Your first cruise ship

[Copper10-8]

Oh Man, I cannot remember the name of our first cruise ship. But it was on Seneca Lake, outside of Seneca Army Depot, Romulus New York in 1974.

 

Our 2nd cruise I do not remember it's name either but I can tell you this, when we got off the ship 3 days later we were met with the news that Its' sister ship "The Achille Lauro" had been hijacked!!! Our cruise was Italy to Pireaus/Athens Greece 1985. (I know I have to change the date in my sig block below)

 

Joanie

 

ms Oranje (1939-1979) Built in Amsterdam by the NV Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij or Netherlands Shipbuilding Company in 1938 for the Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland (Netherlands Steamship Company) aka the Netherland Line. She was launched by HRH Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands on 8 September 1938, receiving the name “Oranje” or “Orange” in honor of the Royal House of Orange. She undertook sea trials in June 1939 and attained a speed of 26 knots, making her the world's most powerful and fastest motor liner at the time. She was intended to carry passengers to the Dutch East Indies, the current Republic of Indonesia.

 

 

As built, Oranje's specifications were: 20,117 gross register tons (GRT); length: 656 ft; width: 83 ft; draft: 29 ft; engines: 3 x 12 cylinder Sulzer diesels providing 37.500 hp; screws: triple; service speed: 22 knots; passengers: 283 First, 283 Second, 92 Third and 82 Fourth Class for a total of 740; passenger decks: 8.

 

Oranje's first scheduled voyage was from Amsterdam to Jakarta (known at the time as Batavia) on Java, via the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. Three days before Oranje left Amsterdam on 4 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. By the time the ship arrived in Java, World War II had reared its ugly head and for security reasons Oranje was laid up at Soerabaja, also on Java from December 1939 until February 1941, At that time, the ship's Captain was ordered to sail for Sydney and place his vessel at the disposal of the Australian military. Consquently, the Dutch Government in exile informed the Australian Government that they would bear the cost of Oranje's conversion to a hospital ship. Although sailing under Australian command, Oranje remained Dutch-crewed, and continued to sail under the Dutch flag. Oranje was the largest hospital ship operated from Australia, serving for five years throughout multiple theaters of World War II, including the Middle East, Indian and Pacific Campaigns. During this time, Oranje made 41 voyages, carrying mostly ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand) soldiers.

 

 

After the war ended, Oranje was converted back to as a passenger oceanliner. In 1947, she once again picked up the Amsterdam to Jakarta service, this time sailing via Southampton in the UK. In January 1953 on an outbound voyage, Oranje collided with her Royal Rotterdam Lloyd running mate Willem Ruys in the Red Sea. Willem Ruys was homeward bound heading in the opposite direction and had been in radio contact with Oranje. The plan was for the two ships to pass each other at close range for the “amusement” of the passengers. However at the last moment, Willem Ruys, already on a fast approach, made an abrupt and unexpected swing to port resulting in the collision. Oranje sustained a badly damaged bow and due to the possibility of her being impounded for safety reasons, she did not call at Colombo, Ceylon and instead continued on to Jakarta. The passenger service to Jakarta eventually ended in 1957.

 

 

In 1958, Oranje made her first liner voyage from Amsterdam to Australia, sailing via Southampton, Suez, Egypt and Singapore. In 1959, she underwent a refit and a minor facelift in Amsterdam and upon completion, her tonnage was increased slightly to as 20,565 GRT, and her occupancy to 323 First Class and 626 Tourist Class passengers.

 

 

On 7 September 1960, she departed on her first round-the-world voyage from Amsterdam via Southampton, Suez, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Panama, Port Everglades, Fl, Bermuda, Southampton, and Amsterdam. On 26 February 1961, Oranje sailed in the opposite direction, visiting the same ports.

 

At about this time, passenger and cargo shipping industries were suffering from the steady growth of the airline industry. The increasing popularity of air travel and in particular, the introduction of jet airliners, resulted in a sharp decline in ship passenger and cargo totals. As a result, the Netherland Line decided to end its passenger services in 1964 and Oranje commenced her last voyage around the world as a Dutch liner on 4 May 1964.

Towards the end of 1964, Oranje and her Royal Rotterdam Lloyd running mate Willem Ruys were purchased by the Italy-based Flotta Lauro also known as StarLauro. After an extensive rebuilt, they would be renamed Angelina Lauro and Achille Lauro, respectively.

 

For her refit, Oranje was sent to the Cantieri del Tirreno shipyard at Genoa, Italy. The rebuild extended the ship’s promenade deck would fully “glaze” it in. The ship was also given a sharply raked bow which extended her length by 16 feet. Her original propulsion plant and auxiliaries were automated and now controlled from a central control room. She also received a tall louvered funnel topped by a large smoke deflector wing and a completely new interior lay-out.

 

Upon emerging from the yard, Angelina Lauro was listed at 24,377 GRT, 672.4 ft long and 83.6 ft wide. Her new passenger configuration allowed for interchangeable cabins between first and tourist class. First Class could accommodate between 180 and 377 and Tourist Class between 946 to 1,050 passengers, resulting in a total capacity of 1,230 passengers.

 

On 6 March 1966, the ship departed on her maiden voyage from Bremerhaven, Germany sailing via the Suez Canal to Australia. She continued this Australian run until 1972, when Flotta Lauro discontinued the service due to low passenger numbers. In 1972 Angelina Lauro received another extensive refit in order to start life as a full time cruise ship with 800 passengers in a one class configuration. She was then relocated to San Juan, Puerto Rico for regular cruises to the Caribbean under management by another Italian line, Costa Crociere.

 

 

In 1977 Angelina Lauro was chartered full-time to Costa Lines for three years, taking delivery of her on 10 October. They would base her at Port Everglades, Fl. From where she would continue her Caribbean cruises. Although the ship retained her name, according to Costa’s custom of using Christian (first or given) names, marketed the Angelina Lauro simply as the “Angelina”. Angelina Lauro turned out to be a popular cruise ship in the Caribbean. At times during this period, she would also operate a so-called “line voyage” from South America across the Atlantic to Italy. For these line voyages, she reverted to her original two class configuration.

 

 

On 30 March 1979, while berthed at Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI, tragedy struck when a devastating fire broke out onboard. The fire started in the aft crew galley, and rapidly spread forward through the restaurants and passenger accommodations and soon reached the top decks. Most of the passengers and crew were ashore when the fire broke out, and those remaining onboard were evacuated safely. It would take firefighters four days to put out the fire. A number of attempts were made to tow the ship away from her berth, however this failed due to the weight of the water that had been pumped into her. Slowly Angelina Lauro ended up sitting on the shallow bottom with a list to port.

 

Angelina Lauro was declared a total loss and would remain dockside at Charlotte Amalie for some three months. Eventually the German salvage company Eckhardt & Company of Hamburg was awarded the contract to raise her from the bottom and have her re-floated achieving this on 2 July 1979. Lauro Cruises ultimately decided to sell the ship for scrap to Taiwanese ship breakers, resulting in her departing St. Thomas under tow for Asia on 30 July 1979.

Under tow, Angelina Lauro successfully navigated the Panama Canal and was headed across the Pacific towards Taiwan when on 21 September her fire-affected warped hull plates began to take on water. This resulted in a slow list. The ship remained afloat for three days, but by the evening of 23 September she was fully on her side. It was not until early the next morning, just before sunrise on 24 September 1979 that she slowly sank underneath th waves.

