What is the oldest cruise ship still in service (on ANY line)?

Just wondering, what is the oldest cruise ship still in service (on ANY line)? I've always been curious about that. I have a couple guesses, but someone on here probably knows off the top of their head, and has done a whole bunch of research, LOL.

:):D:cool:

My guess is the Marco Polo

There are probably some others as old

There is a whole list of them. Depends on what you are calling a cruise ship.

Windjammer operates sailing ships. The Mandalay was built in 1923.

Sea Cloud Cruises has the Sea Cloud (a sailing ship) which was built in 1931.

Imperial Majesty Cruise Line operates the Regal Empress which first entered service in October 1953.

Monarch Classic Cruises operates the Ocean Monarch was first entered service in March 1955.

Classic International Cruises operates the Princess Danae which first entered service in July 1955.

Kristina Cruises operates the Kristina Regina which was built in 1960.

Orient Lines has one ship, the Marco Polo, which first entered service in April 1966.

The Spirit of Columbia is a small cruise ship (under 100 passengers) operated by Cruise West. It entered service in 1979

The oldest ship current being used by Carnival is the Holiday, which first entered service in July 1985.

The oldest ship currently being used by Royal Caribbean is the Sovereign of the Seas, which first entered service in January 1988.

The oldest ship currently being used by Norwegian is the Majesty, which first entered service in September 1992 (the Dream first entered service in December 1992).

The oldest ship currently being used by HAL is the Maasdam, which first entered service in December 1993.

The oldest ship currently being used by Celebrity is the Century, which first entered service in December 1995.

The oldest ship currently being used by Crystal is the Symphony, which first entered service in March 1995.

The oldest ship currently being used by Princess is the Sun Princess, which first entered service in December 1995.

The oldest ship currently still in operation, that I can think of, is the QE2, which entered service in May of 1969. However, technically the QE2 is an ocean liner, not a cruise ship.

We've recently seen Princess Danae, and her sister ship Princess Daphne in the Med. Both are very pretty ships, and looked well maintained.

A very thorough and interesting list, agabbymama. Just a couple of corrections...

The oldest ship currently being used by Norwegian is the Majesty, which first entered service in September 1992 (the Dream first entered service in December 1992).

The Majesty is now with Thomson cruises (and I'm not sure where the Dream is, but she - and the Wind - were sold off by NCL a while ago).

The oldest ship currently being used by HAL is the Maasdam, which first entered service in December 1993.

The Statendam pre-dates the Maasdam by a year.

 

 

The Statendam pre-dates the Maasdam by a year.

Actually, the Prisendam, previously called Royal Viking Sun and Seabourn Sun, was first launched in 1988. She joined HAL in 2002, but is HAL's oldest ship.

Marco polo is not owned by Orient lines anymore

If fact Orient is a name only they have no vessels in service

Pretty sure Regal Empress is no longer in service either.

Just to add to agabbymama's list:

P&O (UK)'s oldest is Oriana, her first season was 1995.

Hurtigruten's oldest is Lofoten, built in 1964.

Fred Olsen's oldest is Black Watch, launched 1971.

Marco Polo now sails for Cruises & Maritime, and the QE2 has retired.

Agabbymomma, you seem to have a lot of outdated information in your post. For example:

The QE2 is not in service. She was retired by Cunard in 2008. She was supposed to be converted to a floating hotel in Dubai, but that never panned out, and now there is concern that she might be sold for scrap.

The Sovereign of the Seas no longer sails for Royal Caribbean. In late 2008 she was transferred to sister line Pullmantur Cruises and started service for that cruise line in early 2009 under the name MS Sovereign.

NCL sold the Norwegian Majesty in late 2009 to Louis Cruises, which currently leases her out.

Carnival retired the Holiday in 2009. She currently sails for another cruise line.

The oldest ship currently sailing for Carnival is the Fantasy, which was built in 1990.

The Holiday is still sailing for Ibero cruise lines (under the name Grand Holiday), which is a Carnival company, but I wouldn't be able to tell you if it was Ibero's oldest ship or not.

I don't know if she resumed service after being arrested for her owner's non-payment of bills in 2012, but the MS Athena first entered service in 1948, so she's 65 years old. With the exception of ships operating under sail, she may be the oldest cruise ship in service (or recently in service).

The most interesting item in her history is that she was originally the MS Stockholm, best known for colliding with the Andrea Doria in 1956.

There is a whole list of them. Depends on what you are calling a cruise ship.

 

Windjammer operates sailing ships. The Mandalay was built in 1923.

 

Sea Cloud Cruises has the Sea Cloud (a sailing ship) which was built in 1931.

 

Imperial Majesty Cruise Line operates the Regal Empress which first entered service in October 1953.

 

Monarch Classic Cruises operates the Ocean Monarch was first entered service in March 1955.

 

Classic International Cruises operates the Princess Danae which first entered service in July 1955.

 

Kristina Cruises operates the Kristina Regina which was built in 1960.

 

Orient Lines has one ship, the Marco Polo, which first entered service in April 1966.

 

The Spirit of Columbia is a small cruise ship (under 100 passengers) operated by Cruise West. It entered service in 1979

 

The oldest ship current being used by Carnival is the Holiday, which first entered service in July 1985.

 

The oldest ship currently being used by Royal Caribbean is the Sovereign of the Seas, which first entered service in January 1988.

 

The oldest ship currently being used by Norwegian is the Majesty, which first entered service in September 1992 (the Dream first entered service in December 1992).

 

The oldest ship currently being used by HAL is the Maasdam, which first entered service in December 1993.

 

 

No. That is inaccurate. The oldest ship sailing for HAL is the former Royal Viking Sun, built in 1988, which sails for HAL now as Prinsendam.

