Cunards new Queen

[Les Woodard]

Was finally thinking about doing a cruise but not on one of those monstrosities. Looked up cargo cruises and what I found was great. No set itinerary as depends on ships route for cargo. That was a tic for me. Not much in the way of intertainment. Another tic for me. Price about au$70 a day. Another big tic for this black duck. Then the cruncher came as always. Not for anyone over the age of 80. That tore the crutch out of this little blacks undies for sure. But just wondered if any others on site had tried this avenue of cruising. Myself I think I will be considering the Spirit of Tasmania as all I want is the recollection of being on board a moving ship without all the fecking bells and whistles.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

HI Les.
Good luck what ever you choose, I think I am past it now; though I look at the Spirit of Tasmania with longing eyes.
Des

[j.sabourn]

#51 That very cheap Les $70 ( Aus) in 1967 on the Sunprincess an old liberty ship the price was $100 (US) a day . All double berth cabins , if on lonesome and wanted to stay so, was $ 200 ( US) a day. The run was Montreal , Quebec , Halifax, sometimes Puerto Rico, Bermuda ,the Virgin Islands , Trinidad, similar coming back with the addittion of Port Alfred up the Saguenay River off the St. Lawrence to discarge Bauxite from Chagaramus Trinidad.
Nearly always retired people as passengers. 6 week round trip. JS.

[j.sabourn]

#52 Hi Des your mention of the Spirit of Tasmania brings back a memory which believe have told before. Offshore work in the 1990s was 6 weeks on and 6 weeks off. For the first couple of years out here I was mainly working out of Dampier and ports further North.As you also know crews were supplied by different unions the seaman’s union, the engineers union , the mates and masters union or better known as the Guild, and the catering union.
With having 6 on and 6 off allowed one to stay on same ship for longer. One trip had a seaman supplied through the seaman’s union who was ex Spirit of Tasmania and think it was one of a very few ships had been on. He was like a love sick cow as missed his girlfriend who was a stewardess on the ferry. He was way out of his depth on an offshore working ship and kept on at me to pay him off. This would maybe have caused problems with union and shipowner who at the best of times were never called friends when it came to conditions. In the finish I paid him off and put him on a plane and sent him home ,if I had asked for permission he would never have got off. So as said did it and told those responsible after the act. He thanked me profusely. Love is a many splendoured thing on the Spirit of Tasmania it appeared. Cheers JS

[happy daze john in oz]

Moving the ferry to Geelong from Melbourne may be good for trade in Geelong.
However for Melbourne it has been a disaster for some.
Loss of tourist trade with one major restaurant now closed.
Pandemic slowed it all down, but the ferry move killed it off.
Now apart from cruise ships during the September to Early May season Port Melbourne is very quiet and somewhat sad looking.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi the Two Johns.
That.s what pisses me off, with all the millions of tons of exports from Aus no shipping line, we send billions of tons of coal, Iron ore, and dairy products overseas all on foreign ships. That is why I get incensed whenever an Australian politician accuses Chine; on American say so to allow free access for ships in the South China seas, China is just about the only country that sends its ships through there. we have bloody none. And so far I have not heard of one ship being stopped by China from accessing the South China seas
Des

[happy daze john in oz]

Des, there was a time when we did have some.
Think the last to go was ANL or something like that.

From speaking with people down at the Sea Mans Mission in Port Melbourne and with a few I know in gov departments, my brother in law was in the tax office, the problem here was cost.
Wages go so high that there was little profit in some shipping.

Dock side union problems also contributed to the demise of ANL.

But like UK and a few others we rely now on overseas shipping companies to take our exports, and bring our imports.
But we still have high import costs, the ones who work the cranes have been given a 24% pay rise over the next four years beginning with 8% this year.

I might add thta the largest cran company here in Melbourne, and moist likely all other ports here in a Mid Eastern owned one, think they are in Dubai or similar

[j.sabourn]

Re ANL believe may have mentioned before with their names but at the moment can’t remember what they were called . The first was a chief steward died about 5 years ago and knew him from membership of a universal well known charitable Association. He started his sea life as bell boy on the Queen Mary about 1948. The other was the full time skipper of the Leeuwin the STS and was asked during my leave in between ships to go as volunteer to make the number up of professional seafarers required for safety reasons .He was a retired master out of ANL. A bit different under sail than power and it opened my eyes to the peace and serenity of our predecessors at sea. The only paid persons on the Leeuwin were the/master, cook, and engineer/motor mechanic for the small engine on deck to get in and out of port. Cheers JS

[Johnny Kieran]

It's simply about making fatcats fatter, they own and run the shipping lines.
Shipping was fine until the sixties, when the shipowners got wise and hunkered up to bolliticians in order to change their status to fatcats. Why pay an AB £500 a week, when he can get one for a tenner? A British shipowner doesn't think like a British seaman, like, how do I pay the rent for my wife and kids, or feed em and clothe em does he. The P&O ferries debacle was a fine example.
I wonder how many fatcats think of their country as their duty to support.

[John Blackwood]

She is due in Liverpool on the 3rd June. This is supposed to be her official naming ceremony. Hope to go down to see her from Wallasey.

This is her itinerary for her visit to Liverpool.

https://www.visitliverpool.com/whats...ming-ceremony/

Hi James was an impressive sight in Liverpool, still look too top heavy for me not sleak like old queens, i live in wallasey too