Newport is on some cruise lines destination. I thought I would start this tread. If you have any questions just ask.
Here is a little info.
Rhode Island - Newport
Come to Newport, home of fabulous mansions, cozy lodgings, colonial history, and great music. Newport has more colonial era inns and B&B's than any town in America. Hotels range from luxurious to budget minded. You can live among history from earliest settlers, through the American Revolution, to the great mansions built by 19th century industrialists. You'll find drama on every step of the Cliff Walk and turn of Ocean Drive. There's spectacular beauty among the beaches and harbor. Listen to great performances at the music festivals and sail amid a regatta. Museums abound and range from naval history to tennis, science, and, of course, history. Newport has great restaurants and spectacular venues for weddings and other events. This is a great town for walking, biking and shopping.
There are many mansions to be seen. This is one of the largest.
The Breakers is the grandest of Newport's summer "cottages" and a symbol of the Vanderbilt family's social and financial preeminence in turn of the century America. Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877) established the family fortune in steamships and later in the New York Central Railroad, which was a pivotal development in the industrial growth of the nation during the late 19th century. The Commodore's grandson, Cornelius Vanderbilt II, became Chairman and President of the New York Central Railroad system in 1885, and purchased a wooden house called The Breakers in Newport during that same year. In 1893, he commissioned architect Richard Morris Hunt to design a villa to replace the earlier wood-framed house which was destroyed by fire the previous year. Hunt directed an international team of craftsmen and artisans to create a 70 room Italian Renaissance- style palazzo inspired by the 16th century palaces of Genoa and Turin. Allard and Sons of Paris assisted Hunt with furnishings and fixtures, Austro-American sculptor Karl Bitter designed relief sculpture, and Boston architect Ogden Codman decorated the family quarters. The Vanderbilts had seven children. Their youngest daughter, Gladys, who married Count Laszlo Szechenyi of Hungary, inherited the house on her mother's death in 1934. An ardent supporter of The Preservation Society of Newport County, she opened The Breakers in 1948 to raise funds for the Society. In 1972, the Preservation Society purchased the house from her heirs. Today, the house is designated a National Historic Landmark.
Newport is a fun place to spend the day. I would recommend NOT taking any tours from the cruise lines. It is a short walk to the bus station where you can buy a ticket for the tour of the "cottages." Most when I researched include the breakers and however many more your feet can handle. The Breakers is a docent guided tour so there are lines while you wait for your turn. (That is as of fall of 2003 when we went) You tour the other mansions with headsets and can spend as little or as much time as you want in any room. We really liked that a lot. W did Breakers and Marble House then headed back to town for lunch.
I would like to go back and see a couple more and have more time to see the area as well.
If all works I will post two pictures in here. This is one from the back of the Elm's. The other is the taken from the rooftop of the Elm's of the Newport Harbor.
Here is Chateau Sur Mer. This was a year round house. The third floor was an addition done by the architect Richard Morris Hunt. He did this before he built the Marble house or The Breakers.
Marble House was built between 1888 and 1892 for Mr. and Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt, a summer house, or "cottage", as Newporters called them in remembrance of the modest houses of the early 19th century. But Marble House was much more; it was a social and architectural landmark that set the pace for Newport's subsequent transformation from a quiet summer colony of wooden houses to the legendary resort of opulent stone palaces. Mr. Vanderbilt was the grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, who established the family's fortune in steamships and the New York Central Railroad. His older brother was Cornelius II, who built The Breakers. Alva Vanderbilt was a leading hostess in Newport society, and envisioned Marble House as her "temple to the arts" in America. It was designed by the architect Richard Morris Hunt, inspired by the Petit Trianon at Versailles. The cost of the house was reported in contemporary press accounts to be $11 million, of which $7 million was spent on 500,000 cubic feet of marble. Upon its completion, Mr. Vanderbilt gave the house to his wife as a 39th birthday present. The Vanderbilts had 3 children: Consuelo, who became the 9th Duchess of Marlborough; William K., Jr., a prominent figure in pioneering the sport of auto racing in America; and Harold, one of the finest yachtsmen of his era who successfully defended the America's Cup three times. The Vanderbilts divorced in 1895 and Alva married Oliver H.P. Belmont, moving down the street to Belcourt. After his death, she reopened Marble House, and had a Chinese Tea House built on the seaside cliffs, where she hosted rallies for women's right to vote. She sold the house to Frederick H. Prince in 1932. The Preservation Society acquired the house in 1963 from the Prince estate.
We were very fortunate the first time we took a Canada/New England cruise that our ship stayed there till nearly 5. We were able to tour 3 mansions and still had time left to walk around on our own.
I see that on HAL's itineraries, they are there until only 2 PM - way too short a time for such a lovely place.
Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers
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Centrum Deck
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Cruise Places
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Canada / New England
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Newport, Rhode Island
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