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Your first cruise ship


Copper10-8
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.............I believe that the Empress boats were the first Carnival boats, bought cheap and converted to cruisers by Mr Arison.

...................

 

You are right on! See page 73 for Empress of Britain, to become Carnival's "Carnivale" and page 74 for Empress of Canada, to become Carnival's "Mardi Gras". For the third early Carnival ship, see page 78 for Transvaal Castle which became 'Festivale"

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Hi Cop,

 

My first cruise was on the Queen of Bermuda - 1967.

 

Because of an airline strike, the only tourists on the island were on the Queen.

 

We had a front-row seat at the Princess Hotel, where Viki Carr sang to a group of 4 of us at separate tables.

 

I stepped outside after the show and snapped my fingers - a cab pulled up.

 

We found all of the cold beer on the island (1 six pack of Heinekens) and had a sandy cove all to ourselves.

 

At a shop, we had two assistants holding baskets as we walked around buying souvenirs.

 

I have never gone back to Bermuda.

 

Ira

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1968 - One beautiful ship - great crew - From Naples to New York - quite a story because up until 45 minutes before sailing - I didn't even know I was going on the ship - and the lady I met on board - well I'll never forget her either.

 

I was hooked after that - lost count of the cruises over the years - most of the major and many of the smaller lines - from the top top luxury to well let's say there was one we simply got off it was so bad.

 

One thing missing is the long trips - so far 14 days is the longest- plan on changing that sooner then later - soon as my other half can make her business work as well on board as at home - getting close to that.

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American Hawaii Cruises- Constitution 01/91- Hawaii

 

ss Constitution (1951-1997) Built in 1951 as ss Constitution by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Quincy, Mass. as an ocean liner for American Export Lines. She was built in yard 1619, next door to her slightly older (by six months) sister, ss Independence, and was launched on 16 September 1950. Constitution was named by her sponsor, Mrs. Josephine Bay Paul, wife of financier-diplomat (U.S. ambassador to his native Norway) Charles Ulrick. Constitution was considered to be the finest example of an American flag ship of the post-war era and, with Independence, symbols of American maritime design and construction. They were big, fast and very comfortable. With her fine lines, beautifully proportioned twin funnels and graceful counter stern (the last built on a major passenger ship), she was a credit to her operators, the New York-based American Export Line. She would prove to be a profitable and popular ship for them and destined to capture the public’s imagination as well as newspaper headlines.

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ss Constitution was designed by Henry Dreyfuss and while not flashy, was certainly built for comfort and style. She was a new kind of ship for a new kind of traveler conceived with glamorous informality in mind. As originally built, she could carry exactly 1,000 passengers in three classes: 295 in First Class, 375 in Cabin Class and 330 in Tourist Class. The ship was 683 feet in length with an 89 foot beam and a 23, 750 gross registered tonnage. Her steam turbine gave her a cruising speed of 23 knots with a maximum speed of over 26 knots. She was completed in June and departed on her maiden voyage on 25 June 1951 on a trans-Atlantic crossing to Naples and Genoa, Italy. Constitution, along with Independence and the “Four Aces”, Exochorda, Excambion, Excalibur and Exeter (plus later, Atlantic), provided formidable U.S. competition on the Italian dominated Mediterranean service. Her routing was from New York to the two Italian ports and to Gibraltar. She would sail this route, known as the “Sun lane to the Mediterranean” from 1951 until 1968, interspersed with periodic cruising. In doing this, she carried on a tradition of what her owners billed as “American living goes to sea”.

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Constitution would also become well known as a star of film and television. On television, she gained publicity in episodes of the “I Love Lucy” sitcom starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The steamship was featured in episode 140, “Bon Voyage” (01/16/56) and “Second Honeymoon” (01/23/56). As the story would go in the episodes, Ricky Ricardo (Arnaz) went on a European tour with his band and booked passage on the Constitution. Lucy Ricardo (Ball) missed the sailing of the ship and had to be ferried by air by the then novel means of a helicopter. The ship, however, was only used for establishing the departure scene shots. The remainder of the episodes were shot in a Hollywood sound stage.

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Constitution’s most famous role however, was as the ship that took actress Grace Kelly from New York to Monaco to marry the Prince of Monaco, Rainier, in 1956. In the later years of the ship’s career, there would be a Princess Grace Room onboard on Promenade Deck between the lounge and the showroom. In the motion picture world, she was known as the vessel that brought Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr together, and across the Atlantic to New York, in the 1957 motion picture “An Affair To Remember”. In addition, the sister ships were known to carry high profile passengers, among others, United States President Harry Truman, King Saud of Saudi Arabia, Alfred Hitchcock and Walt Disney.

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In January 1959, both Constitution and Independence were sent to Newport News, VA, where their forward superstructures was moved 22 feet forward and lifted up by one deck in order to increase First Class passenger capacity by more than 100 berths to 484. Cabin Class went down from 375 to 350 and Tourist Class from 330 to 254. Upon emerging from the yard, both ships continued on the Mediterranean run. In 1960, the controlling interest was acquired by the New York-based Isbrandtsen Company. However, by the mid-sixties and the emergence of jet powered passenger aircraft, the Trans-Atlantic steamship trade had drastically declined and like most liners of the day, their passenger numbers dropped. In 1967 the Med service was suspended and by 1968, Constitution was only operating cruises. On 9 September 1969, she was laid up at Jacksonville, Fl. and Isbrandtsen placed both ships on the market for sale.

It wasn’t until January 1974 that Hong Kong shipping tycoon C.Y. Tung, the owner of Orient Overseas Line, purchased both Constitution and Independence and registered them under Monrovian flag as part of Atlantic Far East Lines, Inc. While Independence under her new name Oceanic Independence and after a refit, commenced cruising again, Constitution (now named Oceanic Constitution) was laid up at Hong Kong on 4 August 1974. As faith would have it, assisted by the economic downfall of the seventies, Oceanic Independence was also laid up there on 17 January 1976. Since both ships were now no longer American-flagged vessels, C.Y. Tung was not able to operate them in U.S. waters. He did not give up however, and created American Global Line which he placed under the ownership of his children who were U.S. citizens. In 1979 both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives passed special legislation to approve the return of both ships to the United States.

