunt Rosie Chris, Nancy and myself standing on the back of the ship while it was in Bermuda, all with a drink in our hands. What I would give to be able to repeat that if even only for 1 day.

Okay enough nostaglia, just thought I'd pop in to give my thoughts on the Europa.

Marge

[SueseaQ]

Hi Marge, Thanks for the info on the Homeric, now Costa Europa, oh well I guess nothing lasts forever, thank goodness for the memories and the experiences on HOme Lines cruises, we have them for a lifetime. It's really a testimony to those cruises, that till today, so many of us have such fond and special memories. It's almost like we're part of a special club. Anyone that I have ever met who has sailed HL says the same things as those of us on this thread. What a lucky bunch we are!

Hi Mark, sorry, but after hearing Marge's review of Costa Europa, it just doesn't sound too appealing unfortunately. It would be nice to attend one of the reunions that apparently do take place. I hope someone in the know will post a date if one is comming up. Oh, and by the way, we were neighbors. I do know where Dyker Hieghts is. I grew up in Bay Ridge, around the corner from Poly Prep and our backyard bordered the Ft. Hamilton army base. We moved to NJ last year!

[Mark]

Well..Holland America is going to send Veendam back to Berrmuda starting next year...maybe we could do a Home Lines reunion cruise on Veendam...after all the NYC Bermuda run was a major piece of the Home Lines business...

[Mark]

Sue,

 

I grew up in Sunset Park...went to OLPH grammar school and Xaverian HS...played baritone in the OLPH Ridgemen Drum and Bugle Corps...one of my buddies from OLPH is a bartender now in Kettle Black...if you ever have been in there you can't miss him...he looks like Santa Claus! LOL...he and I have been doing a senior alumni drum and bugle corps lately based in Garfield, NJ called the NY Skyliners...lots of fun but lots of work too!

 

Mark

[SueseaQ]

Hi there, Mark I think Veendam to Bermuda sounds good. IMHO Bermuda is the best port anyway. While we enjoyed Princess cruises alot, unfortunately they don't have a NYC to Bermuda run. I've been on NCL once which does, and didn't like it at all. HAL might be a great alternative. I've never sailed on that line, but I've always heard good things about it. Do any other of you out there think this is a good idea, give a shout out..

(Mark, I went to grammar school at St. Patrick's and took the bus over the VB to Staten Island and attended St. Joseph Hill Academy High School.)

[Mark]

I gave up sailing NCL after they were acquired by Star Cruises...heard they were never the same after that...prior to the acquisition NCL was very much like Royal Caribbean...so I have stuck with RCCL as my primary and Carnival as my secondary since then. Have heard good things about both HAL and Princess.

 

St Pat's? I have been marching in the annual Bay Ridge St Pat's parade since 2005 with the OLPH Ridgemen Alumni...starts at St Pat's at ends at OLPH...one long parade and that hill at the end is a killer! What made you decide to leave the Ridge for Jersey?:cool:

[NONNIE58]

hi sueseaQ, i'm so glad you answered my thread, i was begining to think no-one would, i think it's the same vincenzo, he did have curly brown hair, he walked so fast when he waited tables, also, he was on the short side, but most definitely cute,:) OF COURSE! I did meet him at the new york pier in the fall of 1980 a few times:D i think of those cruises everyday of my life, cruising on those ships, for me it was the doric, was like a natural high, it must have been a good one, because it lasted 28 years:D a reunion would be wonderful:) didn't you feel like a movie star at disco 40? I felt like linda blair, (in a good way) she was popular at that time, and people said i resembled her (not in her state of possesion, thank God);) i really hope to her from you again, i'm not exactly a computer whiz, so i hope you get to read this and i didn't send this to mars:D

thanks again

nonnie58

[SueseaQ]

