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WOW!

 

I had totally forgotten about "SeaEscape cruises to nowhere." My first cruising experience, how could I have blocked it out!?!?!?

 

My parents took us on at least one, maybe two of these, out of Port Canaveral in the mid-80s. We lived in Orlando, so it was a short drive away.

 

Not sure which ship it was, maybe the Scandinavian Sea? I'll have to see if my mom has any pictures.

 

Then, in 1993, I surprised my then-girlfriend (now my wife!) with a cruise to nowhere from Port Canaveral. I think it was on the Scandinavian Song, but not certain.

 

Ship left in the morning, got into international waters, dropped anchor, and returned after sunset. Passengers had the option whether or not to purchase a cabin for the day; there were lockers available for us cheapskates. :D

 

Ah, memories.

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I believe it went "belly up" . One of the owners got into huge legal trouble with something else not related to the ship, was all over the papers but unfortunately I can't tell you specifics....you might do a websearch for the fort lauderdale sun-sentinel or miami herald. Menina

 

Google James Bell II

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  • 3 months later...

Wow does that bring back some memories.The sun was a really cool little ship.I remember we leaving out of miami at 08:00am and would head to freeport bahamas by 12:00 noon.and then leave by 5:00 pm for a slow ride back to miami.

Once we got to freeport the front of the ship would open and we would offload the cars or trucks that went to freeport,since it was originally a ferry .

I remember we would loose one engine and would be out of either ac or water....

That was right before I joined the army Also there is an old episode of miami vice where the show was about a murdering grand prix driver and in te backround there are several shots of the sun when it belonged to sea escape.....

I did a couple of years worth of work which meant 400-500 trips to freeport.

One special trip we left on the stevadores went on strike in miami just after we left wee got word on our return to miami that we would have to divert to the port of palm beach..

Let me tell you there where some really pissed folks from palm beach on the ship..they drove to miami arrived back in palm beach only to take a bus back to miami to get there cars and drive back to palm beach....did not where my sea escape shirt that night ..

All and all the sun was a tough little ship we hit some pretty big seas and keep right on going.

Our crew mess was right on top of the port bow thruster when we would leave the dock our coffee cups plates knives and forks would jump all over the table.

Well enough from this old diver to those of you that sailed on her good luck....William H.

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The demostration that internet is not just for gaming, movies and any other hand jobs (or not…):

 

 

 

 

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&hl=es_ES&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="
&hl=es_ES&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
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  • 6 months later...
  • 3 months later...
  • 4 months later...
We remember the Scandinavian Dawn here...when it was first introduced, we were invited to see it and go on a complimentary day cruise aboard her. (That was the only time we sailed on SeaEscape; we usually stuck to Discovery's day cruises when relatives visited us.) Refreshed and newly remodeled, she looked quite presentable for her age. I have distinct memories of neon and a huge spiral staircase - oh, the 90s! Didn't realize the demise of the original SeaEscape came shortly after they introduced her...thought it was the same company all this time.

 

Back in the summer, we were at the state park that lines the channel at Port Everglades, and we saw the new SeaEscape's Island Adventure returning. She looked terrible! Rust all over, a skeleton crew and passengers on the decks, she was more limping than sailing. As a ship lover, it was painful to see one in such disarray.

Sure enough, a few weeks later it came out in the Sun-Sentinel that the company was months behind on their bills, dock fees, and was going bellyup. No wonder they couldn't take care of their ship! Just couldn't compete with the land based casinos, kind of sad. They auctioned her off a few months later, where she fetched a fair amount and the new owner said they'd probably move her to Tampa or another market with less land casino competition.

 

Attached are some photos taken of her that day.

 

If you think she looked rough then, check out this pic I took last weekend when we were leaving Freeport on the Carnival Pride.

 

seaescape.jpg

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  • 2 years later...