As a side note, Angelina Lauro's previous running mate Achille Lauro, the former Willem Ruys, which became well-known for the notorious terrorist attack in Egypt, continued cruising until November 1994, when she caught fire and sank on 2 December 1994.

[Copper10-8]

Some add'l pics of Oranje:

June 1939 in Amsterdam

As hospital ship during World War II

At IJmuiden, the Netherlands in 1964

At IJmuiden, the Netherlands in 1963

On her way into her place of birth, Amsterdam

Edited December 20, 2009 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

And some of Angelina Laura including the fire at St. Thomas:

 

[Copper10-8]

The first cruise ship I ever stepped on was in the Bahamas in 1983, in the the Nordic Prince, I had just graduated from college and was there with my best friend..we talked our way onto the cruise ship..can you imagine today?? The guy let us on, we stayed for a few hours, had some drinks and then left...I thought it was so great, but I was too poor to afford a cruise...

My first cruise was in 1990 on the Festivale from San Juan for a southern Caribbean cruise.. I remember that ship being so dark, the dining rooms..I think the only balconies were suites, and our room had a tiny port-hole..

Cruising has come a long way...thank goodness...

 

 

 

mv Nordic Prince (1971-present) Built by in 1971 as mv Nordic Prince by Oy Wärtsilä Ab/Wärtsilä New Shipyards, Hietalahti/Helsingors/Helsinki, Finland for (then) Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. She was the second new and purpose-built cruise ship built for RCCL and had two sisters - Song of Norway and Sun Viking. After being delivered to her owners on 8 July 1971, she soon crossed the Atlantic and on 31 July 1971 began sailing seven- and fourteen-day cruises out of Miami, FL. During her career, RCCL also operated her in Alaska, on the Canadian and American west coast and on Panama Canal transits.

 

 

In June 1980, Song of Norway was lengthened at the Wärtsilä yard by 85 feet, to increase her total passenger capacity to 1,024 as well as increase her size to 23,000 gross tons (her original size had been 18,416 GT). At the yard, she was basically cut in half and a a new hull section was inserted (a smiliar operation had been performed on her sister Song of Norway). Unlike cargo ships, this had never been done with a cruise ship. She was back in service on 17 June 1980. When RCCL acquired new tonnage in the late 1980s, Nordic Prince was operated on some world wide cruises.

 

 

Nordic Prince became the first RCCL ship to be supplanted by larger tonnage and on 15 March 1995 she was sold to British-based Sun Cruises, part of the Airtours/MyTravel Group. Before the ship entered service for her new owners, the RCCL hallmark glass-enclosed Viking Crown Lounge around her funnel was removed.

 

Renamed mv Carousel, the ship began cruising for Sun Cruises on 6 May 1995. During her time with Sun Cruises she spent summers cruising in the Mediterranean but during the winter seasons she returned to the Caribbean. On 13 February 2000, Carousel was grounded near Cancun, Mexico, which led to cancellation of five cruises while she was being repaired. Toward the end of her service with Sun Cruises the ship received My Travel funnel colors. In the early 2000s Sun Cruises started pulling out of the cruise business.

 

 

On 19 July 2004, Carousel was sold to Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines, but chartered right back to Sun Cruises until May 2005. She would be Sun Cruises last ship in service.

 

On 13 June 2005, Louis Cruise Lines renamed the ship mv Aquamarine and, started operating her on 7-day cruises around the Mediterranean with Genoa, Italy as her home port.

 

 

On 3 April 2006, the ship was chartered for five years to Germany-based charter operator Transocean Tours who renamed her mv Arielle. However, this charter was terminated early on 28 October 2007 and the ship returned to the Louis fleet in early 2008 and reverted back to the name Aquamarine.

 

 

On 9 May 2008, Aquamarine was diverted to Milos on the Greek island of Paros in the Southern Aegean Sea, after a 1.5-meter gash was found on her hull at about 1.5 m above the water line. The ship's hull was damaged after it scraped against a pier during its departure from the port of Iraklio/Heraklion in Crete enroute to the resort island of Santorini with 1,200 passengers onboard. It was discovered that the gash was above the water line so the ship proceeded to Piraeus for repairs. When these were completed, she continued with her three and four-day Aegean cruises for Louis Cruise Line, something she is still doing today.

[Copper10-8]

Some add'l Nordic Prince (and subsequent identities) pics

 

 

As Nordic Prince in Hamilton, Bermuda in 1986

 

As Nordic Prince off Fort-de-France, Martinique in 1989

 

 

As Carousel in Palma de Mallorca, Spain in 1998

 

 

As Carousel at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain in 2003

 

 

As Arielle in Odessa, Ukraine in 2007

 

 

As Aquamarine at Rhodos or Rodos (Rhodes), Greece in 2008 with a crew only lifeboat drill in progress

Edited December 21, 2009 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise, as a pre-teen with my parents, was on Homeric in 1958. It was a 14 or 16 day Caribbean cruise from NYC. My dad spoke Italian so we were treated like royalty.

 

For those who never experienced a Home Lines cruise, there is really no way to describe the experience which cannot be bought today, at any price.

 

 

ss Mariposa (1931-1974) Built in 1931 as ss Mariposa by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Mass. for the Matson Navigation Company/Matson Lines. She was launched on 18 July 1931 as a luxurious ocean liner designed by William Francis Gibbs. With increasing passenger traffic to Hawaii, Matson Line had introduced the ss Malolo in 1927. Her success led to the construction of three sister ships between 1930 and 1932: ss Mariposa, was the first, then ss Monterey and last, ss Lurline. These were known as ‘the great Matson liners’ in the line’s ‘White Fleet’.

 

 

She was designed for service in the Pacific Ocean, including regular stops in ports along the west coast of the United States, Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. Her maiden voyage began on 16 January 1932 when she departed New York City and sailed to Havana, Cuba, transited the Panama Canal and berthed in the Port of Los Angeles, before continuing on to visit ten more countries in the South and West Pacific. Meanwhile, the Malolo and Lurline continued to operate the traditional San Francisco to Hawaii route. In May 1932, Mariposa was joined on her new route by her other sister Monterey. This famous South Pacific route was from San Francisco to Australia via Los Angeles, Honolulu, Pago Pago, Suva (Fiji), Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne. This would be the heyday of the great Matson Liners, with passenger trains adopted as "Boat Trains", carrying passengers from New York and Chicago to connect in San Francisco with the liner sailings.

 

 

The Mariposa and her sisters were attracting Hollywood stars sailing to Hawaii in ever increasing numbers. These stars including famous names such as William Powell, Carole Lombard, Jimmy Durante, Claudette Colbert, Myrna Loy, Joel McCrea, Frances Dee and Shirley Temple. Despite the difficulties of the Depression, the popularity of travel to Hawaii remained high. During this period the Matson Liners became such a popular institution in San Francisco that during the Golden Gate Exposition celebrations on Treasure Island in 1939, the City named August 9th 1939 as Matson Day. Mariposa continued on this service until 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the subsequent entry of the United States into World War II.

