lola.lockheart

Hi Do your remember the captains name??

Hi Kaare can you tell me who was the captain of the Nordic Prince back in December 1971??

Do you remember who your captain was on the Nordic prince??

I was onboard the Nordic Prince for it's maiden voyage on July 31' date=' 1971 out of Miami for a two week Caribbean cruise. I still have all the souvenirs from those maiden voyages. I was 12 years old and had the time of my life. The Viking Crown was the idea of one of the original owners of RCCL(three Norweigian families) and the engineers originally didnt think it would work. They tried it on the Song of Norway and it was a huge hit and became the trademark for many years of RCCL. At the time, this was considered very high and tall for a ship - of course, not compared to the huge ones built today. We cruised on the Nordic Prince a number of times including our honeymoon in September 1985 from NYC to Bermuda. We encountered Hurricane Gloria and sailed out of Bermuda early and stayed at sea an extra day. Ships have personalities and everyone LOVED the Nordic Prince - it was a wonderful, fun ship. We were docked next to it last summer in the Mediterranean. Nordic Prince was the second of RCCL's ships - the first one was Song of Norway in December 1970 and Sun Viking in Summer 1972. They were called the Ships of the 70s.[/quote']

Lovely story about the Nordic Prince, which month did you sail in 1972 and who was the captain?

She was a beauty and brand new. The food was excellant but the entertainment was very old. They still put dance wax on the dance floors. We loved sliding from one side of the ship to the other to the music. No body else was young enough to dance.LOL

We hit nine islands in 14 days and I loved every minute of it. The islands were still fresh and the people friendly. We were the only ship in port most places. Oh for the old days of travel. It was a true pleasure. And I still have my guest list & a few papers.:)

:)I worked on this ship back in 1971 from when she was brand new. As a Norwegian sailor I left Oslo with the rest of the Norwegian crew in June 1971 for the shipyard she was built at outside Helsinki, Finland. In the dry dock next to the Prince Sun Viking was being built June 1971.

 

We went through rough extensive fire drills outside Helsinki for three weeks before boarding the Prince in mid July. Our first job was to make the ship ready for its first voyage to Kristiansand, Norway where we stayed for two days taking on board provisions for the next long voyage across the Atlantic to Miami. On July 30th we set off and hit a nasty storm after crossing north west of Scotland and the Hebrides. The storm kept going to two days. After ten days we saw the skyscrapers on Miami Beach in the horizon popping up in the sun. A week later on a Saturday we set off on our first 14 days cruise. The last port of call on these cruises was Port of Spain, Trinidad. I recall a mayday message from a large bulk carrier outside Trinidad as we were about to leave Port of Spain. I was on the bridge steering at the moment. Our captain set full speed and those four hours it took the Prince to get to the bulk carrier, she did a better speed than ever. Across the Atlanctic she was tested to 24,5 knots, but that day from Trinidad she did no less than 26 knots, which I believe she never did later on her cruises. It was incredible to see how she moved through the water that day, and her engines actually made less vibration than when she kept her usual speed on cruises.

 

The Nordic Prince as far as I know is still doing cruises in the Carribean, but not for the RCCL which sold her in the early 90's. The "Crown" was removed before RCCL sold her. She was also extended with an 80 feet long section in the middle about ten years after being built. So was one of her sister ships, but not Sun Viking. The Prince started with 18400 tons, but ended up being extended to 23000 tons.

 

I also remember I fell in love with a young girl from Houston, Texas, though crew members were not allowed to fraternize with passengers, but that's another story.:)

Hi Kaare

that is a very interesting story about the Nordic Prince , Do you know who was the captain in December 1971??