Your first cruise ship

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was on HAL's old Rotterdam on Sept.28,1981. 11 days-Carribean islands and Bermuda. I chose this ship because at the time it also did a world cruise. Beautiful ship. Went with Singleworld(no longer around)-Got matched up with a roommate,and ate with other singles. Always remembered I would go to the evening production show,then to the disco(which closed at 1 AM),THEN usually went to the nightclub where a live band would play until 2-3AM! I had much more stamina back then! Such great memories of that first cruise. Only been on 6 other HAL cruises since then,althought HAL is still my favorite cruiseline. Looking forward to my next HAL cruise-Panama Canal on the Statendam this Sept. 30th. This is a great thread! Kendra

 

ss Rotterdam V (1959-present) Built in 1959 as ss (steam ship) Rotterdam by the Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij (Rotterdam Drydock Company), Rotterdam, the Netherlands for the Holland Amerika Lijn/Holland America Line for which she would become their very popular flagship known as "the Grand Dame". At 748 feet long, 94 feet wide and weighing 38,650 tons, she was the largest ship ever built in the Netherlands and she would sail for HAL for 39 years as the last great Dutch "ship of state".

 

Rotterdam V was conceived as running mate to HAL's popular Nieuw Amsterdam launched in 1937, but work was put on hold at the outbreak of World War II in Europe. When economic conditions once again became favorable for completion of the new ship in early 1954, the beginning of the end of ocean liners as basic transport was visible on the horizon. Her designers took this in mind and created a groundbreaking vessel, a two-class, horizontally divided ship with movable partitions and a unique double staircase allowing for easy conversion to cruising. Rotterdam's machinery was shifted aft, to the now-traditional two-thirds aft position, and in lieu of a funnel twin uptake pipes were fitted. To provide balance, a large deckhouse was built atop the superstructure in the midships position of a typical funnel. While very controversial at the time, Rotterdam's appearance became groundbreaking, and her unique design features can be found on cruise ships today.

 

 

She was the fifth ship in the line's history to bear the name of Rotterdam, the principal city in the Dutch province of Zuid (South) Holland, second largest municipality in the Netherlands and the largest port in Europe. The name 'Rotterdam' originally comes from a dam built on the river Rotte.

The first Rotterdam operated initially for the C.V. Plate, Reuchlin & Company, then the Nederlandsche Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij (NASM) or Netherlands America Steamship Company from 1872 until 1883. She was an iron 1,700 gross registered ton steamship. Built by Henderson Coulborn & Co. in Renfrew, Scotland, Rotterdam I was deployed on the transatlantic service between Rotterdam and New York, at the time a 21-day voyage. On 26 September 1883 while enroute back to Rotterdam, she ran aground off the west coast of the Dutch island of Schouwen and had to be abandoned by passengers and crew. On 12 October she broke in half during a heavy storm.

The second Rotterdam was launched as the British Empire on 7 March 1878, from the Harland & Wolff Ltd shipyard in Belfast, Northern Island. She was completed on 10 August 1878 and sailed mostly under charter to different companies. Holland Amerika Line purchased her in October 1886 and she was renamed Rotterdam, sailing mainly on the Rotterdam to New York run. In November 1896, she was renamed Edam and for a while, used on the Amsterdam to New York route. She was sold for scrap in 1899 and broken up in Genoa, Italy.

 

Rotterdam III was launched at Harland & Wolff on 18 February 1897. The 8,186 ton passenger liner was HAL's largest ship at the time and was put to work on the Rotterdam to New York service. In April 1906 she was purchased by the Denmark-based Skandinavien-Amerika Linien (Scandinavia America Line) and renamed C.F. Tietgen, sailing from Copenhagen to New York. In 1913 she was sold to the Russian East Asiatic Steam Ship Company and renamed Dwinsk. Duringh the 1st World War on 18 June 1918, while serving as a British troopship, she was struck by torpedoes of the German sub/u-boot U-151 northeast of Bermuda and sunk with loss of life.

 

The fourth Rotterdam was again built at the Harland & Wolff yard and, upon completion in June of 1908, operated on the Rotterdam to New York run which now took eight days. For the last two years (1916-1918) of World War I she was laid up at Rotterdam due to fear of torpedo attack and/or mines. She operated again beginning in 1919. In November 1939 she was sold for scrap and broken up in 1940 at Hendrik Ido Ambacht in the Netherlands.

 

Rotterdam V was painted in the then HAL house colors of a dove gray hull with a thin yellow band. Due to the absence of a traditional funnel (she had the twin set of uptakes instead), the then HAL colors (buff funnel with green-white-green bands) were unable to be applied there. Instead, all of her lifeboats were painted in the line's buff yellow colors with green and white bands (the colors of the city of Rotterdam) painted on their gunwhales.

 

On 14 September 1958, Rotterdam V was launched by her godmother, HRH Queen Juliana of The Netherlands in the city of Rotterdam in front of some 60,000 spectators. Succesful sea trials were conducted on the North Sea between 1-6 August 1959. On 3 September 1959, Rotterdam V, the flagship of the Holland Amerika Lijn set out on her maiden voyage from Rotterdam to New York, via Le Havre, France and Southampton, England under the command of her master, Commodore Coenraad Bouman. One of her passengers was the then Crown Princess of The Netherlands, the twenty-one year old Princess (currently Queen) Beatrix.

 

Upon passing Tompkinsville on north-eastern Staten Island, Commodore Bouman had the national flag of the Netherlands, flying on his ship, dipped in a salute to Henry Hudson. Back on 10 September 1609, the English sea explorer and navigator employed by the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or Dutch (United) East India Company, had anchored his ship the Half Moon (found in the current HAL logo) in the general area.

 

She arrived at the Fifth Street Pier in Hoboken, New Jersey on 11 September 1959 receiving a welcome by water spraying fireboats. After the Princess (via cutter and then to the Royal Netherlands Navy destroyer Gelderland in Gravesend Bay) and all her remaining passengers (the 'normal way') had disembarked, Rotterdam V was towed across the harbor to HAL's new terminal at Pier 40 in Manhattan. Rotterdam departed New York for her east bound journey across the Atlantic on 22 September 1959.

 

She then departed New York on her first cruise on 11 December, 1959, a 49-day cruise circumnavigating South America. She undertook a second, seventy five-day cruise on 1 February 1960. She would make her first world cruise in January 1961, a seventy seven-day roundtrip from New York. From then on, she would operate the company's world cruise each year until 1986, developing a loyal following.

As originally built, Rotterdam had a two-class system and accomodation, that being First Class for a maximum of 580 guests and Tourist Class for a maximum of 1,055 guests. When launched, Rotterdam came out in First Class with the 240-seat two-deck high Ritz Carlton public lounge with port-side sweeping staircase (used for afternoon tea and dancing), 260-seat Odyssey dining room with forward Grill Room, 50-seat Sky Room small lounge & bar, 142-seat Ambassador Room night club with dance floor, orchestra podium and bar, 163-seat Theatre balcony (used for movies and stage productions), 30-seat First Class Library and Shore Excursion Office, Forecourt foyer, a Card Room, 130-seat Smoking Room with ten double-backed sofas (used for afternoon tea and after dinner coffees and liquers), 35-seat Tropic Bar, First Class Beauty Salon and Barber shop, First Class Pursers Office, an indoor swimming pool and Gymnasium on D-Deck, a First Class Sports Deck with twelve solid teak seats as well as several shuffle board courts.