 

During the war, she served the United States Government as a fast troop carrier. When the war first broke out, she rescued numerous individuals who were stranded in foreign countries. In the next three years, she transported supplies as well as support forces to distant shores as the USAT Mariposa. Her war-time service would last from 24 January 1942, when she left San Francisco, until 25 October 1945, when she arrived in Boston, Mass. It would take her to such diversified ports as Melbourne, Perth and Hobart (Tasmania), Australia, Freetown, British Sierra Leone, Cape Town, South Africa, Karachi and Bombay, British India, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the British Crown Colony of Aden, Massawa, British Eritrea, Casablanca, French Morocco, Liverpool, England and Marseilles and Le Havre, France.

 

After the war, USAT Mariposa was decommissioned and both she and Monterey were returned to Matson Line for conversion to passenger service on 26 September 1946. However, financial problems in July 1947 halted the project at United Engineering Works in Alameda, CA. and she was laid up only 30% completed at the Bethlehem-Alameda Shipyard where she would remain mothballed for six years.

 

 

 

In 1953, Genoa, Italy-based Home Lines bought her and renamed her ss Homeric, sailing her to Trieste for refitting/reconstruction of her passenger accommodation by the Monfalcone shipyard in order to allow her to carry 1,243 passengers; 147 first class and 1,096 tourist class. Her first voyage for Home Lines after this work was done, saw her departing Venice on 24 January 1955 bound for New York City. Home Lines operated her as an express liner on the Southampton-Le Havre-Montreal-New York (occasionally from Cuxhaven, then West Germany) route and during the winter season for cruises to the Caribbean.

 

 

In October 1963, she was assigned to cruising the Caribbean from New York City and other U.S. ports, eventually replacing Home Lines’ ss Italia on the run to Nassau, Bahamas. Homeric herself would be replaced by Home Lines’ ss Oceanic. After this occurred, she was reassigned to intra-Caribbean cruises.

 

 

On 1 July 1973, while 90 nautical miles west of Cape May, NJ, a major onboard fire destroyed much of her galley and restaurant. The line wound up sending her to Genoa where she arrived for repairs on 16 July 1973. The damage turned out to be so extensive however, that the idea of repair was given up and she was withdrawn from service. She was ultimately sold for scrap to the Nan Feng Steel Enterprises Company of Taiwan and on 29 January 1974, she arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan where she was broken up.

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was also in 1958. The SS Mauritania. I was 4 years old and had a great time!

 

RMS Mauretania (1938-1965) Built in 1938 by the Cammell Laird yard at Birkenhead, England as RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Mauretania for the newly formed Cunard White Star Line, their first new built. (Cunard had merged with White Star Lines in April 1934). She was the successor to the first RMS Mauretania of 1906 and she was completed in May 1939. The new liner had a tonnage of 35,677 gross, an overall length of 739.4 feet and a beam of 89.4 feet and her design was similar to the Queen Elizabeth I. The vessel was powered by two sets of Parsons single reduction-geared steam turbines giving 42,000 shaft horsepower and driving twin propellers. Her service speed was 23 knots.

 

 

RMS Mauretania of 1938 was the largest ship built in England at that time. This new medium sized Cunarder was launched on 28 July 1938 at the Birkenhead yard by Lady Bates, wife of Cunard White Star chairman Sir Percy Bates. She was named Mauretania to honor the previous record breaking Mauretania which had recently been retired in 1935. The ship was designed for the London to New York service and was the largest vessel ever to navigate the River Thames and use the Royal Docks. She was also intended to stand in for one of the Cunard Queens when they were undergoing maintenance.

 

On 17 June 1939, Mauretania sailed on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on under the command of Captain A. T. Brown who had delivered the previous Mauretania to the shipbreakers. After remaining in New York for a week, she returned to Southampton via Cherbourg, France on Friday, 30 June 1939. Like Cunards’s RMS Aquitania, 25 years before, Mauretania was to experience only a brief period of commercial operation before the outbreak of hostilities in Europe put the breaks to this for over six years. Returning from her next voyage, Mauretania called at Southampton, Le Havre, France and finally London where she berthed at the King George V Dock. Starting in August 1939, she was switched to the London to New York service for which she was intended. On this route, she supplemented the lines’ Britannic and Georgic.

 

On 11 August 1939 she left on her final pre-war voyage to New York. On her return she was requisitioned by the British Government and armed with two 6-inch (150 mm) guns and some smaller weapons, painted in battle grey, and then dispatched to the U.S. at the end of December 1939. For three months the ship lay idle in New York, docked alongside Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary and the French Line’s Normandie until it was decided to use her as a troopship. On 20 March 1940 she sailed from New York to Sydney, Australia via the Panama Canal to be converted for her new role. On her long voyage to Australia via Bilbao, Panama, San Francisco, CA and Honolulu, Hi, she was tracked for much of the way by the Germans, forcing her to evade concentrations of U-boats that were known to be laying in wait for her.

 

Her conversion to troop transport was carried out in Sydney in April and in May 1940. She then departed Sydney as part of one of the largest convoys ever mustered for the transport of troops. With her were Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, and Aquitania, with 2,000 troops, bound for the River Clyde in Scotland via a route around South Africa. Other notable liners in this great convoy were Empress of Britain, Empress of Canada, Empress of Asia and HAL’s Nieuw Amsterdam. During the early stages of the war the ship transported Australian troops to Suez, Egypt, India and Singapore but later she mainly served in the North Atlantic. Like Aquitania, she amassed over 500,000 sea miles over the course of her war duties, first crossing of the Indian Ocean, then working the Atlantic with American and Canadian troops and finally serving in the Pacific.

 

One of her wartime voyages, of 28,662 nautical miles duration, took her around the world which took 82 days to complete. During this voyage, Mauretania established a speed record for the crossing time from Fremantle, Australia to Durban, South Africa. She covered the 4,000 miles in 8 days and 19 hours at an average speed of 21.06 knots. Another wartime troop transport voyage began in New York on 10 May 1943 and terminated in Bombay, India on 24 June 1943, with calls enroute at Trinidad, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Capetown, South Africa and Diego Suarez, the British island group in the Indian Ocean.

 

After World War II concluded, Mauretania made several additional voyages for the British Government repatriating troops. This would mainly take the ship to Canada and Singapore. Mauretania would also take the first dedicated sailing of English war brides and their children to Canada in order to join their husbands, arriving at Pier 21 at Halifax, NS in February 1946.

 

During the Second World War she traveled 540,000 miles and carried over 340,000 troops. Mauretania was not designed to be an exceptionally fast ship and during her war duty her engines received little attention for six long years of service. On 2 September 1946 she returned to Liverpool, was released from Government service, and immediately entered Gladstone Dock to be reconditioned by Cammell Laird & Co. for her return to Cunard White Star service.

 

 

After a complete overhaul and refurbishment of her interior, Mauretania made her first post-war Atlantic crossing to New York on 26 April 1947. After using Liverpool as her home port for the first two voyages she was then based at Southampton. Here she would act as relief ship for Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, standing in on the transatlantic service when one of them was undergoing maintenance. By this time the London to New York service had been discontinued as Georgic was in no shape to resume passenger service, while her other old “partner”, Britannic, had been transferred to a new Liverpool to New York service. Later that year she began to be used as a cruise ship during the winter months to the West Indies/Caribbean.

