BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Regarding cruise ship companies and the old "steamship companies"........

Though the old liners offered many on-board activities for passengers, they were basically "transports", to get passengers from "A" to "B".

The cruise ships, on the other hand, are "entertainment centers" unto themselves, boasting casinos, discos, several pools, etc., features that would not have been found on the transatlantic liners of the old days........

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Speaking of CUNARD.......

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunard_Line *

(interesting to note that CUNARD is now owned by CARNIVAL)........

*a number of historical photos, here.......

[traildriver]

NYO--

Cunard, one of the oldest names in the passenger shipping business, went thru some hard times towards the end of the 20th Century, and its once mighty fleet shrunk down to just a couple of ships. It also changed owner's, a couple of times. It was probably just a short matter of time before they would have gone out of business, when billionaire Micky Arison, CEO of Carnival Corporation, came to their rescue with his deep pockets, and purchased them.
Carnival Corporation currently owns ten different cruise lines, each with a slightly different 'niche' market.

Cunard's niche is to trade on its famous history, and offer formal, traditional ships. It currently has 3 modern ship's, with a 4th one on order. One of them, the Queen Mary 2, was built as a 'hybrid', part time ocean liner on the New York to Europe run, and the rest of the time as a cruise ship.

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

traildriver:

Appreciate this info on CUNARD.

Just as the famed Santa Fe "SUPER CHIEF" was, for many years, known as "The Train Of The Stars" (Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz among them!), CUNARD's "Queens" were first and foremost when folks talked of "Luxury Sailing To Europe".

(Recall, also, back in the day, NATIONAL AIRLINES,"The Airline Of The Stars")

I well remember seeing both the "MARY" and the "ELIZABETH" docked in Manhattan as a youngster, as well as seeing them under sail any of a number of times from the deck of the Staten Island Ferry.

I have a CUNARD brochure in my collection (effective 3/59), with a depiction of the "ELIZABETH" on the cover, along with the happy slogan "GETTING THERE IS HALF THE FUN!".

Ships sailing from New York:

"QUEEN ELIZABETH"

"QUEEN MARY"

"CARONIA"

"MEDIA"

"BRITANNIC"

"MAURENTINA"

"PARTHIA"

Sailing from Canada:

"SYLVANIA"

"IVERNIA"

"SAXONIA"

"CARINTHIA"

To thumb through this relic is indeed taking a trip back into time.

One page lists:

"STEAMSHIP CONNECTIONS TO POINTS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD"

Listed are:

"BIBBY LINE"

"BLAND LINE"

"BRITISH INDIA STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY"

"BURNS-PHILIP LINE"

"CHINA NAVIGATION COMPANY"

"HENDERSON LINE"

"ORIENT LINE"

"ORIENT & PACIFIC LINES"

"PENINSULAR & ORIENTAL STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY"

"PORT & ASSOCIATED LINE"

"SHAW SAVILL & ALBION CO., LTD"

"UNION CASTLE LINE"

Indeed, proud names from a proud, long-ago era in steamships........

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Here's a notice from the aforementioned 1959 "CUNARD" brochure:

".......you can travel from continent to continent, to Europe, Africa, the Far East, 'Down Under'......all on one booking. Cunard puts the facilities of 12 transportation companies at your disposal, making it easy to choose routes that are ideal for the individual ports and stopovers you desire......"

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also from the 1959 CUNARD brochure.......

"HANDLING OF BAGGAGE AT NEW YORK PIERS"

"........porters wearing CUNARD jackets and badges are available at the New York piers to assist incoming and outgoing passengers with their baggage. This service is free........"

"MAIL FOR PASSENGERS ON BOARD SHIP"

".......to in sure prompt delivery, letters intended for passengers should be addressed in the following manner and prominently endorsed in the top left corner: 'PASSENGER'S MAIL'. Sample:

Mr. Richard Roe..................Class Passenger

Name of Ship and the date of arrival or departure

The Cunard Steam-Ship Company Ltd.

Piers 90/92 North River, New York 19, NY......."

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

.......it's been quite a number of months now that the cruise ship industry has, literally, "gone under", due to the ongoing COVID.

I'm curious as to what plans the various companies are looking at for the future, when things (hopefully) begin to return to somewhat "normal".

With a/c a must on the ships cruising to tropical locales (recirculating air) this would also seem to add issues to the resumption of services.