Tourist Class had the 500-seat Queens Lounge public room, 510-seat La Fontaine dining room with aft Grill Room, 50-seat Sun Room small lounge, 150-seat Tourist Class Smoking Room known as the Club Room, 444-seat Theatre (used for movies and stage productions), Atlantic Promenade (used as teen area), Cafe de la Paix bar/lounge with dance floor, 50-seat Ocean Bar including twenty bar stools, Tourist Class Library, Tourist Class Shopping Arcade known as the Lijnbaan (a popular shopping street in the City of Rotterdam), Childrens' Playroom (complete with four wooden play horses), Verandah Terrace, Tourist Class Pursers Ofice, an outdoor swimming pool on Promenade Deck aft and Tourist Class Sports Deck.

For ten years between April and October with Friday afternoon departures, Rotterdam V would provide weekly trans-Atlantic service between Rotterdam and New York. She did so in rotation with HAL's Nieuw Amsterdam II and the smaller Statendam IV, known collectively as "The Big Three." During November and December, Rotterdam woud switch to cruising including her customary Christmas and New Year's cruise to the Caribbean. Then every year in January, she would sail her three-month World Cruise.

In August 1968, Holland America Line made an anouncement that it would start concentrating more on cruising as opposed to trans-Atlantic liner service. In 1969, Rotterdam made her last regularly scheduled transatlantic crossing and was converted to a one-class cruise ship. She would, however, make four more world cruises in 1993, 1995, 1996, and 1997.

As part of her reconfiguration, the Sky Room became the disco, the Sun Room went to first to Shore Excursion Office and then to auxiliary Gymnasium, and on Sun Deck, starboard-side, twelve passenger accomodation replaced officer's cabins. Her original First Class Sports Deck became 'just' the Sports Deck, available to all pasengers, with a practice tennis court installed. The former Tourist Class Childrens' Playroom was converted into crew accomodation. On Upper Promenade Deck, the 2-level Theatre was renamed the Auditorium, while the Ambassador Room became the Ambassador Lounge. The First Class Beauty Salon and Barber shop were converted into a Gift shop and a perfume shop, while the First Class Purser's Office and the First Class Chief Steward's Office became Gift Shop and Boutique respectively. The Library is still located port side behind the gift shop, the original Forecourt disappeared and, on starboard side behind the Boutique, the original Card Room went from part of the ship's Casino to the Shore Excursion Office. The Smoking Room, Tropic Bar and Ritz Carlton all remained.

On Promenade Deck, the original Atlantic Promenade located on the port side of the movie theater, became the new Card Room, while the Queens Lounge and Ocean Bar remained unchanged. The original Tourist Class Library was converted into a Video Conference Room while the original Tourist Class Shopping Arcade, known as the Lijnbaan, now consists of a jewelry shop, gift shop and Photo Center. The Club Room, the former Tourist Class smoking room, became the ship's Casino offering blackjack, roulette and slot machines and the aft foyer changed into the Photo Gallery. Lastly on tis deck, the Cafe de la Paix became the HAL trademark Lido Restaurant with Liso Terrace (serving hot dogs, hamburgers and tacos) and Lido Bar.

In 1973 her hull was repainted from the original light gray to a dark midnight blue, known as "Nieuw Amsterdam blue," and her accomodation changed to 12 deluxe staterooms, 24 deluxe outside double staterooms, 122 large outside double staterooms, 120 standard outside double rooms, 9 economy outside double rooms, 22 large inside double staterooms, 202 standard inside double staterooms, 5 economy inside double rooms, 13 outside single rooms and 10 inside single rooms for a total of 539 cabins.

Starting in 1973, she was based for part of the year out of New York City for seven-day cruises to Bermuda. In the summer of 1981, she cruised Alaskan waters from Vancouver, BC for the first time.

 

From September until October 1989, she received a $15 million dollar (mostly interior) refit at the Northwest Marine Ironworks, a Portland, Oregon shipyard. During this refit, Rotterdam V gained a much needed bow thruster.

 

On 31 January 1996, HAL announced that the much loved ship would be taken out of service as of 30 September 1997. The reason given by her owners (later disputed) was the new SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) requirements coming into effect and the funds, supposedly U.S. 40 million, required to update the thirty-eight year old vessel. Her final regular overhaul took place in October 1996 again at the Northwest Marine Ironworks shipyard in Portland, Oregon. Rotterdam, under the command of HAL Captain Pieter Bos, would make a 19-day farewell cruise at the end of her Alaska season in September 1997 from Vancouver, BC to Port Everglades in Ft Lauderdale, Fl.

 

In October 1997, she was purchased by Miami-based Cruise Holdings aka Premier Cruises who had her upgraded to SOLAS standards and renamed Rembrandt at Newport News, VA. Premier kept her classic ocean liner 'feel' and on 21 December 1997, she departed on her first cruise to South America. The summer of 1998 found her cruising in the Mediterranean while October of that yera saw her back at her long-time home port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Premier however, also had 'grandiose plans' to rename the ship 'Big Red Boat IV' and to paint her hull a bright red, an idea not very popular with her fans. As Big Red Boat IV she would sail out of Los Angeles on three and four-day party cruises to Mexico in the winter and out of Vancouver, BC on seven-day Alaska cruises in the summer.

 

As faith would have it, Premier Cruise Line ran into financial difficulties. On 13 September, 2000 during a northbound New England/Canada cruise, her captain was ordered to return his ship to Halifax, Nova Scotia. After off-loading her passengers, the ss Rembrandt was placed under arrest. As a special condition of her warrants, she was allowed to depart for Freeport, the Bahamas where she arrived on 30 December 2000 and was laid-up pending sale. Premier Cruise Lines filed for bankruptcy and went out of business.

 

 

On 7 May 2003 Rembrandt became the property of s.s. Rotterdam BV (part of RDM holding or Rotterdamse Droogdok Maatschappij, her original builders). On 17 June 2004, the Polish ocean-going tug 'Englishman' towed her from the Bahamas to the Camell Laird yard at Gibraltar where she arrived on 12 July 2004 and where renovation work was scheduled for her. She would remain docked at the British Crown Colony until October 2005 (see below). By that time, she also had new owner, 'Rederij De Rotterdam BV'.

 

 

On 25 October 2005, after a tow from Gibraltar by the Spanish tug 'V B Artico', she arrived at Cadiz, Spain, for additional (dry) dock maintenance including the repainting of her hull in her original light gray color. In addition, she was renamed Rotterdam and registered in the same city. 'V B Artico' would tow her again, this time from 10 to 27 February 2006, from Cadiz to Gdansk, Poland where her asbestos was removed and further renovating would take place (see below).

 

 

On 25 August 2006 she received yet another tow, this time to Wilhelmshaven, Germany (see below) where she stayed until August 2008 for additional exterior restoration work.

 

Edited July 27, 2010 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

 

On 2 September 2008, she left Wilhelmshaven and on 4 September 2008, she made her triumphant return (see above and below) to her city of birth, Rotterdam, where she was berthed at the “Katendrechtse Hoofd” (Head of Katendrecht) located on the northern edge of Rotterdam Zuid (South) in the Maashaven (River Maas harbor) and where she will serve as a floating hotel, static museum ship and conference center. Rotterdam V opened to the public on 15 February 2010.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 27, 2010 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

 

ss Rotterdam V alongside the Wilhelminakade, Rotterdam in 1961

 

 

ss Rotterdam V on her way westbound to New York - Taken from ss Statendam on her way eastbound to Rotterdam - somewhere in the Atlantic in 1962

 

 

ss Rotterdam in her 'Nieuw Amsterdam' blue livery in 1987

 

As Rembrandt in Rotterdam in 1998

 

As Rembrandt in Rotterdam in 1998

[Copper10-8]

First was SS Norway in 1987. Previously the SS France. She had a passageway with windows underneath the upper deck pool. Sort of a "people aquarium"

 

ss France (1962-2008) Built in 1962 as ocean liner ss France by Chantiers de l'Atlantique' date=' St. Nazaire, France for La Compagnie Generale Transatlantigue (CGT) aka the French Line. She[/color'] was constructed to replace the line's other, by then considered old and outdated ships, ss Ile de France and ss Liberte.