 

For the next 10 years she served on the Southampton to New York route during the summer months and operated on cruises from New York during the winter months. When Mauretania was taken in for her annual overhaul at Liverpool in December 1957 air-conditioning was installed throughout the ship. By 1962, however, she was facing competition from much more modern ships and was beginning to lose money for the Cunard Line.

In October 1962 similar to Caronia, the famed “Green Goddess”, the ship was painted pale green and her passenger capacity was adjusted to accommodate 406 First class, 364 Cabin class and 357 Tourist class passengers. On 28 March 1963, she began a new Mediterranean service calling at New York, Cannes, France, Genoa, Italy and Naples, Italy. This, however, turned out to be a failure and by 1964 she was mainly employed cruising from New York to the West Indies.

 

Mauretania’s final voyage was a Mediterranean cruise which left New York on 15 September 1965. It had been announced that on her return to Southampton, the twenty-six year old ship would be withdrawn from service and sold. She arrived at Southampton on 10 November 1965 by the time she had already been sold to the British Iron & Steel Corporation for scrap. On 23 November 1965, she arrived at Ward's Shipbreaking yard in Inverkeithing, Fife in Scotland. On this voyage, her final one, Mauretania was under the command of Captain John Treasure-Jones who navigated the mud straits of the Forth without the assistance of tugs. Ironically, he had also been RMS Queen Mary’s captain on her final voyage.

 

 

Mauretania at her final stop, Ward's ship breakers in Inverkeithing, Fife after having navigated the mud straits of the river Forth without the aid of tug boats

Edited December 22, 2009 by Copper10-8

[BigBoss1]

Amazing story about the Oranje. My Dad served on the Oranje as a Medical Officer through the war and continued to love the boat all his life. He and his mates went both to Australia and here in N.Z. for reunions every time the boat was in this part of the world.

[Copper10-8]

Amazing story about the Oranje. My Dad served on the Oranje as a Medical Officer through the war and continued to love the boat all his life. He and his mates went both to Australia and here in N.Z. for reunions every time the boat was in this part of the world.

 

Outstanding stuff, Big Boss! Thanks a bunch for contributing! No doubt your dad and his mates belong(ed) to "the Greatest Generation!"

[Copper10-8]

Mine was a 14 day Western Med. cruise on the Legend of the Seas and oh yes did it get me hooked! Departed July 16, 2005 from Southampton.

 

She is still sailing with RCI but shes got moved to 6 day cruises out of China which surely cant be a good thing.

 

 

ms Legend of the Seas (1995-present) Built in 1995 by Chantiers l’Atlantique, Saint-Nazaire, France as ms Legend of the Seas for Royal Caribbean International. RCI calls the six vessels members of the Vision class, with Legend being the lead ship. In reality the Vision class consists of two pairs of sister ships (Legend OTS & Splendour OTS–1996 at 69,130 grt and Rhapsody OTS–1997 & Vision OTS–1998 at 78,491 grt) plus another pair of ships that were lengthened, thereby becoming a class by themselves (Grandeur OTS-1996 at 74,140 grt & Enchantment OTS–1997 at 80,700 grt). The six ships are not identical to each other and as such do not constitute a class by the actual definition of the term. In fact, the Vision class is named after the last ship built, and formerly the largest ship in its class.

 

 

When Legend OTS emerged from the French shipyard, she measured 69,130 gross registered tons and could carry 2,074 passengers. She was the first RCI ship to offer private balconies in a number of different categories. Her guest facilities include a 18-hole miniature golf course, a show lounge and a movie theater, a solarium with a sliding roof, an adult plus a children’s pool, four whirlpools, a spa and fitness center, a two-story dining room by the name of the “Romeo & Juliet”, a Windjammer Cafe, four themed bars, a dance center, shopping center, a teen disco, a piano bar, an observation center, a rock-climbing wall and the RCI trademark circular Viking Crown Lounge. Her central 7-deck high atrium or Centrum, the heart of the ship, is “anchored” by champagne bars and filled with music after dark. The trademarks of the six ships, known as the “ships of light”, are their glass skylights and massive floor-to-ceiling windows that allow natural sunlight to come in.

 

 

Legend OTS was delivered to her new owners on 28 April 1995 and her maiden voyage took place on 16 May 1995 when she left Saint-Nazaire for Miami, Fl. She then departed Miami for Los Angeles (San Pedro) via the Panama Canal and began west coast cruising which would take her to Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska. Legend of the Seas was one of the first ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet to claim its own distinction. Back in June 2005, the ship served as the American-based Royal Caribbean's Anglophilian ambassador spending several summers sailing cruises from its homeport of Southampton in the UK. The ship was (and still is) tweaked for the UK and European market by adding touches such as “British branded tea bags” and different wine and food menus.

Legend is the most-traveled ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet, having been based in Asia, Australia and New Zealand, the South Pacific, Alaska, Central America, Caribbean, the Baltic, Mediterranean and the Middle East during her 14 year career at sea. As of 17 November 2009 she is once again based in Asia, this time on a year-round basis. Her year-round deployment will begin with a series of Southeast Asian cruises of three, four and five nights out of Singapore to the popular destinations of Penang, Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang) and Langkawi, Malaysia as well as Phuket, Thailand. From February 2010 on, the ship will homeport in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and for the first time, Tianjinm China and Yokohama, Japan from where she will be offering North Asian cruises.

 

 

Among the highlights of this deployment of Legend of the Seas are four distinct itineraries from Hong Kong to historical destinations such as Sanya, China, Hue/Danang, Vietnam, Taipei, Taiwan and Okinawa, Japan. Legend's passengers can also experience the best of Japan and Korea on six different itineraries out of Shanghai and two from Yokohama to port calls at Hakodate, and Kobe, Japan as well as Jeju (Cheju)Island and Busan (Pusan), South Korea.

 

[IRL_Joanie]

ms Oranje (1939-1979)....

Under tow, Angelina Lauro successfully navigated the Panama Canal and was headed across the Pacific towards Taiwan when on 21 September her fire-affected warped hull plates began to take on water. This resulted in a slow list. The ship remained afloat for three days, but by the evening of 23 September she was fully on her side. It was not until early the next morning, just before sunrise on 24 September 1979 that she slowly sank underneath th waves.

 

As a side note, Angelina Lauro's previous running mate Achille Lauro, the former Willem Ruys, which became well-known for the notorious terrorist attack in Egypt, continued cruising until November 1994, when she caught fire and sank on 2 December 1994.

 

John help please??? So what was the nake of Achille Lauro's sister ship operating between Italy and Piraeus Greece in 1984 -?? It was like a car ferry/passenger ship at the same time. We were inside lower deck (HATED IT, as I am claustrophobic).

 

I wish I'd paid more attention to the name of the ship, but when the Army is paying all expenses for the Duty Station Transfer, you do not pay much attention to all the details. The only memory that stuck was the news of her Sister Ship Achille Lauro being Hijacked and the death of one of its passengers being dumped overboard.

 

When I searched for sister ship names for the Achille Lauro, I came up with Angeline Lauro and accepted that as her name... HELP????

 

Joanie

[Copper10-8]

John help please??? So what was the nake of Achille Lauro's sister ship operating between Italy and Piraeus Greece in 1984 -?? It was like a car ferry/passenger ship at the same time. We were inside lower deck (HATED IT, as I am claustrophobic).

