Antique & Vintage Postcards

Docked triumphantly at the New Wharf in Cozumel, Quintana Roo, the gleaming white cruise liner SS Britanis dominates this vivid chrome-era postcard — and a handwritten postscript on the back confirms it: "P.S. We were on SS Britanis." Helen sent this cheerful card to her friend Millie in August 1988, describing a lovely cruise departing Miami and promising to write more when she returned home after a Monday stopover. The Britanis (originally the MS Monterey, built 1952) was one of the most beloved cruise ships of the budget cruise era, operated by Chandris/Fantasy Cruises; she was scrapped in 2000 after a storied career. The card itself is a Mexican-printed "Vustacolor" Tarjeta Postal by Turística Peninsular, photographed by Kipi Turok, giving it a dual Mexico–USA philatelic interest: a 15¢ Oliver Wendell Holmes commemorative stamp (Scott #1288) carries the Miami postmark dated August 1988.