 

On 11 May 1960, she was blessed by the Bishop of Nantes, Monseigneur Villepelet, and launched by Madame Yvonne de Gaulle, wife of the French President, and was then named France, in honor both of the country, and of the two previous CGT ships to bear the name. After her launch, her propellers were installed (the entire process taking over three weeks), the distinctive funnels affixed to her upper decks, her superstructure completed, life boats placed in their davits, and her interiors fitted out. She then undertook her sea trials on 19 November, 1961, and averaged an unexpected 35.21 knots. With the French Line satisfied, the ship was handed over, and undertook a trial cruise to the Canary Islands with a full complement of passengers and crew.

 

Her maiden voyage to New York took place on 3 February 1962, with many of France's film stars and aristocracy aboard. Once in service, ss France served as the line's flagship from 1961 until 1974 on the Le Havre to New York run, as well as gaining the distinction of being the world's longest liner of all-time (1,035 feet long). This record remained unchallenged until the construction of the RMS Queen Mary 2 in 2004. In service, ss France would combine regular transatlantic crossings - six days and nights - with occasional winter cruises, as well as two world circumnavigations.

 

 

After a little more than a decade of service that included 377 transatlantic crossings, the economics that doomed the North Atlantic ocean liner generally caught up with the ss France. It was decided to take her out of service resulting in massive protests from the French population and even a hijack by her crew. On 7 December 1974 however, she was moored at a distant quay in Le Havre, known colloquially as the Quai de l'oubli - the pier of the forgotten. The ship sat in the same spot for approximately five years, with her interiors, including all furniture, still completely intact.

 

 

There were no plans to scrap her, nor to sell her. However, in 1977 Saudi Arabian millionaire Akram Ojjeh expressed an interest in purchasing the vessel for use as a floating museum for antique French furniture and artworks, as well as a casino and hotel off the coast of the south-east United States. Though he did purchase the ship for $24 million U.S., this proposal was never realised, and others were rumored to have floated, including bids from the Soviet Union to use her as a hotel ship in the Black Sea, and a proposal from the People's Republic of China to turn her into a floating industrial trade fair.

In June 1979, Knut Kloster and Norwegian Caribbean Line came calling and purchased the France for $18 million U.S. She was towed from Le Havre to Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany for an extensive and expensive (close to $65 million U.S.) refit to make her suitable for cruising as the largest cruise ship afloat. At Bremerhaven, among other renovations, she would receive a set of five side thrusters, upgraded air-conditioning and reinforced hull plating. Her former black hull was repainted in a medium-dark blue. She emerged from Bremerhaven in the spring of 1980 as ss Norway and made a special visit to the City of Oslo, Norway before once more crossing the North Atlantic to arrive in New York City on 16 May 1980.

 

 

Once she reached her new home port of Miami, Fl. on the north side of the Dodge Island cruise terminal, NCL put her to work on the seven-night Caribbean run which included a stop at St. Thomas, USVI. Her size, passenger capacity, and amenities revolutionized the cruise industry and started a building frenzy as competitors began to order bigger and larger ships. As cruise competition attempted to take some of Norway's brisk business, the Norway herself was upgraded several times in order to maintain her position as the "grande dame" of the Caribbean, including the addition of new decks to her superstructure.

 

Competition eventually overtook the Norway, and she even started taking a back seat to other ships in NCL's lineup. No longer the "Ship amongst Ships", her owners severely cut back on her maintenance and upkeep. She experienced several mechanical breakdowns, fires, incidents of illegal waste dumping, and safety violations for which she was detained at port pending repairs. Despite the cutbacks, the ship remained extremely popular among cruise enthusiasts, some of whom questioned the owner's actions in light of the continuing successful operation of the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, which had become a well-maintained rival operating 5-star luxury cruises for Cunard.

 

 

 

On 25 May 2003, after docking in Miami at 5:00 a.m., the Norway was seriously damaged by a boiler explosion at 6:30 a.m. that killed eight crew members, and injured seventeen, as superheated steam flooded the boiler room, and blasted into crew quarters above through ruptured decking. None of the passengers were affected. On 27 June, 2003, NCL and her parent, Malaysian-based Star Cruises, decided to relocate her. She departed Miami under tow headed towards Europe and eventually arrived in Bremerhaven, Germany on 23 September, 2003.

 

 

In Bremerhaven she was used as accommodation for NCL crew training to take their places on board the line's new Pride of America which was being build there. Due to large amounts of asbestos aboard the ship (mostly in machine and bulkhead areas), the Norway was not allowed to leave Germany for any scrap yards due to the Basel Convention. However, after assuring the German authorities that she would go to Asia for repairs and further operation in Australia, she was allowed to leave port under tow on 23 May 2005 arriving at Port Klang, Malaysia on 10 August 2005.

 

In December 2005, Norway was sold to an American naval demolition dealer for scrap value and she was to be towed to Alang, India for demolition. However, in light of protests from Greenpeace, potentially lengthy legal battles due to environmental concerns over the ship's breakup, and amidst charges of fraudulent declarations made by the company to obtain permission to leave Bremerhaven, her owners cancelled the sale contract, refunded the purchase price, and left the ship where she was.

 

She was eventually sold in April 2006 to Bridgend Shipping Limited of Monrovia, Liberia, and renamed ss Blue Lady in preparation for scrapping. One month later she was again sold, to Haryana Ship Demolition Pvt. Ltd., and was subsequently left anchored in waters off the Malaysian coast after the government of Bangladesh refused her entry into their waters due to the onboard asbestos. Three weeks later, the ship began its journey towards Indian waters, and mid-July 2006 found her anchored 100 km off the Indian coast.

 

After lengthy court battles, and the arrival of Blue Lady at Alang, India, the Indian Supreme Court ruled on 11 September 2007 (the 33rd anniversary of the ss France's last day on the Atlantic), that she was safe to scrap. By 4 December of the same year, the tip of her bow had been cut; a ceremonial move done to most ships that end up in Alang just prior to the full scale breaking of a ship. On 20 January 2008, scrapping of Blue Lady had commenced on the forward part of the sun deck. The suites added during the 1990 refit were gone by March. By 12 July 2008, the bow and the stern of the ship had been removed, with little of the ship's famous profile still recognizable. By September 2008, most of what remained above the waterline had been cut away, and the ship's destruction was essentially completed by late 2008.

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Some additional pics of a legend:

 

 

As France at Le Havre, France

 

 

As France for La Compagnie Generale Transatlantigue (CGT) aka the French Line

 

 

As Norway for Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL)

 

 

Departing Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven, Germany under tow to Port Klang, Malaysia on 23 May 2005 and passing NCL's new Pride of America

 

 

Departing Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven, Germany under tow to Port Klang, Malaysia on 23 May 2005

[Copper10-8]

Our first was on the Cunard Ambassador, I think in the late 70's. She later caught fire and became a cattle ship, I believe.

 

ms Cunard Ambassador (1972-1984) Built as ms Cunard Ambassador in 1972 by the Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij NV (RDM), Rotterdam, The Netherlands for the Cunard Line. She was initially intended to become part of a U.S. company by the name of Overseas National Airways Inc, a charter airline carrying both passengers and freight, founded in June 1950 and based at Idlewild Airport (now John F. Kennedy International) in New York. The longtime British Company Cunard Line had a fifty percent share in ONA and in July 1970 acquired the balance of equity in the airline. Along with what would eventually become Ambassador’s older sister, Cunard Adventurer, ONA had grand plans to operate a total of eight small, cruise-oriented vessels.