 

I wish I'd paid more attention to the name of the ship, but when the Army is paying all expenses for the Duty Station Transfer, you do not pay much attention to all the details. The only memory that stuck was the news of her Sister Ship Achille Lauro being Hijacked and the death of one of its passengers being dumped overboard.

 

When I searched for sister ship names for the Achille Lauro, I came up with Angeline Lauro and accepted that as her name... HELP????

 

Joanie

 

Hi Joanie, the plot thickens!;); one thing is for sure; if you sailed on a FlottaLauro (Lauro Lines) ship from Italy to Piraeus, Greece in 1984, it was not Angelina Lauro because, by that time, she had already been resting on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean for five years (1979) playing submarine;)

Lauro operated a "second" Angelina Lauro (the chartered Arkadia from Attika Shipping) but that was from 1989 to 1991 (see pics below). Arcadia was built in 1968 as the car ferry "Vincente Puchol' for Transmediterranea. Lauro used her on 7-day cruises from Venice, Italy into the Adriatic and to the Aegean (Greek) islands but, as stated, that was in 1989. Although I can't find any evidence of same, maybe Lauro chartered her around 1984 also?

Regardless, without a name of the ship you sailed on, the best thing I can come up with is that it was another charter. Lauro Lines chartered a bunch of ships in the late seventies and early eighties for various time periods. Especially since you mentioned that the ship you were on was a combo car ferry/passenger ship (which Angelina Lauro definitey was not!),

 

Oh and btw, Achille Lauro (ex-Willem Ruys) and Angelina Lauro (ex-Oranje) were both Dutch-built ships and sailed together but they were not sisters

Edited December 23, 2009 by Copper10-8

[IRL_Joanie]

Hi Joanie, the plot thickens!;); one thing is for sure; if you sailed on a FlottaLauro (Lauro Lines) ship from Italy to Piraeus, Greece in 1984, it was not Angelina Lauro because, by that time, she had already been resting on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean for five years (1979) playing submarine;)

 

Lauro operated a "second" Angelina Lauro (the chartered Arkadia from Attika Shipping) but that was from 1989 to 1991 (see pics below). Arcadia was built in 1968 as the car ferry "Vincente Puchol' for Transmediterranea. Lauro used her on 7-day cruises from Venice, Italy into the Adriatic and to the Aegean (Greek) islands but, as stated, that was in 1989.Although I can't find any evidence of same, maybe Lauro chartered her around 1984 also?

 

 

Regardless, without a name of the ship you sailed on, the best thing I can come up with is that it was another charter. Lauro Lines chartered a bunch of ships in the late seventies and early eighties for various time periods. Especially since you mentioned that the ship you were on was a combo car ferry/passenger ship (which Angelina Lauro definitey was not!),

 

Oh and btw, Achille Lauro (ex-Willem Ruys) and Angelina Lauro (ex-Oranje) were both Dutch-built ships and sailed together but they were not sisters

 

It looks similar, but... I'll ask hubby when he wakes if it looks like the same ship.

 

I wish that I'd paid more attention to her name. But, I was a newbie at this and this was a Duty transfer and I was claustrophobic in the tiy cabin they had us in. And I just did not think to pay attention to the major details like the ship name:(

 

I do remember the food though!! 5 courses of magnificient Italian and Grrek foods and beautiful views!! At least going from Italy to Piraeus. Going the opposite the food was just ok, views still beautiful, but cruising into Venice on Christmas Day the stench hit so hard.................

 

Joanie

[Copper10-8]

1st cruise was on RCCL Majesty of the Seas 5/26/1996 to the Western Caribbean. Our Honeymoon cruise. Of course we were hooked!

 

 

ms Majesty of the Seas (1992-present) Built in 1992 as ms Majesty of the Seas by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France for Norwegian-based Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL). She is one of three Sovereign-class vessels, Sovereign of the Seas (1987) being the lead ship of the class, followed by Monarch of the Seas (1991) and then Majesty of the Seas (1992). Those three vessels became RCCL's third generation of cruise ships and theirfirst modern megaships to be built. They were also the first series of cruise ships to include a multi-story atrium with glass elevators. They have a single deck consisting entirely of cabins with private balconies as opposed to ocean-view only cabins.

 

 

At the time, the three sisters were the among the largest modern cruise ships ever to sail during the late eighties and early nineties. During that time, other major cruise lines followed RCCL's lead in building their ships to include many of the same features and dimensions that the Sovereign Class debuted with.

 

 

After being christened by HRH Queen Sonja of Norway, Majesty of the Seas departed on her maiden voyage on 26 April 1992. Royal Caribbean International (RCI) routinely operates her on a seven-day cycle that includes two weekly voyages. Four-night cruises operate every Monday through Friday from the Port of Miami, Fl. with ports of call at Nassau, the Bahamas, Coco Cay, RCI's private island in the Bahamas and Key West, Fl. A three-night cruise follows from Friday through Monday, stopping at Nassau and Coco Cay.

 

Majesty OTS' features include the line's trademark Viking Crown Lounge overlooking the pool and sun decks. She has an onboard casino and eleven passenger elevators, two of which are glass-walled. Onboard bars include the Schooner Bar, the 'A Touch of Class' Champagne Bar, the Blue Skies Lounge, the Boleros Latin Bar/Night club, the 'On Your Toes' Night Club, the Windjammer Café, and the Pool Bar. Majesty of the Seas also has two outdoor swimming pools, two hot tubs, a basketball court, and the famous RCI rock climbing wall.

 

 

On 12 January 2007, Majesty of the Seas entered a four-week dry-dock period where she underwent a multi-million dollar refurbishment of her pool decks, all public areas, restaurants, shops, centrums, and cabins. Additions include Johnny Rockets, The Compass Deli, Seattle's Best Coffee, Freeze Ice Cream Parlor and the previously mentioned Boleros Latin Bar/Night Club).

 

[SusieKay]

Our first cruise was in 1977 with HAL out of New York on the Rotterdam. We were so young then, and had never been anywhere. The cruise went to Bermuda and Nassau. We had never seen such clear, blue water as we saw in Paradise Island on Cabbage Beach.

We have cruised many times since then, on many different cruise lines, but keep returning to HAL. Though we had an inside room then, with upper and lower berths, it had a large bathroom with a huge tub, and we remember the room as being quite spacious. Though we have graduated to verandahs and sometimes suites, we will always fondly remember our first cruise.

[Copper10-8]

Our first cruise was in 1977 with HAL out of New York on the Rotterdam. We were so young then, and had never been anywhere. The cruise went to Bermuda and Nassau. We had never seen such clear, blue water as we saw in Paradise Island on Cabbage Beach.

We have cruised many times since then, on many different cruise lines, but keep returning to HAL. Though we had an inside room then, with upper and lower berths, it had a large bathroom with a huge tub, and we remember the room as being quite spacious. Though we have graduated to verandahs and sometimes suites, we will always fondly remember our first cruise.

 

See the previous page; post 1392 for Rotterdam V;)

[Copper10-8]

Our honeymoon on the Song of Norway 1980.

