BRITISH CRUISING - by William H Miller

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BRITISH CRUISING
By William H. Miller

When Frank Jackson started cruising back in 1959, aboard P & O Lines' long gone ORONSAY, it was still two-class cruising on many British-based passenger ships: "posh" first class and the less expensive, more austere tourist class. That 1,416-passenger ship was then running so-called "mini cruises," week-long trips out of Southampton to Casablanca and Tangier. "Cruising as we know it today was just getting started in England," noted Jackson, who has since spent well over thirty years with P&O, one of the world's biggest shipping firms and owners of the Los Angeles-based Princess Cruises. He has logged thousands of days on well over 200 different voyages. "In those early days, there were one entertainment officer and one hostess per class. There were no port lecturers or guest lecturers. Staff and passengers joined together to create much of that entertainment."

Frank Jackson had already given some travel talks at home and so was invited by the Oronsay's staff captain to give some onboard lectures. It soon led to a formal invitation from P & O's London headquarters. He was soon assigned to another P & O liner, the old STRATHMORE. "She was nearing the end of her days by then, but ran very popular 14-day Mediterranean cruises. She was old-fashioned, un-air-conditioned, very basic in ways, but very gracious. We had lots of well-to-do passengers and lots of educated people. I did about two or three cruises a year. I also sailed in one of the combination passenger-cargo ships, the 240-passenger CATHAY, which ran short cruises between her long trips out to the Far East and back. We would sail from London and do the coastal runs to Le Havre and Amsterdam. In all, it was 5 days aboard this little yacht."

Frank Jackson, later joined by his wife Evelyn, continued his long association with P&O liners. He went on to serve aboard their CHUSAN, the ORCADES, the ORSOVA and the mighty CANBERRA. "They were all wonderful ships with great character," he noted. "You could change from captain to lounge steward to bellboy, but still retain the same charm, that special P&O attitude. Inevitably, I developed a special fondness for each ship. I even saw some of them off on their final trips. I remember the foggy, miserable night, in the autumn of 1974, when the ORSOVA sailed off for the breakers' yard in the Far East. Only a few other people were along the dockside as she disappeared in the mists with her whistle going non-stop."

Frank and Evelyn Jackson did every one of the CANBERRA's three-month world cruises, from 1974 until the sudden, dramatic outbreak of the Falklands War in the spring of 1982. "We were homeward bound for England, with 1,600 passengers aboard, when rumors spread that the ship was going directly to the South Atlantic. Instead, we unexpectedly went to Gibraltar Bay, where British Army officers came aboard to appraise the ship and start the massive planning. Once back at Southampton, she had to be ready in an extraordinary 3 days to serve as a trooper. Even a full helicopter platform was placed aboard. The CANBERRA went to the South Atlantic and heroically established a record of not having put in port for 94 days. That summer, in July, the Jacksons were at Southampton for the P&O's flagship triumphant return. They recalled, "There were whistles and sirens, banners, soldiers singing, bands playing and national television coverage."

When I last met Frank Jackson aboard the South African cruiseship ASTOR, during a cruise to the Baltic in the summer of 1987, his lecture series consisted of over 90,000 slides. He noted, "I once tried to get them insured with Lloyds, but the cost would have been nearly $2 a slide or an annual premium of about $15,000. Sometimes, aboard big ships like the 1,700-passenger CANBERRA, I give three and possibly four lectures a day. Besides the ports of call, I also give a series on Britain - 3 on London and then 5 or 6 on the Country in general."

On today's British-based cruiseships like the CANBERRA and the SEA PRINCESS - with their cruise directors, flower and bridge lecturers and ballroom dance teams - the Jacksons are still well-known, perhaps even legendary. More than just about anyone else, they have seen the growth and changes in British cruising.

The End

Reprinted from a past issue ofOcean & Cruise News.

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