The Hindenburg, Nazis, and the most interesting cruise ever conceived. It’s all in the Virgin Islands Daily News.

I never really knew much about St. Thomas history. I never really cared much to be honest. I knew it was a typical busy Caribbean cruise port loaded with ships of every line disgorging eight to twenty thousand tourists a day depending on how many ships are in. I also knew it had a good Chinese food restaurant close to the pier. That’s all I needed to know.

In short; St. Thomas is an efficient tourist machine that can handle all of our cruise industry needs for tourist and crew member alike quickly and easily (and with a smile).

But why is that? Why can they? How did this come to be? This is what I had never cared about; the how’s and why’s. Then by accident I happened across an old newspaper page in the news archive of the Virgin Islands Daily News.

It was a full page advertisement for “the most interesting cruise ever conceived” posted by Cyril E. Daniel; his phone number was 174 and also 175 (he must have been very successful to have two phone numbers). As you can see the ad was for the S.S. Macoris, a French cruise ship departing round trip from St. Thomas in August of 1933. And don’t forget “NO PASSPORT REQUIRED”. This was, after all, a cruise that took place seventy seven years ago.

Seeing this interesting ad made me start thinking about St. Thomas and its cruising history. I started reading through the archives of the VIDN. Reading about some of the most interesting history of the world while at the same time learning about St. Thomas and how it became the cruise hub of the Caribbean. I was fascinated by it. The scans of actual newspapers made it feel more like being there. It made the history feel “more genuine” than a text book. I would read the old articles and get such a deep feeling of the time.

I learned that St. Thomas didn’t just happen to become the most popular Caribbean cruise port in the Caribbean by chance. No, there were many, many factors that lead to it. Not the least of which was the desire of the population of St. Thomas to BE the number one cruise destination in the Virgin Islands. They have always studied the rankings. Look at this snippet of “where they stand” from September 8, 1961.

Of course St. Thomas had a rich and long history and was a major port for trade before cruising became chic. But around 1860, with the development of steam ships and the ability of countries to import directly without stopping in St. Thomas, things began a slow downturn.
Eventually, the grand American and European flagged transatlantic ships began making stops in St. Thomas in the 20’s and 30’s. This made things look bright for the small Island, but not for long. The war in Europe broke out, and all the grand liners were converted to troop carrying ships and this immediately put the breaks on what could have been prosperity for St. Thomas. An excerpt from the Governors report of 1940 printed in the February 1, 1941 edition of the VIDN points this out.

I found it amazing to see an small story for the newest American “dealer of destruction”, the B-26 bomber, on the same page. This means that St. Thomas was analyzing the cruise industry and how they could capitalize on it even while the world was at war!

One very small snippet of world news, before it happened, also caught my eye in the archive. It is a small mention that another type of cruise ship, the dirigible Hindenburg, was on its way to New York. Printed almost a year to the day it would explode in Lakehurst. There are several mentions in the archive of when the Hindenburg is making trips around the world. Perhaps the USVI had their eye on trying to capture some of that cruise traffic before the tragedy on May 6, 1937.

Of all the articles I read in the VIDN, one short article on the cruise industry stood out more than the others. It was probably written by the editor and manager of the VIDN at the time, Mr. Melchior. It was published in the May 28, 1946 edition. It is a brief and succinct point of view piece on “The tourist trade”. You could also consider it a fifty six year old state of the industry speech.

Probably unnoticed at the time, this small piece is visionary. It sums up exactly what St. Thomas needed to do, and did do (for the most part), to become the Caribbean king of cruise ports. Well done Mr. Melchoir (or whoever else wrote it), and well done Virgin Islands Daily News for helping St. Thomas remember over the past eighty years that cruise ships, and cruise ship passengers, do not have to come to St. Thomas. They choose to come. What was said in this article sixty three years ago is still as true as ever today. It leaves no doubt that St. Thomas was very concerned for the future of its tourist business, mainly the cruise ships, and is definitely at least partially responsible for the number of modern cruise ships sailing the waters of the USVI today.

The article is a bit big to post so I will leave the link instead. I encourage you to read it. It is very insightful. I have left several other links to items I found of interest in the archives of the Virgin Islands Daily News. I hope you enjoy reading through the past as much as I did. Thanks to the Virgin Islands Daily News, I am looking forward to returning to St. Thomas, one day, and appreciating a little more deeply what it is they have built (and also having a good Chinese…and buying a good camera…).

The tourist trade. It is May 28, 1946. The first cruise ship since the end of the war is coming to St. Thomas. The Stella Polaris. What can St. Thomas do to ensure the growth of this valuable and essential industry? Are they ready?