Under the marketing name of American Hawaii Cruises, Oceanic Independence initiated service in June 1980 with 7-Day cruises around the Hawaiian Islands from Honolulu. After receiving a refit in Taiwan and with the initial cruises by her sister ship being relatively successful, Oceanic Constitution departed for Honolulu, Hi. with a new passenger capacity of 1,088 and a GRT of 20,199. Upon arrival there, she was re-christened by Princess Grace of Monaco under her original name. In June 1982, she joined her sister and commenced inter-island cruising out of Honolulu. Initially the ship departed from the Aloha Tower at 10:00 pm on Sundays, calling at Nawiliwili, Kauai, and then to Kona and Hilo on the big island of Hawaii, followed by an overnight stay at Kahului, Maui with the final afternoon spent cruising by the island of Molokai before returning to Honolulu.

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With slight variations, this would remain her cruising pattern for well over a decade. There were only occasional interruptions for Trans-Pacific crossings in the winter to San Francisco and Los Angeles with Constitution making her maiden call at the port of Los Angeles on the evening of 8 December 1983. In 1984, her passenger capacity was reduced to 800 and in 1987, both ships were officially registered in Honolulu. Constitution also revived her television career when, in 1986, several shots of the Magnum P.I. episode "All Thieves on Deck," were filmed on her. The episode aired on 30 January 1986.

By the mid nineties however, American Hawaii Cruises was in serious trouble. After forcing one competitor, Aloha Pacific Cruises with their ss Monterey, out of the market and into bankruptcy in 1989, the company now found themselves bankrupt themselves. American Hawaii Cruises was sold in 1995 to the Delta Queen Steamboat Company, who put the combined companies under the title of American Classic Voyages. They sent the Independence to Newport News for an extensive refurbishment. The result was huge cost overruns, delivery delays and lawsuits filed by both the ship owners and the shipyard. Constitution was scheduled for a similar refurbishment but due to the dispute, a West Coast shipyard was selected and the ship sailed to Portland, Oregon without passengers, arriving there on 6 July 1995. After an extensive survey, and partly owing to her owner's financial status, it was determined that it would not be economical to bring the ship up to SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) standards, and the refurbishment was cancelled. The old ship remained in layup at Portland while parts were cannibalized for use in her sister which had resumed sailing in Hawaiian waters.

Finally in October, 1997, American Classic Voyages announced that they had entered into an agreement to sell the vessel for scrap. An unconfirmed report suggested that other parties in the Far East might be interested in reconditioning the vessel for further service once it arrived in Asia. On November 5, 1997, Constitution departed Portland for an Asian breaker yard, under tow by the Chinese Ocean going tug De Da. Twelve days after departure, located about 700 miles north of Hawaii, the Chinese tow crew reported that Constitution started to take on water. The tug's crew later told the U.S. Coast Guard that they cut their tow line loose due to the imminent sinking of the former liner. On November 17, 1997, the once magnificent Constitution slipped beneath the waves to her final resting place and into history.

Edited by Copper10-8
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Our first cruise was on Carnival's Jubilee on the Mexican Riviera in 1996. Compared to the ships now a days this was more like a Navy troop carrier (lol). This was my wife's baptism with sea sickness particular on the run from Mazatlan to Cabo... today's ships can handle tropical storms better than the Jubilee handled the currents of the Gulf of Calif. Anyway, she found the "patch" and we have sailed about 17 times now and our next cruise is on the Rotterdam San Diego - Lima - San Diego though our first HAL cruise was Alaska on the old Westerdam when they allowed smoking in the main dining. Our table was right next to the smoking area and we all complained so much that they moved us to the captains table in the middle of the dining room for the entire cruise.

 

I must add that one our worst cruises however was on the Volendam (Alaska), because of their smoking policy in cabins/veranda (the people next door never stopped smoking the entire cruise and HAL would not change our rooms) I only hope that they will some day get up to speed with the rest of the cruising world (US companies that is). We were on Celebrity's Summit this spring and so enjoyed the relatively smoke free environment... though they do allow smoking in a number of venues including outside decks on one side of the ship. Seems a reasonable compromise...

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Hi Cop,

 

My first cruise was on the Queen of Bermuda - 1967.

 

Because of an airline strike, the only tourists on the island were on the Queen.

 

We had a front-row seat at the Princess Hotel, where Viki Carr sang to a group of 4 of us at separate tables.

 

I stepped outside after the show and snapped my fingers - a cab pulled up.

 

We found all of the cold beer on the island (1 six pack of Heinekens) and had a sandy cove all to ourselves.

 

At a shop, we had two assistants holding baskets as we walked around buying souvenirs.

 

I have never gone back to Bermuda.

 

Ira

 

ss Queen of Bermuda (1933-1967) Built in 1932 by Vickers Armstrong Shipbuilders Ltd, Barrow-in-Furness, England as Queen of Bermuda for the UK-based Furness, Withy & Co. As built, she was 22,575 gross registered tons with a length of 580 feet and a breadth of 76 feet. She originally had three funnels and two masts. Her steam turbo-electric engines and quadruple screw gave her a service speed of 19.5 knots while her accommodations were for 700 passengers in First Class and 31 in Second Class. She had a crew of 410. Queen of Bermuda was launched on 1 September 1932. On 21 February 1933 she departed Liverpool for New York City on her maiden voyage, and was then placed in service on the New York to Hamilton, Bermuda service by Furness-Bermuda Line, a subsidiary of Furness, Withy & Co.

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Furness, Withy & Co. had taken over passenger traffic between New York and Bermuda from the Quebec Steamship Company in 1919. The Canadian company had obtained a contract from the Bermudian government since 1874 for a three-weekly service from New York to the island, carrying freight, mail and, as time passed, more passengers. Furness Bermuda Line decided to order two new luxury liners which would become the Monarch of Bermuda (1931) and the Queen of Bermuda. Queen of Bermuda made her maiden voyage to Hamilton in 1933 and the service offered by her and her near sister reached its peak in the years just before the Second World War

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With these two ships the Bermuda run from New York enjoyed the ultimate in luxury and they became known as the “Millionaires” ships as they attracted the wealthiest as well as the most famous passengers, including actor Clark Gable, writer T.S. Eliot, British actress Gertrude Lawrence and the then child film star Shirley Temple. They were beautifully proportioned vessels and were among the elite ships of their day. The run between New York and Bermuda took only 40 hours in each direction and that allowed 4 days to be spent on the Island.

When World War II broke out in 1939, the Queen of Bermuda was requisitioned for war duties and, after a conversion, pressed into service with the Royal Navy. During the conversion, she had one of her original three funnels removed. She was commisioned on 28 October 1939 as the armed (7x 152mm guns and 2x 76mm guns) merchant cruiser HMS Queen of Bermuda (F 73). Her primary area of operations was in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Between 1943 and 1947she served the Ministry of War Transport and was redesignated as a troop transport. Her near sister, the Monarch of Bermuda, also served her country as a troopship during World War II.

