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Destination - The Only Response to the Attack in Barcelona Is to Keep on Travelling

If you want the terrorists to win, refuse travelling. But there is only one response to the Barcelona attack, keep on travelling. Yesterday a concert of Allah-Las in Rotterdam was cancelled because of a terror warning. The lorry with gas cylinders was stopped and the driver arrested and interrogated. The warning came from Spain. by Earl of Cruise Las Ramblas, Barcelona - Photo by peresanz, courtsey Getty Images It is not possible to know what counts as being “too soon” when it comes to the idea of life returning to normal in the aftermath of any tragedy. Especially after a terror attack. In a troubled era when the “Breaking News” ticker begins flashing on your TV, phone or computer screen at any moment, and the information it brings may well be another shard of despair, it is difficult to say what constitutes day-to-day existence, or whether we can slip back into it when it has been ruptured by a bomb blast, a knife rampage, or a delivery va...

HISTORY - THALIA Austrias TRAUMSCHIFF of the BELLE ÉPOQUE

During time of BELLE ÉPOQUE [ bɛleˈpɔk ] Austria-Hungary´s LLOYD AUSTRIACO had a Traumschiff on its own. While HAPAG had its PRINZESSIN VICTORIA LUISE. The first purpose built cruise ship ever. The term "cruise" was not in use in those days, the "cruises" had been called Pleasure Voyages, Gesellschaftsreisen or Vergnügungsreisen. LLOYD AUSTRIACO wishing to participate in this lucrative and new maritime business, they choose as many others, the way of reconstructing older liner tonnage into an Austrian BELLE ÉPOQUE pleasure travel boat. And some still send out their liners to pleasure voyages. by Earl of Cruise THALIA in a Norwegian Fjord, by H. Heusser - Source: Wikipedia After the Franco-Prussian war in 1870 and proclamation of the German Empire in 1871, the 1866 constituated "lesser Germany" (Kleindeutsche Lösung) had been cemented. This consolidation made Austro-Hungary finaly a south-east European power, dominating the Balkan. And after th...

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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 - 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 - 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...

Starting rms TITANIC from cold

rms TITANIC, 1911, Cold Starting WHITES STAR LINE Ltd., Builders: HALAND & WOLFF, Belfast by Stephen Carey, engineer, editing by Earl of Cruise rms TITANIC, 1911 © Stephen Carey   Table of Contents 1     Overview of machinery spaces 1.1        Boiler rooms 1.2        Coal bunkers 1.3        Propulsion engines 1.4        Electrical power generation 1.4.1            Main generating sets 1.4.2            Emergency generating sets 2     Lighting up the boilers 2.1        Steam line redundancy 3     Starting the generators 3.1        Auxiliary seawater pump and condenser 3.2        Starting an emergency gener...

ss NORMANDIE 1935-1942 XIII - Le NORMANDIE the great triumph and tragic end of the greatest ship of France

NORMANDIE at sea - courtsey coloured by Daryl LeBlanc Le NORMANDIE , the greates ship of France, was a great triumph for the French industry, economy the most gracious ambassador of France - a symbol of cultur and Savoir de Vivre. NORMANDIE never surppassed by any liner. But whom the gods love, they beat him to a tragic ending. In case of NORMANDIE the gods let do their dirty job by careless, ignorant and arrogant US Navy officials and their sub contractors.   by Earl of Cruise   NORMANDIE had 4 years of living and the chance to bring Glitz, Glamour and Luster into a world that was just in front of an abyss since October 1929. Sailing with NORMANDIE , created to cater primarily the First Clas clientele, and enjoying life on board seems to me today, as a Dance on the Volcano, that errupted in 1939. Longitudinal cutaway of PARIS - own collection copy from a CGT broshure ÎLE DE FRANCE , Cie Gle TRANSATLANTIQUE provoking ART DÉCO liner - own collection  ...

Cruise Newbuilts - CELEBRITY EDGE Class

The CELEBRITY EDGE is the first of a class of five new ships for CELEBRITY after nearly a decade. With 117,000 GT the EDGE class ships are slightly maller than the SOLSTICE class , 121,000 GT and 2,852 pax. All five ships are being built at STX in France. The second ship, CELEBRITY BEYOND, is scheduled to debut in spring 2020. The two yet-unnamed ships will sail in fall 2021 and spring 2022. They will have similar imaginative names I guess ... by Earl of Cruise CELEBRITY EDGE, X shaped funnel with the logo looking forward, and the Magic Carpet, looking outbalanced is a nice description for that gimmick feature - Rendering courtsey CELEBRITY CRUISES A few weeks ago ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES ceo Richard Fain and CELEBRITY CRUISES ceo Lisa Lutoff-Perlo announced in Fort Lauderdale details of the long-mooted 117,000-ton 2,900-berth EDGE class ships that will, among other things, bring balconies indoors as an integral part of the stateroom. It is said this new $5 Billion class o...

HISTORY - Traveling with airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG was the most luxurious airtravel

The real airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG enabled the most luxurious airtravel for decades. Imagine, gliding through the air while the landscape or the sea below can be seen ... LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. On May 6, 1937, the story of civilian airship ended in a tragedy. In Lakehurst, New Jersey, the largest flying object and has been with the similar sized LZ 130 GRAF ZEPPELIN II the most luxurious of all time. How this came about can be reconstructed logically, a series of fatal physics concatenations . The airship LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. It was in its time the fastest and most exclusive traveling object between Europe and America. The challenges of the construction of the giant of the heaven were immense. by Earl of Cruise LZ 129 HINDENBURG, 1936, in Lakehurst - digital copy of a coloured cover photo, originally by Bill Schneider, published in Dan Grossman´s book ` ZEPPELIN HINDENBURG: AN ILLUSTRATED HI...

Heritage - Austrian and Hungarian immigrants in USA

Austrian and Hungarian immigrants contributed immense to the US culture and economy. America, after its re-discovering by Christopher Columbus in 1492, was the first place of Austrian and Hungarian to immigrate to. It was the land of hope and possibilities, and the young USA, as the former colony, needed immigrants ... and these immigrants found vast opportunities in a country that was more or less "empitied" of humans, after the first contact with Europeans, and their, unknown to the indigen population and themselves, biological weapons - diseases for that the American natives had nothing to fight against, as they had been unknown to them, after eons of "isolation". by Earl of Cruise Emmigrants in the BALLIN STADT, a center for emmigrants initiated by Albert Ballin, after Cholera epidemiic in Hamburg 1892 - Source: BALLIN STADT Although some estimates suggest that the numbers of Austrians in the United States have represented less than one tenth of 1 p...

HISTORY - As HAPAG Director Albert Ballin invented the modern cruise 126 years ago

As HAPAG Director Albert Ballin invented the modern cruise 126 years ago, vacation on a ship, an invention of Albert Ballin , 33, then director of sales at HAPAG - was like a revolution when Albert Ballin advertised his first Orient Expedition as vacation. It too is the starting point of expedition and exploration cruising. Just as at the beginning of 19th century in its first decades crossing the ocean with a steamboat was thought of as similar unachievable reaching the moon. And now someone was sending a floating hotel with passengers seeking for pleasure on the dangerous seas ... What many do not know, however, is that the modern days cruise exactly started in 1891 - on a HAPAG ship, the AUGUSTA VICTORIA .   by Earl of Cruise   AUGUSTA VICTORIA auf Reede vor Piräsue - drawing courtsey by Christian Wilhelm Allers , Backschisch Erinnerungen an die Reise der AUGUSTA VVICTORIA in den Orient Sure there had been since the beginning of steam liners, especially in the Un...

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 ...