Music on a Ship to Canada

My GrandPal lived in Scotland in a city called Aberdeen, until he turned 9 years old. Then he and his family moved to Cornwall, Ontario. He moved because it was getting more expensive in Scotland, and he had some family that was telling his dad to come to Canada. He took a train from Aberdeen to Glasgow, and boarded a ship there that landed in Montreal. My GrandPal left on May 21, 1960, and he arrived on May 27, 1960.

The ship was called the Empress of Britain. The Empress of Britain had two smokestacks. Ship was 760 feet long. The ship was designed to carry 1,195 passengers (465 first class, 260 tourist class, and 470 third class). My GrandPal said he thinks he took third class on the ship. The ship had four propellers and reached speeds of 44 km/h.

My GrandPal has some great memories from being on the ship. For example, one night his parents went to a party in a ballroom on the ship. My GrandPal and his older sister got to order food to their room and they really enjoyed it. There was also a good-sized pool on the ship. Not many people went in the pool, so he and his sister had the pool to themselves. He also played cards on the ship. He said that he and his family played games such as crazy eights. Overall, the ship was not supposed to be like a cruise ship. It was just a ship to get to Canada, but they still had a lot of fun. One really unusual memory is that he got to play a xylophone with a steward on the ship, as a signal to the passengers that lunch or dinner was being served.

In the end, my GrandPal said the biggest thing that changed when he moved to Canada was that he did not have to share a bathroom with another family. Another difference was that in Scotland, it took about 2 hours from east to west in a car. In Canada, from Quebec to British Columbia, it takes 51 hours and 37 minutes.