My maternal grandparents lived 200+ miles away when I was growing up, but I was lucky to spend lots of time with them in spite of the distance.

A recent record popped up that brought back some vivid, fun memories for me.

As my grandparents neared retirement, they began to take some trips for fun and they discovered cruising, which was in its infancy for the middle class.

My family lived in Passaic, New Jersey, which is just a short 15 miles from Manhattan, New York and I was just old enough to really remember a trip that Grandmother and Grandfather out of New York City.

I don’t remember if my grandparents stayed with us- we had very little living space in the house – but I do remember that Mom, my little brother and I drove into Manhattan to wish them a bon voyage. It seems to me that the weather was very cold that day as we walked to the ship.

I also remember that they sailed on the SS Bremen, a North German Lloyd ship and headed to the Caribbean, but I didn’t remember exactly where they were visiting.

Back in those days, visitors were allowed on board the ship and I was mesmerized. The stewards walked the hallways offering caviar – yes, caviar – to everyone. My little brother tried and liked it, but I wasn’t having any of that stuff!

I also remember their cabin was small and I believe it had bunk beds. We spent just enough time on board to have fun and then the captain requested that all guests disembark the ship.

Unfortunately, no one took pictures that day.

I really wanted to go on that cruise and I have vague memories of Grandmother telling me that it cost $100.

However, I couldn’t remember much else about their cruise until this record popped up online, list cropped:

There are my grandparents on the passenger list arriving in New York on 28 January 1961, which means they sailed on 21 January 1961 – a one week cruise.

I checked the weather history. Mid-afternoon temperatures both on departure and arrival days was the same – 19.9 degrees! Very cold!

Grandfather and Grandmother likely had one or two other ports of call, but their last stop was Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Looking up the history of the SS Bremen, I learned that North German Lloyd bought the ship, built in 1929 and originally called the Pasteur, in the 1950s. It was then renamed the SS Bremen.

The ship was tiny by today’s standards, carrying only about 750 passengers, but she was beautiful.

One never knows what kind of record will next pop up, but the number of online images is growing with each day. I always go back to old favorites and look anew. I never expected the SS Bremen passenger list to appear.

Watching my grandparents sail off on their fabulous cruise must have put the cruising bug in me because I have taken many cruises in my adult life.