 

 

Song of Norway (1970-present) Built by in 1970 as ms Song of Norway by Wartsila Shipyards, Helsinki, Finland for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. She was the first new ship built for RCCL, would have two sisters - Nordic Prince and Sun Viking - and soon began sailing seven- and fourteen-day cruises out of Miami, FL. In 1978,Song of Norway was lengthened by 85 feet, to increase her total passenger capacity to 1,024 as well as increase her size to 23,000 gross tons (original size had been 18,416 GT). She would serve RCCL (later RCI) throughout the world, breaking in new territories for the line.

 

 

In 1996, surpassed by the new and significantly larger ships in the Royal Caribbean International fleet, Song of Norway was sold to British-based Sun Cruises, part of the Airtours/MyTravel Group, who operated the vesel under the name Sundream on cruises, mostly to the Med. As part of the deal, Song of Norways's distinctive Viking Sky Lounge on the funnel, a trademark of RCCL/RCI, was removed

 

 

 

After a short lay-up that began on 26 September 2004 in Piraeus, she was sold and refitted there in order to become MS Dream Princess for Israeli-based Caspi Cruises/Tumaco Navigation in October 2004. Upon completion of the refit in early 2005, she began sailing three and four-night Eastern Mediterranean cruises from Haifa and Ashdod, Israel to Alanya, Turkey, Rhodes, Greece and Larnaca, Cyprus. Some itineraries also included Limassol, Cyprus, Marmaris, Turkey and Santorini, Greece. January 2006 found her some distance away from her home, being used to house students from Tulane University after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, LA.

 

 

 

2006 and 2007 found her chartered to Cyprus-based Lance Shipping under the name Dream. Princess Cruises had let it be known that they had not been happy campers when the name "Dream Princess" was selected for the ship by her Israeli owners in late 2004! In November 2006, Dream was chartered to Gulf Dream Cruise, running out of Dubai in the Gulf, but the venture collapsed after one cruise. On 18 September 2007, while anchored in the port of Rhodes, Dream developed a 10 degrees list. She was immediately evacuated and four officers who where on duty at the time of the incident were detained. The crew was accused of deliberately grounding the vessel to prevent further listing and an ultimate sinking. Divers investigating the incident discovered that hatchways in her hull designed for discharging untreated waste into the ocean, had been crudely plugged with chunks of wood, to prevent those discharges. Doing this kept the waste onboard. However, failure to pump the waste in a timely manner, resulted in the listing of the vessel.

 

[Copper10-8]

The list was eventually corrected but on 18 November 2007, due to strong winds, Dream came loose of her moorings and collided with a cargo ship which was tied up adjacent to her, causing minor damages to both vessels. The Greek coast guard managed to tow Dream back to her dock, using tug-boats. Dream would remain in the port of Rhodes for nearly two months until her seaworthiness was established. On November 28, 2007 she was towed to the port of Kusadasi, Turkey were she underwent repairs.

 

 

During that same month (November 2007) Caspi Cruises sold the ship to Miami-based International Shipping Partners, Inc. (ISP) who renamed her Clipper Pearl. After her refitting both in Kusadasi and in Valetta, Malta, she was chartered to the Peace Boat organization as a replacement for their Topaz, and once again renamed, this time as Clipper Pacific. The Peaceboat organization is a Japan-based international non-governmental organisation (NGO) that works to promote peace, human rights, equal and sustainable development and respect for the environment.

 

Clipper Pacific's bad luck continued however when, on 16 July 2008 while on her maiden arrival in U.S. waters (for her new owners), she was discovered to have numerous safety violations when inspected in New York by the United States Coast Guard. In addition to her hull damage, inspectors discovered 66 other safety violations, including problems with life jackets, labeling of fire exits and damaged lifeboats.

 

On 18 July 2008, the USCG cleared her for departure to Tampa, Fl where, upon arrival on 21 July, she entered drydock at the Tampa Bay ship repair yard. Ultrasonic images of her hull were taken to check the thickness of her hull plates and needed repairs were made before she was able to resume her transit to Japan. She did eventually reach Yokohama in early September.

 

 

 

Clipper Pacific set off on Peace Boat's 63rd Global Voyage for Peace from Yokohama on 7 September, 2008. After visiting various ports in Asia (held up once again in Singapore on 19 September due to electrical problems) and Africa, she passed through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean Sea. Her next stop was at Kusadasi on 13 October where inspectors from the Classification Society came onboard to take a serious look see. They were not happy with what they found and sent her to Izmir, Turkey for repairs. She would be stranded at Izmir with 700 passengers on board for over two weeks due to problems with her engines as well as other maintenance problems. Now completely off schedule, she arrived at Piraeus, Greece on the evening of 29 October 2008 only to be forced to stay there until 11 November. On that morning she was last seen cruising off the port to an anchorage area.

 

This was the final drop in the bucket for the Peace Boat organization who decided to end its charter contract with the ship. Clipper Pacific's mostly student passengers were transferred to the last minute chartered ms Mona Lisa, which resumed the 63rd Voyage for Peace, picking up where Clipper Pacifc left off.

 

 

 

From June through November 2009, the ship was renamed 'Festival' and used on seven and fourteen-day eastern Mediterranean voyages by Israel-based Caspi Cruises whose own advertised voyages on a smaller vessel had booked to overcapacity. When that charter ended, Festival sailed to Burgas, Bulgaria where she was laid up.

 

Her next "assignment" will be another charter from 7 March 2010 onwards to Spanish operator Quail Cruises who will operate her as Ocean Pearl

 

Artist's impression of Ocean Pearl in Quail color scheme

Edited December 24, 2009 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

 

On 9 May 2008, Aquamarine was diverted to Milos on the Greek island of Paros in the Southern Aegean Sea, after a 1.5-meter gash was found on her hull at about 1.5 m above the water line. The ship's hull was damaged after it scraped against a pier during its departure from the port of Iraklio/Heraklion in Crete enroute to the resort island of Santorini with 1,200 passengers onboard. It was discovered that the gash was above the water line so the ship proceeded to Piraeus for repairs. When these were completed, she continued with her three and four-day Aegean cruises for Louis Cruise Line.

A new endeauvour for Louis Cruise Lines under the banner of subsidiary Louis Cruises India saw ms Aquamarine travel to the Indian subcontinent in early December 2009 to start operating there from the port of Kochi (Cochin) in southern India for a five-year period. Her itineraries include Kochi-Maldives Islands-Kochi and Kochi-Colombo (Sri Lanka)-Kochi. With this, Aquamarine becomes the first international cruise ship to operate a regular service from a port in India.

 

Edited December 24, 2009 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

My first "ship" was back in 1974-75. My hubs was stationed in Long Beach. I spent many, many days and nights aboard the Queen Mary. Never went anywhere, but they have wonderful dining, drinking, dancing places aboard. I never tired of exploring every inch of her. Saw one state room when a door was left open..lol

 

Finally got to "float" on one, back in 2004, the Mariner of the Seas, then Independence, next year is Monarch.. Love the ocean love the ships, and for me the ship is the destination! I will, however, enjoy a beach now and then..

 

RMS Queen Mary (1934-present) Built in 1934 as RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Queen Mary by John Brown & Company Ltd. Clydebank, Scotland for the Cunard-White Star Line for transatlantic service. She was designed to be the first of Cunard's planned two-ship weekly express service from Southampton to Cherbourg, France to New York City, in answer to the superliners from the European mainland of the late 1920s and early 1930s.