 

Because of the vast amount of money having to be put into this project with so many ships planned, Overseas National Airways soon ran into financial difficulties, which forced them to abort their plans. Cunard quickly took over the project, although only partially.

The original eight cruise ships were soon reduced to only two, the Cunard Adventurer of 1971 and the Cunard Ambassador of 1972. Cunard Ambassador was a 14,155 gross registered ship, 484 feet long, 71 feet wide, carrying 806 passengers, all in one class, with four diesel powered engines turning two propellers giving her a service speed of 20.5 knots. She ran her technical trials in the North Sea beginning on 28 August 1971 and was delivered to Cunard on 21 October 1972.

After christening at Southampton, England, she departed on 23 October 1972, bound for San Juan, Puerto Rico and Caribbean cruising. She and her sister Cunard Ambassador were intended for seven-day cruises, from New York City to Bermuda, from San Juan to other Caribbean ports in the winter, and from Vancouver, BC to Alaska during the summer seasons.

While on a positioning cruise from Miami, Fl to New Orleans, La on 12 September 1974, a fire broke out onboard Cunard Ambassador causing the crew to abandon her. There were no passengers onboard. The ship was eventually towed into Key West, Fl on 15 September where, after inspection, she was declared a constructive total loss and pulled out of Cunard service.

Despite this, the gutted hull was purchased by Copenhagen, Denmark-based shipping company C. Clausen A/S in March 1975. She was towed to Sweden, arriving at the Öresundsvarvet shipyard in Landskrona on 30 April 1975. She entered dry-dock there and was refitted to become the Danish livestock (sheep) transport carrier, Linda Clausen.

AS a side note, shortly after selling the Cunard Adventurer and the burning/subsequent selling of Cunard Ambassador, Cunard ordered two new ships, Cunard Countess and the Cunard Conquest, later changed to Cunard Princess. Incorporated in these new designs were many features of the previous “failures” Adventurer and Ambassador. A similar sleek profile, a similar sleek angular funnel, and the same white hull were incorporated into the design of the two new vessels.

After successfully serving as the Linda Clausen for five years, including runs from the Persian Gulf to Western Australia (Fremantle) she was sold to the Panama-based Lembu Shipping Corporation in 1980. They renamed her Procyon.

In 1983, she was sold again, this time to the Doha-based Qatar Transport & Marine Service who renamed her Raslan. On 3 July 1983, she suffered another devastating fire in her engine room while in the Indian Ocean en route from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Singapore. She did arrive in Singapore where she was declared beyond economic repair and laid up on 17 July 1983. After only thirteen years of service, two of which were with Cunard, she was sold to Taiwanese ship breakers and arrived in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on 7 September 1984 where scrapping was initiated

Edited July 28, 2010 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

We went on Carnival Inspiration out of New Orleans for our first cruise. We did a Western Caribbean itinerary - Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We wanted to celebrate our 30th Anniversary and could easily drive to New Orleans. We came back saying we would probably cruise again, but probably not on Carnival. Two years later we cruised to Alaska on Princess and were hooked.

 

Inspiration (1996-present) Built in 1996 as ms Inspiration by Kvaerner Masa Oy, Helsingfors/Helsinki, Finland for Miami-based Carnival Cruise Line for Caribbean cruising. She was handed over to her new owners on 22 February 1996 and departed the yard the next day. After a North Atlantic crossing, she was officially named in Miami, FL on 16 March 1996 by her godmother Mary Ann Shula, wife of former Miami Dolphins football coach Don Shula, and departed on her inaugural voyage into the Caribbean on 22 March 1996.

 

 

Inspiration belongs to the 'Fantasy-class' of ships and was the sixth vessel built in the class of eight (the others are Fantasy - 1990, Ecstasy - 1991, Elation - 1993, Fascination - 1994, Imagination - 1995, Elation -1998 and Paradise -1998). The Fantasy class has a so-called 'modern ocean/cruise liner design', with all of its cabins situated within the hull and only a handful of suites on the superstructure, similar to Carnival's Holiday-class ships which were built in the late eighties. Inspiration and six of her sisters have two fixed propellors as opposed to the last two ships of the class, Elation and Paradise who have an Azipod azimuth thruster propulsion system. The class of eight were also the last cruise ships built with their lifeboats situated on their upper deck.

 

In terms of layout and function, Inspiration is virtually identical to her sister Fantasy-class ships. The ship consists of ten decks with most of the public rooms concentrated on Atlantic, Promenade and Lido decks (8 - 10), while her passenger cabins are located on Riviera, Main, Upper and Empress decks (4 - 7). Like other Carnival ships, her public areas are designed and decorated in a flamboyant style by Carnival's award winning (interior) naval architect Joe Farcus, who has a penchant for augmenting the interiors with more than a dash of neon and glitz. While passenger opinions of the decor ranged from glamorous and elegant to gaudy and gauche, there is no denying that Farcus' whimsical design style enhances the Inspiration's "Fun Ship" aura. The ship received a routine dry-dock refurbishment in December 2004/January 2005.

 

 

The ship's centerpiece is its six-story Grand Atrium complete with glass-enclosed elevators. A favorite gathering place before dinner is at the semicircular Grand Atrium Plaza & Bar on the floor of the Atrium where guests can enjoy pre-dinner drinks to the accompaniment of classical music performed by a trio. Inspiration's public spaces encompass a diversity of styles and design elements celebrating the arts and literature. Among the venues that display those themes are the Paris Main Lounge, Rhapsody in Blue Piano Bar, the Rock and Roll Dance Club/Disco and the Shakespeare Library.

 

One of the most expansive public areas is the area known as Inspiration Boulevard on Promenade Deck, which is decorated with striking columns featuring crafted classical reliefs of the Muses. Promenade Deck gets especially busy at night as it connects the main "evening" lounges, such as the Candlelight Aft Lounge, Avant-Garde Lounge, Cafe des Artists, and the Violins Bar, which is next to the Monte Carlo Casino. Other public areas include the Fun Shops shopping mall, the Video Arcade & Club O2 and the ship's photo gallery. There is also an Internet cafe while Wi-Fi is available in most public rooms.

 

 

In late 2006, Carnival Cruise Line announced a massive multi-million dollar product enhancement initiative to its Fantasy class fleet known as "Evolutions Of Fun" which was completed in 2009. The refit consisted of new ship names, with all eight ships receiving a repainted name with the "Carnival" prefix (i.e. Carnival Fantasy, etc.) after their final refurbishment to their pools and outside decks. Inspiration became 'Carnival Inspiration' in November 2007.

 

A nine-hole miniature golf course was added to the forward sun deck while her aft pool deck was replaced by a 'Carnival WaterWorks aqua park' with multiple slides. The main pool was completely refurbished and redesigned in a tropical theme with new materials and new spiral staircases to the top deck and their original waterslides were removed.

 

The adults-only area (around the funnel) was moved to Promenade deck aft where it is now known as the 'Serenity adults-only area', replacing the children's wading pool with the wading pool becoming part of the new waterpark. The restaurants and the majority of the public areas received new decors as well as new electronic equipment. Finally, all staterooms received new decors, new beds and new flat screen televisions.

 

Carnival Inspiration also received balconies to ninety-eight existing cabins, transforming them from ocean view staterooms. In addition, eight of her suites on the Upper Deck received larger balconies. Twenty four balconies now 'extend' from the vessel mid-ships and another twelve near her stern. The remaining sixty are located at her aft section.

 

In addition, all her staterooms were completely refurbished, as well as virtually all dining, dancing and entertainment venues. Guest corridors were renovated and a new “Circle C” facility catering to 12- to 14-year olds added, as well. Carnival inspiration received all these enhancement and upgrades while in dry-dock in November 2007.

