Ship travel has changed a lot

[JennysUncle]

Back in 1960 my father had a work assignment in Manila, and our family of four traveled out by ship.  Air travel was still a luxury; ships were transportation.  We sailed from San Francisco to LA, Honolulu, Yokohama, Kobe, Hong Kong, and finally Manila, 24 days on the P&O Arcadia.  We were in 2nd class (670 1st/735 2nd) on F-deck which was at the waterline - our porthole went underwater when the ship rolled.  Four in the cabin with two bunk beds and a bureau; communal toilets and baths down the hall.  Waiters and stewards from Goa, British officers.  Wide teak decks, miniscule pool, betting on "horse" races and on how far the ship would sail from noon to noon, sometimes a pop-up screen for a movie on deck.

 

I just came across the ticket, and it seemed cheap - 1508.50.  But that was in English pounds.  At 2.80 $/lb that's $4224, still cheap ?  Not so fast.  Applying the 9.27 inflation factor since 1960, that's $39,145 in today's dollars.  Or $408 per person per day.  That's within the range of rates today, but the facilities are certainly a whole lot better.  But maybe not the experience - we thought it was great.

 

[john2003]

I certainly remember those voyages. They were very exciting even if they were primarily to get from A to B.

[highscar]

1953.  Empress of France.  Fortunately dads company was paying. We had large cabin with bathroom.  There was classes of passengers. Crossed from Liverpool to Montreal. Best desision my parents made. 

[OlsSalt]

1977 - still pretty much the same way- ships were for transportation back then. 60 days around the world on the Lloyd Triestino Galileo Galilei - Genoa to Genoa - taking a many Italian immigrants to Australia, along with a lot of young South Africans, NZ and Australians who had a requisite year abroad back in the "mother country" in those days.

 

Italian flagged, officers  and crew. US$16 a day at the time - bunk beds, bathrooms down the hall, but fresh baked bread every day. Within a few years, the ship was sold and re-fitted as the all-suites Meridian now owned by Celebrity and helped open the new world of destination cruising, well beyond just ships mainly for point to point transportation.

 

Years later she caught on fire and sank off Penang, Malaysia years later as the Sun Vista, part of the Star gambling ships operation. As such, she is now a popular wreck dive destination.  Decades later I saw the dive destination flags hovering over her way off in the distance,  on a later cruise through the Malaccan Straights.

 

Ships do get into our very cells. They are our cocoon, our home, our safe harbor while on the world's oceans. 

[jimmy2x]

I’ve done most of the the Pacific spots that you spoke of. Unfortunately it was on aircraft carriers. 😜

[GeezerCouple]

2 hours ago, JennysUncle said:

Back in 1960 my father had a work assignment in Manila, and our family of four traveled out by ship.  Air travel was still a luxury; ships were transportation.  We sailed from San Francisco to LA, Honolulu, Yokohama, Kobe, Hong Kong, and finally Manila, 24 days on the P&O Arcadia.  We were in 2nd class (670 1st/735 2nd) on F-deck which was at the waterline - our porthole went underwater when the ship rolled.  Four in the cabin with two bunk beds and a bureau; communal toilets and baths down the hall.  Waiters and stewards from Goa, British officers.  Wide teak decks, miniscule pool, betting on "horse" races and on how far the ship would sail from noon to noon, sometimes a pop-up screen for a movie on deck.

 

I just came across the ticket, and it seemed cheap - 1508.50.  But that was in English pounds.  At 2.80 $/lb that's $4224, still cheap ?  Not so fast.  Applying the 9.27 inflation factor since 1960, that's $39,145 in today's dollars.  Or $408 per person per day.  That's within the range of rates today, but the facilities are certainly a whole lot better.  But maybe not the experience - we thought it was great.

 

 

Oh my, memories!

That first photo above, with the two sets of bunk beds...

 

My first cruise was with my parents, my young children, and my brother.  That was back during the holidays in 1974-75, Miami to the Bahamas and back, and it was very short.

My children shared a cabin just like that one, with "Grandma & Grandpa" (a real treat for them), with double bunks.  One child slept on the top of each. Yup, there was a porthole!

My brother and I shared a sort of "half-sized cabin", with one metal bunk bed in an interior cabin immediately next to the others' cabin.   There was barely space to turn around.

 

I thought it was the BEST TRIP I had ever taken!  😀

 

The next year, we did the same thing, again a short cruise Miami-Bahamas, but that time, my brother brought his then girlfriend (now wife of 45 years - gasp!) along too.  They got the port-hole room with double bunks across from my parents (and my children again had the treat of staying with Grandma & Grandpa).  I had that same interior cabin, by myself, so I could use the lower bunk this time and not worry about being tossed out of bed from a height... ☹️

[There was a very short, odd hallway perpendicular to one of the main long hallways.  It led past my inside cabin and ended at the doors to the two outside/porthole cabins.  So we had a faux suite as far as I was concerned.  We could keep the doors open, and no one could see inside from the main hallway, as all 3 doors faced the mini hall.  That was great for the little ones, who could easily go back and forth among the 3 cabins and not get lost.]