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After a distinguished war service, Queen of Bermuda was laid up for refitting (including the return of her third funnel) for two years and then resumed Bermuda service in February 1949. She gained a new fleet mate on the run, the new-built, smaller, and more yacht-like Ocean Monarch. The Monarch of Bermuda had sadly been gutted by fire during her post-war refit and had been sold. Throughout the 1950s, they were dubbed the “Honeymoon Ships”, their Saturday afternoon departures from New York fitting in well with the week-long honeymoons of many couples. With fares starting at $140, the six-day roundtrips (three days and two nights docked at Hamilton) concluded on the following Friday morning. The celebrity list continued, this time including former United States President Harry Truman, actor Cary Grant, British playwright, actor and director Noel Coward and Princess Soraya, the former wife of the Shah of Iran. Every winter, the Queen would sail to Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England for her annual overhaul.

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Between 1961 and 1962 she was completely modernized and rebuilt at Harland & Wolff in Belfast, Northern Ireland and, upon completion, left the yard at 22,522 gross registered tons and with only one funnel. However, by this time the heyday of the Furness Bermuda Line was over and by 1966, also due to stricter safety standards, the company made the decision to withdraw from the New York to Bermuda run altogether. After 33 years of service, Queen of Bermuda was sold for scrap in 1966 and, after arriving at Shipbreaking Industries, Ltd. of Faslane, Scotland on the River Clyde on 6 December 1966, was broken up in 1967. It was the end of luxury travel between New York and Bermuda.

 

Edited by Copper10-8
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Michelangelo 1968 - One beautiful ship - great crew - From Naples to New York - quite a story because up until 45 minutes before sailing - I didn't even know I was going on the ship - and the lady I met on board - well I'll never forget her either.

 

I was hooked after that - lost count of the cruises over the years - most of the major and many of the smaller lines - from the top top luxury to well let's say there was one we simply got off it was so bad.

 

One thing missing is the long trips - so far 14 days is the longest- plan on changing that sooner then later - soon as my other half can make her business work as well on board as at home - getting close to that.

 

ts Michelangelo (1965-1991) Built in 1965 by Ansaldo, Sestri Ponente Shipyards, Genoa, Italy as an ocean liner for the Italian Line or the Societa di Navigazione Italia. She was one of the last ships to be built primarily for liner service across the North Atlantic and she was a sister to ts Rafaello.

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Her owners decided that the new ships would be the largest to be built in Italy since the ss Rex in 1932 and that the ships would be true liners, their accommodations divided into three classes. For some reason it was also decided that the three bottom-most passenger decks would not have any portholes. The most striking feature in the ships were their Turin polytechnic-designed funnels, which consisted of an intricate trellis-like pipework (instead of the traditional even surface) to allow wind to pass through the funnel, and a large smoke deflector fin on the top. Although much criticised, the funnel design proved to be highly effective in keeping smoke off the rear decks.

michelangelo_1965_1.jpg

After several delays, she was finally ready for service in May 1965 and would operate on the Genoa-New York run. On 12 April 1966, she was hit by an unusualy large wave during a storm in the mid-Atlantic, which tore away the aluminum plating of the superstructure and swept two passengers into the sea. One crew member died a few hours later and over 50 people were injured. When repairs were carried out after the accident, the aluminum plating in the superstructure was replaced by steel plates.

 

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During the following years, passenger numbers in the Transatlantic trade declined steadily due to competition from the air, and more and more ships were withdrawn. Michelangelo spent more time cruising to warmer waters, but she made a poor cruise ship with her windowless cabins and three-class layout. What she did have was large lido decks that were superior to even most purpose-built cruise ships of the time, but those were not enough to compensate for the ship's shortcomings, and Italian Line did not have enough funds to rebuild the ship to make her a more usable cruiser. Additionally, she was considered to be too large to be a cruise ship by that time's standards.

 

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She made her last Atlantic crossing in July 1975. Afterwards she was laid up, first at Genoa and then at La Spezia, Italy alongside her sister Rafaello. Several potential buyers, including Knut Kloster of Norwegian Cruise Line, inspected the ships but decided against buying them due to the costs required to modernise them into cruise ships. There was, however, one serious buyer, Italy-based Home Lines, who wanted to purchased the sisters and keep them under Italian flag for cruising in the Caribbean. Incredibly, Italian Line refused to sell the ships, reportedly because they felt keeping them under the Italian flag would have associated them with "embarrassing money-losers".

Ship+Photo+MICHELANGELO.jpg

 

In 1976, a buyer was found who agreed to the terms sought by Italian Line. None other than the Shah of Persia purchased both ships with the intension to use them as permanently moored military barracks. Michelangelo deprated Italy on 8 July 1976 and sailed through the Suez Canal and past Saudi Arabia before reaching her new home in Bandar Abbas, Iran on 21 July. In the Shah's presence, the Iranian flag was hoisted, as the ship became an "Iranian citizen". She was rebuilt so that she could accommodate 1,800 military personnel.

She would wind up spending the last fifteen years of her life there. In 1978, plans were made to reconstruct her as the luxury cruiser Scia Reza il Grande however, a team of experts sent from Italy to inspect the ship came to the conclusion that she was too badly deteriorated to make rebuilding a viable option. Similar plans were made again in 1983, but they too fell short. Finally in June 1991, an end was put to Michelangelo's suffering when she was sold to Pakistani shipbreakers who towed her to Gadani Beach in Pakistan where she was broken up.

 

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Our first cruise was on Carnival's Jubilee on the Mexican Riviera in 1996. Compared to the ships now a days this was more like a Navy troop carrier (lol). This was my wife's baptism with sea sickness particular on the run from Mazatlan to Cabo... today's ships can handle tropical storms better than the Jubilee handled the currents of the Gulf of Calif. Anyway, she found the "patch" and we have sailed about 17 times now and our next cruise is on the Rotterdam San Diego - Lima - San Diego though our first HAL cruise was Alaska on the old Westerdam when they allowed smoking in the main dining. Our table was right next to the smoking area and we all complained so much that they moved us to the captains table in the middle of the dining room for the entire cruise.

