Attraction of the sea

TONIGHT this cruise liner is heading west down the English Channel from Southampton to Vigo, Spain but made an imposing profile alongside 101 berth in Southampton earlier in the day.

It was the sight of big ships like this which first attracted me to Southampton, although at the time, mid-sixties cruise liners and big ships were not nearly as big as this. Southampton’s pride at the time were the majestic Cunarders the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, augmented by ships like France, United States and Amsterdam all operating as passenger ships across the Atlantic. That was augmented by the weekly Union Castle departures and arrivals to Cape Town.

Soon after moving to Southampton it was my role as deputy shipping reporter to visit these ships regularly whenever they arrived, or sailed, and to seek an interview with the captain to learn about any significant happenings on board during the voyage, and seek out interviews anyone of fame who might be traveling.

Even at that time, the list of celebrities or maybe royalty and dignitaries still traveling by ship was intimidating. I can count having met and interviewed travelers falling into all of those categories

Today’s class of liner is altogether different, and much, much bigger. Passenger ships are cruise liners built for holidays and vacations to see the world.

The Adventure of the Seas has just undergone a refit, adding to the facilities on board, but she is by no means a new ship, built in Finland in 2001. From 2001 she sailed mostly in the Caribbean from Port Juan, in Puerto Rico but for the last couple of years has been based at Southampton for summer cruises, returning to the Caribbean in winter.

At a gross weight of 137,276 tons, she dwarfs those liners I knew all those years ago, and with 15 decks can accommodate 3,144 passengers with 1,180 crew.

A far cry from the liners I knew on scheduled point to point voyages. Yet I still remember them with affection.