On the old transatlantic liners, it would seem that the open promenades and a non-stop supply of fresh sea air would (IMHO) provide for a more "healthy" voyage, when a/c is not much of an issue.

I do not even want to think of the staggering amount of revenues lost by the cruise ship companies this year....it has to be sobering, indeed......

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Also........

Given that "social distancing" will be with us for quite some time yet, I wonder if it would be feasible for the cruise ship companies to operate their vessels, with less passengers, thereby allowing for greater social distancing (too, would this even be economically feasible?)

Of course, this pretty much kills the general idea of a "fun-in-the-sun-cruise", but, in this instance, I guess even a quarter-loaf is better than none.......

"NYO"

[traildriver]

The cruise industry has been devastated by the pandemic, hurt harder by far than any other type of business. They are doing all they can, to mitigate all the possibilites of spreading the virus in plans to reopen, such as carrying less passenger's, redesigning the HVAC system to provide more fresh, and filtered air on board, carefully screening passenger's for symtoms before allowing embarkation, eliminating problem areas like self-serve buffet's. They may still have buffet's, but no self-serve...all the station's would be staffed to dispense chosen items. In addition, eliminate those activities that would cause close contact. Put hand sanitizer's everywhere. And procedures for quarantine or treatment of any sickness that developed enroute.

Cruising has resumed by a couple of lines, in the Mediterranean...so far they have handled it well, with no problems, but it will probably be several more months at least before it may resume in the US...currently no ports in the Caribbean will allow US visitors. Can't blame them, even though they are starving for tourism dollars...

I have my next cruise booked for July 30th, 2021...hoping it will go...

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

traildriver:

Greatly appreciate this info; yes, I am not the least surprised that the cruise ship industry has been hit so harshly by the pandemic; think, also, of the expenses incurred simply maintaining the ships as the remain idle.

When our cruise ship industry DOES finally begin to return to life, rest assured it will be a very, very different scenario that what it was only a year ago.

I DID come close to taking a cruise close to 30 years ago (I even picked up some brochures), but, somehow, never did; oh, well, I can always dream (I'm QUITE good at that!)

It's staggering (and sobering) to try to begin to contemplate the tremendous number of cruise ship company employees that have been out of work for so long now........

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Given that so many folks these days have more than enough time to devote to reading these days, I'd certainly recommend Brian J. Cudahy's outstanding "AROUND MANHATTAN ISLAND AND OTHER MARITIME TALES OF NEW YORK" (1997)

Yes, quite a bit has changed in the 23 years since this book first hit the stands.

One chapter are particularly interesting at this time:

"NEW YORK TO BERMUDA BY SEA"

Not only does this extensive (and fascinating) chapter deal with the colorful history of this venue, it also includes a greatly entertaining (and informative!) account of Mr. Cudahy's cruise on the "MS DREAMWARD".

There are some great photos as well, one showing the sign at the pier where he boarded:

"PIER 90: BERTH 4"

I particularly like the impressive photo showing the ship heading down the Hudson, with the upper Hoboken waterfront in the background.

One cannot help but be impressed by these massive vessels.....

"NYO"

PS: Sure hope you'll be "setting sail" again next year!

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

traildriver:

Thought you'd be interested in this article*......

"NYO"

www.ask.com/article/italian-cruise-ships-are-back-in-the-mediterranean

*"MONOLITHIC" best describes the ship seen in the photo on top of the page; dang, that baby is HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

"The BIG, the BOLD, and the BEAUTIFUL"........

www.questionsanswered.net/article/the-10-biggest-cruise-ships-in-the-world

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

........as the seemingly never-ending COVID crises still governs virtually every aspect of our daily lives, as the weeks drag into months, one cannot help but wonder how many of the cruise ship companies will be forced to shut down operations permanently, or, at best, possibly merge.

With so many hundreds of employees out of work for months now, and the fleets of massive ships sitting idle (and still requiring upkeep) the picture, at least at present, looks quite grim.

One can only hope that, sometime, things will eventually begin to return to even the slightest semblence of normalcy.

At present, all we can do is to hope and speculate.......

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

.....recalling, now, how underwater corrosion was fought, back in the day, when the famed "Hudson River Ghost Fleet" was still intact, and wondering what is being done today to fight off any and all elements (both below and above the water line) effecting the now-idle cruise ship fleets.......

"NYO"