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Luxury Expedition - PONANT´s LE LAPÉROUSE

LE LAPÉROUSE is the first of COMPAGNIE DU PONANT 's ( pronounciation ) Explorer-Class expedition ships. PONANT recently anounced another two vessels to be added to the new luxury expedition class vessels. LE LAPÉROUSE is named for French explorer Jean-Francois de La Perouse. Several other ships in the new class are also named for famous French explorers, cartographers or navigators: LE CHAMPLAIN for Samuel de Champlain, LE BOUGAINVILLE for Louis-Antoine de Bougainville the famous French endeavorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville , who conducted a world circumnavigation on board the frigate LA BOUDEUSE 1766 till 1769 , and believed to have found on this journey `paradise on earth´, New Cythera (Île de la Nouvelle Cythère), as the Admiral and Comte titled Tahiti et ses îles . Further  LE DUMONT-d´URVILLE (originally planned to be named LE KERGUELEN) for Le Dumont-d’Urville. And the last announced vessels - LE BELLOT and LE SURVILLE. by Earl of Cruise LE LAPÉROUSE - cou

LUXURY CRUISES - VIRGIN VOYAGES SCARLET LADY bans plastic

SCARLET LADY, what a name, ambitious and unique in the international cruise industry. VIRGIN VOYAGES is going on rumbling the industry. Others "brand" their condo names with a company pre-/suffix or an "of the SEAS" and such. With 110,000 GRT SCARLET LADY and upcoming sister ships will be quite big. The mainstream industry megalodons squeeze in such "vessels" minimum the double of 2,680 passengers, which VIRGIN VOYAGES is naming Sailors. And as we all live in one world, the new ships will be enviromental friendly, for reducing the carbon footprint. by Earl of Cruise   Another aspect is to be seen in the ban of plastic. Mass market vessels use too many plastic and that is seperating them too from the luxury brands - think of a delicious chef meal served on plastic ... the thought alone makes me shudder. VIRGIN VOYAGES is oriented to the mass market, but clearly upscaled and definitely a real premium product. Presentation of VIRGIN VOYAGES fir

Undesirable consequences of travelling - Why tourists destroy the world

Why tourists destroy the world: Mass tourism, especially mass tourism cruises, is becoming harder and harder on people and the environment the consequences are undesirable. What we need is a radical reform of travel and cruises in special. by Earl of Cruise "Good travellers are heartless," Elias Canetti, a German writer and nobel prize winner, born in Bulgaria, wrote 50 years ago. During a visit to Marrakech, the writer observed blind beggars with undisguised interest. Although the original fascination still shines through in his description, it also reflects the horror of his own disrespectful behaviour. Crowds at the Sacré-Coeur © cthkim / Pixabay This disrespectful behavior can be seen not only with beach, fun and party, event, etc. tourists, but unfortunately too with cruise tourists. Modern day cruise lines "invented" the democatization of cruises with prices afordable for everyone, especially at "the lower end of the food chain", as John

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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

Thank You 500,000 readers

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

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 - 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

Germany and HAPAG - A Journey through History

HAMBURG-AMERIKANISCHEPACKETFAHRT ACTIEN GESELLSCHAFT - HAPAG or HAMBURG AMERICA LINE is reflecting, as Germany, the LLOYD of Bremen, two times of rsing and two times of devasting downfall and a third rise. BORUSSIA , 1856, First Day Cover 1956 of Deutsche Bundespost - own collection Once Germany´s biggest shipping line HAPAG / HAMBURG-AMERIKANISCHE PACKETFAHRT ACTIEN GESELLSCHAFT-LLOYD, merged with it former old Hanseatic rival NORDDEUTSCHER LLOYD in 1970, to now HAPAG-LLOYD, had its peaks and downs, but rose each time on its own to new hights, without any state subsidies. As German mail subsidiaries did never cover the costs for purchasing or mainting the vessels ordered for the specific German mail lines.   by Earl of Cruise In this article I used most German Wikipedia links, as they proved to be mostly of better research quality, and surprisinf to me, some English lines and liners have only German written articles, for the others, English Wiki links are to find

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 provided by forc

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 populac

HISTORY - AUSTRO AMERICANA the Austro-Hungary shipping line into the new world

Not many know about the Austro-Hungary shipping line, AUSTRO AMERICANA , which sailed out of Trieste to the Americas. Austro-Hungary and shipping? You may ask ... you may have heard about Vienna Walz, coffe house culture, Hotel Sacher and its famous chocolate cake, the Prater, chateau Schönbrunn, the Fiakers - the famous horse carriages and such things. But passenger shipping lines? There has been AUSTRO AMERICANA and ÖSTERREICHISCHER LLOYD , renamed in LLOYD TRIESTINO after 1918 and after purchased by EVERGREEN renamed in Italia Marittima. The actual company ÖSTERREICHISCHER LLOYD is a new formed management company situated in Austria.   by Earl of Cruise KAISER FRANZ JOSEH I. the biggest liner of AUSTRO AMERICANA - own collextion Parts of my family lived for a long time in the Austro-Hungary empire, which can be qualified as a "United Nations of the Balkan". Having traces into Austria-Hungay, the realm of Hungary in special, it is a pleasure for me making thes

Review - P&O CRUISES - BRITANNIA from Southampton to Guernsey

P&O Cruises - Southampton to Guernsey on board the BRITANNIA - 4 July 2015 – 6 July 2015 by Alex Naughton  My mum and me have just come back from a weekend cruise on board the Britannia from Southampton to Guernsey. I am in my mid thirties and we are both first time cruisers.   Boarding the BRITANNIA in Southampton - © by Alex Naughton BRITANNIA in La Rochelle - source Wikipedia We travelled down to Southampton by train and got a taxi to the Ocean Terminal where the ship sailed from. On our e-ticket we had been given an arrival time of 1230 to turn up at the cruise terminal. This in fact was misleading as many passengers seemed to ignore this and just turn up when they felt like it. So the terminal was very crowded. There were not enough seats in the terminal to handle the full complement of passengers. BRITANNIA Main Lobby, the Great Chandellier - © by Alex Naughton For those first time cruisers like us it might help if I go through the embarkation proces