Hi Nonnie58 I don't remember if the Vicenzo I knew was short or tall, but I do remeber he was on the thin side. I laughed when you said he walked fast because it brought back this particular memory: On my first cruise - Atlantic 1982 - First night in Bermuda, my girlfriends and I were eating dinner (late seating) and we noticed all the waiters and bus boys were moving in faster than normal speed. We were hysterical, they were practically pulling the plates out from under us while we were still eating. After dinner we went over to Disco 40 and they were all there already!! We figured they were in a big hurry to finish work and go out on the town!! Disco 40 was a blast, we had so much fun there and you're right I think we did feel like stars there, I think we were asked to dance by every male crew member on that ship !!!!! You are right about another thing - the natural high -. Once a couple of the waiters asked us if we were drunk because we were always laughing. We weren't and we told them it was a "Natural High", we were just having so much fun from all the attention we were getting from all of them. I guess you might say we felt like stars for the whole cruise, LOL. Nothing could give the old (but young then) ego a boost like cruising on a Home Lines ship:)

A reunion cruise sounds like it would be a lot of fun. I think Mark would be interested, lets see if anyone else shows interest.

Hi Mark, I marched in that St. Pat's parade a couple of times too, when my daughter attended St. Pats but that was probably in late 90's early 2000. That was some long hike, but we had fun, the kids and parent's marching behind the school banner.

Sue

[Vic The Parrot]

Thanks, sstraveler, for starting this!

 

 

I'll be back more often, and look forward to swapping stories.

Hope all is well :)

[NONNIE58]

hello sueseaQ, thanks for answering, I remember a lot about those cruises, it had to be the same vincenzo!! i could picture them all working so fast to get to disco 40, those guys had great "fringe benefits" with their employment on home lines. Most guys would love a job like that!! i wish they had video cameras back then, that would have been awesome to be able to view those cruises in our home many years later. i'll be going on a 3-day cruise with my husband, he's never been, and was skeptical about cruising that's why we are going only for 3 days. i'm trying to prepare myself because i know it'll be a completely different experience, and i'll be leaving from the new york pier!! a few years ago i went to an italian feast in new york called san gennaro, i had to go the pier, i was heartbroken, practically in tears, it's so different now (post 911) no big parties before sailing, no throwing streamers, no people waving goodbye to the ships from the decks as they disembarked, no visitors on the ships, the coast guard was there, i know it's for our protection, but it's too bad our children can't have the same experience, i'll never be 22 again, but i would have liked future generations to enjoy that "natural high" i can go on and on about home lines, i'm sure you can tell. hope to hear from you soon

nonnie58

[SueseaQ]

Hi Nonnie58, What great memories of a truly great cruise line. I lived in NY until last year and had started taking cruises again in 1993, my daughter was just 4 then and I will tell you it really is not the same as in those glory days. 911 really changed things alot security wise. Its pretty sad to have to have coast guard boats with visible machine guns escort the ship out of the harbor, but what can you do, it is for our best. Since I have started cruising again, I've been on Norwegian cruise line, Celebrity and Princess. NONE of them can compare to Home Lines, however of these we liked Princess best. I only wish Princess had a cruise just to Bermuda because I like that island best. I am guilty of turning my daughter, now in college into another "cruise junkie" a chip off the old block. It is a shame that she could not experience the Home Lines "natural high", but not having that experience she just enjoys the cruise without always making the comparison like I do. If you think about it, we were addressed by the crew back then as "signorina", now we would be addressed as "signora". How that would make me feel older than I feel already LOL. I, like yourself, and I would guess most people on this thread could go on and on about Home Lines cruises. It really does amaze me the effect they had on people. It was real magic. What cruise are you going on with your husband? I hope he enjoys it, because cruising is still a nice vacation. Sue

[ArubaGal]

I smile while reading each posting. Too many great yet bittersweet memories. Nine years of them. On one of the last Homeric sailings, my "past" and my "future" met. Awkward, but fitting. I still can't help but wonder.........

[Mark]

You are right about no parties, no visitors and high security on the ships for debarkation...and of course 9/11 certainly added to that situation...however, security changed and was increased on the ships before 9/11 as a result of the Achille Laurel hijacking by those Arab terrorists...remember how they threw that poor Mr Klinghoffer in his wheelchair over the side of the ship?

