Page Two

INFANTE DOM HENRIQUE Tour, Continued to VASCO DA GAMA:

The tourist class playroom in an aft-facing view. Copyright Luis Miguel Correia.

Aft of the first class smoking room, the Promenade Deck was divided athwartships by a narrow vestibule separating first from tourist class. However, on the starboard side, there was access to the first class children's playroom. The tourist class children's room occupied the corresponding space on the port side. The center portion of this area contained a stairwell and the engine room skylight casing.

The tourist class A hall, facing starboard. Copyright Luis Miguel Correia.

The tourist class A hall followed with another stairtower, doors on either side that led to the promenades, and a double set of doors aft leading to the tourist A smoking room and bar.

Facing aft in the colorful tourist class A smoking room and bar, as illustrated in a CCN folder from the early 1960s. Peter Knego collection.

The tourist class A smoking room and bar was a particularly handsome space with a circular dance floor in its forward/starboard portion and a long twelve seat bar aft/port. The room was configured in a U shape around the first class pool basin. The bar continued outside and aft with another six seats to serve the adjoining tourist class pool and lido area. A small cinema was directly aft of the basin with a large lavatory on its starboard side.

A first class single cabin. Copyright Luis Miguel Correia.

B Deck began with the long fo'c'sle, sloping gently downward with sheer past hold number one to the housing which opened up on either side to long sheltered promenades stretching aft to a large open deck space. Twelve first class cabins made up for the forwardmost accommodation leading aft past hold number two and into the second level of the main hall. The elliptically shaped platform was fronted by a shop with barber shop to port and beauty salon to starboard. From its glass balconied landing were views down to the purser's foyer and up toward the imposing statue of Prince Henry. In many ways, this space could be likened to a precursor of today's cruise ship atrium. Doors lead from the foyer out to either promenade and ten more first class cabins (five on each side) followed.

Facing aft in the handsome tourist class B lounge. Copyright Luis Miguel Correia.

Eleven more first class staterooms continued on either side. A tourist class vestibule followed with doors leading out to the promenades. The aft port corner was occupied by a barber shop while a beauty salon corresponded in the starboard corner. The handsome tourist B lounge followed with its large circular dance floor, angular recessed ceilings, and stylish furnishings.

Facing aft in the tourist B bar. Copyright Luis Miguel Correia.

Immediately aft of the lounge, a central stairtower and foyer with lift connected B Deck with A and C levels. On the port side, the lounge continued aft in a gallery fashion while the starboard side housed the tourist B bar. Beyond hold three and the tourist swimming pool casing was a small chapel, followed by hold four and an open terrace.

The lovely first class dining room facing starboard. Copyright Luis Miguel Correia.

C Deck began with crew accommodation and storage space leading to the elliptically shaped first class embarkation hall. Fronted by the purser's office, it was dominated by the two deck high grand stairtower and oval glass balcony on B Deck level. For a first impression, it must have made a lasting impact on INFANTE's first class clientele who were likely accustomed to earlier, more traditionally appointed CCN vessels such as the lovely SANTA MARIA and VERA CRUZ of 1952. The aft portion of the hall led to the first class dining room. Spanning the width of the ship and with a raised central dome, its main focal points were the colorful ceramic panels on its aft bulkhead. These are now on display in the Lisbon Maritime Museum.

The dining room panels as they now look on display at the Lisbon Maritime Museum. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2000.

A large galley followed aft, leading into the tourist A and tourist B dining rooms which could be utilized as one large space or divided up with four smaller spaces and one large room. The tourist class embarkation hall was next, leading aft to the hospital and fantail.

D Deck began with storage space, continuing with crew accommodation starboard and tourist A accommodation port, continuing amidships on both sides with tourist A then B accommodation.

E Deck began with storage and crew accommodation and a large chunk of tourist A and B cabins amidships and aft.

INFANTE DOM HENRIQUE in the livery of CTM at Lisbon. Photo and copyright Luis Miguel Correia '76.

The INFANTE thrived throughout the 1960s, proudly carrying her complement of passengers to and from the Portuguese colonies. President Thomaz even used her for an official voyage in September of 1963, a distinction she shared with the other two principal Portuguese flagships, CNN's PRINCIPE PERFEITO and Empresa Insulana's FUNCHAL.

By the beginning of the next decade, two important factors would soon affect the entire Portuguese passenger fleet: the advent of the jumbo jet and the decolonization of Angola and Mozambique. The jumbo jet arrived in 1972, just in time to unite with the fuel crisis to drive oil-thirsty steamships to a premature death in the burgeoning Taiwanese scrap yards. In a few short years, most of the Portuguese liners sailed, glistening paint and all, to Kaohsiung for dismantling. SANTA MARIA, VERA CRUZ, MOCAMBIQUE, NIASSA, IMPERIO, etc., would never return to the Lisbon quaysides, while the three barely surviving companies, CNN (which had merged with Sociedade Geral), CCN, and Empresa Insulana (which had already merged with Companhia de Navegacao Carregadores Acorianos) were combined in 1974 to form Companhia des Transportes Maritimos (CTM).

In 1974, the colonies were granted independence, effectively closing down the African passenger ship service. The PRINCIPE PERFEITO was sold in 1975 to become an accommodation ship while FUNCHAL, UIGE, INFANTE, and the diminutive PONTA DELGADA soldiered on under the new orange, blue, and yellow funnel livery of CTM. INFANTE continued on, sailing virtually empty to Africa, only to return with refugees and military personnel. In January of 1976, she was laid up at Lisbon.

In 1977, she was sold to GAS (Gabinete da Area de Sines), for use as a worker's accommodation ship at the port of Sines. The former fishing village was being converted into a large industrial center and INFANTE would serve as permanent housing. After a $10 million refit that included the construction of a basin around the ship, the INFANTE would open in November of 1977 as a floating hotel. Unfortunately, the development would soon fold and the ship was left largely unattended, playing host to few visitors in the years she was moored there. As the rust streaks darkened and her paint faded and began to peel away, it looked as though the INFANTE was at the figurative end of her many mooring ropes.

The strikingly handsome VASCO DA GAMA is shown in this view from the Bruce Peter collection.

In 1986, Lisbon-based Greek shipping magnate George Potamianos stepped in to purchase and refit the neglected ship for cruising under his Panamanian registered company Trans World Cruises. She was moved from her basin at Sines to Lisbon, where she arrived in February of 1988. That March, she began a $50 million conversion into the VASCO DA GAMA at Nafsi, near Piraeus. Her engines were overhauled, cabins completely rebuilt with private facilities and redundant public rooms converted to more cabins and areas such as conference centers, boutiques, and casinos. Her attractive funnel livery remained similar to its earlier incarnations, albeit in bright yellow with blue bands.

From every angle, the VASCO DA GAMA was a sight for ship lovers to behold. Bruce Peter collection.

VASCO DA GAMA entered service in April of 1999, offering a variety of cruises from Northern Europe, eventually crossing the Atlantic to New York on a world cruise, and later from the Mediterranean. While at Lisbon on December 5, she suffered an engine room fire that caused significant damage and required her to be towed to Bremerhaven where she arrived for repairs on December 17. Boiler trouble the following June put her out of service for fifteen days while repairs were made at Bremerhaven.

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