S. S. "NORMANDIE" TO SAIL ON CRUISE
World's largest and fastest liner to make special voyage to Rio de Janeiro
FRENCH LINE AND RAYMOND-WHITCOMB ARRANGE REMARKABLE WINTER HOLIDAY
If ever the announcement of a new Cruise deserved the front page in newspapers or bold head lines it is this one. For this Cruise will sail in the NORMANDIE:, the magnificent flagship of the French Line and a gigantic liner that is so enormous, so fast, and so prominent in Transatlantic service that the possibility of her sailing on a special cruise has never before even entered the minds of steamship lines, travel companies or the general public. Now Raymond-Whitcomb and the French Line have announced that in February 1938 she will make a remarkable 22-day Cruise to Rio de Janeiro.
Cruises as really significant items in the travel world date back to the early nineteen-twenties. Since then they have steadily increased in number and importance, and from year to year the ships on which they have sailed have been constantly larger and larger, and faster and faster, until by the end of 1936 three or four of the best known liners on the Atlantic had been taken off their regular runs, from time to time, to go on special cruises. Hut in the pre-eminence of its Cruise Ship this new Raymond-Whitcomb Cruise will far surpass any earlier cruise.
The NORMANDIE now two years in service is demonstrably the largest and fastest liner in the world. For size there are clear figures: 83,422 tons gross register; length, 1029 feet; width, 119 feet; height from the water line to the top of the forward funnel, 202 feet; and turbo-electric motors that develop 160,000 horse-power. For speed there are official records; and, more dramatically, the fact that she holds the "Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic," the coveted Hale trophy, for a recent record-breaking Transatlantic voyage on which she not only attained an average speed of 30.99 knots but, on one day's run, averaged 31.65 knots, the highest average speed ever made by a liner in a single day. She has never yet sailed on a special cruise and the Raymond-Whitcomb Cruise to Rio de Janeiro next winter will be her first and will set new standards of size and speed
in cruise ships which cannot. be exceeded until larger and faster ships are built. She will raise cruises to dignity and splendor even greater than they already enjoy and will provide her passengers with a luxury hitherto unknown on cruises.
The Cruise itself will also set new records and standards. Sailing from New York on February 5, 1938 and speeding down the Atlantic coast, with stops at smart Nassau and tropical Trinidad, it will reach Rio de Janeiro in ten days. That voyage will be a record: the regular sailing time to Rio is 12 or 13 days, with no stops en route. After four and a half days at Rio, the show city of South America, the NORMANDIE will start on the return voyage. There will be a stop of a day at picturesque Martinique. but even with that she will reach New York in 8 days. By the usual steamers the fastest possible lime for the complete voyage to Rio and back is 23 days, and that means sailing on the return voyage within a few hours of arrival; to take any more time for seeing Rio de Janeiro would mean waiting until the next sailing northward and would extend the trip to about 33 days as against the 22 days of this Cruise. It is worthy of note, too, that the price for the cruise in the palatial NORMANDIE, with four and a half (lays at Rio, during which the ship will serve as hotel, will be only $395 and upward.
No ship like the proud NORMANDIE has ever cut through the waters of the Caribbean and outdistanced its flashing flying-fish, or come to anchor off its lovely islands. No such ship has ever steamed into Rio de Janeiro's matchless landlocked and mountain-walled harbor. No cruise passengers have ever yet sailed in such an opulent setting of splendor and luxury. Assuredly this will be an epoch making voyage—a great event in the annals of present day travel, and a thrilling and memorable experience for the fortunate travelers who make it.