[SueseaQ]

Hi all! Actually, Mark you're right. Now that I think about it, when I sailed on the Homeric in 1987, there were no Bon Voyage parties or visitors allowed. It's really so sad, because those Bon Voyage parties were so much fun. I remember we would get all this great food and bring it on board for our parties and of course what would a Bon Voyage party be without a bottle of champagne! Then throwing the streamers off the ship as we left the peir and waving ciao, ciao to family and friends - it was all such a part of the whole cruise experience. So sad the way things have had to change :(

Pardon me, but I'm having a flight of ideas, and I think I mentioned this once before much earlier on on this thread.... but it came to me again about how dinner times were announced....with the bells and an announcement (in an Italian accent, of course) something like " second seating dinner is now being served, and as always ladies and gentlemen, "Buon appetito" followed by the bells again. Just these little touches that made an impact.....Ohhhh I do miss those days!

[CRUSIN63]

My husband is Rocco Macri's cousin. Rocco passed away several years ago in Italy. You may contact me at mary.carato@gmail.com

[cruisin'since'75]

What I would give to be able to repeat that if even only for 1 day. Okay enough nostaglia, just thought I'd pop in to give my thoughts on the Europa.

 

Ahh, but it is so lovely to take that step back in time, I always get all warm and giggly. I can't help but smile like a fool, but a very happy fool.

We're looking forward to sailing on the 8th. Honestly, it would be lovely if the weather clears, but ya know what? I'd rather be on a ship at sea in ANY kind of weather than anywhere else in the world. Really. We've experienced some pretty hefty storms, haven't we honey? I'm not about to let Mother Nature ruin my good time! The one addition that would make it even "more better" is if you were aboard ship with us. Perfection.

Alaska, huh? I'd hafta fly across country. The Alaska cruise has never been very high on the priority list. But ya know Marge, if it means we're together @sea again, I don't give a damn. I'll do it!

Lets start looking at prices and dates...

JD;)

[skippy1253]

My uncle worked for Home Lines back in the early days when they had the Queen Frederica. Then he left them to join Sun Line Cruises and then back in the 80's rejoined them until 1988. I had a friend, Mike Ford, who also worked for Home LInes. He had given me a recipe from a recipe book that Home Lines put out for Spinach Noodle Lasagna it was northern style with cream sauce. it was the best I had ever tasted. My uncle misplaced the recipet and Mike passed away a number of years ago. I was wondering if anyone might have this recipe.

[SomeBeach]

nonnie58, not sure how you made a wrong turn and posted in the Floataway but we didn't want Suesea to miss your post so I brought it over. (At least I think I have the right place for it. :D

sueseaQ

hi sueseaQ, i have not seen any recent home lines postings by you or anyone else, i just got back from a three day cruise to nowhere with my husband on carnival's ship miracle, we left from the New York pier, it was so chaotic and unorganized because the computers were down. we enjoyed it, but, it couldn't even come close to those wonderful home lines cruises of yesteryear, they were magical, maybe it's because i was young, single, and looked my best back then, although i do have a wonderful husband, this recent cruise helped me put my home lines cruises in a special place of times gone by, which was good for me since i never quite got over those cruises, even 28 years later:) i wonder if anyone ever taped their homelines cruises back then, or if the company itself ever made any promotional tapes of the oceanic/doric, that would be interesting to see, let me know if you if hear anything pertaining to that:cool: i hope all is well with you

nonnie58

[ackieboy]

My first cruise was in June of 1982 on the M/V Atlantic from New York to Bermuda. It was the ship's eighth cruise and it was clear that they were still trying to work out the bugs. Our cruise director was Ralph Michelle and as far as I remember, there were only two other activity staffers, Rosana and Luciana. The ship was large for her time and time and it seemed like they did not have a very large activities staff for the number of passengers. That said, even though the cruise was somewhat less than perfect, I was hooked and am getting ready to depart next week on my 22 cruise on the M/S Eurodam.

 

Regards,

 

Dean

[SueseaQ]

Firstly, thank you SomeBeach for bringing Nonnie's thread here. I certainly would have missed it and actually I haven't been to this thread in quite a while. So, again I really want to thank you:)

Hi Nonnie58 I just read your post today, thanks to SomeBeach bringing it over to this tread. I'm glad you and your hubby basically enjoyed the cruise but I know you can really appreciate the BIG difference from our dear Home Lines cruises;) . I don't know if there are any old promotional videos from Home Lines. I don't think they ever even advertised on TV back then, but, then again they really didn't need to. I know they had MANY repeat cruisers. I know there is a video of the Oceanic on YouTube. It appears to be someone's home movies with the Oceanic song playing. It's cute, you should check it out. If you have the opportunity to book another cruise, I think you might like Princess out of Brooklyn during the summer. My last cruise was on Princess in 2006 and it was a very nice cruise. Again I will say NOT the Home Lines, but a very suitable alternative. I found on that cruise that many of the Matire D's and persons in charge of different departments on board were Italian and maybe that brought some of that flair with them. Oh well, what can I say we definitely have GREAT memories. Hope to hear from you soon.

