Amazing "QUEEN MARY 2" in Liverpool

CUNARD flagship, the biggest liner have built, without a doubt so far the passenger ship of the XXI century is visiting Liverpool today, I went to New Brighton to photograph her on her way in and what a spectacle this was, an incredible beautiful moment even with the weather on our side, one of the sunniest days I have seen this year in the Liverpool area, the QM2 is already a legend, she was in fact born a legend, crowds turned up in their thousands to admire this majestic passenger liner, she is truly unique and what a privilege it is to be a ships enthusiast

CUNARD flagship in Liverpool tomorrow

The majestic QM2 is visiting the city of Liverpool tomorrow for the second time since her debut in 2004, she is due to dock at the cruise terminal at 12.15, she will stay until 22.00, fireworks are organized for the event, it´s also the last day of the Riverside Festival

SS "NORMANDIE" THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PASSENGER SHIP EVER

The SS "NORMANDIE" was an ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, same yard of the new QUEEN MARY 2 in 1935, when she entered service she was the largest, fastest liner in service, she had lavish interiors and a design that inspired other naval architects to this day, SS "FRANCE" in the 60´s and the new "QUEEN MARY 2" are the two most noticeable examples in my opinion. The ship was operated by C G T on the Le Havre/New York service, her life was cut short, in 1942 during WWII when, the ship caught fire at her New York berth and capsized, she was at the time being converted to a troopship, she was sold to scrap in 1946, a sad ending for an incredible liner, most probably the most beautiful ever, two postcards from my collection

SS "CANBERRA", 2012 CREW REUNION

Members of the crew of SS "CANBERRA" are organizing a get together in Southampton next year, for further details please visit sscanberra.com. One of my photos of this grand lady showing the ship in Lisbon in the eighties

POSTCARDS PROMOTING MAIDEN VOYAGES BY "QUEEN MARY" AND "QM2"

Two postcards full of character, the first one promoting "QUEEN MARY" maiden voyage from Southampton in 1936, the second one, tribute postcard of "QM2" first transatlantic crossing, Southampton/New York, back in April 2004

SS "REX" ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS ITALIAN LINERS

the SS "REX", dubbed "Riviera Afloat" is one of the most famous liners, she was built in Italy in 1931, she has a top speed of 29 knots which enabled the ship to capture the famous "Blue Riband" from 1933 to 1935 during a westbound crossing, she was a casualty of WWII, please see my CRUISE SHIPS AND LINERS blog for further information on this incredible ship

SS FRANCE ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LINERS EVER

the SS FRANCE was built at Saint-Nazaire by CHANTIERS DE L´ATLANTIQUE, the same yard that built the NORMANDIE and of course more recently the QUEEN MARY 2, she was just over 66.000 GRT when she debuted in 1962, this beautiful liner strong contender for the most beautiful passenger liner ever was scrapped in 2008, she had different owners and names but for me she will always be remembered as the FRANCE

REMEMBERING THE SS EUGENIO C

Postcard of the SS EUGENIO C without question one of the most beautiful passenger ships of all time, I was fortunate enough to see this liner in different European ports and I remember it was always a moment to cherish

REMEMBERING THE SS LEONARDO DA VINCI




  This post is dedicated to one of the finest transatlantic liners of all time, the SS LEONARDO DA VINCI, she was ordered to replace the ill-fated ANDREA DORIA, the building of the vessel took place in Italy at ANSALDO SHIPYARDS and the delivery to ITALIAN LINE took place in 1960, she sailed for this historic operator until 1977 after that she was mostly employed to do cruises with the ITALIA CROCIERE, the ship was laid up a few times, in 1980 she was devoured by fire, after being considered a total loss she was sold to scrap in 1982 a sad ending to such a great ship, she had 33.340 GT and a service speed of 23 knots.