 

With the Germans launching their Bremen and Europa into service, the British did not want to be left out in this ship building race. Cunard planned a 75,000-ton unnamed ship, then known only as "Yard Number 534", with construction beginning in December 1930. Work was halted in December 1931 due to the Great Depression and Cunard applied to the British Government for a loan to complete 534. The loan was granted, with enough money to complete the Queen Mary and to build a running mate, hull No. 552 which would become the Queen Elizabeth. One condition of the loan was that Cunard merge with the White Star Line, which was Cunard's chief British rival at the time and which had already been forced by the Depression to cancel construction on its Oceanic. Both lines agreed and the merger was completed in April 1934.

 

Work on the Queen Mary resumed immediately and she was launched on 26 September 1934. Completion ultimately took 3 1/2 years and cost 3 1/2 million pounds sterling in total. The ship was named after Queen Mary, the consort of King George V. Until her launch the name she was to be given was kept a closely guarded secret. Legend has it that Cunard intended to name the ship "Victoria", in keeping with company tradition of giving its ships names ending in "ia". However, when company representatives asked the King's permission to name the ocean liner after Britain's "greatest queen", he said his wife, Queen Mary, would be delighted. And so, the legend goes, the delegation had of course no other choice but to report that No. 534 would be called RMS Queen Mary. On 26 September 1934, the new liner was launched by Queen Mary as RMS Queen Mary.

 

In August 1936, Queen Mary captured the Blue Riband from the French liner Normandie, with average speeds of 30.14 knots (55.82 km/h) westbound and 30.63 knots eastbound. Normandie was refitted with a new set of propellors in 1937 and reclaimed the honor, but in 1938 Queen Mary took back the Blue Riband (the award received by the ship with the record for the fastest transatlantic crossing) in both directions with average speeds of 30.99 knots (57.39 km/h) westbound and 31.69 knots eastbound, records which stood until lost to the SS United States in 1952.

 

In late August 1939, RMS Queen Mary was on a return run from New York to Southampton. The international situation led to her being escorted by the Royal Navy battlecruiser HMS Hood. She arrived safely, and set out again for New York on 1 September. By the time she arrived, the Second World War had broken out and she was ordered to remain in port until further notice alongside the Normandie. In 1940 the Queen Mary and the Normandie were joined in New York by Queen Mary's new running mate Queen Elizabeth, fresh from her secret dash from the Clydebank. The three largest liners in the world sat idle for some time until the Allied commanders decided that all three ships could be used as troopships

 

Queen Mary left New York for Sydney, Australia, where she, along with several other liners, was converted into a troopship to carry Australian and New Zealand soldiers to the United Kingdom. Eventually joined by the Queen Elizabeth, they were the largest and fastest troopships involved in the war, often carrying as many as 15,000 men in a single voyage, and often travelling out of convoy and without escort. During this period, because of their wartime grey camouflage livery and elusiveness, both Queens received the nickname "The Grey Ghost". In December 1942, she was carrying exactly 16,082 American troops from New York to Great Britain, a standing record for the most passengers ever transported on one vessel. During the war, Queen Mary carried British Prime Minister Winston Churchill across the Atlantic for meetings with fellow Allied forces' officials. He was listed on the passenger manifest as "Colonel Warden" and he insisted that the lifeboat assigned to him had a .303 machine gun fitted to it so he could "resist capture at all costs".

.

From September 1946 to July 1947, Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service, adding air conditioning and upgrading her berth configuration to 711 first class, 707 cabin class and 577 tourist class passengers. Following refit, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth dominated the transatlantic passenger trade as Cunard White Star's two-ship weekly express service through the latter half of the 1940s and well into the 1950s.

 

 

In 1958, the first transatlantic flight by a jet began a completely new era of competition for the Cunard Queens. By 1965, the entire Cunard fleet was leaving a trail of red ink. Hoping to continue financing their still under construction Queen Elizabeth 2, Cunard mortgaged the majority of the fleet. Finally, under a combination of age, lack of public interest, inefficiency in a new market, and the damaging after-effects of the national seamen's strike, Cunard announced that both the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth would be retired from service and both were to be sold off.

 

Many offers were submitted, but it was Long Beach, California who beat the Japanese scrap merchants. And so, Queen Mary was retired from service in 1967, while her running mate Queen Elizabeth was withdrawn in 1968.

 

After her retirement in 1967, she steamed to Long Beach, where she is permanently moored as a tourist attraction (museum, restaurants, banquet space and hotel). From 1983 to 1993, she was accompanied by Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose, which was located in a large dome nearby (the dome is now used by Carnival Cruise Line as a cruise terminal).

 

On 8 May 1971, the Queen Mary opened its doors to tourists. Initially, only portions of the ship were open to the public as Specialty Restaurants had yet to open its dining venues or the hotel. This did happen eventually however, it has been a financial struggle over the years. The latest plans as of 2007, are to refurbish the ship, and develop a Universal Citywalk type (open air shopping, rerstaurant and entertainment center) Theme resort, shared with Carnival Cruise Lines, and the ships previous operators, The RMS Foundation, which will include, a marina, hotels, retail, and restaurants.

 

On 23 February 2006, RMS Queen Mary 2 saluted her predecessor as she made her port of call in Los Angeles Harbor, while on a cruise to Mexico. The event was covered heavily by local and international media. The salute itself was carried out with the Queen Mary blowing her one working air horn in response to the Queen Mary 2 blowing her combination of two brand new horns pointing forward and an original 1932 Queen Mary horn (donated by the City of Long Beach) aimed aft.

Edited December 25, 2009 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving Southampton for the last time on her way to Long Beach in October 1967

 

And at her home in Long Beach with the Spruce Goose dome (now the Long Beach Cruise Terminal) in the background

[Copper10-8]

The Queen Mary museum and hotel

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Copper10-8,

Thanks for all your updates. Do you have any info on Sun Viking?

Happy holidays.

 

Happy holidays Berwyn!

 

 

ms Sun Viking (1972-present) Built in 1972 by Oy Wärtsilä Ab/Wartsila Shipyards in Helsingfors (Helsinki), Finland as Sun Viking. She was one of the three original ships ordered by then Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (now Royal Caribbean International) as part of their early fleet. Sun Viking was 18,556 gross registered tons, 563.2 feet long. 78.8 feet wide with a 20.6 foot draft. She was registered in Oslo, Norway and manned by Norwegian deck and engine officers and an International hotel staff.

Along with her sister ships, Song of Norway and Nordic Prince, the class comprised the first purpose-built ships intended for Caribbean-based cruise travel. In the early 1990s,Sun Viking cruised the Mexican Riviera (Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan) on a seven-day itinerary out of Los Angeles (San Pedro) during the winter season. Summers found her cruising Alaska out of Vancouver, BC.

 

 

Out of the three sister ships, Sun Viking would be the only one not to be stretched. At about the time this was scheduled to happen and Sun Viking to return to the Finnish yard where she was built, Wärtsilä executives approached Royal Caribbean with plans for an entirely new design of ship, one with almost twice the capacity of Sun Viking. That ship became Song of America, and Sun Viking continued to sail in her original configuration.

