Royal Odyssey

The first ship we sailed on was Royal Cruise Lines "Royal Odyssey." Since it was our first cruise, we had nothing to compare it to. But it was a grand old ship and we loved it. Small (by today's standards), elegant, and a terrific Panama Canal transit. Royal Cruise Line went out of business and I lost track of the ship. A decade or so ago, we happened to pass it in a Florida port moored far away from other ships. I "googled" it and found out it had been quarantined. It was the early days of "Noro Virus" so I'm guessing that was the cause. I don't remember what flag it was flying. I'm wondering if anyone knows if it's still in service somewhere in the world?

Well there were two R.O.'s. The first, the former Doric / Hanseatic / Shalom, was Royal Cruise Line's second ship in 1981 after the Golden Odyssey. She was sold by RCL in 1988 to Regency Cruises, sailing as the Regent Sun. She lasted until Regent went bankrupt in 1995. The former R.O. sat unused and forlorn, the subject of many plans that never came to fruition. A conversion was started to transform her into the Canyon Ranch at Sea, but the deal collapsed in 2001, and the ship was sold to Indian Breakers. She sank off South Africa whilst en-route to the breakers.

The second R.O. was the former Royal Viking Sea. She sailed for RCL from 1990 to 1996. Today she is the Albatros for Phoenix Reisen in Germany.

Modelman .... Thanks so much for the info. Our RO was the first one that you mentioned. I didn't know where she was but I never would have expected that she sunk!!

And yet, the older, smaller Golden Odyssey is still going strong:

Although incredibly tiny (only 7000 tons), this ship seemed to pack all of the big ship amenities in.

The Golden was built for Royal Cruise line in 1974 (now sailing as a casino ship Macau Success). The royal was built for Zim in 1964; but joined RCL in 1981.

Harvey

We were absolutely spoiled by our first cruise. 14 days on the The Royal Odyssey (LA to Puerto Rico through the Panama Canal). It was much different than today's megaliners .... no balconies, small showrooms, etc. But the class and elegance was amazing. We loved the old girl. It's awful to think she's sitting on the bottom of the sea. Was anything salvaged??

It's awful to think she's sitting on the bottom of the sea. Was anything salvaged??

Look at the bright side, sitting on the bottom of the sea is probably a better alternative than being ripped apart and transformed into razor blades.

And yet, the older, smaller Golden Odyssey is still going strong:

 

Although incredibly tiny (only 7000 tons), this ship seemed to pack all of the big ship amenities in.

We had an incredible cruise on the Golden Odyssey........including sailing through the Corinth Canal at night....:)

including sailing through the Corinth Canal at night....

That must have been magnificent! And at NIGHT! Beautiful........ Did you take any pictures?

That must have been magnificent! And at NIGHT! Beautiful........ Did you take any pictures?

I took these.....and the last one shows how close we were to the wall......and our ship was towed by a tug as well.....

Great pics! I love the way that you captured the Sampan on the Golden Odyssey's Funnel!!

Very dramatic!

were any of these Royal ships ever taken over by NCL? I sailed a Panama cruise in 1997 that still had the "royal" insignia on the toiletries.

The Crown Odyssey sailed as the Norwegian Crown for awhile from about 1996 to 1999. The Royal Odyssey II sailed as the Norwegian Star from about 1997 to 1999 also.

Harvey

thanks Harvey... it was the Star I was on!

The RCL Queen Odyssey began life as the Royal Viking Queen when Royal Viking Line President Warren Titus bought the ship while it was being built for Seabourn as they were having financial difficulties at the time and put in several million extra dollars for architectural improvements and to install the latest maritime technology.

Royal Viking Queen was transferred to RCL and renamed Queen Odyssey when NCL liquidated all RVL assets. Queen Odyssey was sold when NCL jettisoned the RCL brand.

Warren Titus (as CEO of Seabourn) bought the Royal Odyssey from NCL and brought her home as the Seabourn Legend where she continues to sail.

We took a number of cruises aboard the Royal, Golden, and the Crown. At least 5 all together. Loved that line. I wonder if in the buy-outs they passed the "frequent Cruiser" credits to another line? Bottom of the sea? Too bad:(

Marty

The Oddyssey was the first ship we sailed from Rome to Athens with stops in Sicily, Malta, Santorini, Mykonos and Ephesus. It was the summer of 1995.

The dining room was so large, you were assigned a table and had the same waiter and assistant every night, but you could dine from 6-9. Even for lunch you got your own table. It was a great first time family cruise, since we remained together as a family and my wife and son enjoyed it even though they wore the accupressure wrist bands.

The Royal Cruise Line was based in San Francisco.

One day for lunch, the president of Royal Cruise Line asked us if he could join us for lunch. He looked pretty hungry, so we invited him to sit down. He asked us how the staff were treating us and we had nothing but high praise for everything. Before he left, he let us know that the waiters were going on strike in Athens. At that time the waiters had only one seating for dinner, not two, therefore half the tips. We then started to feel bad for the half-earning waitstaff. They always treated us well, despite their issues. We enjoyed the cruise. It is great to follow the ship's history, though. Thanks for the memory.

The waters between Port Elizabeth and Capetown were very rough when we sailed on the old Pacific Princess from Mombassa to Capetown.

What a great thread. I've been wondering what happened to the Royal Odyssey. We sailed on it in the early 80s. The first trip was Scandinavia and the second was the Mediterranean.

The ship had mechanical trouble in Leningrad (as I recall) and we had a Soviet submarine park next to us for the duration of our visit. The whole reason we were booked on that cruise was to go to Helsinki. Unfortunately with the delay we were unable to meet up with relatives there.

The Mediterranean trip was such a treat because the waitstaff remembered us from before. Then again we were three preteen/teen girls who ordered hot chocolate with every meal. We might've been easy to remember.

Ahh, back in the days were meeting the captain was an important part of the cruising experience.

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Has anyone meet the captain of the Royal Odyssey at the time? Kostas Papadopoulos?