 

 

The oldest ship currently being used by Celebrity is the Century, which first entered service in December 1995.

 

The oldest ship currently being used by Crystal is the Symphony, which first entered service in March 1995.

 

The oldest ship currently being used by Princess is the Sun Princess, which first entered service in December 1995.

 

 

The oldest ship currently still in operation, that I can think of, is the QE2, which entered service in May of 1969. However, technically the QE2 is an ocean liner, not a cruise ship.

Please see my bold above.

Sorry,

I just noticed Cruise Bruce wrote this. I didn't notice it at first.

Please tell us the Good and the Bad about cruising on some of these older ships !

LuLu

~~~~~

Very interesting question. It would be nice to see the updated answers for all of the main lines.

The oldest ship currently being used by Norwegian is the Majesty, which first entered service in September 1992 (the Dream first entered service in December 1992).

I believe the oldest NCL ship still in service (with NCL) is the Norwegian Spirit which launched in 1998.

There is a whole list of them. Depends on what you are calling a cruise ship.

 

Windjammer operates sailing ships. The Mandalay was built in 1923.

 

Sea Cloud Cruises has the Sea Cloud (a sailing ship) which was built in 1931.

 

Imperial Majesty Cruise Line operates the Regal Empress which first entered service in October 1953.

 

Monarch Classic Cruises operates the Ocean Monarch was first entered service in March 1955.

 

Classic International Cruises operates the Princess Danae which first entered service in July 1955.

 

Kristina Cruises operates the Kristina Regina which was built in 1960.

 

Orient Lines has one ship, the Marco Polo, which first entered service in April 1966.

 

The Spirit of Columbia is a small cruise ship (under 100 passengers) operated by Cruise West. It entered service in 1979

 

The oldest ship current being used by Carnival is the Holiday, which first entered service in July 1985.

 

The oldest ship currently being used by Royal Caribbean is the Sovereign of the Seas, which first entered service in January 1988.

 

The oldest ship currently being used by Norwegian is the Majesty, which first entered service in September 1992 (the Dream first entered service in December 1992).

 

The oldest ship currently being used by HAL is the Maasdam, which first entered service in December 1993.

 

The oldest ship currently being used by Celebrity is the Century, which first entered service in December 1995.

 

The oldest ship currently being used by Crystal is the Symphony, which first entered service in March 1995.

 

The oldest ship currently being used by Princess is the Sun Princess, which first entered service in December 1995.

 

 

The oldest ship currently still in operation, that I can think of, is the QE2, which entered service in May of 1969. However, technically the QE2 is an ocean liner, not a cruise ship.

Wow, your list is years out of date. Windjammer went belly up years ago, although I think Mandalay may just have started sailing for a new owner.

Imperial Majesty morphed into Celebration Cruise line when they sold Regal Empress for scrap and took on a former Ferry as their new ship.

Cruise West went bankrupt a couple of years ago, although some of their ships may be sailing for other companies.

Carnival transferred the Holiday to Ibero Cruceros several years ago, she sails as Grand Holiday. Her older sister Jubilee now sails for a Chinese company under the name of Henna.

Sovereign of the Seas has been sailing for Pullmantur for several years as Sovereign.

Norwegian Majesty went to Louis Lines, and I think is under lease to Thomson. Norwegian Dream was rejected by Louis and sat idle and for sale for several years, drifting around the Med. and then to Singapore where she had multiple drydocks. She just started sailing again for Star Cruises as Super Star Gemini.

The QE2 was sold to Dubai where she berthed in October 2008. She was to be turned into a hotel/tourist attraction, but she is still sitting there. There is a rumor the Chinese bought her.

Kristina Regina was retired a couple of years ago and now serves as a museum/restaurant in Finland? Renamed Bore.

EM

By far the oldest passenger ship that may yet sail again is Doulos:

http://maritimematters.com/2012/12/decking-doulos-part-one/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Doulos_Phos

I'm getting a history lesson today - And it's damn interesting!

Please tell us the Good and the Bad about cruising on some of these older ships !

 

LuLu

~~~~~

Depends on your definition of good v bad.

The Carnival Fantasy were built just before 'everybody' had to have a balcony. The only balconies on these are suite cabins and the balconies are extremely tiny. There are 8 Fantasy class ships built on this design and several of these ships have retrofitted balcony cabins.

We find the layout of this class very easy to figure out.

I don't know if she resumed service after being arrested for her owner's non-payment of bills in 2012, but the MS Athena first entered service in 1948, so she's 65 years old. With the exception of ships operating under sail, she may be the oldest cruise ship in service (or recently in service).

 

The most interesting item in her history is that she was originally the MS Stockholm, best known for colliding with the Andrea Doria in 1956.

I just read about this a couple of weeks ago and was astonished that the Stockholm was still sailing within the last year. It was amazing that they fixed all of the damage to her bow and she kept on going for over 55 more years!

I was on Norwegian Majesty right after she was sold and right before she was transferred to Thomson. Honestly... Except for some deferred maintenance, especially around the pool area, and outdated decor, and smallish size, you woudn't think she was an "old" ship.

I just did a google search for oldest cruise ship still operating, then cut & pasted it. I didn't check each item for accuracy.

There may very well be a more up to date listing.

Interesting posts. Thanks.

TUI operate the Mein Shiff 1 (formerly the Galaxy) built in 1996 and the Mein Shiff 2 (formerly the Mercury) built in 1997.

Now that we know the oldest cruise ship for each line, lets thak this a step further.

What is the oldest cruise ship you have sailed on?

Where and when.

Did she act and look her age.