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Author Archives: Michael Grace

Crystal Cruises NEW CRUISE-SHIP SS UNITED STATES

Crystal Cruises plans to resurrect what was once America’s largest, speediest, and most glamorous passenger ship. It wasn’t that long ago that we made the bold claim that “Crystal Cruises may change cruising as we know it”—and it looks like the luxury cruise line isn’t slacking. On the heels of ... Read More »

1952 Blizzard Snared the streamliner City of San Francisco… a Train in Its Frigid Grip

For three days, its 226 passengers and crew were cut off as rescuers struggled to dig them out. Help arrived just as hope began to dim. Great video on the train trapped by the blizzard… It was late Sunday morning, Jan. 13, 1952, and the Southern Pacific streamliner City of ... Read More »

Cruising There Is Half The Fun…

These fascinating images show the golden age of cruising where lavish balls, tug-of-war on the deck and working out in suits appeared to be the order of the day. Shuffleboard on board British India in the 1960s… The development of steam ships in the 19th century led to ever more ... Read More »

1930s – The SS Europa crossing the pond…

The SS Europa (later the French Line SS Liberté) was one of a pair of fast ocean liners built in the late nineteen-twenties for the Norddeutsche Lloyd line (NDL) for the transatlantic passenger service. Her sister ship was the Bremen, and the two were very similar, though not identical. Come ... Read More »

PASSENGER LISTS – Judy Garland is on board the SS United States

Judy Garland is on the passenger list and its the Captain’s Dinner Night on the SS United States… And it is the one night that Judy Garland left her stateroom. Pictured: Sid Luff and his wife Judy Garland with a friend John Carlyle at right. 1956 1st Class Dining Room – ... Read More »

1952 – The Wreck of the Princess Kathleen

The final moments of the Canadian Pacific small liner SS PRINCESS KATHLEEN on September 7th, 1952. The Princess Kathleen sails to Alaska. The Canadian Pacific Line’s 6,000-ton Princess Kathleen, queen of Alaskan liners, was 18 miles from Juneau on the last trip of the season from Vancouver, B.C. to Skagway, Alaska. ... Read More »

“LUSCIOUS” LUCIUS BEEBE IN NEW YORK SOCIAL DIARY…

“LUSCIOUS” LUCIUS BEEBE by Michael L. Grace…  New York Columnist Lucius Beebe: A Real ‘Dandy’… From the 1930s until his death in 1966, Lucius Beebe was the image of celebrity. An author, journalist, historian, raconteur, gourmet and bon vivant extraordinary – this extraordinary personality was one of the first gay ... Read More »

David Bowie, with a fear of flying, sailed on many liners and cruise-ships.

British pop legend, David Bowie (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016), who starred in the film The Man Who Fell to Earth, had a long-standing fear of flying. Bowie sailed aboard Cunard’s QE 2, the Italian Line’s Leonardo da Vinci and P&O-Orient Line’s Oronsay. So while other superstars would take ... Read More »

The Electroliner… 90 MILES PER HOUR… FROM MILWAUKEE TO CHICAGO…

The North Shore Line’s Electroliners was the interurban’s last gasp at retaining its passenger traffic, which had been slowly withering away since after 1910. For most street railway and interurban lines the coming of the automobile put an end to an industry that was just a few decades old.  The ... Read More »

French Lines’s SS De Grasse was the liner that represented France after World War 2…

The De Grasse was the first French merchant ship to restore the North Atlantic service after World War 2. The repairs and refurbishment took close to two years, but when the De Grasse returned to service in the summer of 1947, she was an almost entirely new ship. Upon her arrival ... Read More »