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A Lifetime of Voyages
A Tribute to a Dear Friend
by Lisa Plotnick
Two months ago, the cruising world lost a very special person. In addition to being
the most generous person I’ve ever known, she was also a rare breed in the sense
that she was a link to the ocean liner era of the 1950s-
Initially, it was our mutual love of ocean liners that drew us together. I was thrilled to meet someone who had sailed on such wonderful ships; she was thrilled to meet someone who had such an interest in her stories. Every birthday would bring a gift of a book on ocean liners, almost always including an inscription from her. The greatest compliment she ever paid me was that I was “the undisputed expert at tracing the lineage of the two Lurlines!” (1)
And, it was the first Lurline that was host to her first ocean voyage. The year was 1951, and my friend was just nine years old, accompanying her parents on a trip from the west coast of the U.S. to the Hawai’ian islands. Her family occupied one of the suites, and its large windows captivated the young girl. Her father, a seasoned traveler, warned her against looking straight down to the Pacific. This prospect excited her even more, so she shifted her gaze to where the ship met the ocean and promptly got extremely seasick!
This early experience did not sour my dear friend on traveling by sea. Of course, during the early 1950s, it was the main way to get to Europe, where her family often traveled due to her family’s business. From her childhood through her teens, she traveled on many liners—including RMS Queen Mary, SS United States, SS Independence, Nieuw Amsterdam (1938 build), Michelangelo, Raffaello, and Cristoforo Colombo. She was also supposed to be on a summer 1956 crossing of Andrea Doria, which didn’t come to be as the ship met a tragic end in the Atlantic on the previous voyage. Yet, Andrea Doria remained special to her. Soon afterwards, at the age of 15, she paid tribute by making an oil painting of Andrea Doria. This oil painting—her first and only—was among her prized possessions and had a prominent place in her office until her passing.
And then there was Lizzie, her beloved RMS Queen Elizabeth (of 1940). Her family
crossed the Atlantic on Lizzie often—so often that she deemed it “her Lizzie.” And,
Lizzie was indeed hers. At the time, her family lived in New York City, and she looked
forward to Lizzie’s arrival every other Tuesday. As frequent passengers, her family
was well-
As an adult, her fascination with ships continued. She continued to make transatlantic crossings (mainly on Queen Elizabeth 2), and then gravitated toward cruising as the passenger ship industry evolved. An avid cruiser, she took more than 300 voyages—likely many more, as she eventually stopped counting. The lines she favored were Holland America Line and Crystal Cruises, and the ships of these and other lines took her to many parts of the world. In recent years, she visited—or revisited—Canada/New England, Australia, New Zealand, and Iceland, as well as many trips to the Caribbean and her beloved Hawai’i. She made five cruises to North Cape (most recently on Crystal Symphony) and cruised to Alaska nearly every year.
Her longevity in the passenger ship industry also meant that she saw many of her
favorites go out of service. Her Lizzie, Queen Elizabeth, was the most tragic given
her fiery demise, yet she was just as sad when Crystal Harmony was retired. And,
we co-
Her favorite ships at the time of her passing were Holland America Line’s Volendam and Crystal Cruises’ Crystal Symphony, both of which she had sailed numerous times. I used to joke with her that every time I saw Crystal Symphony, it was as if my friend was spying on me. The two will now be forever linked in my mind.
She so enjoyed cruising that she made a late-
As an experienced, lifelong traveler, she was extremely adept at not only helping
her clients choose the right ship for them, but recommending shore excursions she
thought they would enjoy. And, she was always on-
My friend often said that she was blessed to have been able to travel so frequently,
and from such a young age. However, we who knew her were the ones who were blessed.
While a love of ocean liners brought us together, our friendship grew to the point
that we became family. She was always there when we needed her, in good times and
in not-
End Note
(1) The first Lurline served Matson from 1932 to 1963; the second was originally Matson's Monterrey, a sister ship of Lurline, which was renamed Matsonia in 1957 and then renamed Lurline in 1963.
First and second photographs courtesy of the inspiration for this article. Remaining photographs by Lisa or Neil Plotnick. © 2012 NauticalNotebook.com