Emails
to say thank you
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Please Note: All ssmaritime as well as my other related maritime & cruise sites are 100% non-commercial and privately owned sites. Be assured that I am NOT associated with any shipping or cruise companies or agencies or any other organisations! The author has been in the passenger shipping industry since May 1960, but although retired and unwell, I occasionally attempt to write an article now and then, in order to bring enjoyment and pleasure to ship enthusiasts past passengers and crew.
Emails of Thanks
Such wonderful Memories of those wonderful days, now long gone!
Ship
shown is the Dutch Liner M.S.
There are
still many of us who will remember those memorable days when families and
friends came shipside, and as the liners were about to depart, hundreds of
colourful streamers would be thrown by passengers down to family and friends
dockside. Then as the ship was about to depart bound to faraway places on the
other side of the world, the streamers would eventually break, and it would be
the last contact for many as they would be either migrating from
The ship seen
departing above is the ‘Netherland Line’ M.S. ‘Johan van
Oldenbarnevelt’ departing
I have been
encouraged to place this page online by a countless number of my supporters,
for it is not something I would normally have done. However, after so many having
said to me, although be it having been said to me in various ways; “just
do it Reuben, for far too many do not realise how much your 42 years as a
maritime historian, and with around 29 years of these having been online has
meant so much to countless millions around the world.” Thus having been
pushed for so long, here it is.
Having written
on well over 1,355 Classic Passenger Liners, Passenger-Cargo (Combi) Liners,
humble converted American Victory & C3 Class Ships into Migrant Liners,
with some being converted into fine and stylish, to even sleek looking Ships,
such as the Flotta Lauro Line sisters, TN Roma and Sydney (rebuilt 1951) and
the delightful TSS Fairsky (rebuilt 1958). In addition I have covered a good
number of fine Classic Liners that have become fulltime Cruise Ships. I suggest
that you visit the ssMaritime MAIN INDEX,
where you will discover that the vast majority of ships mentioned and an
amazing huge list of ships from countries around the world, including
Involved in
the Passenger Shipping and Cruise Industry for over 60 years.
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Dear
I want to thank you for putting the information on various ship’s histories online for others to see. We
were able to learn about the ship my father-in-law came to
Thank you again for the wealth of information you have
provided.
Here
we see the
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Dear
Thank you for
your herculean efforts and dedication to what you have achieved with your
website. I know of no similar source of information and I have delighted in
reading features from time to time and now read that you have retired.
I wanted to
let no more time slip by to thank you very much for recording the history of so
many vessels and your marvellous efforts to achieve this.
It is also a
pleasure to read of your background and know that you have found so much
enjoyment in your profession to want to chronicle so much about it.
My interest in
your work is through my love of ships, passenger vessels and freighters.
I changed
course in my career after commencing as a sea-going deck officer on freighters.
I enjoyed the work but where the ship was my workplace, I not have the time to
appreciate the beauty of ships; such was the schedule of activity. It was only
after I came ashore and worked in naval design and architecture that the
appreciation of ships past, present and future inspired my great interest.
And then there
was the added dimension of the historic travel component to appreciate as well,
when the speed of travel more closely related to the speed of thought, in the
days when we were one with the travel environment.
Many thanks to you and my very best wishes.
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I've just come
from reading and viewing your wonderful extensive page about the P&O line's
SS Iberia. What a find that was for me. In 1966, when I was eight years
old, my family and I spent several wonderful weeks aboard the
A
fine P&O postcard of the SS Iberia
I have always
had fond memories of the ship, the crew, the amenities, the planned activities,
and the ports of call. Your photos and descriptions
brought those all back with vivid focus. I have just shared that page
address with my sisters (I'm the youngest) and I am sure they'll enjoy your
page on the
I'm glad
to have this chance to say thank you.
Sincerely,
*******************************
I came across the ssMaritime.com web site while researching information
about the RMS Titanic. I checked out the list of passenger ships you have
compiled.
Lo and behold
I found the two passenger ships I sailed on during the summer of 1960: The
MS Aurelia and the T/V Irpinia.
The delightful Cogedar liner MS Aurelia
I was on the
MS Aurelia from
1.
Pizza. It was not the typical round Pie now served in the
2.
The same group
of boys departed
I was purely
amazed to find the 1960 sailing schedule in your (loving) description of the
Irpinia. There, 4th from the bottom are the dates that we were on that
ship on our way to
Thus,
Bravo,
*******************************
Dear
I just wish to
officially thank you for providing me, during my time in retirement, the
countless hours of reading your informative pages on ssmaritime.com. There is
no doubt
Wishing you
the very best for the future,
(The now late ex Commodore of the QE2).
Dear
I just wanted
to drop you a short note to say how much I am enjoying your website ssmaritime.