 

I must add that one our worst cruises however was on the Volendam (Alaska), because of their smoking policy in cabins/veranda (the people next door never stopped smoking the entire cruise and HAL would not change our rooms) I only hope that they will some day get up to speed with the rest of the cruising world (US companies that is). We were on Celebrity's Summit this spring and so enjoyed the relatively smoke free environment... though they do allow smoking in a number of venues including outside decks on one side of the ship. Seems a reasonable compromise...

 

jubilee_1986_1.jpg

 

Jubilee (1986-present) Build in 1986 as Jubilee by Kockums Varv Ab, Malmö, Sweden for Carnival Cruise Line as the second vessel of the three-ship medium-size Holiday class. Her sisters are Holiday (1985) and Celebration (1987). She was delivered on 1 June 1986 to CCL and 0n 6 July 1986 began operating Caribbean cruises out of Dodge Island, Miami, Fl.

 

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During her Carnival career, she also operated out of Los Angeles (San Pedro) on Mexican Riviera cruises and out of Vancouver, BC on Alaska cruises.

 

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In September 2004, she received an internal transfer to P&O Australia, a Carnival subsidiary, who renamed her Pacific Sun. After an intensive refit at the Grand Bahamas Dockyard at Freeport, she received interior as well as exterior changes. The most obvious exterior changes were the removal of both Carnival-trademark winglets on her "whale tail" funnel and the construction of a so-called ducktail on her stern. Due to this addition, she will pitch and roll less and this will also increase her fuel efficiency. A two-story waterslide was one of her added features.

 

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Her first cruise for P&O Australia out of Sydney's Darling Harbor took place on 27 October 2004, after she was renamed by her godmother, Australian Olympic gold medal swimmer Lisa Curry-Kenny. Since that time, Pacific Sun has welcomed thousands of Australians onboard on year-round South Pacific and tropical North Queensland itineraries. Her guests have been able to choose from three-night short break cruises to a fourteen-night voyage to New Caledonia, Fiji and Vanuatu. Destinations included islands such as Ouvea (New Caledonia), Champagne Bay (Vanuatu) and the Isle of Pines (New Caledonia), as well as capitals like Noumea (New Caledonia) and Vila (Solomon Islands).

 

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In November 2007, P&O Australia relocated Pacific Sun to Brisbane which has seen her become the largest year-round cruise ship ever to be based in Queensland. From this new home port, Pacific Sun has been able to offer her guests the forty two-night Cherry Blossum cruise which goes around Asia.

 

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As a sidenote, on 31 July 2008, 42 of her passengers received medical attention after Pacific Sun was hit by severe weather and experienced 22-foot swells and 50-knot winds, causing her to roll sharply just before 8:00 pm. During that voyage, she was enroute to Auckland, New Zealand following an eight-day cruise in the South Pacific.

 

Pacific Sun is currently operating on three to fourteen-night itineraries with port calls in Queensland and the South Pacific.

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Some additional pics of the former Jubilee:

 

jubilee_1986_3.jpg

 

As Carnival's Jubilee

 

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As P&O Australia's Pacific Sun at Lyttelton harbor (Christchurch), New Zealand

 

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As P&O Australia's Pacific Sun in Darling harbor, Sydney

 

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As P&O Australia's Pacific Sun departing Sydney

 

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As P&O Australia's Pacific Sun departing Brisbane in hybrid colors (new all-white hull but still sporting the prior P&O Australia sun below her bridge)

 

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As P&O Australia's Pacific Sun departing Brisbane in new (all-white) house colors

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  • 2 weeks later...
My first cruise was in 1987 on the Carnival Holiday. I travelled with Singleworld out of Miami to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios. It was a great cruise and I did get hooked on cruising. My 12 and 14 year old daughters are hooked as well.

 

ms Holiday (1984-present) Built in 1984 as ms Holiday by av Aalborg Vaerft A/S, Aalborg, Denmark for Carnival Cruise Line. She was the first ship of Carnival's Holiday class, also called "Super Liners" by Carnival and known as the "Fun Ships". Her near sisters are the slightly larger Jubilee (1986) and Celebration (1987).

 

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When she emerged from the yard, Holiday was 46,052 gross registered tons, 728 feet long, 105.6 feet wide with a 25.5 foot draft. She was Liberian registered with Italian Officers and an International crew and she is diesel propelled.

She was delivered to her new owners on 3 June 1985 and on 22 June departed Aalborg on her transatlantic crossing to Miami, FL. After her naming ceremony, she departed Miami for her inaugural cruise to the Caribbean on 13 July 1985.

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The Holiday class vessels were the first class of newbuilds for Carnival Cruise Lines (Tropicale was a single-class ship). Holiday, the lead ship, started the tradition of an enclosed, double width promenade, which would become "the boulevard" for each evening's activities. Every Carnival ship has its own particular bit of whimsy. On Holiday, it was a full size 1934 Danish passenger bus by the name of Bette Astrup, part of the Bus Stop Bar on Broadway, parked outside of the ship’s casino.

 

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For 24 years, ms Holiday operated a wide variety of itineraries for the line, playing a critical role in Carnival's rise to world's largest cruise operator. She also played an important role in pioneering the short cruise market, introducing three- and four-day service from Southern California (San Pedro) in 1995 and, towards the end of her Carnival career, four and five-day voyages from Mobile, Ala. On the four-day voyages, Holiday departed the Alabama port city on Thursdays with a port of call at Cozumel, Mexico. On her five-day trips, Holiday departed on Mondays and Saturdays with stops at Cozumel, Calica/Playa del Carmen or Progreso, all in Mexico.

 

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Effective 8 September 2005, Carnival took the Holiday out of service and chartered her and two other ships (Sensation and Ecstasy) to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) on behalf of the Federal Emergency Management Authority (FEMA), to be used for six months as temporary housing to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Holiday initially remained at Mobile and took in up to 1,400 refugees, before moving to Pascagoula, MS.

Following the completion of her FEMA contract, Holiday entered dry dock in Freeport, the Bahamas for three weeks of refurbishment and renovations where, among other improvements, she received new carpeting and plumbing as well as repairs to her propellers. On 27 March 2006, she resumed her program of year-round four and five-day Caribbean cruises out of Mobile.

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In 2009, Carnival announced that Holiday would be internally transferred to Spanish Line Iberocruceros, a joint venture between it and Spanish tour operator Orizonia Corporación.On 3 November 2009, the 1,452-passenger Holiday departed Mobile on her final voyage for Carnival Cruise Lines, a five-day western Caribbean cruise. Upon her return, the ship sailed to Genoa, Italy where she is undergoing a refurbishment at the San Giorgio del Portoshipyard prior to her transfer to Iberocruceros or IberoCruises. In addition to completely restyling her cabins and public areas, four new suites with balconies and a new wellness center will be built. The ship's hull is being treated with a silicone-based paint that also increases the vessel’s hydrodynamic performance while reducing the environmental impact thanks to reduced fuel consumption.

