CRUISE VIGNETTES 24, Enna G

TRIP STATISTICS
This was a very interesting trip. The cost was about $3,400 for the two of us, for a scheduled 42 day trip. We have been on several cruise ships, but they have too much planned activity, for us. Our other objection is that cruise ships try to dock at a new place most every day.

A lot of people like to shop and visit different cities for a couple of hours each day, but we say if we are on a ship, we want it to keep sailing, on and on. Forget the gambling casinos, and forget the big time entertainment, forget the shopping. Well now, Emmy may have a different view on that last item, but then, she’s not the typist.

REPUBLIC OF NAURU
The MS Enna G was owned by the government of the Republic of Nauru, an island located near the equator, west of the Gilbert Islands, and northwest of the Solomon Islands. The island consists of phosphate which is being mined and sold, and the money is invested in this ship, airplanes, office buildings (they owned a several-story office building on Saipan), etc., so that when the island disappears (as a result of the phosphate mining) in a few years, the people, who will have to find another place to live, will have some income.

We were told to tip the cabin boys and waiters very little, as they did not want them to think this is how they were to spend the rest of their lives. The government wants them to get educated, and get better jobs than this.

This 9,336 ton ship, then owned by the Holland America Line, was originally named the Prinses Margriet when it was launched in 1961. In 1970 it was sold to the Republic of Nauru, and renamed the MS Enna G.

Nauru’s idea had been that all the school children would board the ship on Sunday evening sail to Australia, attend school for the week, then return to Nauru on Friday night. They soon found that a group of school children, where ever they are from, just don’t behave well enough to do that. Just a few years after our trip, we heard the MS Enna G quit sailing, and we haven’t heard anything about her since.