I came across it completely by accident, and although I have never even been on
a passenger liner, the mixture of history (general, social and corporate)
technological advances, personal stories and interesting anecdotes has kept me
absolutely gripped. Some of the ships of course are famous in their own right
and have a reputation that extends outside the industry, but thanks to your
detailed histories and enjoyable narrative I am enjoying just as much learning
about ships I have never even heard of.
I am a Brit,
currently living overseas and travel a great deal for my work. Over the past
few years my job has caused me to travel to
As you make
clear, your site has no commercial sponsoring, nor advertising, and clearly is
a (considerable) labour of love and I am quite sure that I am one of many, many
people that are enjoying the fruits of your labour.
Once my work
becomes a bit more conducive to planned holidays, it makes me wish to sample a
cruise, though I must admit I am not so taken by the huge megaships of today's
industry (as impressive a feat of engineering as they are).
Anyway, thank
you again and best regards,
*******************************
Dear
Just wanted to
thank you for your very informative pages on the ‘M S Seven Seas’
formerly the ‘M V Nelly’. My husband and I are just rapt with all
the information you have online covering so many ships. But, he and his mother
arrived on the ‘M V Nelly’ in December 1952 from
None of us
knew anything about her extensive history until we visited a travelling
exhibition in Geelong called ‘Memories in my luggage’ and ssmaritime
was mentioned as being the best place to read about any ship that came to
Australia from Britain and European ports. Thus we looked it up and shared it
with many of our friends who did not go to the exhibition and they are all
overjoyed! Again thank you!
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Dear
Thank you for
your prompt reply to my email and thank you too for your permission to print
the photographs of the R.M.S. Athenian which are relative to my family travels.
My biggest
thank you is for the treasure trove you have created that will be a wealth of
information and joy in perpetuity.
As a
researcher of family history now and then we come across ‘gold’ and
your work,
I am sorry you
are not well and I trust, at the very least, you are not in pain or discomfort.
Kind regards
and best wishes always,
Thank you for
your wonderfully informative website
Regards,
Having first
crossed the Atlantic aged 3 in 1946 on
Your website
has given me huge nostalgic pleasure, thank you! I've also travelled from
My father was
a ship's doctor on the Booth Line, and my mother travelled on the
As a now (only
just retired at 76!) as an orthopaedic surgeon I have worked for a number of
overseas aid agencies in Africa, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bosnia, Fiji and the New
Hebrides, and lived in Port Moresby for 3 years. Now I help sort out
donated surgical equipment for Medical Aid International, much of which goes to
“Mercy Ships” which I note you have a close interest in!
Thank you
again for much pleasure given.
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Warmest
regards ‘Joady’,
*******************************
What a thrill
to find your website ssmaritime. Like many of your readers, I also have some
vibrant and wonderful memories of travel by sea.
In 1955, I
travelled from
The M.S. Oceania is seen berthed in
In 1964, I
headed from
There were all
kinds of adventures for a young girl, meeting rogues, rascals and heroes for
all travelled in those days. But what fun it all was, apart from the
occasional times of bad weather.
I look forward
to reading the website in depth.
Dear
Like you, I am
a shipping historian and journalist; however I so greatly admire your work for
I have read a great deal of ‘ssmaritime.com’ and related sites. But
even more so your personal and courageous campaign on
‘savetheclassicliners.com’ where you have worked so hard to save
some of the last fine and great ocean liners. Those ships were so very
different and had a certain feel of elegance, compared to those current giant
floating apartment blocks of flats, come resorts and theme parks, where rock
climbing and ice skating is all the go, but many will never learn what a
genuine ocean voyage is all about!
But,
tragically this is a very sad material world, for the truth is that very few of
us can expect genuine romantic dreams of preserving those beautiful ships from
days gone by! Now, almost all of them have then have fallen by the way, except
for just a very few. However, regardless what the future holds, thankfully all
the great and lesser passenger and passenger cargo liners will survive on
wonderful sites like yours
With my sincere congratulations.
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This is just
to say ‘Thank You’ for such a wonderful history of the
Oronsay. My career in travel began in August 1949 at Thos Cook & Son
Ltd in
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In my search
for small cruise lines operating in today's market, I came across your
great story on the RHMS Britanis. I actually had the opportunity to sail on the
The
popular and much loved
I loved to
read your historic facts of the ship and was sad to see how it finally came to
rest. the
I thank you
for your dedicated history report. Attached is a picture of fun times in the
80's with the
Cheers,
*******************************
I just wanted
to let you know how many hours of pleasure I have had searching your Maritime
website. You have obviously spent many hours on this and I am sure that there
are many people who have appreciated your efforts.
