The Ugly Ships of Today

[Bryan Ricks]

A couple of years ago I took my kids on a Carnival Cruise, followed by an overnight on the Queen Mary. Although the Carnival ship was gaudy, it felt roomy and comfortable. I must say the Queen Mary was downright dark and claustrophobic.

The earlier liners tried to isolate the passengers from the sea as much as possible, especially since there wasn't much to look at in the Atlantic.

Bryan

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>The earlier liners tried to isolate the passengers from the sea as much as possible...<<

There was a good reason for that too. Sea voyages could be a terrifying experience and not just a little bit risky. Especially during the 19th century when the liners were born. The last thing passengers wanted or needed to be reminded of was the fact that they were out to sea, so as it became possible, shipping lines tried very hard for the "Grand Hotel" look was admire today.

Kind of makes you wonder why some didn't mind putting some really top heavy ships out to sea. When you have some really lively rollers like the Balin's giants or the Mauritania/Lusitania, it's rather hard to forget your out on the ocean.

 

[Philip Bowler]

When I was a fairly Senior Deck Officer on Royal Princess, my cabin was very low down and FORWARD of the bow wave. The motion was OK for me, but my Wife and Daughter didn't find it too good.
Nowadays they fill the outside upperdecks with passenger accommodation, and the inside lower decks with crew. That's why we are all on $250,000 a year! Only joking!

 

[Robert Hauser]

Hey all,

Assuming you actually wanted to get the feeling of what it was like in the old days, and were willing to undergo some discomfort, what kind of vessel would be available to a paying civilian? If I ever get to travel on a ship, I want to feel like I'm at sea and not in a giant hotel. Just curious. Rob H.

 

[Jeffrey Beaudry]

Perhaps it could be possible to recreate the old liners.

Create a ship that resembles the old liners (except for the bow, so that it is not illegal). To get rid of the odd-shaped rooms at the bow and stern, reserve them for cargo only. Jim also mentioned that people who use cabins at the bow are usually affected by sea-sickness, so you could kill two bird with one stone with the cargo.

As for the center of the ship, you could keep the interior design of the new ships. With the long bow and shaped stern, the ship would look somewhat proportionate to the old liners. Funnels could be added as a decoration, and maybe they could put the rock wall inside them!
Of course, the ship would probably be about 300 feet longer than today's cruise ships.

 

[Jim Kalafus]

>If I ever get to travel on a ship, I want to feel like I'm at sea and not in a giant hotel. Just curious

You'd have to find a liner which predates the Collins Line if you want to skip the Grand Hotel style decor. That leaves the Great Britain.

The Hotel analogy dates back at least to the Atlantic (1850 or '51) and even then certain aspects of the sailing public were carping about ships that looked more like blocks of flats and (internally) hotels than ships. (The Collins bows, which lacked bowsprits, although 50 or so years ahead of their time, were considered ugly)

If you are looking for a liner which recreates the dubious fun of pre 1965 crossing, you'll have to choose one of the budget liners (Regal Empress, and "The Peace Boat" come to mind) book one of the former tourist or third class cabins then, to capture the glorious essence of la ultima moda transport, disable both the air conditioner and the bathroom and bunk with three complete strangers

For an added touch of the ole days, travel no further on deck than the fantail and, if lucky, one lido deck above it, for the full "expansive" feel of deluxe liner crossing.

In other words, enjoy looking at the old ships in books but be glad you do not have to travel aboard them.

 

[Philip Bowler]

Trans-Atlantic on even the "Ocean Liners" in winter can be a very good eyeopener. Any time after late August on the flimsy cruise ships should give a "good ride" any where outside of the local boating lake!

Failing that, a trip to one of the better theme parks and a visit to the roller coaster may get a bit close.
Please ensure that you share your experience with 4 total strangers in a space no bigger than a shoe box, with the only breeze being provided by your compatriots snoring!
Deck space is available on an alphabetical basis to fully utilise the 20m2 that the 1st and 2nd class passengers don't want.

