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Cruises - REGENT SEVEN SEAS CRUISES - SEVEN SEAS EXPLORER the most luxurious cruise vessel?

Is this , the SEVEN SEAS EXPLORER, really the most luxurious cruise ship in the world?  by Earl of Cruise  Inside the US $450 ,000,000.00 vessel - Versace crockery, Murano glass fittings and an 18-hole putting green ... oh and it is All-Inclusive. And it is the first new ship for the cruise line in over a decade. It does look luxurious, yes, somehow. Billed as the most luxurious cruise ship ever built, the Seven Seas Explorer will be christened by Princess Charlene of Monaco Italy’s Fincantieri Sestri Ponente yard has officially handed over the vessel June 30th. Today July 13th was the christening which was done by SEVEN SEAS EXPLORER godmother Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene de Monaco. US $ 450mio, 750pax, 650 crew, ~55,000 GT, 223 m length, 32 m beam, 48 m air draft, 7 m draught, 23,5 kts,   750 guests, 650 crew (pax crew ratio 0,86) ... and some of them do the technical and nautical stuff ... so we may end at 550 ... ...

HISTORY - FRENCH LINE - COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE, a review - Part I

The COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE, known as FRENCH LINE in the English speaking world, or TRANSAT or CGT, had its origins in the victorious end of the Crimean War. S upported by the success and a wave of national consciousness emperor Napoléon III . wanted strengthening the French primacy on the oceans. by Earl of Cruise Houseflag of COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE S.A. - soure: ebay "On   limited space, we put our country on display", a crewmember declared once.  And no other line put in more of its national personality into its product than COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE . The company´s headquarter was situated in Paris, while the homeport of the vessels had been Le Havre . The French navy was gone face since their humiliating defeat by the British under Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar 1805. Foreign lines served the most prestigious and permanent growing route on the Atlantic and delivered French Mail into the risi...

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Thank You 500,000 readers

Ocean Liners in Movies or Films at Sea (updated Nov 2017)

For liners and the shipping companies movies and films had been a top marketing tool Movies or Films and liners at sea, had been intriguing me since I have read about in my youth in LUXUSLINER - BILDER EINER GROSSEN ZEIT by Lee Server ( THE GOLDEN AGE OF OCEAN LINERS ). But earlier, mot only since my first crossing, I was keen watching movies with liners in it, and disapointed, which was an understatement, when I realized the films have been made in a set ashore in some movie "factory". That was after my first crossing.   by Earl of Cruise an essay in progress `Sabrina´, Humphrey Bogart in the office, while LIBERTÉ is sailing out of New York harbor - screenshot Ocean liners, especially those of the luxury category, had been the location of dramas, love stories, thrillers, suspense and catastrophies sinde film was born, or nearly. In this list, the most descriptions are taken from Wikipedia, as I guess no one can expect having seen all these films ... otherwise I w...

HISTORY - ts / ss BREMEN and ts / ss EUROPA

Germany’s two luxury liners, BREMEN and EUROPA , have not only played an important part in their country’s mercantile revival, but have added also an immortal chapter to the history of transatlantic travel. Copy from Shipping Wonders of the World   From part 6 , published 17 March 1936 editing by Earl of Cruise ss / ts BREMEN in her early years - Source: Shipping Wonders of the World/Bundespresse Archiv The PRIDE OF A NATION - the NORDDEUTSCHER LLOYD quadruple-screw turbine express liner BREMEN . The keel of this ship was laid in June 1927. Her launch took place in August, 1928. In less than a year later, the Bremen made her first voyage to America, when she crossed the Atlantic from Cherbourg to New York in four days seventeen hours forty-two minutes, thus setting up a new record and gaining the coveted “Blue Riband”. During the passage the Bremen attained an average speed of 27.83 knots. ss / ts BREMEN in her early years - Source: W ikipedia For the pop...

ss NORMANDIE 1935 - 1942 IX

s s / te NORMANDIE starting from cold Owners: COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE BUILDERS: PENH Ö ET, St. Nazaire, France   by Stephen Carey © , editing by Earl of Cruise   This document is almost exclusively about the engineering aspects of NORMANDIE , mainly on how to start her up from cold. If you are looking for photos of the passenger spaces, there is a plethora of them on the web, in Facebook groups - Admirers of the ss Normandie , ss Normandie photographic file , The French Ocean Liners / Les Paquebots Fran ç ais , ss Normandie , GREAT LINERS OF THE PAST & PRESENT , and others, Pinterest and in articles about NORMANDIE here in the blog, please see at the end of the article. Using "ss" for NORMANDIE is quite incorrect, as NORMANDIE was a Turbo Electric vessel and not a steamship, therefore NORMANDIE should be adressed as "te".   by Earl of Cruise te / ss NORMANDIE berthed in Le Havre, Gare Maritime May 29th, 1935 - colouring courtesy ...

HISTORY - The CUNARD - WHITE STAR Liner rms QUEEN ELIZABETH (1938-1972)

Over years, in my early youth, the QUEEN ELIZABETH was shaping my mind for the perfect ocean liner, despite having made my first experiences with a liner onboard the HANSEATIC (1), ex EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND, ex EMPRESS OF JAPAN. When leaning at the rail of HANSEATIC entering the port, my eyes where every where and I wished to by a camera, I took all in. And when seeing the QUEEN ELIZABETH with my own eyes, the nice behaving young boy turned into a tomboy, that my grandmére was no longer able to tame ... I did draw quite a lot of looks, back then. I found, while on research, this article and thought it interesting publishing in my blog: written and published by John Sheperd at liverpoolships.org editing and comments by Earl of Cruise I ( John Shepard ) joined the CUNARD LINE in March 1962 as an Assistant Purser and sailed the QUEEN ELIZABETH throughout that year, before transferring to the Liverpool-based CARINTHIA in November, where I remained as Crew Purser for the next five...

