Peter Knego: Travel Writer, Cruise Ship Historian, World’s Most Unique Maritime Artifacts Collection

This week on The Joy of Cruising Podcast, I am delighted to welcome a special guest. In The Joy of Cruising books, all the passionate cruisers I write about are special—whether they are “ordinary” cruisers with extraordinary stories, to celebrities, Grammy winners/nominees, a Hall of Famer, to global cruise personalities. Today I am honored to welcome Peter Knego, a cruise personality quite unlike anyone I have hosted before. First, consider the sheer breadth of his expertise/passion. Peter is a cruise writer, maritime historian, and collector of cruise ship artifacts. Secondly, Peter has one of the most unique stories I have ever heard: his home is virtually entirely comprised of said cruise ship artifacts. I don’t mean filled with, although that’s true too—Peter has a collection of over 200 cruise ship models—but remarkably, every part of his home is made up of panels, artwork, and furniture including bars, from scrapped ships. I could easily spend this entire interview on just one aspect of Peter’s amazing background. I’m sure he could regale us with stories of maritime history. I am somewhat familiar with the travel writer Peter. He is a contributing writer for Quirky Cruise and was mentioned when I wrote about both Quirky Cruise in Cruising Interrupted and hosted Quirky Cruise on The Joy of Cruising Podcast. Today, I will focus mainly on the collector aspect of Peter’s persona. Besides, Peter has an open invitation to come back on the podcast.

You can learn a great deal about Peter the collector, and his passion for older ships from his website, midshipcentury.com,and YouTube channel, Peter Knego's MidShipCinema, described as “unique, exclusive and personally captured video of the world's great ocean liners and cruise ships...past & present.” This excerpt from midshipcentury.com captures his reason for being, his raison d'être: “… today's mega cruise ships, offer a myriad of amenities to make the passenger forget he or she is even at sea. But unlike ocean liners, these boxy monoliths are fitted out like modern hotels with store-bought furnishings and fire-resistant materials. The era of the individual ship representing the best of its nation's artisans and craftsmen ended in the mid-1960’s. Seizing the one-time-only opportunity to save these items from obscurity or destruction, Knego not only bought items for his collection, but to share with those with a similar love for ocean liners or a penchant for the sleek stylings of the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. Rich, rare, tropical hardwood veneers, heavy nickel plated fixtures, a serving of "high style Italian chic" from Gio Ponti's collaborators, and much more!

Watching Peter’s videos of him cruising these ships, reminiscing about them, and on the global search to shipyards, auctions, cruise s