 

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Iberocruceros was founded in 2007 as a joint subsidiary of Carnival Corporation and Orizonia Corporación and is aimed at the Spanish-speaking market. Orizonia Corporación provided two ships from its existing Iberojet fleet, the Grand Mistral and the Grand Voyager. Carnival Cruise Lines provided Iberocruceros with the Grand Celebration and now the Grand Holiday.

 

Grand Holiday’s first cruise is scheduled to depart from Barcelona, Spain on 18 May 2010, calling at Villafranche-sur-Mer, France, Livorno (Leghorn), Civitavecchia and Porto Torres (Sardinia), Italy. The ship will then operate seven-day cruises in the western Mediterranean during the summer season, departing from Barcelona on Sundays, calling at Leghorn, Civitavecchia, Naples, Villafranche and La Goulette, Tunesia.

 

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September 1996

Royal Caribbean's Sovereign of the Seas

Eastern Caribbean:

Miami, day at sea, Labadee, San Juan, St. Thomas, day at sea, Miami

 

Hooked?... you bet!!

 

How's that?

 

 

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ms Sovereign of the Seas (1988-present) Built in 1988 as ms Sovereign of the Seas by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France for Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL). She was the lead ship of a three-ship (Sovereign) class, her sisters being Monarch of the Seas (1991) and Majesty of the Seas (1992). They were the first modern megaships to be built and the first series of cruise ships to include a multi-story atrium with glass elevators. They also had a single deck consisting entirely of cabins with private balconies instead of oceanview cabins.

 

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After having been delivered to her new owners on 19 December 1987, she then crossed the Atlantic to Miami, Fl. She was christened and named by her godmother, Rosalyn Carter, wife of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on 15 January 1988. At the time of her maiden voyage on 16 January 1988, she was the largest cruise ship in the world at 73,192 gross tons. She held that record until 1990 when the ss Norway succeeded her after being refurbished with the addition of two more decks.

 

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RCCL initially operated Sovereign OTS out of Miami, Fl on seven-night Eastern Caribbean cruises with port calls at San Juan, Puerto Rico, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas and at Labadee, their private resort on the north coast of Haiti. Later on during her RCI career, she operated on three and four-night sailings to the Bahamas, also from Miami. In 2006 however, she switched her home base to Port Canaveral, Fl with a smilar itinerary. Besides Nassau, these cruises also visited CocoCay (Little Stirrup Cay), RCI's (Royal Caribbean International - name change in 1997) privately-owned island in the Berry Islands

 

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In October 2007, RCI announced that Sovereign of the Seas would receive an internal transfer to the fleet of their subsidiary, Spanish-based Pullmantur Cruises in November 2008. Sovereign of the Seas' last scheduled sailing for Royal Caribbean International was on 31 October 2008 and in November 2008, her sister Monarch of the Seas assumed her sailings out of Port Canaveral. Sovereign of the Seas received a refit and a new name 'Sovereign'.

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Beginning in March 2009, she has been operating Mediterranean cruises for Pullmantur out of Barcelona, Spain.

 

 

 

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Copper10-8 -- What a wonderful site I just started to read. The pictures of the ships are great. Our first of thirty cruises was on RCL's Nordic Empress. My father when he was 12 came to America from the Netherlands in 1927 with his family. They came over on the Nieu Amsterdam. I wonder about the history of that ship.

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Copper10-8 -- What a wonderful site I just started to read. The pictures of the ships are great. Our first of thirty cruises was on RCL's Nordic Empress. My father when he was 12 came to America from the Netherlands in 1927 with his family. They came over on the Nieu Amsterdam. I wonder about the history of that ship.

 

Thanks! I was 18 when I came over;) Here are a couple of pics of Nieuw Amsterdam I. I'll have to do some work on her history. Stand by

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My first cruise ship was a fairly new one Carnival's The Miracle, 2008. I was so nervous to cruise but I put it on my bucket list. It honestly was through the generosity and paitence of the CC'ers that answered every question, over 800 post in my roll call, sooth every silly fear, and attended the meet and greet that I arranged.That I even went through with it.. and the moment, the second I walked on that ship I loved every single minute of it and could not wait to go back to sea..for me it is the sea & ship, and not so much the ports..and now I anticipate my newest journey on the Niew Amerstdam...in February 2011, and am taking my daughter on her first cruise..I hope she likes it as much as I do.

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This is not my first cruise ship but my dearly departed grandmother's. She was on a Matson cruise to Hawaii in the 1950s. After they got to Hawaii, they went on strike so all passengers were stranded there for an unknown length of timie. Her friends decided to fly back to the states but my ever-adventureful grandmother stayed on by herself to "suffer" through the down-time in Hawaii waiting for the strike to end.

 

Her travel journal doesn't name the ship, but I bet you can find it with the given information. It's a test, John, and my bookie just took my money on the odds you'll come through.

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Copper10-8 -- What a wonderful site I just started to read. The pictures of the ships are great. Our first of thirty cruises was on RCL's Nordic Empress. My father when he was 12 came to America from the Netherlands in 1927 with his family. They came over on the Nieu Amsterdam. I wonder about the history of that ship.

 

tss Nieuw Amsterdam I (1906-1932) Built in 1906 by Harland & Wolff, Belfast Ltd., Northern Ireland as tss (Turbine Steam Ship) Nieuw Amsterdam for Holland Amerika Lijn aka the Holland America Line. When she emerged from the Belfast yard, she was HAL’s largest ship at 16,957 gross registered tons until the arrival of Rotterdam IV in 1908, and had accommodations for 440 passengers in First Class, 246 in Second Class, 1,078 in Third Class and 1,284 in Steerage. She also had an extensive capacity to carry cargo, 14,500 tons in seven holds. These holds were used on the outbound leg to New York to carry the steerage passengers in collapsible cabins.

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Nieuw Amsterdam I was the first quadruple expansion engined HAL liner and the last fitted with emergency sails that could be rigged to the foremast. She was launched on 28 September 1905 and delivered to her new owners on 6 March 1906. On 7 April 1906, she departed Rotterdam on her maiden voyage providing a direct service to New York City for mostly European immigrants. After 1910, an additional port call at Plymouth, England was made before she commenced her crossing. Halifax, Nova Scotia also became a destination.

