Just cruisin'

August 18, 1953

We got cool weather last night – not cold but just comfortable.

Had German class this morning.

This afternoon went to the movie with some of the boys – “Love Hand” with Joel McCrae.

Had a benefit Bingo game tonight for Koreans.  Went but didn’t stay very long.  We lose another hour tonight.

Our route:

When we left N.Y. we set our course due East on an azimuth of 90° to take advantage of the Gulf Stream – currently increases our normal speed some – about 725 miles out of N. Y. – 47^th° of longitude West of Greenwich – changes course to ENE – now headed straight for Eng.  Between 10 AM and 2 PM Friday morning should see Bishop’s Rock in the Scilly Group – light house to guide ships into English Channel.  Go along South coast of Eng. past Isle of Wight to Dover.  Reach Dover about 8 or 9 Saturday morning.  Go close in to pick up pilot for North Sea and see the white cliffs.  In North Sea go along northern coast of Belgium and Netherlands to the estuary of the Weser River – 18 miles up this is Bremerhaven – land 23^rd about 10 AM.  (Ok, so I'm certain she copied this from something she got on the ship.  I can't even imagine Mother using the word "azimuth".  And just WTH does "azimuth" mean anyway??

August 19, 1953

When leaving German class this morning we had a boat drill.  Went up to my deck and found the door to our compartment already closed.  Had to wander around until I could find a stairwell to get there.  Then we put on our life preservers and stay in cabin until told to go to life boat stations.

Lost another hour last night.

Had a dance tonight.  Now I know how a drunk must feel dancing.  It’s terrible dancing on a rolling ship.  (Speaking from experience, that's exactly how a drunk feels dancing, Mother!)

They also had a beauty contest – boys & girls dressed up in costumes.  Most entertaining.  Served coffee at the dance.  Let us stay up until 12 o’clock.

August 20, 1953

Hit the waters going into the English Channel about dinner time tonight, and we are really rolling.  In the lounge you could be sitting one place one minute and half way across the room the next.  Going down the steps is really rough – if you are going down and the ship rolls that way you fly the rest of the way down.  One end of our cabin in part of the side of the ship, and you can hear the waves hit.  Sometimes it sounds like they are coming right on in.

This morning Barbara and I decided to do some washing – we have a Burdix – the first one put out.  We put our clothes in and it spun them immediately.  Then it proceeded to go through the whole washing and drying process two times.  I thought we would never get them out.

Lose another hour tonight.

Cig are $1 a carton on board ship.

August 21, 1953

Finally sighted land about 8:30 this morning – Bishop’s Rock [small island in the Isles of Scilly; has only enough room for a lighthouse].  But we could hardly see it.  About 11 o’clock we really saw land – Land’s End [located on the Penwith peninsula southwest of Penzance; the extreme westerly point of the English mainland, as opposed to the online store Land's End].  We are supposed to pick up a Pilot at Dover at 6 o’clock tomorrow morning, so we are having to slow down in order not to get there too soon.

The water is calmer now, but it certainly was rough last night.  Not many people got a lot of sleep because we were all trying to stay in our bunks.  I kept sliding from top to bottom.

Just had our medical inspection.

There are about 20 officers aboard and about 10 or 20 crew members who can associate with us.  Most of them are married, but we have fun anyway.

Have seen several boats out today.  Sho is nice to see something besides water again.

There are right many North Carolinians aboard – about 6 girls, 2 officers and 2 or 3 crew members.  It’s nice to hear someone who can really talk and can be understood instead of trying to understand all these Yankees and Westerners.  (Years later, when we lived in New Jersey, she always complained about how she couldn't understand anyone there!  LOL)

Tonight they closed off the compartment doors and have an MP guarding them on each side.  This is purely a precaution because we are going through waters that still have some mines floating around.

Tonight we had a dance.  Due to the shortage of men, it was a girl break.  Still it was fun.  It is really something to watch people dance on a rolling ship – one minute everybody will be on one side of the floor and the next minute they have all slid to the other side.  Also it is something to do the bunny hop and the Mexican hat dance on a rolling ship.  (Too bad they didn't have video cameras in those days.  It would have been a hoot to watch her do the bunny hop and the Mexican hat dance.)

August 22, 1953

We got up before 5:30 this morning to see the “White Cliffs of Dover”.  It was well worth it too.  They really are beautiful and white.  We could also see the town and the harbor.  You could also see some of the ships that were sunk during World War II.

This is where the pilot came on board.  He came bobbing out on a little boat and climbed up a little ladder thrown over the side.

It is at the point here where the channel swimmers cross.  You can see England on one side and France on the other side.