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qqoNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ei4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2353,2979351&dq=cruises


May 24, 1941. Hitler and the Suez! An article reporting on Hitler’s plans to take the Suez and the battles over many of the now popular cruise routes like the Dardanelles.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aK0NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ki4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6367,4368280&dq=nazi

August 29, 1947. A good season ahead. This article talks about the return to cruising of many of the converted troop ships, and mentions the very first cruise ship sunk by the Germans in the war, a Cunard ship.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NK0NAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gi4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=2638,1251748&dq=cruises

January 3, 1951. Good news for the cruise business. Furness agrees to extend the ships time in port so more people can shop and visit.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0uEJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iUMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5206,81546&dq=cruise+ship+entertainment

March 9, 1956. Ashes of cruise director strewn in harbor entrance.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IFQKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wkYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4078,1203487&dq=cruise

January 5, 1965. Drugs found onboard the S.S. France in St. Thomas! Heroin.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ImMJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=y0cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1751,174690&dq=cruise+ship

October 16, 1967. 11 ships to call in October! Bringing more than 7000 tourists! This includes the Queen Elizabeth carrying 1200 passengers. Of course today, it would only take two or three ships to make seven thousand tourists. Very soon, with Oasis Of The Seas, one ship by itself will bring five thousand.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ke4JAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zUQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3630,3062707&dq=cruise


August 27, 1969. Just when, how and why did Florida become the centre of gravity for cruise ships? Blend the new jet airlines with cruises into a cruise flight package.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BWMJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=o0cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3052,4132102&dq=cruise

May 28, 1974. Jump forward in time seven years, and 326 ships are due over the summer.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uXIJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=eEcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2368,2898037&dq=cruise

November 7, 1980. Jump forward another seven years and 571 ships are due to arrive. The constant efforts of St. Thomas to become the leader in the Caribbean over the past thirty five years have paid off.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=b08KAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nEYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4801,1016866&dq=cruise

May 28, 1980. The largest cruise ship ever to resume calling in St. Thomas.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HxoKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fkcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5091,4165578&dq=cruise


To search through more of the VIDN archive, it is easy to use google. Go to:

http://news.google.com/archivesearch/advanced_search?ned=us&hl=en

Under “find results” type in a word like ‘cruise” or “war” or etc.
Under “date” type in a year range like 1930 – 1950
Under “source” type in “virgin islands”
2 comments | edit post

S/S United States

Will this great American icon be torn to shreds? She is one of the few classic and historical liners still around, and after escaping the indignation of the scrap yards for the last forty years, her luck might finally be running out. The SS United States is owned by NCL ( Norwegian Cruises owned by Star Cruise Lines). They once had plans to restore her and put her to work on the Hawaii run with NCLA, but of course we all know what happened to NCLA, and the plans for the SS United States died along with it. So now she is berthed in Philadelphia, rusting away while her fate is decided. Rumor has it NCL (Star Cruises) has said they will not sell the ship for scrap, or to a foreign owner, but I wouldn't bet on that.

Why not just sell her to a foreign owner so she can be put to service as a low cost party cruiser like so many other old cruise ships? Well because! This is the SS United States, the greatest ocean liner ever built in America!

She was a technological marvel of her time. Built with heavy subsidization by the government and built to military standards she actually was a duel purpose vessel. You could say she was not a passenger ocean liner at all but a military ship used as an ocean liner when not on active duty. That’s why she was so amazing. She had duel engine rooms in case of attack. No wood onboard, all fiberglasses so she was fireproof. She had extensive aluminum used in the superstructure so she was light and was over powered for speed. She was compartmentalized in such a way that half the ship could fill with water and still float. She was the fastest ship built. She could do twenty knots in reverse and her top speed of 44 knots full ahead was classified for years after her construction, and still holds the record for cruise liners. She was the first to utilize five blade propellers; the fact is she was a surprise weapon on stand by in the cold war era because of her great speed being able to transport thousands of troops in half the time it would take any other country. All of this, plus her name and the fact she was made in the USA makes her a national icon. You can not simply sell a national icon like the SS United States to just anyone, not if you don’t want tomatoes thrown at you.

I have thought about it, and I am the first one to say how much I love classic old liners, but we need to be realistic. They are just that, classic old liners. Look at the Norway, which was the old SS France, and the pride of France at one time just like the SS United States was the pride of America. There will be nothing at all left of her but pictures and memories. She is ripped apart on a scrapping beach in Alang, India. Her great history cut up and sold off.

There is an effort to preserve the SS United States as a hotel, or a museum, and still some talk about making her a viable refurbished cruise ship. Let’s be honest. None of that is financially viable. She has been stripped to the bones. Her four steam engines, although still onboard, would never be used. You would have to rebuild completely preserving only her outline. It would cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Even then, she would not meet the quality of the modern cruise ships and would require constant repairs and maintenance. To make her a hotel or museum would also cost millions, millions that would probably never be recouped in revenue afterwards. Not to mention that NCL (Star Cruises) probably also wants to recoup the millions they have spent keeping her tied up all these years. A hotel or museum is not going to make that kind of money. They say it is costing $1000.00 per day to keep her tied up. Who can afford that these days? That is irresponsible money handling.

It is true, that 50 years ago the SS United States was a symbol of the nation that built her. But she is not that SS United States any more. For all intents and purposes she is dead. It would be more cost effective and more realistic to just build another SS United States much the same way Cunard has rebuilt the Queen Elizabeth. She has been tied up and wasting away for forty years! Over twice as long as she was sailing! How long must it be until we realize it is not financially viable to restore her? It has not been so for four decades. I doubt that will change.