SS CRISTOFORO COLOMBO from ITALIAN LINE

The SS CRISTOFORO COLOMBO was built by ANSALDO SHIPYARDS in Italy, the ship was launched in 1953 and left on her maiden voyage one year later, she was 29.195 GT and had a cruising speed of 23 knots, this fine ship was scrapped in 1982, I have amazing memories of this beautiful liner in the mid seventies  when she was a regular caller in Lisbon, she was at the time on the European/Argentina route and I went onboard many times

M S AUGUSTUS OF ITALIAN LINE

the MS AUGUSTUS seen above was built in Italy in 1952 by CANTIERI RIUNITI DEL ADRIATICO for the European to South American service with ITALIAN LINE, she was sold to Hong-Kong in 1976, since then she had different names and ports of registry, she was used by Manila Hotel as floating hotel and restaurant under the name PHILIPPINES, today the hotel operations have ceased but the ship is reported to sail short cruises every now and then and receive visitors. The ship has been sold to scrap and arrived Alang in Augusthttp://vmf-cruiseshipsandliners.blogspot.com

the AUGUSTUS had a sister, the GIULIO CESARE seen here, she was scrapped in 1973 in Italy, I have been aboard the AUGUSTUS a few times but never seen the GIULIO CESARE

ALWAYS THE GREAT WHITE WHALE

Three images of the CANBERRA, first early 80´s in Lisbon, Southampton 1995 and a postcard of an amazing ship

P & O MS SEA PRINCESS

the P & O SEA PRINCESS seen here in 1994 at Southampton was built by John Brown & Co in 1966 as the KUNGSHOLM for Swedish America Line, in 1979 the vessel was bought by P & O and  renamed SEA PRINCESS, she changed the name to VICTORIA later until being sold in 2002  to Leonardo Shipping, since than she has been sailing as the MONA LISA and the OCEANIC II and back  to MONA LISA as from 2008. In 2010 she was laid up because she did not fulfill SOLAS requirements, she is 28.891 GT and has a cruising speed of 20 knots, beautiful liner with an uncertain future

A SPECIAL WEDDING PRESENT

I was married on the 26th July 1986, after the I DO......, we proceeded to the photo session, we were close to the river Tagus breakwater and just arriving Lisbon was the ACHILLE LAURO, ships always present on special occasions

THE FOUR CUNARD QUEENS

The most prestigious liners in the world

Since the beginning of CUNARD in the 19th century six QUEENS have sailed across the world seas, the QUEEN MARY, QUEEN ELIZABETH, QE2, QUEEN MARY 2, QUEEN VICTORIA and QUEEN ELIZABETH. I have never seen the first two QUEENS live, which is disappointing for me, one of them is still in existance at Long Beach, the first QUEEN ELIZABETH was lost by fire many years ago. Photos of the four QUEENS I´ve seen live included

THE CUNARD SHIP VISTAFJORD

The MS VISTAFJORD seen here at Dover in 1997 was built in the UK by SWAN HUNTER she was delivered in 1972 to NORWEGEAN AMERICA LINE, in 1983 NAL was bought by CUNARD and the ship moved to this operator retaining the same name but the funnel was painted in the famous red orange CUNARD colour, in 1999 the name of the ship was changed to CARONIA and the vessel received full CUNARD traditional colours, in 2004 she joined SAGA CRUISES and changed the name to SAGA RUBY, she is one of the most beautiful classic liners still sailing today

THE BEAUTIFUL PORTUGUESE LINER PRINCIPE PERFEITO

Today´s posts were dedicated mainly to liners, this is a reference to PRINCIPE PERFEITO built here in the UK by SWAN HUNTERS and delivered to COMPANHIA NACIONAL DE NAVEGACAO in 1961 for the Lisbon / Mozambique route, she had 19.393 GT and a cruising speed of 20 knots, no doubt one of the most elegant portuguese liners ever, I saw her many times in Lisbon as an active ship and laid up waiting for a better future, she had other employers and different names but I rather remember her as the PRINCIPE PERFEITO, the photo here is probably from 1961/2, my father gave it to me, the picture was included on a Gorongoza safari book and of course I have treasured it and now I feel very priviledged to share with all my fellow friends and ships enthusiasts

TRIBUTE TO S.S. GUGLIELMO MARCONI

further to my previous post it´s been 35 years since I travelled on this fine ship, so as an addition to the previous post this is a tribute to the GUGLIELMO MARCONI. The ship was launched by CANTIERI RIUNITI DELL ADRIATICO in Trieste, ITALY on the 24th September 1961, she had a GT of 27.905 tons and powered by steam turbines with a total shp of 44000 she was capable of cruising at 24 knots, 27 was achieved during trials, she was 214 meters in lenght and 8.5 meters draught, her maiden voyage was on the 18th of November 1963, she was unfortunately scrapped as the COSTA RIVIERA in 2002. All images in this post from my private collection