Ship Seekers

My wife and I read with interest the story about the ship the Enchanted Isle of the Commodore Cruise Line (“No Fantasy: Enchanted Isle Is a Real Bargain,” July 19). This vessel, now based in San Diego, sails every Saturday to the Mexican Riviera. The article further states that this 34-year-old American built ship once sailed as the Veendam for the Holland-America Line and most recently sailed as the Bermuda Star. My wife and I both emigrated to the United States on the SS or MS Veendam. However, we sailed from Rotterdam to New York in December 1950.

Accordingly, the Veendam is at least 42 years old and could very well have been 54 years old, because it was quite a bit older than the MS Rotterdam, still sailing, and the SS Statendam which perished during the bombardment of Rotterdam in May 1940. We hope that one of these days we may take the 7-day cruise to the Mexican Riviera to renew old memories.

JOHN KERKMANS

Monterey Park

Editor’s note: The Enchanted Isle is not the same ship as the one on which the Kerkmans sailed to America. According to “Great Passenger Ships of the World,” the Enchanted Isle entered service in 1958 as the Argentina and later became the Veendam. The Kerkmans’ Veendam was built by Harland & Wolff, made its maiden voyage from Rotterdam to New York in 1923, was damaged during WWII and returned to service under the Holland-American Line in 1946. It was scrapped in 1953.