I am now
retired aged 88, but maintain my interest in ships. I was a travel agent in
I have taken
many cruises during my days, starting with the old
Since retiring
I have no access to good prices on cruises, in
addition my good friend who went with me on many cruises is sadly gone. But I
have many pleasant memories and your website has given me some pleasurable
times.
Sincerely,
I think that
your website is one of the very best and without a doubt the most complete web
about maritime history on Internet!
Yours sincerely,
Dear
I came to
It has been a
very emotional experience to have found the photos of her and read your
accounts of her especially in such affectionate terms. I can only sit in awe
and total admiration for the wonderful experiences that you have had. I
with countless others all over the world are so
grateful that you had the passion to share your knowledge and experiences with
us.
Naturally, it
was so heartbreaking to read of her demise, quite ironically at her place of
origin. During the voyage from
Anyway, I'm
sorry to read that you're not well. There must be so many people across the
globe, like me who would love to have had the opportunity to have met you in
person.
I wish you all
the best and thank you so much for such an emotional experience.
Kind regards,
***************************
Thank
you Sir,
As a child I
was a passenger on the Italian Transatlantic liner T/V Irpina in 1955. For
years I have searched the internet for a history of this ship that became a
major part of my story.
T/V Irpina seen in the mid 1950’s
Thank you for
such meticulous detail of her history.
God bless you
for your gift of in-depth research
Much
***************************
Dear
I just wanted
to express my appreciation of your website. My parents immigrated to
A postcard of the
The entire
website must have been a truly mammoth job for you, and must have taken you
millions of hours to gather all that information.
Thank you so
much for all your hard work.
Regards,
***************************
Dear Sir,
I have just
experienced a nostalgic trip down memory lane reading your information about
the Oriental Queen and viewing the photographs. She was a fine ship. Loved
her size and her beautiful lines, they certainly do not make ships like that
anymore.
I was working
in Auckland in the early sixties and during that time had the privilege of
spending time working in the duty free shop on the Oriental Queen during which
time we did a number of Tasman crossings, one of which we experienced the fury
of a cyclone which drove us to New Caledonia instead of a direct route to
Sydney. On one occasion the Oriental Queen did a cruise for ex NZ
servicemen where the ship visited various Pacific islands where
I recall in
the
I have always
intended to take a cruise as a passenger but could only do it on a small
ship. The massive cruise ships of today, in my opinion, are just
horrendous.
Thank you for
your interesting website and the memories it has awakened.
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Dear
In connection
with the Chitral & Cathay, you mention menus provided by
***************************
Dear
I met you on
board the MV Dawn Princess’ around the World Cruise in 2009 which was
Australia’s very first ever world cruise product, although I boarded in
Auckland, and I recall your excellent knowledge of so many classic liners as
well passenger-cargo liners. After I arrived home, I checked your website, and
have been reading it ever since, and I am so delighted that you have written on
many
Our beloved MS Matua
Thank you
God bless you,
and best wishes,
Your shipmate Vernon S, Wellington NZ.
Hello
I thought you
may like some pics taken when we visited the Doulos during her visit to
I came to
My brother was
with us on at the time, who is a marine engineer thus he was fascinated by her
engines, which is why we have a photo of the engine room.
I hope you
will enjoy them,
Kind regards,
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I
found your article on ssMaritime so very interesting, my name is Per Källner
and I am a Naval architect.
I was
responsible for all the delivery and installation on board the superb liner the
In addition to
this I sailed on her maiden voyage from
The second and the largest of the pair of
sister ships to be built for the Italian Line, the magnificent
Best wishes,
PER Källner, I
am a Swede and now 86 years old.
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Dear
First of all
thank you for such a wonderful website www.ssmaritime.com/.
I am truly
amazed at how you can publish so much information about so many different ships
and their crew. I just wish I knew where to start!
Kind regards,
I have just
come across your webpage about the
Prior to the
Oriana trip, my parents and 6 children had sailed on the
Thanks again
I came across
your website as I was researching my grandfather’s journey from
Many thanks,
***************************
Dear Sir:
Thank you for
the most interesting story of the life of
Thanks again
for your post and pictures.
Yours very
truly,
Dear Sir,
Just dropping
a line about your web site regarding the history of the MS
Sincerely,
***************************
Dear
May I thank you for the fantastic article you have written about
the MTS Odysseus.
I was a singer
aboard the ship during her 2000 season and I became very attached to this
lovely cosy cruise ship, and I have many happy memories of her. I often
wondered what became of her and although I feel an inevitable end for the
Odysseus, I feel better knowing what path she took.
I thoroughly
enjoyed your feature online and I thank you for a refreshing article and
providing me with such wonderful memories.