 

 

Carnival Inspiration currently sails on four and five-day itineraries to the Western Caribbean from Tampa, Fl. Her four-day itinerary calls at Cozumel, Mexico while her five day cruises add George Town, Grand Cayman to that.

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was in 1974 on the TSS Fiesta in the eastern Med. It was built in 1946 and was 3659 gt. Not many amenities!

 

 

TSS Mona's Queen (1946-1981) Built in 1946 as tss (Turbine Steam Ship) Mona's Queen by Cammel Laird & Company, Ltd, Birkenhead, England for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company Ltd. She was one of six sister ships (King Orry - 1945, Tynwald - 1947, Snaefell - 1948, Mona's Isle - 1950 and Manxman - 1955) built between 1945 and 1955 for car ferry service between Liverpool and Douglas on the Isle of Man.

 

 

Mona's Queen was launched in February 1946, achieving over 21 knots on her trials. Her maiden voyage was on 26 June 1946, when she sailed to Douglas from Liverpool. In March 1952 she was involved in a collision with the Battery Pier at Douglas harbor, although she was not severely damaged as a result.

Over the next couple of years she was plagued by boiler trouble and underwent a major refit in early 1954, when she also had radar installed. She had another collision in August 1959, this time with Prince's Stage, resulting in her going in early for her winter lay up.

 

On 11 September 1961, Mona's Queen undertook her final sailing for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company on a route from Fleetwood in Lancashire. This was quite an event in that 1,193 passengers were on board and that local school children were allowed time off to watch her progress down the river. In all she was watched by over 5,000 people on her departure from Fleetwood. She was laid up for sale at Barrow-in-Furness, in North-West England a week or so later.



In October 1962, Mona's Queen was purchased by Dimitrios Chandris of the Greek Chandris Line. SUnder the ownership of the Marivic Navigation Inc she was initially renamed Barrow Queen and departed Barrow on 14 November 1962 with a Greek crew. Upon arrival, she was renamed once gain, this time as Carissima, and entered dry dock at the Chandris shipyard facility at Ambelaki, near Piraeus.



She reappeared on 3 June 1963 as the car ferry tss Carina, carrying 570 passengers and 60 cars (with access via side doors) for the Piraeus, Greece to Brindisi, Italy route via the Corinth Canal. Air-conditioning throughout the ship had been installed as well as a swimming pool, closed circuit television and a 300-seat restaurant. She was laid-up in Eleusis Bay during the winter months.



After coming out of her lay-up, Carina was placed on a new weekly cruise route on 21 March 1964 from Nice, France to Bastia (Corsica), Palermo (Sicily) Tunis, Tunesia, Palma de Majorca, Spain and Port Vendres, France. Her 220 passengers (max) had the option to bring their personal automobiles with them and at each port could drive them off for sightseeing, only to return to the ship prior to her departure. These cruises were operated until 23 May 1964 when Carina was put back on the Piraeus to Brindisi ferry run.



At the end of her 1964 season, Carina re-entered the Ambelaki yard for a major refit as a full-time cruise ship for 378 passengers. In order to accomplish this, her car space was removed and extra cabins were installed. She emerged as tss Fiesta and between 7 March and 14 November 1965 started operating 14-day cruises from Venice, Italy to Dubrovnik, (then) Yugoslavia, Piraeus, Corfu and Rhodes, all Greece and Haifa, Israel, going back in lay-up during the winter. This cycle would be repeated during the 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969 summer season. For the 1970 summer season, Fiesta operated a series of fifteen two-week trips from Venice to Piraeus, Greece and Istanbul, Turkey

 



 

Fiesta, and five other early Chandris ships were offered for sale in January 1972 while laid up at Eleusis Bay (Piraeus) but there were no suitors. Starting in 1975 and with the exception of a few seasonal activations, she operated 11 and 12-day cruises out of Venice in the summer of 1976, she was laid-up at Perama. In 1981, she was finally purchased for scrap by Greek breakers and subsequently broken up at Perama, Greece.

[Copper10-8]

Royal Caribbean Sovereign of the Seas in October 1997, where we went to Nassau and Coco Cay on a 3-night cruise. Hooked ever since!

 

 

 

ms Sovereign of the Seas (1988-present) Built in 1988 as ms Sovereign of the Seas by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France for Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL). She was the lead ship of a three-ship (Sovereign) class, her sisters being Monarch of the Seas (1991) and Majesty of the Seas (1992). They were the first modern megaships to be built and the first series of cruise ships to include a multi-story atrium with glass elevators. They also had a single deck consisting entirely of cabins with private balconies instead of oceanview cabins.

 

 

 

After having been delivered to her new owners on 19 December 1987, she then crossed the Atlantic to Miami, Fl. She was christened and named by her godmother, Rosalyn Carter, wife of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on 15 January 1988. At the time of her maiden voyage on 16 January 1988, she was the largest cruise ship in the world at 73,192 gross tons. She held that record until 1990 when the ss Norway succeeded her after being refurbished with the addition of two more decks.

 

 

RCCL initially operated Sovereign OTS out of Miami, Fl on seven-night Eastern Caribbean cruises with port calls at San Juan, Puerto Rico, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas and at Labadee, their private resort on the north coast of Haiti. Later on during her RCI career, she operated on three and four-night sailings to the Bahamas, also from Miami. In 2006 however, she switched her home base to Port Canaveral, Fl with a smilar itinerary. Besides Nassau, these cruises also visited CocoCay (Little Stirrup Cay), RCI's (Royal Caribbean International - name change in 1997) privately-owned island in the Berry Islands

 

 

In October 2007, RCI announced that Sovereign of the Seas would receive an internal transfer to the fleet of their subsidiary, Spanish-based Pullmantur Cruises in November 2008. Sovereign of the Seas' last scheduled sailing for Royal Caribbean International was on 31 October 2008 and in November 2008, her sister Monarch of the Seas assumed her sailings out of Port Canaveral. Sovereign of the Seas received a refit and a new name 'Sovereign'.

 

[/url]

 

Beginning in March 2009, she has been operating Mediterranean cruises for Pullmantur out of Barcelona, Spain.

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was on the MS Gripsholm, a Swedish ship. I was 10. It was 1968 and I was with my Mom, Dad and Sister. It was a magical experience mixed with sadness due to my Grandmother dying the moment we set sail. And yet it was such an amazing time that I was able to rise above the sadness. I have been hooked on cruising every since.

 

 

ms Gripsholm (1957-2001) Built in 1957 as ms Gripsholm by Ansaldo Societa Per Azioni, Genoa, Italy for Ab Svenska Amerika Linjen aka Swedish America Line (SAL), as the largest ship in SAL’s history. She was built at the same shipyard, btw, that had built the famous Italian liners Andrea Doria and Cristoforo Colombo. Gripsholm was designed as an almost pure cruise ship sporting a heat resisting white hull instead of the conventional liner-black.

Her maiden voyage took place on 14 May 1957 when she sailed on the, by then, very established route between Goteborg, Sweden and New York City. During her career with the Swedish America Line, and besides her North Atlantic crossings, several luxury cruises were made such as around the world, to the Pacific, around South America, to the Mediterranean, to the North Cape, into the Baltic Sea and into the Caribbean.

In 1975, the Svenska Amerika Linien decided to shut down their passenger liner business. Thus, Gripsholm was taken out-of-service and laid up in August 1975.

 

 

Later that same year however, she was purchased by Greek-based Karageorgis Lines who renamed her Navarino and used her on Mediterranean cruises. During her conversion for the new company, she was given a new lido deck, a new forward observation deck and many additional cabins. Her total passenger capacity was set at 650 persons. On 22 May 1976, Navarino went out on her first cruise for the Karageorgis Lines, which would take her around the Mediterranean from her port of departure, Venice, Italy.

