ROUND THE WORLD

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10308, 18 January 1927, Page 3

ROUND THE WORLD

TRIP OP FIVE MONTHS

CRUISE OF THE FRANCONIA

At midnight on V ednesday last the Cunard liner Franconia set sail from New York on a five-months’ tour round the world, the most ambitious tourist cruise that has ever been undertaken. From New York the Franconia will proceed to Kingston, Jamaica, and thence through the Panama Canal to Los Angeles and Honolulu. The vessel will then journey south to Auckland, visiting Apia and Suva on the way. Arriving at Auckland on Februa,ry 18, site will leave on February 21 for Wellington, arriving there on February 23. Leaving W ellington at midnight on February 23 she will proceed to Milford Soupds, and on February 25 will cruise.up the the magnificent fiords. The Franconia will aiterwards proceed to Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney. Thence she will visit Port Mores by” Batavia, Singapore, Colombo, Mombasa, Zanzibar, Mozambique (Portuguese East Africa), South African ports, including Delagoa Bay, Durban, Port Elizabeth, and Cape Town, and then on to Montevideo, Buenos Ayres, Santos, Pio de Janeiro Martinique and home to New York. The Franconia is due back in -New York on June 2. The big ship will bring to New Zealand 410 tourists, and the popularity of the cruise may be judged ;rom the fact that half of the accommodation was booked up twelve months ago. The Franconia is stated to be a magnificent ship, specially constructed for world cruises. She has a length of over 620 ft. and a gross tonnage of 2.1.000'. the sports arena occupies alone about 5003 square feet, and is equal in ernurment to the gymnasiums found in the finest metropolitan club bouses. It consists ot a-large Pomoeiian swimming pool, a gymnasium fitted with every indoor sporting apparatus, and a superb squash court with a Urlcony from which non-players may observe the game. On both sides of the ship are beautiful garden lounges witli large plateglass windows which overlook the sea. The floors of the lounges have been specially prepared to afford a perfect surface for dancing. An unusually large number of the staterooms have private baths attached, and such conveniences as electric fans attractive rugs, chairs, and draperies which lend the intimate charm of a well-regulated home. As a souvenir of the cruise, •'l hos. Cook and Son, New York, have prepared a, handsome book. Much space is devoted to New Zealand, including handsome full-page plates of Mitie Peak. Milford Sound, and a section of the Wanganui River. The cost of the fares for this luxurious voyage ranges from 2000 dollars to 12,500 dollars. The latter is land, an dthe agents of Thoms Cook the cost of one of the suites, each ol which comprises a bedroom, diningroom, sitting-room, bath-room, and other etceteras. The majority of the passengers by the Franconia will make the trip from Auckland to Wellington oyerland, and the agents of Thomas Cook and Son have made preparations tor special trains to take them to Rotorua and Wellington. All of the tourists will visit Rotorua and Wellington, and a party of 105 will trip down the Wanganui river. This will be the largest conducted party to go down the”river at one time since the Maori Wars.