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Her First Class dining ‘saloon’ extended upwards through three of her decks, topped by a painted glass skylight. The room had ornate, hand-carved wood paneling as well as long tables with swivel chairs. She also had a First Class smoking room described as a ‘dark-paneled, stained-glass setting for the masculine pastimes of smoking, drinking and card playing. Company brochures of the time warned passengers that “professional gambles are known to frequent transatlantic steamers”.

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Between November and December 1908, Nieuw Amsterdam entered dry-dock at Harland & Wolff where her forward boat deck promenade was glass enclosed, and her First Class dining room enlarged by extending her superstructure forward. Upon conclusion of this refit which made her more compatible with her new running mate Rotterdam IV, the ship named after the Dutch settlement on the island of Manhattan, was slightly larger at 17,110 grt and her accommodations were now 443 guests in First Class, 379 in Second Class and 2,050 in Third Class. As a result of the Titanic disaster in April 1912, Nieuw Amsterdam gained six additional lifeboats on her poop deck in May 1912.

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Despite the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 in which the Netherlands remained neutral, and unlike the majority of her fleet mates (Noordam and Rijndam had struck sea mines, Zaandijk and Statendam II, as Justicia, had been sunk by German u-boats which also damaged Noorderdijk, Rotterdam was laid up), Nieuw Amsterdam continued sailing her route on HAL’s North Atlantic run. As a matter of fact, in August 1914, Nieuw Amsterdam under the command of her master, Captain Jan Baron, carried home a full shipload of American tourists anxious to leave Europe as soon as possible. British an French liners had stopped running so Nieuw Amsterdam departed Rotterdam with 1,662 passengers. The seats in the dining room were occupied all day long, one sitting after another. When the final breakfast sitting concluded, the first lunch sitting started. That same cycle was repeated from lunch to dinner. Conditions onboard could not have been more trying, yet Nieuw Amsterdam’s crew did such a magnificent job that NA’s U.S. passengers spontaneously presented a commemorative plaque to Captain Baron.

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After the Armistice was signed ending hostilities, Nieuw Amsterdam departed Rotterdam on 21 December 1918 en-route to New York via Le Havre with 149 First, 62 Second, 35 Third plus 1,715 French refugees. On subsequent crossings, she was one of the ships used to transport ‘Dough Boys’ or American troops back home to the States. During the late 1920s, Nieuw Amsterdam also made a number of lucrative cruises from Boston, Mass to Havana, Cuba with mostly American tourists.

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In April 1929 however, the new Statendam III entered the picture with great success and HAL’s powers-to-be on the Wilhelminakade (Wilhelmina quay) in Rotterdam soon realized that instead of the older Nieuw Amsterdam I and Rotterdam IV, a modern running mate for Statendam was needed. After a period of layup and subsequent sale for scrap, Nieuw Amsterdam departed Rotterdam on 26 February 1932 on her final voyage to Osaka, Japan where she was broken up at the Torazo Hashimoto company.

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Thanks so much for all the information and pictures Copper10-8. My grandparents with their five children (my dad being one of them -12 yrs. old and the oldest) came over probably in 3rd class or steerage.

What a wealth of information you are.

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This is not my first cruise ship but my dearly departed grandmother's. She was on a Matson cruise to Hawaii in the 1950s. After they got to Hawaii, they went on strike so all passengers were stranded there for an unknown length of timie. Her friends decided to fly back to the states but my ever-adventureful grandmother stayed on by herself to "suffer" through the down-time in Hawaii waiting for the strike to end.

 

Her travel journal doesn't name the ship, but I bet you can find it with the given information. It's a test, John, and my bookie just took my money on the odds you'll come through.

 

Hi Di; sorry about the delay! Not an easy one because we don't know when exactly in the fifties grandma travelled to Hawaii on one of Matson ships. By process of elimination, she should have sailed on either the ss Lurline or the ss Matsonia.

Matsonia, born as Matson's ss Monterey pre-World War II, after the war did not start sailing again to Hawaii for Matson until May 1957. Lurline, on the other hand, had been sailing on the San Francisco-Los Angeles-Honolulu run since 1948 after having been refurbished after her war-time service. If grandma sailed prior to May 57, it had to have been on Lurline. If after May 57, Lurline or Matsonia!

 

As a sidenote, Matson had two additional ships in service beginning in 1956; the Mariposa (ex-Pine Tree Mariner) and the Monterey (ex-Free State Mariner) but instead of SF-LA-Honolulu and back, they sailed a South Pacific run to Tahiti, Auckland, Sydney, Suva, Pago Pago and Honolulu, before returning to the mainland.

ss Lurline (1932-1987) Built in 1932 as ss Lurline by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Mass. for the Matson Navigation Company/Matson Lines. She was launched in 1932 as a fast and luxurious ocean liner designed by William Francis Gibbs for the line's Pacific (Hawaii and Australasia) services from the west coast of the United States. She was the third Matson vessel to hold that name. With increasing passenger traffic to Hawaii, Matson Line had introduced the ss Malolo in 1927. Her success led to the construction of three sister ships: the ss Mariposa, ss Monterey and ss Lurline between 1930 and 1932. These were known as the great Matson liners.

 

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Lurline was christened on 12 July 1932 in Quincy by Lurline Matson Roth (who had also christened her father William Matson's 1908 steamship Lurline as a young woman of 18). On 12 January 1933, she departed New York City on her maiden voyage bound for San Francisco, CA via Havana, Cuba, the Panama Canal and Los Angeles. From there, she would sail for Sydney, Australia and the South Pacific, returning to San Francisco on 24 April 1933. She then served on the express San Francisco to Honolulu, Hi service alongside her older sister Malolo.

 

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On 7 December 1941, Lurline had departed Honolulu and was about half-way enroute to San Francisco, when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Naval base took place. She reached her destination on the west coast safely, traveling at maximum speed, and soon returned to Hawaii with her Matson sisters Mariposa and Monterey in convoy laden with troops and supplies.

 

She would spent the duration of the war as troopship USAT Lurline (aka USS Lurline), providing similar services, often voyaging to Australia, and once transported Australian Prime Minister John Curtin to the United States to confer with U.S. President Roosevelt.