 

[url=http://boards.cruisecritic.com/"http://media.shipspotting.com/uploads/photos/rw/362080/Ship+Photo+NAVARINO.jpg&quot][/url]

[Copper10-8]

Navarino continued cruising for Karageoris Lines until 1981 when she was grounded off Patmos, Greece. She sustained damage from this incident however Finnish-based Rederi Ab Sally came calling with plans to repair her and assign her to their subsidiary, Commodore Cruise Line. However, on 26 November 1981, while in a floating dry-dock at the Hellenic Shipyard in Skaramanga, Greece during those repairs, a fire broke out and destroyed much of the passenger accommodation. In addition to this, the dry-dock collapsed and caused further damage to Navarino which partially sank.

 

She was initially declared a 'total constructive loss' but later repaired, after a difficult salvage operation in 1982 by Neptun Transport & Marine Services in co-operation with the Swedish Roda ABand. After the refit and repairs, Sally Shipping withdrew their offer to purchase her. Instead in May 1983, she was bought by the Rome-based company Multiship Italia who moved her from Piraeus to La Spezia, Italy. The Italians renamed her Samantha but she would never for them because, as faith would have it, she was resold in July 1984 to Universal Glow (Antonios 'Tony' Lelakis) for the newly formed Regency Cruises.

 

Renamed Regent Sea, she entered service as the very first ship for her new company in November 1985, offering weekly cruises out of Montego Bay, Jamaica. For the next ten years, Regent Sea would cruise the oceans including to the Caribbean, the Panama Canal and Alaska. In 1995 however, Regency Cruises went bankrupt and she was laid up at Freeport, the Bahamas.

 

[/url]

In 1997 she was auctioned off to the United States American Cruise Line. They decided to shorten her name to just 'Sea' and intended to convert her into the casino ship 'America'. They started off by moving her from Freeport to Tampa, Fl where her Sun and Veranda Decks were pretty much gutted. However, when those same new owners suddenly ran out of money, the conversion was abruptly halted. This resulted in 'Sea' remaining tied up at her cruise ship berth in Tampa harbor, awaiting an uncertain future

 

In the spring of 2001, the Sea was sold to Indian shipbreakers, and she left Tampa under tow by the ocean tug 'Simon' a short time later. The former Gripsholm's last voyage would be one to remember! Off the coast of Dakar, Senegal (West Africa) where her party stopped for bunkering, she was boarded by pirates who pillaged some of the remaining items on board. Considered a 'minor incident', the voyage to India continued shortly afterwards.

While this was going on, the ship being a significant part of Swedish maritime history, last minute efforts were being made in Stockholm to safe her by purchasing her and restore her as a floating hotel in the city's harbour. However, the city council delayed the decision and some of Stockholm's harbor residents protested since they didn't want their sea view spoiled by a permanently anchored liner. Before anything could come to pass, fate would seal the Sea's destiny once and for all.

On 6 July 2001, while still under tow enroute to India, the ship encountered heavy seas off the east coast of South Africa. Requesting refuge in the sheltered waters of Algoa Bay, she was denied permission by the South African authorities who feared the presence of sixty tons of oil within the ship leaking onto their pristine beaches. Instead, she was left to battle the storm under tow. Conditions worsened, and the ship eventually took on a 30-degree list to starboard and started taking on water. Finally, at 5:00 AM on 12 July 2001, the old Gripsholm slipped beneath the waves 83 miles south-southwest of Cape Recife, South Africa at a depth of approximately 4,200 meters. In a sort of poetic conclusion, she had avoided an indignified meeting with the blow torches.

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Our first cruise was on the RCL Song of Norway in October 1984. Our first impression was the ship was small and the decor was dated. We sailed to Cozumel, Jamaica and Grand Caymen. As I recall, we were scheduled to stop in Cancun but skipped that to avoid an oncoming hurricane. We had a very rough day at sea as a final day. My husband went only because he knew had badly I wanted to go and he thought the price we paid months in advance was ridiculous. He really went into shock when he learn the tips that were expected at the end. (I think we paid $999/person for the smallest ocean view cabin on the ship.) In those days, air was included from Dallas to Miami. The cabin had no tv, no radio, no coffee pot, etc.

 

At the end of the trip, we agreed it was by far the best vacation ever and was a great bargain. There was no where we could have gone with the level of service, the excellent food and wonderful entertainment for that price. My husband insisted that we tip above the recommended amount for the outstanding service. We agreed we could go on the very same cruise the following year and never leave the ship. We were more relaxed and happy than we could have ever anticipated on Day 1 and hooked on cruising!

 

 

Song of Norway (1970-present) Built by in 1970 as ms Song of Norway by Oy Wärtsilä Ab/Wartsila Shipyard in Helsingfors (Helsinki), Finland for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. She was the first new ship built for RCCL and would have two sisters - Nordic Prince and Sun Viking. Song of Norway was christened by her godmother, Magnhild Borten, wife of Norwegian Prime Minister Per Borten and on 7 November 1970, began sailing seven and fourteen-day cruises out of Miami, FL.

 

 

In 1978, Song of Norway was sent back to Helsinki where she was lengthened by 85 feet, to increase her total passenger capacity to 1,082 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.

[modelman]

Sea (Gripsholm) on the way to the breakers

 

 

And sadly sinking

[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 Pacific 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.

 

Beginning on 7 March 2010, she has been chartered by Spanish tour operator Quail Cruises who is currently operating her as Ocean Pearl on cruises in the Med.

[Copper10-8]

Thanks for those pics of Gripsholm's ultimate fate, Modelman!:)

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was on the Carnival Holiday. She was brand new and we decided to try cruising. We booked an inside cabin due to budget constraints and were near the bow(that was the last inside for me). You could hear the creaking with each pass over a wave. We were seated at a table for 4 and couldn't stand our table mates, but didn't have the foggiest notion that we could ask to change. With all that being said, we were hooked and the great addiction began. I loved it so much that I became a travel agent in the mid 90's and retired a few years ago.

 

ms Holiday (1984-present) Built in 1984 as ms Holiday by av Aalborg Vaerft A/S, Aalborg, Denmark for Carnival Cruise Line. She was the first ship of Carnival's Holiday class, also called "Super Liners" by Carnival and known as the "Fun Ships". Her near sisters are the slightly larger Jubilee (1986) and Celebration (1987).

 

When she emerged from the yard, Holiday was 46,052 gross registered tons, 728 feet long, 105.6 feet wide with a 25.5 foot draft. She was Liberian registered with Italian Officers and an International crew and she is diesel propelled.

She was delivered to her new owners on 3 June 1985 and on 22 June departed Aalborg on her transatlantic crossing to Miami, FL. After her naming ceremony, she departed Miami for her inaugural cruise to the Caribbean on 13 July 1985.

The Holiday class vessels were the first class of newbuilds for Carnival Cruise Lines (Tropicale was a single-class ship). Holiday, the lead ship, started the tradition of an enclosed, double width promenade, which would become "the boulevard" for each evening's activities. Every Carnival ship has its own particular bit of whimsy. On Holiday, it was a full size 1934 Danish passenger bus by the name of Bette Astrup, part of the Bus Stop Bar on Broadway, parked outside of the ship’s casino.

 

 

For 24 years, ms Holiday operated a wide variety of itineraries for the line, playing a critical role in Carnival's rise to world's largest cruise operator. She also played an important role in pioneering the short cruise market, introducing three- and four-day service from Southern California (San Pedro) in 1995 and, towards the end of her Carnival career, four and five-day voyages from Mobile, Ala. On the four-day voyages, Holiday departed the Alabama port city on Thursdays with a port of call at Cozumel, Mexico. On her five-day trips, Holiday departed on Mondays and Saturdays with stops at Cozumel, Calica/Playa del Carmen or Progreso, all in Mexico.

