My 1964 Olympic Games Voyage

TSMV Oriental Queen

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My 1964 Olympic Games Voyage

By Lorraine Cheyne (nee Reille)

TSMV Oriental Queen seen at Sea

I was on the Oriental Queen 1964 Olympic Games Cruise and was the youngest female passenger on board, aged 19 from Naenae, being a suburb of Lower Hutt near Wellington New Zealand. If I remember correctly the youngest male was on board was a butcher from Island Bay in Wellington.

I was in a four berth cabin down on E Deck and it was so hot we spent most nights on the deck chairs with a sheet over us until morning when the crew came to hose down the decks and they would tap on the top of the chairs to wake us and we would move away.

Mr & Mrs Halberg (Murray's parents) were also on board and a very nice couple they were. Whenever there was a birthday the cooks made a cake with the brightest colours of icing! green, yellow and red! I can remember the fancy dress night when I went as 'E deck toilet cleaner' having borrowed the trousers from a member of crew who was small compared to a well fed kiwi girl, and carried the equipment used to do the job. I don't believe I won!

I remember we had problems with the air conditioning often breaking down, and as we had left our porthole open a wave came in and flooded most of our deck. The Purser said we could dry our clothes in a cabin on the top deck BUT we were not allowed to sleep there, thus back to the deck again! The passage ways were very narrow and so very hot. The showers and toilet built of very thick steel walls but always very clean.

Harumi Wharf where we tied up, just down the road from the Ginza, the ship next to us was the Russian ship the Vloddy-vos-tok (cant spell but that's how we said it!) which was very much closed to other nations. We decided that as neighbours we should be on speaking terms so we went along, walked up their gangway and shook hands, they were very surprised but offered to show us around as it was a very new ship and then offered us a Vodka which we politely refused and then returned to our ship.

Yes there are many good memories from the Oriental Queen.

Regards - Lorraine Cheyne (nee Reille)

MS Kanimbla / Oriental Queen - Index

Page One … The overall history of the Kanimbla and Oriental Queen

Page Two … Oriental Queen images and menu sent by a past Purser

Page Three Stan Evans cruises on the Oriental Queen - December 1965

Page Four … Lorraine’s voyage to the Commonwealth Games in 1964 on the Oriental Queen

“Blue Water Liners sailing to the distant shores.
I watched them come, I watched them go and I watched them die.”

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