But at the same time, she is a grand old lady and can not simply be sent to Alang like the terrible way the Norway was wasted. Horror of horrors no! So what to do? How to stop losing money on her while she rusts away tied to a pier, but at the same time preserve her for all time with the dignity due a statesman?

Sink her.

I can hear it now… WHAT! Sink her!! You’re MAD!

But think about it. Make her into a national park. It’s good for the economy; a national park makes jobs and creates tourism which brings in money. It’s good for the ecology, its good for the recreational divers. It’s good for everyone. You can place a placard, a memorial, anything. We all know artificial reefs are good for the planet. So let’s take the great lady and save her the indignity of Alang. Let her serve a purpose and become a memorial all at the same time.

Granted, she would need some clean up done before then, but it would be allot cheaper and more financially responsible than refurbishing. It would be a gift to the planet, maintain her dignity, and create something people could use for centuries to come. After all she has already had all asbestos removed. Unlike the Norway which had not.

Of course, if you think me insane and feel that she should be saved, and if you think it can still happen, you should visit the following web site and get involved.

Above image is borrowed from this website

They have an online petition, take donations, and also suggest other ways you can help save her. It’s also a good read about the SS United States. I am going to join the petition myself. I think she should be a reef, not saved, but I do NOT want her to go to Alang. That's just rude.
This YouTube video is done by them as well.

1 comments | edit post

Catch a bus to the aft end

Talking about the Oasis, and pondering her general splendiferousnes, got me to wondering about the Freedom ship. Remember the Freedom Ship? More of a city at sea complete with an airport on top? I always suspected a con, or if not a con perhaps just grandiose dreams. Anyway, I went back to the website, and sure enough it had an update on it. A year old rather indignant lecture about how they are not a scam, which to me clearly indicates a scam, and an icon promoting the supposed CEO of Freedom Ship Inc, Norman Nixon, for President. It doesn’t say president of what, but one would assume the United States. (http://www.freedomship.com/)

It is obvious this is not real. Everything about it is wrong from the start. The web page is weak and has no substance. You need only look at the “itinerary” page to see a hastily put together map showing a rudimentary world cruise itinerary, as done it seems by someone who has never even been on a cruise, to get the full feeling of a con. The details of the “real estate” section and the inconsistent general rules of occupation feel like they are meant to put across a false feeling of organized legitimacy. Of course the biggest tip off should be the lack of financial information or financial direction… well that, and I have never seen anything about it on FOX news or CNN. Although it DOES have its own YouTube video!



But if it's a con or not isn't the point. The point is it's an intriguing idea!

Isn’t a version of the Freedom ship where the next logical steps in cruising are leading? If the economics of scale prove bigger is cheaper (do you see anyone building smaller ships these days?), and if a new world financial order is developing in which responsibility and accountability are paramount, then isn’t this one possible future? Ok maybe not a community and “way of life” as described in the Freedom ship information. I don’t know how well that would fly financially unless it was a retirement community. But what about a massive, slow moving resort and entertainment park at sea? Wouldn’t it be great, for example, if Disneyland was always on the move? I don’t mean a teeny representation of Disneyland like a Disney cruise ship (as great as they are). I mean DISNEYLAND baby, the whole supercalifragilisticexpialidocious experience! Everything except the parking lot! I have four kids. The cost and logistics of traveling to the nearest park is prohibitive. But what if it was coming to me? How about it kids? Should we embark the Disney Gigantasourous for a week? We can embark just outside Porto and get off four days later in Lisbon then catch the train home? Oh.. and in two months the Six Flags Holyhumungus will be passing our coast again as well, just in time for summer!

Technologically it must be possible already. After all we can float massive oil rigs, and what about the four floating airports in Japan with MegaFloat runways? Granted the airports don’t move, yet, but the oil rigs do. (http://www.srcj.or.jp/html/megafloat_en/index.html)

Oasis represents a clear quantum leap from any other cruise ship build and is a natural evolution. Oasis evolved from Voyager. Voyager evolved from a class before that, and so on. Once Oasis class proves itself a financial success then the next logical step is to build upon that success. You could build more of the same, but eventually you must evolve and compress the success of multiple Oasis class ships into the next evolutionary class. Finally, at some point however many generations and classes down the line, you have something that is very much like a five hundred acre floating resort and entertainment park at sea, complete with airport and transit system. Something so large you can catch a bus to go to the aft end.

The only thing required for anyone to build a ship even bigger and better than the previous one is a person with vision, a solid business model (something to evolve from), massive financial backing, and some uber ship builders with a facility in which to build something that has never been built before. The evolutionary process generally provides for all of that as well. If you had the resources for the first, you can generally find the resources to improve on the second.

I don't think Freedom Ship Inc is real. I doubt a bunch of engineers with no experience in the cruise industry and no previous track record could just worm hole forward to a point that industry leaders have not yet reached… but maybe they are trying. I will reserve benefit of the doubt to be fair, but I won’t be sending them any cash.

Either way I think it’s an idea that’s coming, or at least a similar version of the idea. I think the only real question is which cruise leader or resort tycoon (or combination) will do it first?
1 comments | edit post