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| Arandora Star |
Adapted by her owners, the Blue Star line, for pleasure cruising, the
Arandora Star takes a limited number of passengers on long or short voyages to
some of the most attractive regions in the world.
HIGH above the Thames, on one of
London's tall buildings, there flashes nightly from an electric sign the words
"Arandora Star"- conjuring up to the minds of toilers in the great city the vision of a
ship that might transport them to the far-off pleasure grounds of the world.
Cruising is not a new recreation, but appreciation of it has grown enormously
in recent years, and it is no longer a pastime confined only to the wealthy.
Many a fine passenger liner is now sent cruising when traffic conditions
warrant her release from other duties; but some fleets include ships that are
specially
intended for long pleasure
voyages to all parts of the globe. in to this category falls the Arandora Star,
the famous cruise-ship of the Blue Star Line.
Her graceful white hull, with its
distinctive funnels, bearing their blue star emblems, gives promise of a
comfortable home to ensure the happiest of headquarters from which to see the
world or such delightful portions of it as time and circumstances will permit. Having
been adapted solely for the purpose of carrying out the Iuxury cruises that
have made her famous, the distinctive appearance of the Arandora Star has been
increased by the suppression of one- mast. A striking feature of the ship's
exterior is the amount of absolute clear deck space available for recreation.
On the Upper Games Deck, flanking
the forward funnel, are two enclosed spaces reserved for deck quoits. Abaft the
after funnel is the court on which Padder tennis is played, and right aft is
the lounge gallery, extending the full width of the ship (65 feet), and
overlooking the Games and Sun Deck. E deck is the largest and most important of
the five main decks in the ship, and it is 410 feet long. Right forward is a
glass screen which, extending aft a short way on either side, affords shelter
to those resting on the Sun Deck. Here are to be found easy chairs and
refreshments. .
A tour of the Arandora Star in 1932
On the after part of the Sun Deck, under the shadow of the navigating bridge, is the gymnasium, where "the daily dozen" can be done with the aid of a number of mechanical" animals" and energy evoking devices. The animals comprise a pair of "horses" and a couple of " camels "-electrically operated to simulate galloping, cantering or just riding. Riding, too, can be undertaken on cycles-and the cycles work their own pointers on a "clock" facing the riders. No cycle can move (there are no wheels), but by dint of energetic pedalling against the pull of a revolving disk one pointer can be made to beat the other to the post, and the best man or girl wins.
There are also rowing machines
where the robust can pull" against the tide" for hours on end. Punch
balls, boxing gloves, Indian clubs, foils, vibro-massage machines are all there
for those who prefer something more strenuous than an easy chair on the Sun
Deck.
Proceeding aft along broad
promenade decks to port or starboard, we pass special single staterooms,
ideally situated in this cool position and reach the great open space of the
after Games Deck, with its tennis courts flanked, high up, by large motor
launches under their special automatic davits. These launches serve as tenders
between ship and shore in foreign ports.
Below the after rail of the Games
Deck is the open air swimming pool, tiled in azure blue and flood-lit for the
night bathing to be enjoyed in the warmth of distant seas. On either side of
the pool are sun-bathing divans and large gaily coloured umbrellas. Then
immediately aft of the pool is the Lido , with
still more divans for those who, whether they have bathed or not, are content
to rest awhile and watch.
Below the Games Deck is the
Promenade, or D Deck, with spacious single staterooms forward. The promenades
stretch right aft, ending at a writing- room and lounge on the port side and a
cardroom to starboard. At the forward end of the promenade are two glass side- screens
and between the two screened spaces is a fine lounge and music-room, with a
double staircase leading to the main entrance on C Deck below. Adjoining the
lounge is a passenger lift to the other decks amidships. On this deck is the
smoking-room, designed and furnished on a lavish scale.
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| Arandora Star on a playing card |
Adjoining the smoking-room is the
ballroom, which also contains a large stage and a screen for the display of the
latest talking films. A beautiful place, too, is this ballroom, with a perfect floor
and decorations carried out in green and ivory. Here are held most of the
dances, concerts and other entertainments that are linked with social life on
board.
Below the Promenade Deck is C
Deck, comprising for the most part staterooms and private suites along cither
side of the ship, with the main entrance hall, the bureau, purser's office,
shop, ladies' and gentlemen's hairdressing saloons, and other departments along
the centre line.
From the entrance hall down the main
staircase is the foyer on B Deck. The foyer leads to the magnificent Louis XIV
Restaurant where the whole of the passenger complement is served with a meal at
one sitting. Further staterooms are situated on
A Deck.
The passenger list is limited in
the Arandora Star to about 375 people. Consequently the ship is not overcrowded
and the staterooms are large and ex exceptionally well equipped. There are no
bunks; sprung beds are the rule and every room is furnished with dressing-
tables, wardrobes, cane easy chairs, carpets, hot and cold water supply
electric light and fans and punkah louvre ventilation. Many staterooms are
intercommunicating and have private bathrooms.
On the lowest passenger deck-A
Deck-are yet more staterooms, bath- rooms and a special room for ladies'
hairdressing. Among other services at the passengers' disposal is a bureau
where trips ashore are arranged, a library, a fully-equipped laundry, a
photographic department with dark-room, and a complete valeting service.