 

She was returned to Matson Lines in mid-1946 and extensively refitted at Bethlehem-Alameda Shipyard in Alameda, CA in 1947 at the then huge cost of $US 20 million. She resumed her San Francisco to Honolulu service from 15 April 1948 and regained her pre-war status as the Pacific Ocean's top liner. Her high occupancy rates during the early 1950s caused Matson to also refit/rebuilt her sister ss Monterey (actually renaming her ss Matsonia) and to put her on the same service. As a result, the two liners provided a first-class-only service between Hawaii and the American mainland from June 1957 to September 1962, mixed with the occasional Pacific cruise. Serious competition from jet airlines caused passenger loads to fall in the early 1960s and the ultimate lay-up of sister Matsonia in late 1962.

 

Only a few months later, Lurline arrived in Los Angeles with serious engine trouble in her port turbine, causing her to be laid up as well due to the required repairs being considered too expensive. Matson instead brought the Matsonia out of retirement and,characteristically, changed her name to Lurline. The original Lurline was sold to Greece-based Chandris Lines in 1963 to replace their Brittany which had been wrecked by fire earlier that year.

 

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Under her new name of RHMS Ellinis, she had her engines repaired in the USA and then sailed from California to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England where she was refitted/rebuild at North Shields. She was given a new Chandris livery as well as a modernised superstructure with new funnels and an increased accomodation for 1,668 passengers in one class. In Chandris' service, she became one of the most important luxury cruise ships on the Australia and New Zealand services. She sailed from North Shields to Piraeus, Grece on 21 December 1963 and embarked on her maiden voyage from Piraeus to Sydney, Australia on 30 December 1963. Her homeward voyages were alternately routed via the Panama Canal to Southampton, England from 1964 and she also took occasional cruises

 

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In April 1974, while cruising to Japan, Ellinis developed major problems in one engine. Chandris were able to buy a surplus engine from her former Matson sister Mariposa (Homeric) which was being broken up in Taiwan at the time. The replacement was carried out in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and was finished in March 1975.

 

Ellinis provided mainly cruises in the Meditteranean from 1975 to early 1977. In October 1980, she was laid up at Perama (Piraeus), Greece, after providing passenger services two years short of fifty years.

 

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Despite various rumors concerning future plans for the ship including potential service as a floating hotel ship in San Francisco, CA she was sold for scrap to Taiwanese breakers in 1986. On 3 December 1986, she departed Perama under tow for Taiwan. On 11 March 1987 near Singapore, she started taking on water which resulted in her slowly developing a 15 degree list to starboard. Regardless, the tow continued and she arrived in Kaohsiung on 15 April 1987 and breaking up commenced approximately two months later.

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Monterey (1932-2000) Built as ss Monterey by Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Quincy, Mass in 1932 for U.S.-based Matson Line destined for their Pacific Ocean liner service (Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia). She was one of four ships in the Lines' "White Fleet" which included ss Malolo, ss Mariposa and ss Lurline. She was the third of those four ships designed by William Francis Gibbs and was identical to Mariposa and very similar to her sister ship Lurline. Her positioning cruise from the East to the West coast on 12 May 1932, saw her take 83 passengers from New York City. Her subsequent maiden voyage took place on 3 June 1932 from San Francisco after which she made stops in Los Angeles, Honolulu, Auckland, Pago Pago, Suva, Syndney and Melbourne.

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During World War II, Monterey served as a fast troop carrier, often operating alone so she wouldn't be slowed by formation navigation in a convoy. In 1941, before U.S. declaration of war, the United States Marine Corps chartered her to carry 150 Chinese, Korean and Japanese missionaries and stranded U.S. citizens from China to San Francisco. Back in the City by the Bay, she was quickly refitted to hold 3,500 troops. On 16 December 1941 she steamed to Hawaii with 3,349 fresh troops, returning with 800 casualties of the Japanese atack on Pearl Harbor.

 

On 22 August 1942, she was briefly acquired by the United States Navy and assigned the name/designation USS Alameda (AP-68). However, she was returned to the War Shipping Administration on 25 September 1942 so never served under that name. Her war-time service would see her travel to the South Pacific and Australia, via the Panama Canal and Key West to Scotland (Glasgow), England (Liverpool), North Africa (Casablanca and Oran), Italy (On the way to Naples off the coast of Algeria, she and her convoy were attacked by German bombers) and even one trip to Brasil.

After the war, on 26 September 1946 Monterey arrived at Bethlehem-Alameda Shipyard in Alameda, CA for refitting and return to passenger service with Matson. However, funding for the project ran out after only 30% of the work had been completed so for five years she sat idle in Alameda. She was then purchased by the U.S. Government in August 1952 and towed to the mothball fleet in nearby Suisun Bay.

 

Meanwhile, her former owners, Matson Line, were enjoying fair post-war success with Lurline and were looking to expand their passenger operation once more. Matson bought the old mothballed s Monterey back from the US Government on 3 February 1956 and, since they had named another vessel Monterry by then, had to come up with a new name for their first Monterey. They therefor rechristened her ss Matsonia, replacing their earlier Matsonia which had been sold to Home Lines. On 22 May 1957, Matsonia teamed up with her sister Lurline on the San Francisco-Los Angeles-Honolulu run providing a 'first class only' service between Hawaii and the American mainland.

 

Within five years however, profits from passenger service had fallen to the point where Matson decided to anchor Matsonia indefinitely in San Francisco Bay. Sister ship Lurline continued to operate but suffered a major turbine problem in February, 1963; one that would require costly repairs. Instead of repairing Lurline, Matson sold the popular ship to Greek-based Chandris Lines who rechristened her Ellinis. Stung from poor public opinion regarding that sale, Matson rechristened the former Matsonia (ex-Monterey) as the new Lurline on 6 December 1963 and returned her to service.

 

By 1970, passenger receipts were down so low that Matson chose to cease liner service altogether. On 25 June 1970, Lurline arrived in San Francisco also to be sold to Chandris Lines. Five days later she steamed under new ownership out of the Golden Gate on her way to Piraeus with the new name Britanis.

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At Piraeus, she was greatly modified to hold 1,655 passengers, mainly by subdividing existing cabins and converting cargo holds to new cabin areas. She re-entered service on 21 February 1971, leaving Southampton, England bound for Sydney and back; a regular roundtrip she would make for three years. In 1974 she saw service as a cruise ship in the Caribbean during winter and in Europe during the summer. After another lay-up time in 1980, Britanis cruised between New York and Bermuda in May 1982 with a smaller capacity of 1,200 passengers. In the 1983-1984 winter season, she sailed from Miami to the Caribbean, switching back to New York in the summer of 1984.