 

 

Effective 8 September 2005, Carnival took the Holiday out of service and chartered her and two other ships (Sensation and Ecstasy) to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) on behalf of the Federal Emergency Management Authority (FEMA), to be used for six months as temporary housing to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Holiday initially remained at Mobile and took in up to 1,400 refugees, before moving to Pascagoula, MS.

 

Following the completion of her FEMA contract, Holiday entered dry dock in Freeport, the Bahamas for three weeks of refurbishment and renovations where, among other improvements, she received new carpeting and plumbing as well as repairs to her propellers. On 27 March 2006, she resumed her program of year-round four and five-day Caribbean cruises out of Mobile.

In 2009, Carnival announced that Holiday would be internally transferred to Spanish Line Iberocruceros, a joint venture between it and Spanish tour operator Orizonia Corporación.On 3 November 2009, the 1,452-passenger Holiday departed Mobile on her final voyage for Carnival Cruise Lines, a five-day western Caribbean cruise. Upon her return, the ship sailed to Genoa, Italy where she is undergoing a refurbishment at the San Giorgio del Portoshipyard prior to her transfer to Iberocruceros or IberoCruises. In addition to completely restyling her cabins and public areas, four new suites with balconies and a new wellness center will be built. The ship's hull is being treated with a silicone-based paint that also increases the vessel’s hydrodynamic performance while reducing the environmental impact thanks to reduced fuel consumption.

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Iberocruceros was founded in 2007 as a joint subsidiary of Carnival Corporation and Orizonia Corporación and is aimed at the Spanish-speaking market. Orizonia Corporación provided two ships from its existing Iberojet fleet, the Grand Mistral and the Grand Voyager. Carnival Cruise Lines provided Iberocruceros with the Grand Celebration and now the Grand Holiday.

 

Grand Holiday’s first cruise departed from Barcelona, Spain on 18 May 2010, calling at Villafranche-sur-Mer, France, Livorno (Leghorn), Civitavecchia and Porto Torres (Sardinia), Italy.

 

 

The ship is currently operating seven-day cruises in the Western Mediterranean during the summer season, departing from Barcelona on Sundays, calling at Livorno/Leghorn, Civitavecchia and Naples, Italy, Villafranche-sur-Mer, France and La Goulette, Tunesia.

 

[Copper10-8]

Now I remember, my first cruise was Empress of Britain in 1963. About all I remember is that I was in tourist class with a group of other young people. I remember that we partied, which others did not appreciate. Oh, the young. Originally, I was thinking it left from NYC, but now I do remember, it sailed from Montreal.

 

ss Empress of Britain (1956-2008) Built in 1956 as ss Empress of Britain by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering, Govan (Glasgow), Scotland for the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company. She was launched on 22 June 1955 by HM Queen Elizabeth II, nearly fifty years after the first CP Empress of Britain was launched from Govan in November 1905. Eleven months later, she set off on a maiden voyage from Liverpool to Montreal, Quebec departing on 20 April 1956.

 

 

The 25,516-ton vessel had a length of 640 feet, and her beam was 85.2 feet. The ship had one funnel, one mast, twin screws and an average speed of 20 knots. The ocean liner provided accommodation for 160 first class passengers and for 984 tourist class passengers. She would sail for Canadian Pacific Line until 1964 when she was sold to the Greek Line and renamed Queen Anna Maria.

 

 

Her new owners had her rebuilt at the Marriotti shipyard in Genoa, Italy to 21,716 gross tons with accommodations for 168 first class passengers and for 1,145 tourist class passengers. She sailed on the Piraeus, Greece to Naples, Italy to New York route. Towards the latter part of her career with the Greek Line, she provided service on the Haifa, Israel to New York route. In 1975, after her owners ran into financial problems and ultimately collapsed, she was laid up at Perama (Piraeus), Greece.

 

 

She was sold to Carnival Cruise Line in 1976. Her former stable mate with Canadian Pacific, the third Empress, the Empress of Canada, was already at Carnival as their Mardi Gras. Queen Ana Maria entered drydock in Newport News, VA and emerged as Carnivale in February 1976. Carnival placed her on weekly cruises from Miami, FL to the Caribbean, alongside Mardi Gras. By the late eighties, she had been placed on three and four-night "party cruise" runs to the Bahamas from Port Canaveral, FL.

 

 

As Carnival's market expanded and the company was able to afford buying new ships, the ship was transferred in to a Carnival Latin market subsidiary cruise line by the name of Fiesta Marine Cruises in 1993. With Fiesta Marine, and as the Fiesta Marina (her new name), she became something of a test ship in a cruise-line expansion venture, sailing out of San Juan,Puerto Rico and Caracas, Venezuela. After only three months, this ultimately proved to be unsuccessful.

 

In 1994, Fiesta Marine sold her to Greece-based Epirotiki Line. She sailed for Perama, Greece and emerged in the spring of 1995 as the Olympic for Epirotiki's Mediterranean cruise program. She was loved by her passengers and for a while, was once again "queen" of a Greek fleet. In 1996, Epirotiki Lines merged with longtime competitor, Sun Lines, to form Royal Olympic Cruises.

 

 

In 1997, the former Olympic was sold to Greece-based Topaz International and, after a rebuilt at Eleusis, Greece, the ship was re-named Topaz on a bare boat charter to British tour operator Thomson Holidays in the spring of 1998.

 

[Copper10-8]

 

In 2003, the vessel was placed on a long-term charter through 2006 with the Tokyo, Japan-based Peace Boat International orginazation, still as Topaz for world-wide cruising.

Peace Boat is an international non-governmental organization based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, seeking to establish a global network among people, grassroots movements and NGOs working on issues such as peace, human rights development and environmental protection.

 

 

In the past 15 years it has chartered passenger ships to make 25 voyages and taken over 10,000 people to more than 80 ports.Through personal exchange and co-operation with people in other countries, particularly in areas of conflict and former conflict, it works to increase mutual understanding and bridge the gap between peoples, countries and cultures. By inviting guests from all over the world to join the voyage and participate in conferences on board it offers a global perspective on events and issues.

 

 

In April 2008, she was retired from the Peace Boat organization; and she was laid up at Singapore Roads. On June 15, while she was anchored there, she was struck by the chemical tanker Champion Brali. The collision severed off part of her bow.

 

She was subsequently sold for scrap to Indian shipbreakers and in the late summer of 2008, she arrived at Alang, India where she was beached awaiting to be scrapped. She was placed not too far away from where the remains of the former liner ss France (later NCL's ss Norway) are located. The ship's demolition was started a few months after being beached. As of November 2009, most of the former Empress of Britain had been scrapped.

[Copper10-8]

Some add'l pics of Empress of Britain

 

 

As Empress of Britain

 

 

As Queen Anna Maria at Gaspe Bay, Quebec in 1972

 

 

As Carnivale off Miami in 1989

 

 

As Topaz in Barcelona in 1999

[/url]

As Topaz in Yokohama, Japan in December 2005

 

 

As Topaz in New York in 2007

[Copper10-8]

If it could be called a cruise, it was the "Florida" in 1948, took it several times from La Habana to Miami and back, it was overnight leaving about 6 pm and arriving around 7 am the next day.

It was fun.

 

ss Florida (1926-1968) Built as ss Florida in 1926 by Ateliers & Chantiers de la Loire, St. Nazaire, France for France-based Société Générale des Transports Maritimes à Vapeur (SGTM). At 9,536 gross registered tons, 490.4 feet in length, a 60.5 feet beam, she was built with tow funnels, two masts and twin propellers which gave her an operating speed of 17 knots. SGTM used her on their Marseilles to River Plate (Argentina & Uruguay), South America service.