Crossing the Line
Equipped with geared turbine-driven
twin screws, the Arandora Star has a speed of 15 knots-a comfortable cruising
speed with no vibration. The cruises range the Seven Seas, south across the
Line with fitting ceremony and a visit from Neptune .
Or the ship may be northward-bound for the wonderlands of Scandinavia , Iceland
The somewhat unusual history of
the Blue Star fleet is an interesting story of commercial ambition and
enterprise. The line was founded to carry the refrigerated products of the
Union Cold Storage Company from its far-distant refrigerating centres to the markets of Great Britain and of Europe .
Both storage company and steamship line are to-day enormous concerns employing
thousands of people, but at one stage in its career the Blue Star fleet had
ambitions on its own account. It paid increasing attention to passenger traffic
and now, in addition to cargo carrying, the Blue Star Line maintains a service
of fast steamers and motorships between London , Brazil , the River Plate, Australia and New Zealand
In development of the passenger
trade the company decided to inaugurate a cruising service all the year round, and
for this purpose the Arandora Star was suitably altered.
Cruises are varied in their
duration. A voyage to Honolulu may take
seventy-five days, but a trip to the fjords of Norway Britain Honolulu cruise of the Arandora Star touches on the ports
where Drake was wont to call -cities of the Spanish Main .
We can, with a little imagination, follow this cruise, starting in mid-winter
from Southampton . First we cruise down the
English Channel, round Cape Finisterre, and
across the Bay of Biscay to our firs!' port of call, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in
the Canary Islands.
We have put more than 1,500 miles
of sea between our floating home and the great docks of Southampton .
and sea and sky have changed-grey to blue, steely chill to the warmth of sub-tropical waters
where native divers plunge to the clear depths. Above the port there towers the
great peak of Tenerife
The island of Trinidad is the
next objective and here, off Port of Spain, we stay for most of a day and night
before steaming north through the blue waters of the Caribbean to Grenada. Off
this lovely island, with its palm trees and its attractive scenery, we pause
for eight brief hours and then steam on to Cristobal. gateway to one of man's
mightiest achievements - the
At Balboa we stay for thirteen
hours before the ship steams westward again, to the Hawaiian
Islands . Enchanted islands these, with golden beaches,
palm-fringed, that run down to meet a sapphire sea. Overhead stretches the
wonderful blue dome of the sky and everywhere are seen a thousand kinds of
tropical flowers-an unforgettable kaleidoscope of colour.
The very name of Honolulu
are spent at Honolulu-time in
which to visit the wonderful pineapple plantations, and to snatch an hour or
two for a trip by aeroplane to the neighbouring island of Maui
Voyage of 22,000 Miles
Even Honolulu must be left at last
and the steamer sets out for the Golden Gate of San Francisco
Then begins the homeward voyage, down
the coast of Lower California, skirting the south - western coast of North
America to Panama Venezuela ) and Barbados
and then steam steadily eastward to Madeira .
Finally the run home brings us on an April morning to Southampton Water and to
a scene vastly different from that we left two and a half months earlier.
Winter has given place to spring. Fit and bronzed, we look forward to the
wonder of an English summer after a voyage of 22,000 miles.
That is but one of the cruises
that are accomplished regularly by the Arandora Star. Sierra Leone and other ports on the west coast
of Africa offer yet more variety in the form
of native life and tropical scenery The Mediterranean, too, offers an endless
change of scene, Tunisia ,
Rhodes, the Dardanelles . Istanbul ,
Athens , Cyprus
In contrast with the warmth of
these southern beauty spots is the rugged grandeur of Scandinavia ,
the Baltic and the far North. The Baltic holds a special charm for the cruise
traveller. One especially attractive cruise
begins generally at the end of June and lasts for thirteen days.
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| In Hamburg |
Southampton is
left on Saturday and the great port
of Hamburg Hamburg ,
begins the daytime journey through the famous Kiel Canal
from Brunsbuttel to Holtenau. Next follows a voyage along the northern coast of
Germany to, Zoppot,
adjoining the much discussed city of Danzig Tallinn
and thence to Sweden 's
capital city, Stockholm , where a stay is made
from noon on Friday to four o'clock on Saturday afternoon, just one week after
the luxury liner has sailed from Southampton .
Then begins the homeward run, the next call being at historic Copenhagen Denmark Sweden Sweden
is again visited on the run home with a stay of some eight hours at the famous
old city of Gothenburg
North of the Artic Circle
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In Northern waters - the Arandora Star _
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It is from Tilbury that a much
longer cruise begins, a voyage of over 5,300 miles which lasts for nearly three
weeks. The first call to be made is in
the Faeroes. Then follows a brief visit to Reykjavik
in Iceland island of Jan Mayen , the Arandora Star arrives at Spitsbergen,
or Svalbard , as this northern Arehipelago is
officially called. Many hours are spent cruising round the bays and harbours of
Spitsbergen, and the voyage south begins, past Bear Island to Norway's famous
North Cape, the great headland that is Europe 's
northern outpost. In calm weather the launches of the Arandora Star land those
who may wish to climb the steep summit with its northern outlook to the
desolate Aretic Ocean Hammerfest Gulf Stream , is never closed by ice.
The steamer continues her voyage
in this wonderland of mountain, snowfilled gorge and gleaming glacier, still
attended by the midnight sun. The beautiful places of call can be described
only briefly here. Lyngen Fjord, still north of the Aretic Circle
See on Flickr here
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