Jeffrey.
Not sure that I understand the "Illegal Bow" bit! Perhaps the bulbous bows are becoming a bit too Phallic?

 

[Jeffrey Beaudry]

I didn't mean it that way, Philip. I meant that if someone was to put an old liner's forecastle and well deck on a modern cruise ship, it would be illegal to include the straight bow.

 

[Jim Kalafus]

>Any time after late August on the flimsy cruise ships should give a "good ride" any where outside of the local boating lake!

The first night and following day aboard any of the NYC to Bermuda ships is certainly an eye opener for first time cruisers, late August-October. We made a September trip two years back on which, for the first and only time in our cruisng experience, the other six people at our table succumbed to inner ear disturbance one by one and had to be excused.

There is an excellent film clip, ca 1925-30, showing one of the the Conte class Italian liners passing another ship at high speed on fairly high seas. She is not rolling in the film, but pitching to the extent that her bow seems to be lifting clear of the water. Our trip down was somewhat similar, but made tolerable by the presence of large cabins, circulating air, private bathrooms and the complete absense of dormitory style accomodation: these were all things that only the wealthiest could have counted on during the Golden Age of transatlantic travel. With the exception of a few of the travellers in the suites, those aboard the Conte liner in that film clip, even if not sick, would have been quite miserable.

 

[Philip Bowler]

"succumbed to inner ear disturbance".

What a very good phrase, and one I may have to use in the future.

 

[Jim Kalafus]

So much more tactful than describing the scene outside of the dining room and on the stairs that night

 

[Philip Bowler]

Very much so!

When working on cruise ships, I occasionally used to appear with a puke bag with minestrone soup and a spoon. Ok Sick (sic) I know but ............. It was good for me!!

 

[Kyle Johnstone]

Fercryinoutloud
With cruise ships looking less and less like ships of any sort...now Carnival doesn't even mention the word 'cruise' in their latest tv add campaign! They want you to book a 'Carnival vacation'.

It was silly enough when the marketing depts. replaced 'passenger' with 'guest', and 'chief purser' was replaced with 'hotel manager'...what contrivance will they come up with next to replace 'ship' with?
'Resort'?
"Book your next Carnival vacation on the newest Carnival resort!"

Nothing stays the same forever...

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Nothing stays the same forever...<<

It's all about the marketing. Even these days, people don't always like to be reminded that they're going out on the ocean onboard a ship. At the very least, thy like to know that even the trip itself will be half the fun and not just transportation between tropical islands.

 

[Jim Kalafus]

>now Carnival doesn't even mention the word 'cruise' in their latest tv add campaign! They want you to book a 'Carnival vacation'.

That is because, after twenty years of aggressive marketing by thre industry, most people still associate 'cruise' with 'elderly' and 'dull.' Remember, in another thread, how I was riffing on the film Normandie to Rio, and the long sequence of passengers sitting on garbagecan lid-like discs, spinning, and how one would have to be almost suicidally bored before that seemed even remotely appealing as a passtime? Well, unfortunately, that is how most people who've not been aboard a ship still view cruises- boring and inane. So, bit by bit, the word 'cruise' has been disappearing from advertizing.

>replaced 'passenger' with 'guest'

Can think of worse things to be called by the staff. Like "third class" for instance. Or, to apply a slur to my own ethnic group 'oily variety Magyar' or any of the other less than endearing terms which show up, applied to passengers, in the autobios of ex crewmen and officers looking back at the glory days of transat travel. I'll take 'guest' and at least a thin veneer of common courtesy any day. That said, I hate the term "guest" which has been in common use in this context since at least the mid 1920s, at least towards first class passengers.

>Nothing stays the same forever

Thank God! Imagine travelling with a staff who hated anything Irish, Jewish, Eastern European, American, newly rich, or non-white. In a small cabin with limited deckspace and no activities whatsover.