Cruising The Past Cruise News

Onboard such famous trains as the California Zephyr, Super Chief, Sunset Limited, Lark, 20th Century Limited, Pullman porters served millions of passengers from 1867 to 1968. They provided first-class train service in Pullman sleeping cars. The accommodations ranged from sections (upper and lower births), roomettes, bedrooms, compartments to drawing rooms. ... Read More »

During the mid-80s, Michael Grace was a regularity writer on the TV Hit Series The Love Boat. He wrote many of the two-hour special featuring great stars of the past including Lana Turner, Claire Trevor, Anne Baxter, Ethel Merman, Alexis Smith, etc. The public’s access to these stars, in familiar ... Read More »

A sailing day meant excitement for the Alaska Steamship Company liners. Here is the SS Alaska sailing from Seattle in 1952. A look at the final days of the Alaska Steamship Company with a history of the famous organization that provided passenger service to the far north. A fond farewell. ... Read More »

From the 1930s until his death in 1966, a self-proclaimed hedonist, he was the image of a celebrity. An author, journalist, historian, raconteur, gourmet, and bon vivant extraordinary – this amazing personality was one of the first gay men to have a publicly open relationship.   Columnist Walter Winchell called ... Read More »

At one time, cruise ships were large but not gigantic. Now the newer ones are monsters at sea. If you’ve ever seen one in action, you’ll understand why: A vessel like Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas is longer than 12 blue whales. At 228k gross tons, it is 5x the size ... Read More »

Thirty-four years on Market Street, then destroyed by greedy developers and political hacks. Sound familiar? When the Fox Theater was built in 1929, it seemed as if there weren’t enough adjectives to describe the movie theater’s magnificence. The San Francisco Chronicle called the opening “a spectacle of such beauty and ... Read More »

Along with The Daily Kos, I was party to a significant decision for bloggers and free speech rights. The 2007 U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) found that political blogs and bloggers are media for the purposes of U.S. Electoral Law. Suddenly blogs were media and for the past thirteen years, ... Read More »

In a desperate act, Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil Entertainment filed for protection from creditors in Canada on Monday after the COVID-19 pandemic. It forced it to close shows around the world, triggering a fight for control of one of the best-known brands in live performance. The company said it entered ... Read More »

In 1930 the Canadian Pacific’s trans-pacific service reached its zenith with the introduction of the magnificent RMS Empress of Japan. The only way to cruise the Pacific during the 1930s. She was a very handsome ship and had magnificent interiors that now are associated with the Empress liners of the Canadian ... Read More »

The GORDON C. GREENE sailed south on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers – from Cincinnati to New Orleans and back. Over 70 years ago.  When times were much different. The cruise cost $220 or about ten dollars a day  Capt. Mary Greene – co-owner of the Greene Line, and for ... Read More »