 

She received a major overhaul in 1986 which included parts from her sister Ellinis (ex-Lurline), some of which had gone to Ellinis from Homeric (ex-Mariposa) when Homeric was scrapped in 1974. At this point, parts from three sister ships were now bound together in Britanis. This refit gave Britanis eight years of Caribbean cruising until 19 November 1994.

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In 1994, Britanis was chartered by the U.S. Government for use as a floating barracks/accomodation ship for military personnel at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. She suffered minor damage from an electrical fire and was repaired, at U.S. Government expense, and then laid up at Tampa, Fl in late 1996.

 

During that time, her owners, Chandris, opted to sell Britanis as part of a plan to cease cruise line operation. The ship was maintained in anchorage until 24 January 1998 when she was sold to AG Belofin Investments of Liechtenstein and renamed Belofin-1. Her new owners intended to recoup their investment by selling the ship to scrappers, but a downturn in steel prices held them up for more than a year. On 3 July 2000, Belofin-1 was towed by the Ukrainian ocean-going tug Irbis out of Tampa Bay with the CN Marine ferry Bluenose lashed to her port side. The group was bound for the ship breakers at Alang, India. Belofin-1 began taking on water and listing during the voyage but nobody was on board to right the list. The tugboat crew cut her free and Belofin-1 capsized and sank due to progressive flooding some fifty miles off Cape Town, South Africa on 21 October 2000, ending an illustrious 68-year career.

 

 

[url=http://boards.cruisecritic.com/"http://media.shipspotting.com/uploads/photos/rw/24079/Ship+Photo+BRITANIS.jpg&quot][/url]

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My first ship was the Holland America Westerdam 1988 - 2003. I was 13 years old when my grandparents and parents took me on this fine vessel. Since then, Holland America has won a top spot in my heart. I have yet to find service matching Holland America's. It has been a while, but does Holland America still present their Dutch chocolate buffet?

 

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My first ship was the Holland America Westerdam 1988 - 2003. I was 13 years old when my grandparents and parents took me on this fine vessel. Since then, Holland America has won a top spot in my heart. I have yet to find service matching Holland America's. It has been a while, but does Holland America still present their Dutch chocolate buffet?

 

 

It's no longer refered to as the Dutch chocolate buffet! It's now called the 'Chocolate Extravaganza'

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Homeric (1986-present) Built by Jos. L. Meyer GmbH shipyard, Papenburg, (then) West Germany and delivered in 1986 as "Homeric" for Italian-based Home Lines for New York to Bermuda cruising in the summer and Caribbean cruising in the winter months. Homeric was planned during the first half of the 1980s as a replacement for the ageing ss Oceanic in the Home Lines' fleet. The ship was named in honor of the company's earlier ss Homeric, a popular ship for the line that had been destroyed by a fire in 1973.

 

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She left Emden, West Germany on 12 May 1986 for New York. She then departed on her maiden voyage from New York City to Hamilton, Bermuda on 31 May 1986.

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In March 1988, Home Lines (Homeric and Atlantic) was purchased by Holland America Line. Following their final season in Bermuda. HAL sold Atlantic to Premier Cruise Line and moved Homeric into a drydock and refit at the Norshipco yard in Norfolk, Va. Homeric was renamed Westerdam II on 2 November 1988 and departed Ft.Lauderdale, FL on her first HAL cruise, an alternating seven-day run to the Eastern, followed by a seven-day run to the Western Caribbean on 16 November 1988. Westerdam's arrival expanded the HAL fleet to four ships and signaled the beginning of a new era of growth for Holland America that continues today

 

She was the second ship in Holland America Line history to receive the name Westerdam. The first Westerdam sailed for Holland America Line from 1946 to 1965. She was a combination cargo-passenger ship with accommodations for 143 first-class passengers. While being constructed during World War II, Westerdam I was sunk three times: On 27 August 1942, she was bombed and sunk by Allied aircraft while in the shipyard in Rotterdam. The German occupiers raised the ship in September 1944, but she was quickly sunk again, this time by Dutch resistance fighters. After being raised a second time, the resistance again sank her on 17 January 1945. After the Netherlands were liberated in May, 1945, Westerdam I was raised a third time and finally completed. She would go on to be a regular on the transatlantic run, making two eight-day crossings each month between Rotterdam and New York. Her name translates to one of the four directions of the compass in the Dutch language; wester meaning, well, westerly.

 

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In the winter of 1989, Westerdam II was sent back to her place of birth, Jos. L. Meyer GmbH, Papenburg, West Germany for lengthening, emerging in 1990 with a new overall length of 243 meters (originally 204 meters) and a new passenger capacity of 1,476 souls (originally 1,132). She was primarily assigned to Ft. Lauderdale, Fl cruising the Caribbean in the winter and to Vancouver, BC for Alaska cruising in the summer months.

 

In 1997, the romantic commedy "Out to Sea" starring Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Rue McClanahan, Dyan Cannon, Gloria DeHaven and Brent Spiner was partially filmed onboard Westerdam II. Compulsive gambler Charlie Gordon (Matthau), hiding out from his various bookies and loan-sharks, cons his brother-in-law Herb Sullivan (Lemmon) into an all expenses-paid luxury cruise in search of rich, lonely ladies to fleece. The catch, which Charlie does not reveal to Herb until the ship has left port, is that they are required to be dance hosts and must sleep in a cramped cabin in the bowels of the ship.

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Ruled over by tyrannical, control-freak Cruise Director Gil Godwin, "a song and dance man raised on a military base" (Spiner), they do their best, despite Charlie's not actually being able to dance. They each meet a lady of interest. One is the luscious heiress Liz LaBreche (Cannon), whose wealth attracts Charlie every bit as much as the rest of her does. The other is lovely widow Vivian (DeHaven), who is under the impression that Herb is a doctor, not a dancer. By the time Charlie literally drags ship owner Mrs. Carruthers (McClanahan) across the dance floor, the boys aren't sure if they will find true love or need to abandon ship.

 

 

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In March 2002, After 643 cruises spanning over 13 years with Holland America, she was internally transferred within the Carnival Group to Italy-based Costa Crociere/Costa Cruise Lines. After a drydock in Genoa, Italy, she was christened Costa Europa and in April 2002 commenced cruising for the Italian company.

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In July 2009, Carnival Corporation announced that Costa Europa will join British tour operator Thomson Cruises under a 10-year bareboat charter beginning in April 2010. Under the agreement, Thomson has an option to purchase the ship after five years. She was renamed Thomson Dream and is currently operating for the British company

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