SGTM was formed in 1865 primarily to carry iron ore from Bône, (then) French Algeria to Marseilles and Sete and in 1865 also opened servives between Marseilles, Algiers and Oran. Passengers services to South America commenced in 1867. A monthly service to the West Indies commenced in 1915 and was shortly afterwards extended to the Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans, LA. The company suffered considerable losses during World War I but rebuilt their fleet. They finally ceased passengers operations in 1964, mainly due to the rising popularity of air travel, but continued with cargo trade.

During World War II, while off the French Algerian port of Bougie, Florida was attacked by German bombers, struck by bombs and sunk. In May 1944, she was salvaged, re-floated and repaired, losing one of her two funnels in the process. The immediate years after the war, found her operating on a Miami, FL to Havana, Cuba route. In 1951, she was transferred to the operation of Le Havre, France-based Compagnie des Chargeurs Reunis or United Shippers Company, a major French shipping company originally formed in 1872 to operate a service between Le Havre, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the River Plate (Buenos Aires & Montevideo).

In 1955, Florida was sold for just over U.S. one million dollars, along with another French SGTM liner, Campana, to the Italy-based Grimaldi-Sicula Oceanica (Siosa Lines) S.p.A. Upon arrival at Genoa, Italy, she was given the new name of Ascania (Campana would become the Irpinia) and was initially used as a troopship for the French Government.

The Grimaldi brothers were nephews of Achille Lauro, the famous shipbuilder from Naples. They build up a fleet of cargo ships before World War II. Like Achille Lauro, they reached the conclusion that there would be a post-war market for cheap immigrant and refugee ships so acquired a number of elderly vessels, which received very little upgrading (Ruahine/Auriga, City of Hong Kong/Centauro and Prince Robert/Lucania). Sicula Oceanica (Siosa) was established by the brothers in Sicily for tax reasons and Ascania/Florida and Irpinia/Campana became the first ‘comfortable’ Grimaldi ships.

In 1957, Ascania was refitted in Genoa to carry 183 First Class and 932 Tourist Class passengers from Southampton, England, Vigo, Spain and Lisbon, Portugal to the Caribbean as well as to Venezuela. She mainly carried Spanish and Portuguese immigrants outbound and West Indians on the return voyage. Between 1957 and 1960, she also made several North-Atlantic crossings to Quebec City, Que, from Southampton and via Le Havre, France. In 1959, she made a roundtrip voyage from Naples, Italy to Halifax, NS. Canada and in 1960, she made the first of two Southampton to New York sailings.

In 1966 her liner career came to an end when she was used as a budget cruise ship in the Mediterranean however, in 1966, she was laid up. In 1968, she was sold to Italian scrappers and broken up at La Spezia, Italy

Edited July 28, 2010 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

tropical....I think 1988...... Carnivals 1st ship they built....up to about 60 cruise now over 400 dys at sea

 

ms Tropicale (1981-present) Built in 1981 as Tropicale by Aalborg Værft A/S, Aalborg, Denmark for Carnival Cruise Line. She was delivered on 4 December 1981 as the first of Carnival’s “new builds”, as all Carnival ships before her were older ships, either purchased or chartered from other companies. Carnival commissioned naval (interior) architect Joe Farcus to handle the design and layout of the ship's passenger accomodation and the first true "Fun Ship" was born.

 

Tropicale became the prototype of all future Carnival ships and was also the first Carnival ship to feature their trademarks, a distinctive tall and winged “whale-tail” funnel painted red, white and blue, as well as a water slide into the midships pool.

 

 

After a transatlantic crossing, Tropical was christened in Miami, Fl by Madeleine Arison, her godmother and wife of Carnival Corporation president and CEO Micky Arison. In January 1982, she departed Miami on her maiden voyage into the Caribbean. 17 September 1982 found her on the west coast in Los Angeles (San Pedro) from where she sailed a maiden cruise under charter to Westours, an Alaska-based tour operator. In 1983 she operated her first Alaska season on seven-day cruises from Vancouver, BC.

 

As the company expanded and acquired larger ships, Carnival decided that Tropicale would be their 'test ship' for new or revised cruise itineraries. As a result, in 1990 she was the first Carnival ship to be based in San Juan, Puerto Rico and in 1994, the first Carnival ship to sail from New Orleans, La.

 

 

In September 1996, Carnival signed an agreement with the South Korea-based Hyundai Chaebol conglomerate in order to start to offer cruises in Asia. In February 1997, this initiative was christened Carnival Cruises Asia, and it was announced that Tropicale would be assigned to that joint venture. However, in August 1997, that enterprise was dissolved due to disagreements between the two parents over developments in the Asian market. Instead, a new market was opened from Tampa, Fl from where Tropicale began offering four-day cruises to Key West, Fl and Cozumel, Mexico and five-day cruises to Grand Cayman and Cozumel in April 1998.

 

On 27 September 2000, after the demise of Cape Canaveral Cruises, Carnival announced that Tropicale would begin operating two and three-day cruises from Cape Canaveral, Fl as well as a series of Panama Canal cruises from Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale) at the conclusion of her 2001 Tampa summer season. On 7 December 2000 however, Carnival Corporation announced the cancelation of the entire Cape Canaveral-based cruise program and the internal transfer of Tropicale to Italy-based Costa Crocieri/Costa Cruises in 2001 instead.

 

After her last cruise for Carnival on 10 February 2001, Tropicale crossed the Atlantic and entered the Mediterranean on her way to the Cantieri Temistocle Mariotti S.p.A. shipyard at Genoa, Italy for an extensive 30 million Euro refit (interior/exterior and technical) by Costa's own techical department. Over the course of the first half of 2001, Tropicale was customized there for a European client base including new fittings, furniture, carpets and toilets to all of her cabins. Her public rooms were renovated and a new alternative restaurant, the Bahia Club, and an internet/coffee lounge were added. On the technical side, her propulsion system (main motors, shaft lines, propellers, etc.) were overhauled and an additional aft thruster and new cylindrical stack installed.

 

 

On 23 June 2001, Costa Tropicale (her new name) was once again christened by Madeleine Arison. The complexity of the refit delayed her first commercial cruise by two weeks until 14 July 2001. Costa Tropicale sailed every Saturday from Venice to the Aegean Sea and the Greek isles, calling at Bari, Italy, Dubrovnik, Croatia, Kusadasi, Turkey and Katakolon, Santorini and Mykonos, Greece. In the winter of 2002, Costa Tropicale sailed from Brazil on cruises designed for the South American market and in the summer of 2003 she operated on year round 7-day Costa Riviera cruises from Savona, Italy

 

She served with the company until 2005, when replacement by larger, more modern cruise ships prompted yet another internal transfer to P&O Cruises Australia.

 

 

Before departing for down under, she was given another refit at Fincantieri's yard in Palermo, Sicily to the tune of $20 million in order to make her suitable for the Australian cruise market. Her new name would be Pacific Star and entered service as Queensland latest cruise liner in December 2005. Her home port was Brisbane and her itinerary included cruises along the tropical Queensland coast to various islands in the South Pacific, New Caledonia and to New Zealand.

 

[Copper10-8]

 

In March 2008, the ship was acquired by Spain-based tour operator (and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd subsidiary) Pullmantur Cruises and after a refit in Singapore, began cruising for them in May 2008 under her new name Ocean Dream.

 

 

Her home port for Pullmantur is Barcelona, Spain from where she offers 7-day itineraries with port calls at La Goulette/Tunis, Tunesia, Valetta, Malta, Messina/Sicily, Civitavecchia, Italy and Villefranche-sur-Mer, France.

 

 

 

[iloverags2]

Thank you, John, for the info on Sovereign of the Seas! :)

[Copper10-8]

thank you, john, for the info on sovereign of the seas! :)

 

yw;)