 

What I hadn't realized was that we were actually traveling somewhat "luxuriously" back then.  Each of our cabins had a private bathroom within.  VERY tiny, but... private! 🙂

 

Times sure have have changed!

 

It took me ages to convince my current husband to try cruising.  But by the second day of his first cruise, he was completely hooked. 😉

 

GC

 

 

[*Miss G*]

Despite the fact that my father had been a Chief Engineer with Cunard, when he brought us to Canada from England it was on a BOAC Bristol Britannia turboprop.  (We refueled in Greenland to complete the journey across the Atlantic.)  I guess he didn’t want to waste anymore time waiting as he had emigrated months before we did in order to set things up for our arrival.  My parents still live in the same house he brought us to on our first day in a strange land.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Love the photos

[cruisemom42]

My first cruise as a young kid was on an older ship repurposed as a cruise ship, the SS Emerald Seas. I remember being slightly worried about a rogue wave as the Poseidon Adventure had come out only a couple years earlier...😱

 

We shared a cabin (parents, older sister and me). It was a great adventure. My mom had been on a number of trans-Atlantic cruises with her mother, traveling to Europe and beyond mainly on Cunard and HAL ships. But the whole idea of "pleasure cruising" was relatively new. 

 

We all loved it and from then on it was a rare year when we did not take a cruise. On our second cruise we discovered Sitmar and sailed with them for many years. The Italian crew doted on my sister and I. Great times. 🌈🚢

[OlsSalt]

3 hours ago, jimmy2x said:

I’ve done most of the the Pacific spots that you spoke of. Unfortunately it was on aircraft carriers. 😜

 

 

I think we may have shared this common thread sometime in the past, (but who remembers all much these days any longer).  DH was on the Oriskany back in 1967 - right after she came back into service after that horrific onboard explosion- sailed almost a year at Yankee Station - was the flight deck for many a run over North Vietnam.

[Sushicat]

My father's company sent him to Scotland for a yearlong assignment and our family of 5 crossed on the RMS Parthia in 1962-ish. I barely remember it. But I do have memories of the return crossing a year or so later on the grand SS United States. To a five year old, that was glamour, especially in the dining room. (The SS United States is now a forlorn, empty shell rustin in Philadelphia. Makes me sad.)

 

All travel has become more democratized and less formal -- air travel especially. Glad no passengers are throwing punches on cruises!

[SonuvaBeach]

13 minutes ago, Sushicat said:

My father's company sent him to Scotland for a yearlong assignment and our family of 5 crossed on the RMS Parthia in 1962-ish. I barely remember it. But I do have memories of the return crossing a year or so later on the grand SS United States. To a five year old, that was glamour, especially in the dining room. (The SS United States is now a forlorn, empty shell rustin in Philadelphia. Makes me sad.)

 

All travel has become more democratized and less formal -- air travel especially. Glad no passengers are throwing punches on cruises!

I have seen brawls on ships. Princess, Celebrity and Carnival ships..

 

[Sushicat]

This thread made me remember the photo taken of my family on the SS United States during a gala dinner. That's me in the very middle. Nice hats, huh?

[JennysUncle]

No computers on the bridge.

[KirkNC]

On 11/1/2021 at 2:15 PM, SonuvaBeach said:

I have seen brawls on ships. Princess, Celebrity and Carnival ships..

 

That’s sad.

[jimmy2x]

On 10/31/2021 at 10:59 PM, OlsSalt said:

 

 

I think we may have shared this common thread sometime in the past, (but who remembers all much these days any longer).  DH was on the Oriskany back in 1967 - right after she came back into service after that horrific onboard explosion- sailed almost a year at Yankee Station - was the flight deck for many a run over North Vietnam.

Am sure that you are quite right about a previous discussion. FWIW, I was on Oriskany for 39 months, 72-75. Almost 50 years ago. 😆

[SonuvaBeach]

17 hours ago, KirkNC said:

That’s sad.

I have seen a lot of sad things on cruise ships.. Just got off the Celebrity Equinox.. They have real grass on the top deck for people to enjoy... walking barefoot, putting out blankets for pic nics, etc.... On day one, I saw a man spit repeatedly..10/12 times.. onto the grass. I was just about to say...*****??? to him when security showed up.. It was the grossest thing I have ever seen on a cruise ship...AND in the time of COVID, no less!

[david,Mississauga]

On 10/31/2021 at 4:35 PM, john2003 said:

I certainly remember those voyages. They were very exciting even if they were primarily to get from A to B.

 

"Line voyages" are still my favourite. Sadly, there are very few compared to the 1970s. A cruise with lots of days at sea is a close second.