DUTCH LINER TO VISIT NEW ZEALAND

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29077, 14 December 1959, Page 11

DUTCH LINER TO VISIT NEW ZEALAND

The Dutch luxury liner, Oranje, will call at Auckland on Boxing Day in the course of a loop cruise from Australia around the Pacific Islands, and will pay a second call .to New Zealand in October next year when it touches at Wellington en route from Sydney to Europe. The Oranje will be remembered by most New Zealanders as one of the hospital ships which assisted in the repatriation of sick and wounded services personnel from the Middle East to New Zealand during the Second World War; and especially by those doctors, nurses, and nursing aids who served in her during her period on active service.

After the war, the Oranje was reconverted to resume her role as a luxury passenger liner, at which

time many modern amenities were incorporated.

After February, 1961, the Nederland Line Royal Dutch Mail, owner’s of the Oranje, will reschedule her to a round-the-world service from Amsterdam, sailing on a westbound rotation, and including calls at Auckland and Wellington. It is hoped this schedule will suit the travel plans of Australians and New Zealanders, as well as encourage travel by American tourists.

The Oranje’s route will be: Outward: Amsterdam, Southampton, Port Everglades (Miami), Cristobal, Balboa, Papeete, Auckland and Wellington. Homeward: Wellington, Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore, Penang, Colombo, Suez, Port Said, Genoa, Southampton, and Amsterdam.

The Oranje will make four voyages a year, plus two to three weeks cruising in the Mediterranean, and the same period for cruising at Christmas from Australia.

The Oranje displaces 20,500 tons, with a length of 656 ft and beam of 83ft, and has a service speed of 22 knots. She carries 825 passengers in first-class and tourist-class cabins, some of which are air conditioned. In addition to numerous comfortable and tastefully decorated lounges, smoking rooms, writing rooms, and veranda cafes, the Oranje offers passengers the maximum of recreational facilities with three swimming pods (one indoors and two outdoors), a gymnasium, a cinema, and spacious sports decks. Children are catered for in their own first-class and tourist-class nurseries and playrooms.