HISTORY - rms MAJESTIC - Hand in Hand with rms TITANIC

TITANIC and MAJESTIC (1890), both Royal Mail Ships, hand in hand? How so? The review of João Martins will show. by João Martins , editing by Earl of Cruise And WHITE STAR LINE was more than only a shipping line which employed rms TITANIC. WHITE STAR was company with a great heritage and introduced many innovations which became standards. Founded by Thomas Henry Ismay , originally from Maryport, and shareholders amoung whom had been HARLAND&WOLFF . Later the Irish shipbuilder, located in Belfast, built all ships for WHITE STAR. rms MAJESTIC as built by HARLAND&WOLFF - Sour ce: Wikipedia ( original seize ) T he rms MAJESTIC was a 9,965 GRT British ocean liner built by HARLAND & WOLFF for WHITE STAR LINE and completed in 1890. Her career was profoundly intertwined with rms TITANIC. In the late 1880s competition for the Blue Riband, the award for the fastest Atlantic crossing, was fierce amongst the major shipping lines. At the time the prize belonged to CUNA RD...

HISTORY - EUGENIO C. a masterpiece of Italian design and engineering

EUGENIO C., later EUGENIO COSTA, was a masterpiece of Italian design and is an example of beautifully integrated ship design. Her naval architect, Nicolò Costanzi, and her interior designer, Nino Zoncada, worked side by side, or hand in hand, to create a perfect balance and continuity between the vessel's interiors and the exterior profile. EUGENIO C. became a masterpiece of the 60s design and elegance. by Earl of Cruise Some readers had been asking for interior photographies ... here they are.   Eugenio C. Tourist Class A pool, looking aft into the wake line - own collection, copy from my LINEA  „ C ‟ broshure EUGENIO C. entered service a little more than 50 years ago in 1966. EUGENIO C. was a child of the swinging 60s, when we had the first jet setters, and still style and elegance. And travelling by jet in those days was still an expensive way to travel for few. I am not the only one wishing the same intent and sensibility would be a guide line for present sh...

HISTORY - Italian TITANIC - The sinking of ss PRINCIPESSA MAFALDA

Despite rms TITANIC , ss PRINCIPESSA MAFALDA somehow has disappeared into the mists of time. Except for a small group of followers. This is mostly a reflection of the fact, that it was an Italian ship, carrying a complement that was almost exclusively Latino. The disaster of the MORRO CASTLE was a less significant event, and yet the amount of information and coverage, even today, is exponentially greater. Earl of Cruise by João Martins , editing by Earl of Cruise The Italian "rms TITANIC", ss PRINCIPESSA MAFALDA - Source: Wikipedia D espite the sinking of the ss ANDREADORIA 30 years later being much better known, the greatest tragedy in Italian shipping and largest ever in the Southern Hemisphere in peacetime was the sinking of the ss PRINCIPESSA MAFALDA in 1927.  Builder Cantiere Riva Trigoso, Riva Trigoso No. 42 Launching 22. Oktober 1908 Commissioning 30. März 1909 25. Oktober 1927 su...

Starting rms MAURETANIA from cold

rms MAURETANIA, 1907, Cold Starting CUNARD LINE Ltd., Builders: SWAN, HUNTER & WIGHAM RICHARDSON. Newcastle on Tyne by Stephen Carey, engineer, editing by Earl of Cruise rm s M AURETANIA © Stephen Carey 1 Overview of machinery spaces 1.1 Boiler rooms MAURETANIA is (or was) a quadruple screw Cunard liner fitted with 2 single-ended and 23 double-ended boilers, operating at 195lb/in2.   These boilers are arranged six in 3 boiler rooms (4,3   & 2; note that Cunard numbers forward to aft compared to White Star which numbers aft to forward), and five in No1 Boiler Room (the foremost one) where the fine lines of the ship only allow 2 abreast at the forward end of this boiler room. No1 Boiler Room also houses the two single ended boilers used for hotel services and auxiliary supplies in port.   The double-ended boilers are fired for transatlantic passages up to full speed and primarily used for main propulsion. Combustion air for the boilers is pr...

HISTORY - ADRIA the Hungarian ocean steam navigation company

The ocean steam navigation company ADRIA was the Hungarian example for the seacabilities of the empire of Austro-Hungary. The company showed more than the average image of Hungary than czárdás , puszta romantic, gypsy ( now political correct: Romani and Sinti ) violinists and other k.u.k. romanticisms. The employees serving proud ADRIA had been all from Hungary ( Magyarország [ˈmɒɟɒrorsaːɡ]  ( listen )) .   by Earl of Cruise FERENCZ JÓZSEF KIRÁLY -  © Dr. Tamás Balogh ADRIA MAGYAR KIRÁLY TENGERHAJÓZÁSI RÉSZVÉNYTÁRSÁG (KÖNIGLICHE UNGARISCHE SEESCHIFFAHRTS A.G. ADRIA / ADRIA ROYAL HUNGARIAN SEA NAVIGATION Co. Inc. ADRIA) Logo of ADRIA - Source: Wikipedia Besides AUSTRO-AMERICANA and ÖSTERREICHISCHER LLOYD / LLOYD AUSTRIACO the empire of Austria-Hungary had a third major shipping company - ADRIA, MAGYAR TENGERHAJÓZÁI RÉSZVÉNYTÁRSÁSÁG ( ROYAL HUNGARIAN SEA NAVIGATION Co. Inc. ADRIA), the Hungarian line out of Fiume/Rijeka. ADRIA became the mos...