Formerly Bahama Cruises that used to sail from Miami to the Bahamas, changed over time including sailings, location, and food. The name was bought out by Carribean Sealiner Cruises. Later on in the mid 1980s, the company Sealiner that was based in Miami, FL went soonly bankrupt. In the early 90s, the ship was auctioned off to a few millionaires and came up with the name Escape to Sea. It stayed in Miami, FL changing its name and still sailed to the Bahamas twice a week. They started day cruises. Then one day, Jack M. Flawner had died and the ship was turned over to the state for Auctioning! Once again, it got bought by a few more millionaires. The company called it Sea Escape Cruises, Inc. which was then moved from Miami to Fort Lauderdale, FL. As a result, Sea Escape runs its day to day operations as normal with light changes to staff and location and its operations. This time, its runs are 7 days and 7 nights a week with monthly runs to Bimini boat yard in the bahamas. By, the early new century millenium, The new Hardrock Casino in Hollywood attracts people from all over. Sea escape begins to lose business. The company began to offset the prices to make up what it lost. Fuel, food, beverages, payroll, etc. They couldnt pay all of it. Then one day in March of 2013, Sea Escape Cruises took out a loan from Wells Fargo Bank for more than $3.5 million dollars against the ship and its assets of what it was worth. Didnt pay back payments of loans, port taxes, state taxes, etc. Sea Escape began to fail its operations. Sea Escape began a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in March of this year. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy soon followed in the following month. August 16th, 2013: Noone would ever know that this will be Sea Escapes last voyage out to sea! August 17, 2013: Was a day of sadness for everyone! 9:00am - IRS shows up at port docking inventory and going through paperwork for ships documents for EIN (Employer Identification Number). 10:00am - Wells Fargo shows up and starts collecting money from slots, safe, cash drawers, freezes all bank accounts, assets, etc. All jobs lost! 10:30am - State of Florida OSHA also show up, begin chaining doors and chase out people, guests, employees, ships employees were deported by customs and chased out. VERY SAD!!! The ship moved to an undisclosed locations and is managed by a Cruise Ship company in Orlando, Florida. At this time, the ship is being cleaned up and will soon be in operation back in the states nearing the beginning of next year! The Princess Management of Cruises in Orlando will be Operating under Wells Fargo bank. Will Sea Escape name stay the same? Noone knows! Right now Sea Escape Cruises, Inc. is in Receivership by Princess, Inc management company which is through Wells Fargo.

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Formerly Bahama Cruises that used to sail from Miami to the Bahamas, changed over time including sailings, location, and food. The name was bought out by Carribean Sealiner Cruises. Later on in the mid 1980s, the company Sealiner that was based in Miami, FL went soonly bankrupt. In the early 90s, the ship was auctioned off to a few millionaires and came up with the name Escape to Sea. It stayed in Miami, FL changing its name and still sailed to the Bahamas twice a week. They started day cruises. Then one day, Jack M. Flawner had died and the ship was turned over to the state for Auctioning! Once again, it got bought by a few more millionaires. The company called it Sea Escape Cruises, Inc. which was then moved from Miami to Fort Lauderdale, FL. As a result, Sea Escape runs its day to day operations as normal with light changes to staff and location and its operations. This time, its runs are 7 days and 7 nights a week with monthly runs to Bimini boat yard in the bahamas. By, the early new century millenium, The new Hardrock Casino in Hollywood attracts people from all over. Sea escape begins to lose business. The company began to offset the prices to make up what it lost. Fuel, food, beverages, payroll, etc. They couldnt pay all of it. Then one day in March of 2013, Sea Escape Cruises took out a loan from Wells Fargo Bank for more than $3.5 million dollars against the ship and its assets of what it was worth. Didnt pay back payments of loans, port taxes, state taxes, etc. Sea Escape began to fail its operations. Sea Escape began a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in March of this year. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy soon followed in the following month. August 16th, 2013: Noone would ever know that this will be Sea Escapes last voyage out to sea! August 17, 2013: Was a day of sadness for everyone! 9:00am - IRS shows up at port docking inventory and going through paperwork for ships documents for EIN (Employer Identification Number). 10:00am - Wells Fargo shows up and starts collecting money from slots, safe, cash drawers, freezes all bank accounts, assets, etc. All jobs lost! 10:30am - State of Florida OSHA also show up, begin chaining doors and chase out people, guests, employees, ships employees were deported by customs and chased out. VERY SAD!!! The ship moved to an undisclosed locations and is managed by a Cruise Ship company in Orlando, Florida. At this time, the ship is being cleaned up and will soon be in operation back in the states nearing the beginning of next year! The Princess Management of Cruises in Orlando will be Operating under Wells Fargo bank. Will Sea Escape name stay the same? Noone knows! Right now Sea Escape Cruises, Inc. is in Receivership by Princess, Inc management company which is through Wells Fargo.

 

We were on Seaescape in 89.

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  • 2 years later...

SeaEscape has a ugly history. Very ugly indeed. So many fires that are done by the crew and ship that sinks. The Scandinavian Star, after the ships crew set in in fire, did not sink.

 

It was rigged to sink yes, but it never did.

 

On behalf of 159 dead us up in Norway and Denmark would like to know more about Seascape and possible crew members. Especially at the Scandinavian Star that night they killed a 159 souls in order to get 24 million USD in insurance claim.

 

Despite this happening in 1990, the case still goes on in both Oslo, Norway and Copenhagen, Denmark. There are facebook groups and there are even a page in English about the fire.

