CLASSIC CRUISING
Anthony Nicholas enjoys the traditional delights of a voyage with Classic International Cruises’ old-timer
This Athena is no myth
ьььь S
unset drifted slowly across the matchless waterfront of Venice as the Athena began her stately procession downstream on a
warm autumn evening. Motor boats and vaporetti resembled so many glowing fireflies as they beetled past our flanks on either side. From our vantage point, I watched spellbound as pools of light flooded the expanse of Piazza san Marco. Somewhere ashore, the sound of a plaintive violin kissed the evening sky as hordes of fat- tened pigeons flocked skywards, a mass of black against the dying rays of the sun.
Athena had just embarked passengers
for a seven-night cruise of the Croatian Riviera, with a couple of additional calls in Montenegro and Albania. It proved the perfect season for close-quarter cruising of some of the most compelling scenery anywhere on earth; the bulk of the summer tourists were gone and, while much of the heat had died off, the temperature stayed around a pleasant, agreeable mid-20sC for most of the cruise. At 16,000 tons, Athena is a perfect size for this kind of adventure. Small enough to get into the picturesque idylls that the larger ships have to bypass, she
A TRAGIC PAST
Athena has plenty of history, some of it dark. She was built as the Stockholm for Swedish America Line back in 1948, one of the first new post-War liners to emerge anywhere. In July 1956, she collided in thick fog with the sumptuous Italian liner Andrea Doria off the coast of Nantucket. Though her raked bow crumpled like rice paper, the bulkheads in her ice-strengthened hull held fast. The Doria was not so lucky, despite being more than twice as large. She finally capsized and sank the next day, after Stockholm had embarked on a heroic rescue of most of the passengers and crew. The collision remains one of the most controversial and well- documented in maritime history to this day.
Winter 2010 / 2011 I WORLD OF CRUISING
67
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