Historic cruise ship being 'evicted' from Philadelphia dock

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WhatInThe

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The historic SS United States cruise ship about to be 'evicted' from it's Philadelphia docking location. First cruise ship to cross the Atlantic in 3 days. Was considered one of the fastest and built to be retro fitted into a navy/military ship. The dock rent was doubled and the owners refuse to pay it.

Long story short after being built in the 1950s was rescued from the scrap heap in the 1980s with interiors already gutted. It was shuffled around but again rescued by the 1990s and taken to Philadelphia. A conservancy group has been trying to restore or repurpose the ship for over a decade.

The dock landlord doubled the rent in 2021 with the conservancy refusing to pay the new rent. The ship must now leave. The conservancy group says they need more time to prepare for a move. The ship must be tugged/towed along with finding and prepping a new location.

Iconic Ocean Liner SS United States Ordered to Leave Berth by September

Hopefully they can find the resources to actually start physical work because if not they'll just scrap it.
 

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Yeah, it's a historic ocean liner from the golden age of liners. Unfortunately, she has been stripped of all her amenities- the paneling, light fixtures, even deck tiles. It's an empty hulk. To restore the ship to what it was in the 50s would take multiple $ millions, and there's no way the owners - the conservancy group can come up with restoring one cabin, never mind the ship. The dock owners have been trying to get rid of it for 30 years, they are losing money over the ship just being there and loss of dock fees. I'm not sure, but the dock fees are thousands daily. No one has the money to restore it, to keep it docked, not to even tow it away???????????
 
Well, if the conservancy hasn't found a new berth in the last three years, it's unlikely they'll find one by September. I see this going on for years more. It's not like the dock owners can call a tow truck and haul it away....LOL.

And it's not like it's going to be viable as a cruise ship if it DID get refurbed. There's a limited clientele interested in a "classic/historic" ship. The majority want big pools, climbing walls, on-deck rollercoasters, and specialty dining spots. They want glitz.
 

As a longtime devotee of classic ocean liners, this update make me so sad. I'd lost track of the story and had hoped more progress had been made. A successful effort was made to restore and refurbish Nomadic, one of the Titanic's original tenders, which languished for decades in the Seine: SS Nomadic - Explore - Titanic Belfast

I'm sure you're right, @jujube, about there being a limited potential clientele for a classic ocean liner. I personally would love to make a transatlantic voyage on a classic liner—say, a refurbished Queen Mary. That'll never happen. ☹️
 
Maybe a floating hotel, bar, restaurant, throw in a casino, give tours of non recreational areas of the ship after restored. It has museum and recreational potential as do other ships.

They just let it go so long. The good news it was built to military specs and probably can handle little more abuse than many a cruise ship.
 
WhatInThe said:
Maybe a floating hotel, bar, restaurant, throw in a casino, give tours of non recreational areas of the ship after restored. It has museum and recreational potential as do other ships.

They just let it go so long. The good news it was built to military specs and probably can handle little more abuse than many a cruise ship.
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That has already been tried with original Queen Mary. She has sat in Long Beach Harbor for years. I actually attended a sales meeting onboard years ago and stayed in one of the cabins. The ship had some beautiful touches but was looking tired.

She is still sitting in Long Beach Harbor as a floating hotel with all the amenities but the owners are having great difficulty finding the money to refurbish the ship and fight off the rust. I did take a full tour a few years ago and it was fascinating.

Long Beach Hotel - Experience The Queen Mary™
 
I love classic ships as well, but it is a sad fact that the cruise industry is largely owned by big public companies that are all about the almighty dollar. And the vast majority of people cruising want the newest ship with all the "bells and whistles". The new, behemoth ships also make more profits due to the number of people they accommodate.

So, older and smaller ships make fewer profits and are expensive to refurbish (if parts can be found) so they are either sold to small foreign countries to provide cheap cruises or scrapped altogether.
 
seadoug said:
I love classic ships as well, but it is a sad fact that the cruise industry is largely owned by big public companies that are all about the almighty dollar. And the vast majority of people cruising want the newest ship with all the "bells and whistles". The new, behemoth ships also make more profits due to the number of people they accommodate.

So, older and smaller ships make fewer profits and are expensive to refurbish (if parts can be found) so they are either sold to small foreign countries to provide cheap cruises or scrapped altogether.
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Again, I find this so sad. ("scrapped altogether"— :cry: )

I'm so envious of you having gotten to board, and stay on, the Queen Mary, @seadoug.

My father treated me and my kids to a Royal Caribbean cruise about 10 years ago. It was nice, but nothing along the lines of what the classic liners must have been. It was too glizty and had too many people for my own personal taste.

I'd give almost anything to go back in time and travel on the Lusitania or the Normandie. Ah, well.
 
My late sister and I, as teens, were lucky to sail on the old Queen Elizabeth on one of its last voyages in 1967 after spending three months knocking around Europe.

It was a bit shabby but, oh, it was still elegant and veddy proper and veddy British.

We were in a tiny cabin that could only politely be described as one-step-above-steerage but we felt like we were in a movie.

It was my first cruise and because of the super-cheap alc@h@lic beverages, my first hangover. I'll never forget either.
 

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