Sea Cloud Videos by Peter Knego
QuirkyCruise contributor Peter Knego has produced a pair of wonderful Sea Cloud videos that illustrate Sea Cloud’s rich history.
The first video provides a top-to-bottom tour of all passenger deck areas, public spaces and cabin categories.
Peter’s second video takes the viewer along on his nine-night cruise from Palma de Mallorca to Casablanca in 2019.
Read more about Sea Cloud Cruises’ three vessels here, which also include Sea Cloud II and the brand new Sea Cloud Spirit.
Maritime Expert & Writer Peter Knego has produced 2 wonderful Sea Cloud videos. Here is he on the gangway in port in Cadiz. * Photo: Peter Knego
First, A Bit of Background
By Peter Knego.
Sea Cloud Cruises‘ 2,492 gross ton, 64-guest Sea Cloud is the oldest, most historic and, to many, the most beautiful cruise ship in the world.
Built in 1931 as the world’s largest private sailing yacht for cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and her financier husband E.F. Hutton, the ship was originally called Hussar V.
The 1931-built 64-passenger Sea Cloud. * Photo: Sea Cloud Cruises
With a crew of 60, the Post-Hutton’s took the Hussar V on long voyages with their daughter Nedenia (later known as movie star Dina Merrill) to exotic locales from Haiti and the Galapagos to the South Pacific, Hawaii and Alaska.
After learning of Hutton’s repeated infidelities, Post divorced him and renamed the yacht Sea Cloud in 1936. She next married lawyer Joseph E. Davies, who was soon appointed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt to serve as ambassador to Russia. During that time, the Sea Cloud took on an unofficial role as state yacht and played host to European dignitaries and royalty in Leningrad before the outbreak of World War II.
After returning to the States, the yacht was chartered by the U.S. Government, stripped of her finery and fitted out with anti-aircraft guns in 1942. Renamed IX99, she was used as a weather patrol ship and became especially noteworthy for being the first integrated warship in the U.S. Navy with 54 black officers and crew among her complement of 175.
In 1946, the Sea Cloud was returned to Post but within a few years, offered for sale. The next owner, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, was the brutal dictator of the Dominican Republic. He renamed the ship Angelita after his favorite daughter for use as the state yacht but his playboy son Ramfis had other ideas. He sailed Angelita off to Los Angeles in 1958, where she served as his floating bachelor pad. Ramfis’ on board dalliances with starlets like Joan Collins, Kim Novak and Zsa Zsa Gabor were the top gossip fodder of the day.
The elder Trujillo ordered the ship back to the Dominican Republic but after his assassination 1961, Angelita was renamed Patria and eventually sold to new owners who intended to restore her as the deluxe cruise ship Antarna. Tied up in legal entanglements, Antarna was sold again for use as a school ship.
These plans also came to naught and after rotting for nine years, the ship was bought in 1978 by German investors who renamed her Sea Cloud and had her completely restored with two blocs of staterooms added to increase her capacity.
The sails in full regalia as seen from the bridge wing. * Photo: Peter Knego
She is now more beautiful than ever with four masts that soar the height of a 20-story building and support 30 canvas sails that are manually unfurled by her crew. Sea Cloud’s public areas still boast their original carved wood paneling, marble fireplaces and brass framed windows.
Additionally, carrying on a tradition started by Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1931, all the bathrooms in her staterooms have gold plated taps and hardware.
Suite 1, Marjorie Merriweather Post’s erstwhile domain, which is often booked years in advance. * Photo: Peter Knego
The Videos
Sea Cloud Video Part 1.
A tribute to Sea Cloud’s rich history by QuirkyCruise contributor Peter Knego, this video provides a top-to-bottom tour of all passenger deck areas, public spaces and cabin categories.
Sea Cloud Video Part 2
Knego’s second video takes the viewer along on a nine-night cruise from Palma de Mallorca to Casablanca in 2019.
RELATED: Sailing to the Canary Islands & Morocco on the Sea Cloud II. by Gene Sloan.
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HEIDI SARNA
