NAVIGATION-Cruising and Maritime Themes

Please click link on post below for a brief history of this amazing liner

a life sailing cruise ferries: SS "NORMANDIE" THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PASSENGER SHIP EVER

One of the most influential liners ever was the SS "LUSITANIA" operated by CUNARD LINE, the ship was 31.500 GRT and had a top speed of about 25.5 knots, she conquered the Blue Riband in 1907 steaming at an average speed of 23.99 knots, together with her sister ship "MAURETANIA" they were the largest in the world when they were introduced, of course the "LUSITANIA" was to become forever famous because of her sinking in 1915 torpedoed by a German submarine at the end of her crossing. Two postcards from my private collection

this post is dedicated to the Spanish passenger liner "CABO SAN ROQUE", she was built in1955 for YBARRA for the European/Argentina service, she was 14.497 GRT and had a cruising speed of 19 knots, I never sailed on this ship but I have lost count of the amount of times I went on board in Lisbon during mid seventies, very nice memories of the ship and of her sister ship the "CABO SAN VICENTE"

The RMS "MAJESTIC" was built as the German "BISMARCK" in 1914, the beginning of the first World War delayed the completion of the ship, eventually when the war was over she was turned over to Britain as compensation for the sinking of RMS BRITANNIC, as such she started to be operated by White Star Line under the name of MAJESTIC, she had an impressive 56.551 GT, she became the largest in the world until the introduction of SS "NORMANDIE" in 1935, the ship was scrapped in Scotland in 1940, postcards from my private collection

Postcard of one of the most beautiful passenger liners that ever existed, the Italian "MICHELANGELO" she was built in 1965 in Italy by Ansaldo Shipyards, she was 45.911 GRT and had a top speed of over 28 knots, she served ITALIAN LINE between 1965 and 1975, in 1977 she was sold to Iran, the ship ended her days in Pakistan in 1991 where she was scrapped, a sad ending for such an amazing lady, she could still be with us today, some ships are born to be unlucky, the MICHELANGELO and her sister RAFFAELLO were two of them. Please see video above for an amazing experience

The cruise ship "EUROPA" of 1981 was one of my favourite passenger ships ever, she was built in Germany by BREMEN VULKAN and delivered to HAPAG LLOYD in 1981, at the time she was one of the biggest cruise ships in the world and certainly one of the most luxurious operating cruises all over the world, when she was built she was 33810 GT with a cruising speed of 21 knots, today she is still sailing as the BLEU DE FRANCE, recently has been announced that the ship will be acquired by SAGA CRUISES in 2012 and will be renamed SAGA SAPPHIRE, I can´t wait to see this beautiful ship with SAGA livery, photos included, the ship in Lisbon in the eighties

the CROWN PRINCESS was built in Italy by Fincantieri and debuted in June 2006, she has 113.000 GT and a top speed of 21.5 knots powered by diesel engines, she has a capacity for just over 3000 passengers, here she is photographed today at Liverpool

This post is all about early 20th century German liners, the DEUTSCHLAND of 1900 and KAISER WILHELM II of 1903, the DEUTSCHLAND was owned by Hamburg America Line, she was 16501 GT and an average speed of 22 knots, she was scrapped in 1925, the KAISER WILHELM II was completed in 1903 and operated by Norddeutschel Lloyd, the ship was seized by the USA during first WW in 1917, she was scrapped in 1940

The SS "REX" is one of the most famous Italian passenger ships ever, she held the blue riband for Italy from 1933 to 1935 for the westbound crossing and was decorated in a classic style for the time, where the majority of ships were following the recently introduced Art Deco, real sand was scattered in the outside swimming-pools in order to promote the publicity that involved the ship, as she was dubbed "Riviera Afloat" even the way she ended her days was dramatic with the ship being bombarded by allied forces during WWII in 1944, she was built in Italy in 1931 and had a GT of 51062 tons, the ship had a top speed of 29 knots

The beautiful cruise ship AURORA is today considered a mid-size ship at approximately 77.000 GT, she was built by MEYER WERFT in Germany and debuted for P & O in May 2000, she left Southampton on the 1st of May on her maiden voyage and two days later was back home due to technical problems with one of the propellers, I remember I was in Lisbon waiting for her and she never turned up, she was designed as a classic ocean going vessel, the truth is she is an updated version of ORIANA, photos include maiden arrival at Southampton from the shipyard and in 2007, she and ORIANA are without a doubt two of the most beautiful passenger ships in service

AIDAblu was delivered to the German operator AIDA CRUISES on the 4th February 2010, she has a capacity for 2050 passengers, the ship was built at Meyer Werft, has a GRT of 71.300 and is powered by diesel-electric engines, photos included dated the 13.8.2011

Photos taken on the 31st July 2011 of the cruise ship LE DIAMANT from the BRITTANY FERRIES "BRETAGNE" leaving Saint-Malo, please click link below for all the information about the ship and her operator

Le Diamant cruise ship : Luxurious cruise aboard cruise liner Le Diamant - Compagnie du Ponant

22sd of July was a great day for ships enthusiasts and for the local economy, two cruise vessels were in port, the FRED OLSEN "BOUDICCA" and the "IBEROCRUCEROS" GRAND VOYAGER, a total of about 1700 cruise passengers were in Portimao. The BOUDICCA was the first one to show up she was built in 1973 as the ROYAL VIKING SKY she has a GT of 28.372 tons, the GRAND VOYAGER was completed in 1999 and has a GT of 24.391 tons, photos of the two ships included