Lastly, ackieboy, My first cruise also was on the Atlantic in 1982. It was from end of May to beginning of June. I don't remember any problems at all with our sailing. To be sure, if you compared those cruises to todays, they SEEM to have offered less. BUT, cruising then was a very special and distinct kind of vacation. No, they didn't have Movies Under the Stars, ice skating rinks or rock climbing walls, but I, personally don't go on a cruise for those things. Service, food, elegance and overall ambience of those cruises, IMHO, can't be matched by the cruises of today. There are so many other things that I can list, but it would take too long. But after that cruise I certainly was hooked to cruising forever!:)

[NONNIE58]

hi sueseaQ, hope you are well:)

i'm glad somebeach redirected my post to you, i'm so computer savy!!:eek: thanks for the tip of the oceanic on you tube. i'll keep princess cruise lines in mind, someone else said some good things about them also! let me know of any other web sites that have photos, movies, or anything on home lines, those were the days and i'm happy to have experienced them, as i'm sure you are

 

keep crusin

nonnie58

[mr green]

I sailed on Homeric in 1955, rum was 10c a shot. Great ship!!!

One strange thing DID happen, before I left, I pulled all the drawers out, to see that nothing was left behind. Well behind the bottom one there were several small bottles of scent. I told the cabin lad, and he seemed quite angry. I often wondered what was going on.

 

john

[Remey688]

My first cruise was aboard the SS Homeric on the Washington Birthday 1970 sailing from New York. It was the best cruise I ever was on. Certainly the most romantic. I pay a little extra to have a cabin by myself. I was the only single male passenger on the voyage. A friend tipped me off to the fact that there would be single lady school teachers on board---he was right. I met one from New Canaan,CT. I lived in Darien, CT at the time. The voyage was incredible. I dated her for many months following the cruise. I wanted to marry her. It didn't work out that way. I think of Anne once in awhile to this date.

[SueseaQ]

Hi Nonnie,

 

I'm doing well thanks. Please, I'm pretty computer savvy myself ----- NOT!!!:D(as the kids say) I would venture to guess we probably are around the same age and I personally have had to be dragged into this technological age kicking and screaming but finally had to give in. After all, this web site has made it more fun. But it really is funny when I have to ask my daughter how do some things with the computer and she kind of looses patience with me because, in her opinion, I'm too slow! I really don't know of any other places we can find any more Home Lines pix or videos. I have tried to find brochures of the Atlantic and Homeric (the 2nd one) but have been unsuccessful. I moved last year and in the packing process I did find cruise stuff from my second cruise on the Atlantic 1983, the daily newsletters/ activities page, my ticket, cruise passenger list and a little booklet with Italian sayings in it. I could not believe I still had those items and it was a nice surprise. Now that I think of it, I remember meeting another Vincenzo on that cruise. He was shorter but had the curly brown hair like the taller Vincenzo from the previous year. A girlfriend I met on that cruise had such a crush on him, LOL. I think he was a bartender in the Rondevouz Lounge on the Atlantic. I also think I may have a picture of him somewhere, if I find it and can figure out how to,:confused: I will post it for you. But I'm sure that will take some doing as I am, admittedly technologically challanged!:o

Believe me I would love to "keep cruzin" but am currently out of work, which I hope will not be for too much longer. My niece is planning a cruise on the Caribbean Princess for her 21st birhtday next summer and she, believe it or not, wants ME to go also.:eek: ( I am responsible for turning her, as well as my daughter into a cruise junkie - like me :D !) I can't believe she would want me to go...but...if I return to work soon and can get the time off I most certainly will go. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.;)

 

Till next time Ciao, Ciao

 

Sue