 

 

In her later years, Royal Caribbean used Sun Viking to blaze trails into new parts of the world. Her last assignment was to lay the RCI groundwork for Asia, having been assigned there full time.

 

 

Sailing in Asia resulted in Sun Viking being noticed by the owners of Star Cruises, parent of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), who subsequently made an offer for her, based on her superb upkeep and maintenance. This was an offer Royal Caribbean's management could not refuse so in January 1998, the ship was transferred to Star ownership. They renamed her SuperStar Sagittarius and operated her from her new home port of Port Kelang in Malaysia however, this would only last for eight months.

Her two virtually identical sister ships Nordic Prince and Song of Norway were eventually sold by RCI also. Unlike those sisters where they were removed prior to their sale, Sun Viking when sold, maintained her former RCI trademark Viking Crown Lounge; she still does.

In the early Fall of 1998, SuperStar Sagittarius fell victim to the Asian economic downturn so she was sold to South Korea-based Hyundai Merchant Marine Company in September of that year. Hyundai renamed her Hyundai Pongnae. November 1998 saw her transporting South Korean pilgrims to North Korea. In 2001, she was laid up and put up for sale, still in South Korea - there were no takers. Early 2002 saw her involved in some charter cruises, one by the name of Tropical View and in August 2002, she was running casino cruises into Halong Bay from Haikou on Hainan Island.

 

In September 2002, her name was shortened to "just" Pongnae (Korean for the traditional oriental fairyland) and she started sailing from Pusan (Busan), South Korea.

 

 

In April 2003, she was chartered by Hong Kong-based Kong Way Cruises who renamed her Omar III and used her on casino cruises from that same city (Hong Kong).

 

 

In June, 2007, she was purchased outright by Real Win, Ltd and renamed Long Jie. She is still used a casino ship out of Hong Kong.

 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2009 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

Some add'l pics of Sun Viking and her subsequent identities:

 

 

In Miami, FL in 1989

 

 

Departing the port of London in 1990

 

 

On the Noordzeekanaal (North Sea canal) departing Amsterdam in 1990

 

 

As Omar III

 

 

As Long Jie off Singapore in FEB 2009

 

 

As Long Jie departing Singapore in AUG 2009

[Copper10-8]

Our first was the Dolphin IV in 1989. and YES we were hooked!

 

ss Zion (1956-2003) Built in 1956 as ss Zion by Deutsche Werft, Hamburg, (then) West Germany for Israel-based Zim Lines as part of Germany's World War II reparations (Reparation Payments Agreement) to the state of Israel. As the second passenger-cargo carrier ever built for the young Jewish state, Zim operated her on their Haifa to New York (Kent Street, Brooklyn) service alongside her sister ship, ss Israel. She had four cargo holds with a capacity of approximately 4,000 tons each, including refrigerated space. In addition she had a drive-in car deck for up to 30 vehicles.

 

 

Her primary route would take her from Haifa, Israel to New York City across the Atlantic with stops at Palma de Mallorca, Spain and Gibraltar, UK in the Mediterranean. Return trips to Israel would include stops at Gibraltar and Piraeus, Greece. On some journeys, stops at Naples, Italy and Halifax, Nova Scotia were included. During 1961 and 1962, she worked a route from Haifa to Marseilles, France with stops at Limassol, Cyprus and Genoa, Italy (or Naples). Although she could accommodate a total of 323 passengers, only 24 of them were in First Class. Those cabins were located on Boat Deck, comprising of two berths with some upper Pullmans. First Class lounges were located forward on Promenade deck with Tourist class cabins mid-ships and a Veranda Cafe, serving strictly Kosher food, aft. Additional Tourist Class cabins were located on Main Deck with a synagogue mid-ships and a Tourist Class Smoking Room, as well as a swimming pool, aft. The dining rooms were located on A-Deck, as were the balance of the Tourist Class cabins, most with private facilities.

 

 

In 1966, she was purchased by Portugal-based Sociedade Geral de Industria e Commercio, who renamed her ss Amelia de Mello and operated her between Lisbon, Portugal, their West African colonies of Guinea and Angola, and their Atlantic Isles (Sao Vicente, Madeira, etc). In 1967, they sent her back to the Deutsche Werft for upgrading and refitting. As the Portuguese colonies achieved their independence, liner services came to a halt and Amelia de Mello was withdrawn from service in 1971.

 

A plan to convert the Amelia do Mello into a full time cruise ship was considered but before it could be executed, her Portuguese owners sold her in late 1971 to Greek interests, specifically the London-based Vlassopoulos family.

 

 

John and Nick Vlassopoulos had her extensively rebuilt as a full-time cruise ship at Bilbao, Spain from which she reappeared, now having a total capacity of 780 passengers, as the ss Ithaca, named after their hometown/island, for their newly created Ulysses Line. Converting the ship into a 13,000 ton cruise liner entailed extensive reconstruction of all existing spaces as well as extension fore and aft of her superstructure to provide room for the entertainment and lounge areas required for her planned 700+ passengers. Involving no pretense of grandeur, designers and owners opted for simplicity and convenience, building well over 200 new cabins and fitting private facilities in all 294 cabins aboard. She emerged a substantially new ship but with her once pleasing profile ruined by a top heavy look forward. Worst was an unusual "bonnet" cladding her funnel, installed both to deflect smoke and disguise her origins further.

 

While in Ulysses Line service, she would operate on Mediterranean and Atlantic Isles cruises starting in 1973, that were largely marketed by UK tour company Thomson Holidays as very inexpensive cruises for a British clientele. Following severe increases in oil prices in the mid-seventies, Thomson decided that cruising was no longer economically and financially feasible for them so the charter was not renewed at the conclusion of the first four year period.

 

During 1977 and 1978, Ithaca was chartered to Canadian tour operator Strand Cruises for two years offering fourteen-day Mediterranean fly-cruise packages to both Canadian and American passengers. When Strand went belly-up, Vlassopoulos moved the ship to the Caribbean in 1979 under the new name Dolphin IV. This would be her area of operations for the rest of her career. Ulysses Line/theVlassopoulos family had entered into a joint venture sales and marketing agreement with French shipping company Paquet, known as Paquet Ulysses Cruises, to operate her on three and four-day cruises to the Bahamas from Miami, FL.

 

 

In 1984, Paquet pulled out and Dolphin Cruise Line was born (once again owned by the Vlassopoulos family) taking over the operation. The Vlassopoulos family later formed a holding company, called Cruise Holdings, which bought out both Premier and Seawind Cruise Lines. By 1996 however, Dolphin IV did not fit in anymore, even with the aged Cruise Holdings fleet and with the impending merger of their three lines into a reborn but ill-fated Premier Cruise Line, they sold her in 1998.

 

 

Their new owners were a company called Cape Canaveral Cruise Line who would operate her under her same name of Dolphin IV on short cruises to the Bahamas out of Port Canaveral, FL. In 2000 however, she was taken out of service because of corroded fresh water and sewage tanks. Cape Canaveral Cruise Line attempted to find a replacement for her but this proved unsuccessful. Dolphin IV was subsequently laid-up at Freeport, the Bahamas due to reoccurring problems with her fresh water and sewage holding facilities. In February 2003, she was sold for scrap to Indian Breakers. Upon her arrival at Alang, India in April 2003, she was beached and broken up.