 

www.scandinavianstar.dk

 

If you know ANYTHING that can bring the owners of Scandinavian Star to justice or know anything that can bring more light upon the horrible business of SeaEscape, then please post it here or go to the http://www.scandinavianstar.dk and find the emails there.

 

A

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  • 5 months later...
What year was this?

 

SeaEscape was a fairly large company which operated many ships over the years... So I can't tell you what happened to the specific ship in question unless of course I know which it is.

 

If you have a year maybe I can help.

 

I use to work for SeaEscape. It was a great company. They had the Scandinavian Saga, Sun, Dawn, etc.. We sailed from many ports Miami for a short while, Port Everglades, Port Canaveral, Tampa, Texas, etc. I remember I use to sail to Bimini for $3 and Freeport for $6 how crazy is that. Those were great times.

 

The company filed for bankruptcy chapter 11 in the late 80's and they never recuperated.

Edited by Bivi
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  • 9 months later...

:DMy husband and I worked for Scandanvian World Cruises on SeaEscape out of Miami back and forth to Freeport every day in 1976...79. It was a wonderful cruise, leaving Miami around 8am, arriving in Freeport GB at 1pm....left Freeport at 4pm back in Miami around midnight...every day. My husband is Matt Lucas....Drummer. Singer....and entertained on their ships, Sun, Sky, Dawn, Sea. They sailed out of Miami, Ft lauderdale and Port Canaveral. We've just been cleaning out closets and I'm finding old postcards, brochures, cups, bags, magnets, soaps and stuff we gave away on the ship as prizes

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  • 2 weeks later...

surprised this was never mentioned but Scand' Sea, the sea escape ship in Canaveral at the time burned gloriously in 1984. The fire started while the ship was 'at sea' just outside of US waters. The Master brought the ship back to Canaveral and got the pass' off while the crew fought the fire without success. From here the story is one that is in the books as an example of how NOT to fight a ship fire. The incident began Mar 9, 1984 around 7pm and the fire was not 'out' until the afternoon of Mar 11!

 

http://www.cruiseshipfires.com/Fires/Scandinavian_Sea_Fire_March_9_1984.html

 

The subsequent Coast Guard investigation pointed out several BIG problems including the BIG difference between firefighting in a building versus firefighting on a ship, lack of training for the port {volunteer} firefighters in ship board fire fighting, and the curious tendency for the ships of this particular design (they were built as ferries) to catch fire ..... Sadly at the time there was no established rule for 'who was in charge of the incident' and as command flipped a time or two the fire fighting approach changed too. The difference was significant as land firefighters generally want to 'ventilate' a fire to clear smoke while shipboard one wants to smother the fire by cutting off the air supply. When 'command' changed, approach changed and compounded the problem. It is amazing that they didn't sink the damn thing at the pier while fighting the fire (ala SS Normandie in NYC 1942)

 

I reported to the CG Cutter involved in the case a couple of years after this incident and the investigation was required reading. USCG was not without part of the blame in this incident.

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  • 6 months later...
I believe that it was 1986 or 87 and sailed out of Port Canaveral. It did day trips throught out the week and week end trips to bahamas, I wish that I had could remember the ship name, maybe I can dig out the old photos and find it!

 

 

In 1987/1988 I was Captain of the Scandinavian Sky operating out of Port Canaveral , prior to that the Scandinavian Sea operated out of Port Canaveral.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi!

 

I am a journalist based in Miami and I'm helping some producers who are making a documentary about Sea Escape and the Scandinavian Star. If there are any former employees, or passengers who might have photo/video/souvenirs from the 1980s and 1990s, I'd love to hear from you and can tell you more about the project! My email address is deirdra.funcheon at gmail

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  • 4 months later...
  • 4 months later...
  • 5 years later...
Posted (edited)

This was also my first (and so far) only cruise. I may have pics somewhere, but not sure I'll find them. I think I went in '89, but could be off a few years. I took the one-day cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Freeport and back and I think it cost me a total of $75! I really enjoyed it but don't remember much. I do remember that I did the karaoke (I'm a trained singer) and made and have a cassette tape of the recording somewhere--the DJ/KJ liked my voice so much he offered to go snorkeling with me in Freeport (he wasn't creepy, but I decided to go touring instead), and took me to dinner with the Captain at the Captain's table. I also remember the chef showing us how to make creatures and other things out of raw vegetables--it was pretty cool and a lot of fun.

I'm sorry the line had a bad ending.

We'll be down in FL for a week in April so I thought I'd see if that was still around and found these messages, tho I couldn't get any of the links above to work. Thanks for all the info, everyone! If I do find pics, I'll try to post them--but it may be another few years!

And if anyone can recommend something similar, please do. 

Edited by SeaEscape cruiser
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