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Song of America R.C.C.L.


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  • 3 weeks later...
I LOVED the SOA, as well as the SON and Nordic Prince. Have they all gone to the same European company?

All went to Airtours, later MyTravel. They became SUNBIRD, SUNDREAM, and CAROUSEL respectively.

 

When MyTravel left the cruise business in 2004, they sold SUNBIRD and CAROUSEL to Louis Cruise Lines. SUNBIRD is being chartered to Thomson as THOMSON DESTINY while CAROUSEL will be operated by Louis themselves as AQUAMARINE.

 

SUNDREAM has been sold to an Israeli owner who renamed her DREAM PRINCESS. At this point it is not clear what they will do with her.

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Thanks, Doug. I wonder how easy it is to book a Eurpoean cruise?

I don't know about booking Thomson from the US, but I don't think Louis would be a problem if you want to do your own air, transfers, etc. You can take a look at their web site here. The site is a bit dodgy (some pages quite out of date) but you can see AQUAMARINE's Summer 2005 itinerary here.

 

I have often wondered about a P&O cruise.

They do not market in the US at all. I know it is possible for Americans to book P&O - I have plenty of friends who have - but it's not easy as they really want Americans on Princess and Cunard, not P&O. It certainly can be done though.

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  • 2 weeks later...

In her heyday, mid-eighties:

 

h20581038?i=h20581038_34747.jpg

 

I loved this ship...as well as the smaller but wonderful Nordic Prince. Nordic Prince's captain of many years, Captain 'Scurvy" (not sure of the actual spelling, but it was his name) was perhaps my favorite captain ever. I beleive he retired from the business when a son died, but I could be wrong.

 

Song of America was a wonderful ship and with Nordic Prince and later the Sovereign of the Seas built my fondness for RCCl which stands to this day.

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I also loved SOA, SON and Nordic Prince. We were on the SON and the SOA 2-3 times each & the NP once. I loved the layout of the ships and I thought they were just lovely.

I wish at least one was still around---I'd give up the bigger ships in a minute to go back on one of those classics!!!!!! ;)

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We had a wonderful cruise on Song Of America out of San Juan a few years back. She had a great look outside and was extremely comfortable and well laid out inside. We miss her. The closest thing we have found to her in recent years is the HAL ship Volendam, a grat ship but not as pretty.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

We sailed on the Song of America for our honeymoon. We left NY on 9/18/1994 for a week long cruise to Bermuda. What wonderful memories!

 

I looked online for copies of the cruise compass for the Bermuda sailings, but came up empty. :(

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  • 1 month later...

What wonderful memories you bring about when you talk of the original Royal Caribbean ships. We did the SON three times one year. I agree about the captain on the Nordic Prince. Were you on oard when he sang to the passengers each morning? We were on the SOA when she had a kitchen fire in Bermuda. And the Sun Viking was by far the smallest and the best. Thanks for the memories. (Do I hear Bob Hope singing?)

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Sure...I remember the jovial voice singing away. On the Bermuda cruise, he always played up the battle with the fort...that a Viking would not be denied entry, then having his crew roll out the actual little cannon on deck to fire at the fort, which would fire a volley back. Eventually they'd raise the flag and admit the ship to the port.

 

Ah, Nordic Prince and Captain Scurvy were so fun! We checked up on him for at least the next 5 cruises on RCCL, which is how we found out that he lost his son in an accident, and had returned home. I'm not sure if that signalled his official retirement, but we haven't heard anything about him since. Maybe I should put up a post here on 'what ever happened to...captain Scurvy!'

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Yes, I remember in the mid-late 80's when RCCL was known as the "cadillac" of cruise lines................not these days, however!

I really loved SOA, SON and NP.........never had the chance to sail on Sun Viking, though.

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The last time I saw Captain Skjerve was on the "Crown Del Mar" out of Palm Beach. I think it was 1990. He was no longer singing then. I don't know where he is now, but here's a link to an episode from his past:

 

http://www.warsailors.com/singleships/karmt.html

 

 

Sure...I remember the jovial voice singing away. On the Bermuda cruise, he always played up the battle with the fort...that a Viking would not be denied entry, then having his crew roll out the actual little cannon on deck to fire at the fort, which would fire a volley back. Eventually they'd raise the flag and admit the ship to the port.

 

Ah, Nordic Prince and Captain Scurvy were so fun! We checked up on him for at least the next 5 cruises on RCCL, which is how we found out that he lost his son in an accident, and had returned home. I'm not sure if that signalled his official retirement, but we haven't heard anything about him since. Maybe I should put up a post here on 'what ever happened to...captain Scurvy!'

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  • 3 weeks later...
The last time I saw Captain Skjerve was on the "Crown Del Mar" out of Palm Beach. I think it was 1990. He was no longer singing then.

 

Yes, as the former Cruise Director on the "Crown Del Mar", I can assure you that Captain Skjerve was still singing! He had a selection of songs for various days/ports and he would use the "all call" button on the intercom (this goes into crew cabins as well as passenger areas) and drive all of us crazy with those early morning serenades!

He also opened his frequent addresses with "Mushi Mushi", then he'd go on with a joke, like telling the ladies to all "be sure and wear underwear under their dress as it is windy on deck." He was quite the character and loved by the passengers.

I was onboard for his 50th year at Sea celebration and then Crown Cruise Line was sold to Commodore and later to Cunard and he was "retired". He married a woman named Petra who was our "psychic lecturer" onboard and I saw them in the late 90's. He had been a relief captain for RCCL and finally retired. Petra passed away shortly after that.

 

For those of you intereted in the "Crown Del Mar", she recently ended her "life" in a fiery blaze during a refit. All of us who knew her were deeply saddened, we were a small company, a small ship and had a lot of fun.

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Wow...thank you both for the update on the captain. He really was a wonderful, memorable guy and the only ship captain in 20 cruises who we actually made any effort to follow. My parents, who had taken me aboard the Nordic Prince when Skjerve was the captain, had gone on 4 cruises with him at the helm, and he had left an imprint on their soul...and I was similarly marked during the 7-day Bermuda cruise.

 

It is sad to hear of his wife's death...especially in light of his son's death too...such a happy, wonderful man and such unfortunate tragic incidents. I hope he can enjoy his retirement and the rest of his years happily.

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RCI sold her to Airtours (now MyTravel) in 1999. They renamed her SUNBIRD. She's been sailing for them ever since, but as MyTravel are now exiting the cruise business, she is soon to go over to their UK package-tour competitor Thomson and be renamed THOMSON DESTINY.

 

How funny as I just posted this question!

 

She looked small to be Song of America but I knew when I saw Thomson Destiny she was vintage RCI.

 

I loved SOA - she is one of my favorite all time cruise ships.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Song of America was my first cruise in August of 1998 for my 10th anniversary. She was a great old ship. She got us hooked on cruising, going on our 8th this October. We do one a year and love it if we could afford it we would crusie more often.

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  • 3 months later...

We sailed on the Song of America when she was only about a year old. It was our 2nd cruise. Our first, being the Azure Seas...which if I remember correctly was Western Cruise Lines.

 

Anyway....as I think about cruising on the Song of America, I remember costume parties. Not just for halloween, but all cruises had a costume party back then.

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