Kind regards
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Dear Sir,
I have just
read your account of the SS Ocean Monarch (ex RMS Empress of
The
SS Ocean Monarch is seen at Auckland New
Photograph was provided by
As the longest
serving officer on the vessel, from just after she came out of Cammell Laird to
just before she went to scrap; I would like to compliment you on her
history. It brought back many great memories, including working in a
hot top boiler drum in
Once again
many thanks.
Kind Regards,
***************************
Dear
In
July/August, 1953 I sailed on both the SS Waterman and the Zuiderkruis from
Many thanks,
***************************
Dear
I discovered
your website by accident when looking for information on the SS Iberia. As a
teenager I sailed on her when returning from the
Your excellent
website gave me information about
(On your
webpage) You mention the story of the christening of baby
One memory of
the trip stands out for me. The Bay of Biscay was already living up to its
reputation soon after we left the
Thank you very
much for a most informative website. I commend your enormous efforts.
Kind regards,
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Dear
Thank you so
much for your most enjoyable and enlightening records. I was recently filing my
deceased mother’s documents when I became curious as to what ship she had
emigrated on. Thus I did a search and it was your pages that were perfect to
fill in all the gaps. From comparisons with your records I can identify that my
mother sailed on T/N Sydney Voyage 5, and this has been confirmed as I have now
located her passage ticket.
Flotta Lauro Lines T/N Sydney is seen
berthed in
Therefore,
please find attached scans of her ticket, and you have my full permission and
free licence to use the attached for your records or for public distribution as
desired.
Best regards
and heartfelt thanks for your interest and diligence in recording the history
of these two fine sister ships, the T/N
Greetings from
the
Thank you so
very much for taking the time to write back to me regarding the M/V Franca C
cruise my Grandparents sailed on. The details you have provided me about their
travels are absolutely wonderful and entirely what I was hoping to
learn. Thank you for the detailed layout of the ship, it is so fun to see
exactly where their cabin was.
Your knowledge
of cruise ship history cannot be matched and I hope your website will be a
wonderful help to all other on the internet who are doing their own research of
any type.
Best wishes!
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Dear
I have just
watched the video of the Fairsea and it brought a lift to my heart to see and
listen to it. What a present to share with him this Christmas of memories!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing this research and creating this
site.
Danke vielmals
und frohe Weihnachten! (Thank you very much and Merry Christmas!)
Regards
***************************
I just wanted
to thank you so much for collating all this wonderful information about the
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Dear
I have only
just recently discovered your website and immediately added it to my list of
quality maritime history sources or “maritime bibles” as I like to
call them. My original search was for the R.M.S. Olympic.
The Olympic
was the finest of the three sisters. It is a shame that she was scrapped
without having her entire interior photographed. She certainly wanted her fair
share of attention having rammed into all sorts of things. Gives
me a chuckle. It was almost as if she was jealous of her sisters’
fame.
Thanks to your
goldmine of a website, and all of your superb work, I have so much more to
discover about maritime history.
All the best, Sir.
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Hi, I would
like to say thank you for all the information on the MS Fairsea for I came
to
Best Wishes,
I wanted to
express my heartfelt thanks for all your work shared on your wonderful
ssmaritime.com website, and the incredible detail and stories as well as the
countless images to be found on your site. I have been an avid lover of classic
passenger ships for nigh on 60 years and find your site a wealth of information.
I live in
Thank you for
your web site
Kindest
Regards,
***************************
Keep enjoying
ssmaritime.com it was created for you to relive those wonderful days when ships
were real ships, not like so many of the current cruise ships that are more
like floating apartment (condo’s) or theme parks, come resorts and
casino’s, and all are now based on how they can strip you of as many
dollars a possible! In the days of great ocean travel, you paid your fare and
everything was included, except your drinks and excursions. But no one ever attempted
to sell you additional drink packages or for the spa, the photographer or the
many optional restaurants and the list just go’s
on.
Also on all my
sites, you will never be annoyed by pop up advertisements, or any other kind of
ads, for ssmaritime.com, ssmaritime.net and cruise-australia.com & net are
all 100% non-commercial, as I am not associated wit any Shipping or Cruise
company’s, or Travel agencies, and although I have receive countless
lucrative offers to have advertisements placed on ssmaritme and cruise-australia
considering there has been well over 537.6 million readers from Australia, New
Zealand and from around the world, but I have refused all offers, which would
have made me very rich indeed! But I have just one love, and that is to give
pleasure to all who have sailed on the countless fine ships that my readers may
have been on and have been able to relive some memories, and hopefully have
brought them a great deal of joy!
For all those
who have written me, and those above are just a minute number of those who
have, again thank you for contacting me with your appreciation!
“Blue Water Liners sailing to the distant shores.
I watched them come, I watched them go and I watched them die.”
Where you will discover over 1,355
Classic Passenger & Passenger-Cargo Liners!
Involved in the Passenger Shipping and Cruise Industry for over 60
years.