I dug out some old pictures from when I hired a helicopter to fly around the SS Norway as she was departing Miami in the early eighties and I put those photos in a new video of Norway. I also used some footage from when I cruised on Norway in early 90's and then finally I through in some video from my last visit to the Norway in 2000 just after I cruised on the Zaandam's inaugural voyage from Ft Lauderdale. I've seen a lot of Norway tribute videos, so I thought I'd mix one up from my own photos and video footage I had. There's video of me climbing the crows nest and visiting the forward engine room. I was much more adventurous in the past than I am today, when it came to climbing and exploring the ships. You can't get away with stuff like that these days. Anyways, here's the video....let me know what you think.

[ 08-31-2010: Message edited by: Ernst ]

As a kid, I have never been more excited about anything than sailing on SS NORWAY. The ship was bigger than life, and met my every expectation and then some.

Attached are a few photos. I can't remember if these are from our first or second sailing on the NORWAY.

Ernie

Me in St. Thomas. Can't see NORWAY but check out Royal Caribbean and Sitmar ships in the background.

Grandmom and my brother. Here you can see NORWAY anchored in St. Thomas.

Grandmom down at the indoor pool. Yes, it was still an indoor pool back then!

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:
Oddly enough, and I know some of you will think this is blasphemy, but I remember walking down the promenade deck the SS Norway and remembering how much it reminded me of the promenade down the Fantasy-class ships of Carnival Cruise Lines, how a lot of the public rooms are located off of one central promenade.

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Originally posted by desirod7:
Most Carnival ships he designed from the Holiday to the early Destiny had the promenade on one side with no windows.

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Although not as uncluttered as the Norway, the Destiny-class do have large windows on their Promenade deck.

The Fantasy-class, depending on the decor, have a nice Promenade with large windows. Here are some pics I took when I was on the Fantasy:

MORE UPDATED PICS HERE

[ 09-01-2010: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

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Originally posted by eroller:
Grandmom down at the indoor pool. Yes, it was still an indoor pool back then!

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Originally posted by Lubber:

Wow; that room looks completely original to the France!

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Yes, in the early years of NORWAY I believe it was virtually unchanged, except for a small gym to the side that was added.

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Originally posted by desirod7:

No, Farcus knows a good idea when he sees one. Most Carnival ships he designed from the Holiday to the early Destiny had the promenade on one side with no windows. It was a circulation pinch point. At that pinch point were bars and shops. Idea is when slowed down, stop off and spend money.

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Early Carnival ships inherited the indoor promenades as they were converted liners (MARDI GRAS, CARNIVALE, and FESTIVALE). I believe CARNIVALE was the first Carnival ship where Joe Farcus was responsible for interior design.

The first newbuild for Carnival, the TROPICALE, also had two indoor promenades running down each side, with lounges in the middle. This was a very traditional approach to ship design, even when TROPICALE was designed.

HOLIDAY was the first Carnival ship to adopt a single, double wide indoor promenade down the starboard side only. I don't believe this was a Carnival "innovation", as I think the practice was adopted from ferry's if I am not mistaken.

The single indoor promenade down one side continues to this day as a Carnival design trait, and is found on all their current ships.

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Originally posted by LeBarryboat:
Ernie, what a blast from the past....were you into ships back then too? You're lucky to have cruised with family back then. I could never get my family (my parents and brother) to go on a cruise when I was kid....in fact we still have never all been on a cruise together. As a family we went to visit ships like the Queen Mary in Long Beach, the Norway in Miami and the SS United States in Norfolk, but they just wouldn't book a cruise.

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I was very much into ships back then. Ever since my parents took their first cruise on the CARNIVALE back in 1976 and brought back souvenirs, pictures, etc. I wanted to go.

As a kid I used to hit all the travel agents for brochures and study the deck plans endlessly. I would head up to NY every chance I could to visit ships during their turnaround day. It was great fun. I was also into whatever ocean liners books I could find. It was much harder back then without the internet, and often times I felt I was the only person in the world that had an interest in passenger ships. It just wasn't very common.

I took my first cruise in 1977 I believe, and I was hooked for life you could say.

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Originally posted by eroller:

As a kid I used to hit all the travel agents for brochures and study the deck plans endlessly. I would head up to NY every chance I could to visit ships during their turnaround day. It was great fun. I was also into whatever ocean liners books I could find. It was much harder back then without the internet, and often times I felt I was the only person in the world that had an interest in passenger ships. It just wasn't very common.

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Originally posted by nycruiser:
Other boys my age played sports I drew deck plans and created ships of my own! Of course looking back at those drawings the ships I drew were not very well thought out but I was 11 or 12!

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Too funny. I did the exact same thing! I have kept the ships I designed and it's fun to look back on them. My designs were not practical, but who wants practical anyway when the creative mind is at work! LOL I drew a lot of inspiration from NORMANDIE and my ship designs had some very grand foyers and corridors ... some to put NORMANDIE to shame if you can believe it.

Oh well, one can dream.

My early 'cruising' was only done on ferries & day trips on sea, river & lake, such as the old Clyde paddle steamers. The closest that I came to a cruise ship was flying over the QE2 as she was being built. The love of ships stuck with me though. It seems to be a common & rather contagious malady!

She rarely smoked or spoke French at home yet here she was having faced-paced conversations w/new friends My dad and I (my brother was at camp in California) stuck together and he took me on several long tours of the ship they first sailed 6-years earlier.

[ 09-02-2010: Message edited by: lasuvidaboy ]

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Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
Thanks for posting this Barry! My first trip on the ship was in 1968 when I was a little boy. I do remember some details about the trip such as the weather (choppy and cold) and my mom smoking and speaking French w/the crew and passengers.

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Originally posted by LeBarryboat:

I've also heard that those who crossed on France appreciate the decor on the SS Norway better.

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I've heard the same thing. When NORWAY was first introduced, she had a beautiful, cohesive design. Yes she looked 80's but it was the early 80's! All in all she was a class act. There was nothing garish or tacky about her.

In the beginning, even her casino looked more like a club, with a large bar and center lounge area, and only slot machines. I also loved the Lido Lounge and Bar before it was changed to Le Bistro.

Over the years NCL performed a hodge podge of "upgrades" to the ship, and many were less than flattering and compromised her original cohesive decor.

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Originally posted by miamicruiser:
I think the Norway started to look dated by the early to mid 90's..................Perhaps NCL should have hired the same firm that did the interior designs for the refit in 79-80 (Donghia??) to come up with something new to keep the ship looking fresh. Instead what the ship ended up with was a repainted disco in Golden Girls teal and pink which by the 90's was already out of style (unless you lived in a Florida hi-rise condo that catered to mainly retired ladies), a butt-ugly Bistro that looked like something on stage in a high school play, a strip mall version of a Sports Bar.............................changes made were not needed and looked worse that what was originally there. What was so wrong with Checkers Cabaret? I can always go to a sports bar here at home. Anyway, in my opinion the glamour she had sadly ended with those refits.

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