ssMaritime
With Reuben
Goossens
Maritime Historian
Don Tremain’s
Memories of the SS Norway
Past passenger and professional
photographer
“The unique thing about the SS Norway was that
she had a sense of history about her and she was a classic”
Photographs on this page are ©
copyright Ton Tremain and they are NOT to be copied
I think that many people
find their first cruise is similar to their first love. It remains unique and special
years later. My first cruise was in August of 1995 aboard the SS Norway out of
At the time, at age 46,
a cruise vacation was not and had not been on my radar. I probably would have
remained a cruise virgin to this day but, as luck would have it, one of my
photographs won a grand prize in a contest and the all expense cruise was my
reward. The SS Norway was essentially chosen for me. I remain grateful to this
day as it was a special ship.
The
I had a very nice
stateroom with windows looking out over the jogging deck. I shared the room
with my buddy George, a gregarious bon vivant who was a bartender back in
The unique thing about
the SS Norway was that she had a sense of history about her and she was a
classic. I don’t have the maritime vocabulary to expound on this but I
will say it is something some people get and others don’t. I felt it the
minute I boarded her and my experiences on many cruise ships afterwards have
only heightened that sense or feel.
I am a professional
photographer. In what I jokingly call an act of lunacy, I took a antique wooden 5x7 view camera on this cruise. I had been
using it for personal fine art work in
Surprisingly, I
didn’t attract that much attention on the boat when I set up this camera
and began struggling under my black velvet focusing cloth. If people thought I
was daft they didn’t let on. Early on in the cruise I was set up over the
pool deck and going through my regular procedure where I adjust all the camera
controls and then use a small carpenter’s level on the top of the camera
to make sure the camera is level. Immediately afterward I got under the cloth
to do final focusing on the ground glass. Then I stuck in a film holder and
prepared to expose a sheet of film. I made one more check with the carpenters
level and -- damn! -- the camera had slipped out of
level.
Well, this series of
events repeated itself several times until a gentleman approached me sheepishly
and said, I don’t mean to tell you what you are doing but are you having
trouble getting your camera level
Why yes, I replied. The
gentleman lifted both of his hands and started doing this up and down motion
with them. Do you realize you are on a ship
Anyway, I felt a little
foolish but I thought it was funny. Still do.
I exposed twenty some
sheets of film on the ship. It was difficult as I had shifted into a very
relaxed vacation mode and the view camera was
There are very few people
in my photos as I wanted to concentrate on the personality of the physical
spaces on the ship. In retrospect, I’m glad I used a classic traditional
approach in my photography as the SS Norway was a classic herself. When I look
at the photos today I notice the absence of people. It gives me a feeling of
melancholy that is only accentuated by the ships condition today. A ship is
more than a physical structure. It is also years of interaction with crew and
passengers and these photos remind me of the thousands of unseen spirits which
made the SS Norway a joy during her years in service.
I still remember all the spirits and friends I made
during my week on the
Don Tremain
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Index
Page One … SS
France
Page Four … Norway
Deck Plan
Photo
… Tomas-Rosales
shares his photographs of the Norway in Miami
Photo … Michael
and Lee Ann Pavlick honeymoon cruise in 2002
Photo … Norway in Bremerhaven
Story … Pauli
Dangerousli describes his 1997 cruise on the SS Norway
Brochure … This
inaugural SS Norway brochure (1980) was provided by Mr. Michael Bobo
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Who is the Author of ssMaritime?
Commenced
in the passenger Shipping Industry in May 1960
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