Then this morning we changed our money for Military Script.  We also got debarkation information.  There was a communion service this morning because people will be debarking all day tomorrow.

There is one girl in the dispensary.  She fell climbing into the top bunk and has a slight fracture.

Then yesterday one girl dropped her papers over board – passport, travelers checks, etc.

There is also a man in the dispensary.  He had to have an appendectomy the other morning.  It was the day before we started rolling so badly.  (Good thing they weren't cutting on him the day they were rolling!)

This afternoon Joan and I went up to the bridge and took some pictures.  They have a man on the wheel now because we are close into shore and there are lots of ships around.  We also went into the radio room.  We heard some French music over the radio.

Tonight was the captain’s dinner and it certainly was good – fillet and all the trimmings.

Tomorrow is the big day.  Kind of hate the leave the old ship.  It has begun to feel like home.

August 23, 1953

Well, we finally landed.  We picked up our pilot about 7:30 right inside of the harbor.  Three tugs pulled us in.  The America is docked right behind us.

A band played as we docked.  It is all very exciting.  Right now we are waiting to be called for processing.

I am going to Straubing.  It is about 60 or 70 miles from Munich – N.E.  It is in Bavaria and is near Austria, Czechoslovakia, Italy and Switzerland.  Hildie Jergen, one of my cabin mates, is going too.  We are the only 2.

They took us on buses to a school in Bremerhaven [located on the River Weser] this afternoon for a meeting.  (The rest of the time we had to stay on board.)  That was the first teacher’s meeting I have ever been to that was ¾ about how to act around liquor.  (If only she had known then that this would be important information to have to live in the land of parties.)

We boarded a tug at 6:45.  German porters took our baggage.  The trains are very small.  There are all compartments – 2 in each one.  The compartments are very small and funny.  (I have a top bunk again.)  Barbara and Ruth and I talked to the schoffence (I have no idea if this is a real word or just her bad handwriting) for a long time trying to learn some German.  (Kinda late in the game to be trying to learn some German, dontcha think, Mother?)

Everything looks so different and the people look so different.

The streets are cobblestones.

We go to Nurnberg [also spelled Nuremberg; they seem to be interchangeable] and change there.  Then we go to Munich for another meeting.  The train will take until about 1 o’clock.  The part that we saw of Bremerhaven looked very old and quaint.

(Barbara is going to Nurnberg.)

We saw some streetcars.  There seemed to be 3 hooked together and they are very narrow.

Everything on this train is written in German.  (Um, duh.  You're in Germany!  LOL)  On the mirror in the bathroom is “Pepsodent mit Irium.”

Whenever Mother talked about the ship crossing, she never spoke of it in glowing terms.  I think at that point, she was just as happy to never have to go on a ship again in her entire life.  And I don't think she actually did either.  Maybe if she had gone on a real cruise, she would have felt differently.

I, on the other hand, love cruising.  Of course, I've only gone on two!

My first cruise was a radio station-sponsored cruise.  94Q, the big top 40 station in Atlanta in the 70's and 80's, sponsored cruises every year - The 94Q Love Boat cruise, they called it.  The morning show team went on the cruise and there were tons of activities just for the people from Atlanta.  It was always on a Carnival cruise ship, which had tons of party activities already, but 94Q added more, just for us.  The ports of call were almost beside the point.

The cruise experience started even before the cruise, with a party at a local bar just to get people excited for the trip.  It was at this party that I found out that an old boyfriend was going to be on the cruise.  Jimmy McGuffey.  What a piece of work.  He was one of those party animals that also fancied himself quite the ladies man.  As if.  Our relationship had ended after I found out he was also dating a coworker of mine.  So needless to say, I was not looking forward to running into him on the ship.  But I was also just as determined to have a great time.

I remember later, after I'd been back about a month, talking to someone else who had gone on a cruise who described it as being like a seven day drunk.  Hell, it WAS a seven day drunk!  You really forget that you have to pay for all those margaritas and mai tais that you snatch up during the "at sea" days or any other time you're just on the ship.  And then all the 94Q parties had free booze, so it was a never ending party experience.

I had a great time, met a lot of fun people, and never once had to interact with Jimmy McGuffey.  The nice part of being on a ship with nearly 2,000 people.

My second cruise was with my ex-husband.  I had to really play down the fact that I wanted to go on a cruise, because that was exactly the thing that would typically cause him to want to do something else.  He didn't like for me to "get my own way", so if I acted like a cruise was something I really wanted to do, we would not have done it.  Unfortunately, we had less than ideal weather - kind of like the rolling sea that Mother experienced on her ocean crossing - and I would never go on another cruise again.