I am probably more of a sailor than a cruiser. I have been stationed on 3 US Navy ships in the 80's, and two cruise ships. I would prefer being more of a cruiser, because sailors work too damn hard for me. But I so loved the sea, there was nothing like being on the fantail of the USS LOCKWOOD (FF-1064) while she sailed across the Indian Ocean at top speed (35-40 knots), in a choppy sea. But then something about lying around the pool on an RCCL ship, plying oneself with food and drink off the Mexican coastline too. It has been almost eight years since I set foot on the deck of ANY type of ship, after I got out of the Navy, I wanted nothing else to do with the sea, but my interest was piqued again a couple of years ago when I saw a documentary on the NORWAY. Now I can't wait to go on another cruise...

I had thought about joining the Merchant Marine, but I like living in one place now and I am too set in my ways to take orders from anyone anymore - I can't even watch TOP GUN without cringing....

Hope I have answered your question...

As much as I love being at sea, I never really considered staying in the Navy or shipping out with the Merchant service. But spending long periods as a passenger DOES appeal to me, I just wish I could afford it.

Say, can you reveal the top speed of Enterprise, or maybe event the cruising speed? I was once told that Enterprise could do eighty knots....is that true?

I have nattered unmercifully in these pages about "voyages" on the French-flag Messageries Maritimes lines, while stationed in SE Asia.

The line ran three ships in "express services" between Marseilles and Yokohama. We took voyage-segments between Bombay and Saigon; Saigon and Yokohama; Hong Kong and Bangkok; and othe combinations.

We found as fellow passengers, French Civil Servants and schoolteachers being "posted" to (South) Vietnam; the French Ambassador to (North) Vietnam; other diplomats, executives, and occasionally package-tourists of US and UK travel companies, who booked segment-passages for guests, typically between Hong Kong and Singapore.

I say a different category because the voyages were not cruises in the sense we see in these postings. They transported people and their goods and chattels between ports from Europe to Asia. Indian civil servants chatted it up with Pakistani businessmen; French expats from Djibouti compared notes with rubber execs in Vietnam; and it differed from the typical "cruise" as day is from night.

Then, the postings here of hard-working "sailors" point to another example. They recall memorable maritime experiences in the "Gray Funnel Line"

As a "officer passenger" in the latter days of WWII, on the USNS "Blatchford," one of the most memorable sights I can remember was silently ghosting past the ominous dark bulk of Guadacanal at perhaps 14 knots, under full blackout in glassy calm seas, and watching scores of flying fishes diving ahead of the ship's wake reflected in a full moon.

This made we want to undertake ocean travel for pleasure some day - and I did!

I was only on Enterprise about six months at the very end of my enlistment. I worked on navigation equipment. The actual top speed is classified and I was never privy to that information. Friends in the engineering department told me unofficially that it was about 65-70 knots. As I said, I don't really know the true answer.

Vulcania:

If you finish that book on the P-2's, I'll buy one. My dad spent most of my childhood on P-2's. My favorite (and I think his) was the General Sultan. We have photos of him and my brother John (Jr.) together on that ship. Dad was one of the first engineers (they had one for each engine room and there were two) and my brother was a U.S Navy Medical Corpsman stationed onboard. Among others my dad sailed were the Gordon, Barret, and Richardson.

My brother Bill also sailed on the Barret as a merchant seaman for a few cruises. AS I said, I'd love to get a copy of the book.

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Originally posted by sympatico:
I am the cruiser, my husband was the sailor - he came from a long line of sailors, but he himself only spent 2 summers in the Canadian Navy, while in University, on a frigate. He loved the sea and that is why we started cruising back in '81. Bet he's cruising up in heaven! He always said take my ashes on a cruise and spread them in the ocean. I just couldn't do that.

[This message has been edited by sympatico (edited 10-06-2000).]

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However,the down side to his tales came from my grandmother.It seems that many was the time she and other "sea" wives would stand at the end of the jetty(I think that was the word she used)at the height of a storm,watching and waiting for any sign of their men and hoping the ship wouldn't be dashed onto the rocks!
Needless to say,she was very relieved when Grandpa finally gave up going to sea and became a land-lubber!!

The closest I ever got to becoming a "sailor" was when I joined the local Sea Cadets as a junior ship's writer...I just adored the uniform!!(sigh)

Just sign me a sea lover!!

I loved the peace and serenity that being in the middle of a body of water seems to bring. As I got older cruising seemed to be a natural progression (and no need to varnish).

I also spent quite a bit of time in the 80s and 90s working on and around submarines (do they count?)

My background is in underwater acoustics, so it's rather obvious that I spend lots of time in and under the ocean. I caught the cruising bug in 1990 -- when we went to Alaska on REGENT SUN -- now there was a ship that I loved!

Your post grabbed my attention because when I was stationed aboard USNS Michelson in the early 70's, I was nominally responsible for a very sophisticated sonar array system that was being used to make detailed relief maps of the ocean bottom. I say nominally because there were never any problems requiring my intervention.

James

Quick anecdote related to life on the sea... I was at ellis island in ny and saw an exhibit that showed a merchant seamen's handbook open to a certain page with pictures of flags (various signaling and national banners). It stirred a memory so deep that it literally shook me from head to toe. I remembered that as a child (maybe 5-6 years old, I am 43 now) I had looked at a book that had a page just like the one in the exhibit. My father was a merchant seaman back in the 1940's and the book I remembered looking at was his. When I returned from NY, I related the story to my father (he is 74) and we had a wonderful conversation regarding his time at sea and I learned about a lot of things I had never known about him. Although I had always known about his time on liberty ships, it was something we had never discussed in such depth.

Ryndam

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Originally posted by jmperry1:
Hi Bugsykitty:

Your post grabbed my attention because when I was stationed aboard USNS Michelson in the early 70's, I was nominally responsible for a very sophisticated sonar array system that was being used to make detailed relief maps of the ocean bottom. I say nominally because there were never any problems requiring my intervention.

James

[This message has been edited by jmperry1 (edited 10-14-2000).]

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Hello James,

I've worked 20 years for the US Navy. Now I'm just a "policy wonk" -- getting too old to climb rope ladders onto DDGs, and to make the boat transfer to boomers and attack boats -- but I had fun for many years.

Early on, I did some under ice research, and spent 5 weeks on top of an ice camp 150 miles north of Barter Island. I spent lots of years working with some great people at Plessey, Honeywell, Marconi, Loral and BAe on a joint program with the UK. I did a tour at OPNAV setting requirements for new mine clearing sonars. Then, five years of certifying ASWCS (if you have to ask, you probably wouldn't want to know what it means <vbg> ). Since 1999, I've been out of the sonar business and having fun with no more travel requirements.

I love working for the Navy; the people are incredibly dedicated, and bright. The young sailors are some of the most intelligent young people I have had the pleasure of working with; my senior chief who supported me as fleet liaison for two years was a true joy (and he taught me all those wonderful salty sayings that are no longer politically correct, but OH SO ACCURATE!!).

That's probably why I love to cruise these days; it is my last connection with the sea since I now just work in an office. No more trips on SSNs, SSBNs, DDGs and CGs.