GAL had issued two commemorative medals: one with the image of MS Piłsudski from her maiden voyage, and the other one for the passengers of the subsequent voyages, available in the ship’s gift shop.

Passengers could send letters and postcards from the ship. A series of postal cards with pictures of the ship and her interiors, and the special stationery with stamps showing the image of MS Piłsudski.

GAL modernized its sales network to match the needs of the modern ocean liner. GAL had its branch offices in Warsaw, Copenhagen, and New York.

During her first voyage to New York, at the stop in the port of Copenhagen, a large cheering crowd gathered to welcome the most advanced motor ship of the Baltic. Many in the cheering crowd had followed with great interest the development of the Polish oceanic passenger navigation which began with the purchase of the Danish Baltic America Line in 1930.

On her arrival in the port of New York, the ship was greeted by thousands, including delegations of Polish Americans from 102 regions of Polish settlement in the United States. The large crowds were the effect of an appeal to the Polish Americans issued by the World Union of Poles. At the welcoming ceremony, the US and Polish anthems and the song of the First Brigade were performed.

A six thousand strong crowd was awaiting MS Piłsudski in Montreal toward the end of the North American cruise in September 1938. The ship was greeted in port by scouts, students, war veterans and members of various Polish-American organizations. People were throwing flowers on the deck of the ship from the Cartier Bridge. Those waiting on the pier had national flags of Poland, some wearing national folk costumes. It was a special event in Canada and the local papers noted no other ship had ever been greeted as cordially.

The Piłsudski ocean liner attracted great interest among the Polish population. While resting in the ports, it was open for touring, for a fee. Delighted touring groups were well received by the crew and were spending hours onboard. During the ship’s 4-day stay in the port after her maiden voyage, 12 thousand people toured MS Piłsudski.

The tonnage and draught of MS Piłsudski were well suited for passing through Danish sounds but made the ship utterly defenseless against storm waves—each reaching the bow with impunity and endangering the crew on the deck with being swept out into the sea. Later it was revealed that the heel exceeded the allowed thirty degrees—a misery for the crew, on and off duty. It was even worse with maneuvering. “Pisudski” seemed to obey only Captain Mamert Stankiewicz. It gave great trouble to the pilots. It flustered even the most experienced navigators. But…despite the deep hidden frustration, we were proud of her…*

*Karol Olgierd Borchardt, The Sea Shaman

Initially, all the damage caused by the stormy crossing was blamed on the captain, Mamert Stankiewicz. Even though officially he was on a medical leave for stomach flu he contracted while returning from New York, the rumor had it that the captain was moved to the transatlantic liner Pułaski for disciplinary reasons. However the experts opined that MS Piłsudski was damaged not because of the captaint’s fault, but due to insufficient resistance of the ship to the stormy conditions of Northern Atlantic. Mamert Stankiewicz returned to his post.

MS Piłsudski embarked on her first cruise with American tourists on February 4, 1936. It was a 7-day event during which the ship visited Bermuda and the Caribbean: the Bahamas and Cuba. To adapt the ship standards to the requirements of American tourists, all the sea weed mattresses had to be replaced with innerspring mattresses and the distinction of two passenger classes was dropped.

Piłsudski also cruised to the Norwegian fjords and to the capitals of Baltic states. These summer cruises offered by GAL were quite popular with tourists.

Christmas and New Year’s Eve onboard the Polish ocean liner was another attraction offered by GAL. Leaving the perilous northern region of the Atlantic, Piłsudski began a series of tourist journeys with the Christmas and New Year’s Cruise. The first one, in 1936, attracted 500 tourists bringing in 71 thousand dollars. Thus GAL made a splash in the North Atlantic market.

Despite the added cost of raising the standards of comfort on the ship and employing additional staff for the cruise routes, this venture turned out to be GAL’s business success. The ticket price was not the only cost incurred by passengers. They also spent money in the bars, gaming rooms, gift shops, hair salons, laundry room, phone booth, and paying for services of the onboard photographer. During the port stays, passengers participated in short tours of the port and the environs.

The ship’s hull was camouflage painted in light gray hew, GAL’s emblems were taken off the funnels, most of the portholes were covered, Some of the internal partitions were taken down to increase the transport capacity of the ship.

Valuable and flammable parts of the Piłsudski equipment were removed. Most of the furniture and pieces of art were deposited in the port warehouses. The cabins got additional bunk beds, hundreds of special hammocks were installed (by the day folded and put away in cabinets). Officers travelled in the tourist class cabins whereas non-commissioned officers were in the third class accommodations. Thus, the ship was able to carry two thousand troops.

A 102 mm caliber gun was installed on the rear deck, along with a few light antiaircraft guns. They were serviced by the crew members who received a brief, several-day shooting training at the Royal Navy Center. Part of the rear railing was removed to enable the launch of depth charges. The crew was reduced to 160, including 7 British soldiers who handled the military equipment.