[14] In 1912, "delightful cruises to the West Indies, Panama and the Spanish Main" of twenty-eight days in duration were estimated to cost "$150 dollars and up," according to newspaper and magazine advertisements purchased by the ship's owner.

"[25] In early 1903, American newspapers reported that "several German army and naval officers, passengers on the steamer Moltke, which arrived here yesterday [in Havana, Cuba] on a cruise through the West Indies, made extensive soundings in Havana Harbor near Santa Clara battery, garrisoned by American troops," adding that those German officers "also took photographs of the fortifications," reports that newspaper editors deemed "significant" due to "the attitude of Germany in Venezuela.

According to Barbara Spicer, "the Supreme Court faced for the first time the issue whether a merchant vessel owned, possessed and operated by a foreign sovereign in the carriage of merchandise for hire was immune from arrest upon a libel in rem.... [T]he Court went on to hold that the principles of immunity which were enunciated in that decision were pertinent to the Berizzi case," and reversed a lower court's decision which stated that "as the Pesaro was employed as an ordinary merchant vessel for commercial purposes at a time when no emergency existed or was declared, she should not be immune from arrest in admiralty, especially as no exemption has been claimed for her, by reason of her sovereign or political character, through the official channels of the United States.

"[29] On September 27, 1903, American sociologist Albion Woodbury Small, founder of the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago, returned from a trip to Europe with his wife and daughter, Lina, aboard the Moltke.

Departing from the Port of Hamburg, Germany aboard the Moltke, he traveled with his family in steerage class, arriving at Ellis Island in New York City on February 25, 1904.

Departing from Genoa aboard the Moltke on June 24, she traveled alone, according to Letizia Argenteri, author of Tina Modotti: Between Art and Revolution, arriving on July 8 at Ellis Island, where she "declared herself to be single, five feet one inch tall, in good mental and physical health, and a student."