Ugliest Ship You've Ever Sailed On

[montrealerinnyc]

Have a gander at the Epirotiki Lines' Pegasus II:

 

http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/EpirotikiPCs2.html#anchor895713

 

Hideous inside and out. My mother, innocent soul, thought she had found a great deal for our family when she booked us for a holiday cruise in South America on this ship in 1984/5. 10 days from Buenos Aires to Salvador. GHASTLY!! My mother still gets defensive when we make jokes about it. :D

[shipshape sam]

Have a gander at the Epirotiki Lines' Pegasus II:

 

http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/EpirotikiPCs2.html#anchor895713

 

Hideous inside and out. My mother, innocent soul, thought she had found a great deal for our family when she booked us for a holiday cruise in South America on this ship in 1984/5. 10 days from Buenos Aires to Salvador. GHASTLY!! My mother still gets defensive when we make jokes about it. :D

 

They still sail ships like that to Antarctica at least from the outside! I can identify with your Mom. I get ribbed about some things by my kids.

[lweber05]

We went throught he canal on the tri-hull Raddisson Diamond. It was ugly but very stable.

[hajekfam]

You forgot about the Meridian, the very first X ship.

That was the one Celebrity ship we didn't sail on - in fact we never did see her in person - only pictures and I really can't remember if it was painted like the Zenith and Horizon or not. Our first time sailing was on the Zenith in its inaugural year.

I do know that when they repainted the M-class to the "Celebrity colors", it did feel like we were boarding a Celebrity ship again.

[Beach Nut]

It was our second cruise, February 2000, and I hadn't yet found Cruise Critic - or Celebrity, for that matter.

 

We just called up a TA out of the Sunday newspaper and were sold this "great deal" by a young guy who undoubtedly knew less about cruising than we did.

 

My heart sank when I boarded the ship in Cancun. Our cabin was more like the kind one might find on a car ferry. The beds were more like bunks, and at a right angle to each other. The common areas smelled of sewage. The carpets were grimy and torn. It was impossible to get from one end of the ship to another without going up and down stairs between levels, no matter where you were trying to go on board.

 

The first evening, in the dining room, we had our absolutely worst assigned dining experience EVER! I don't remember the food, but the people who were assigned to our table didn't utter even one syllable during the entire meal, or crack a smile. All I can remember is the 20 something woman in the small party glaring at me hostilely whenever I attempted to make conversation with them. The others just stared straight ahead as if we weren't there. However, they didn't speak a word to, or look at, one another either, so maybe I can't fault them for that. It was exactly like having dinner with zombies from a B grade movie.

 

Still, we tried to make the best of it, and after dinner went off to explore the ship. We found a sauna room and made a note that we would try it at some point in the cruise.

 

At about 3 AM that first night, my DH was awakened by a loud metal crunching sound (we were on a low deck) and went up to the desk to report it. He was told to go back to bed and that everything was being taken care of. The next morning we were all informed that the ship had been damaged on rocks as the Captain tried to take it out of port and it was leaking fuel into the pristine Caribbean waters. Several boats of Mexican police were surrounding the ship to prevent it from moving or landing, until it was decided how to proceed.

 

So, we spent that day, DH's 40th birthday, on lounge chairs in the sun by the pool deck (not bad), next to an empty pool that couldn't be filled because the sea water was too contaminated with the fuel (not good), while all passengers were offered as many free alcoholic drinks as they wanted (bad decision).

 

The upside was that the situation was so chaotic that we didn't have to eat dinner with the zombies again :)

 

The next morning we were awakened to an announcement by the Captain over the PA to "have your suitcases packed and outside your doors in half an hour", and the beds were listing at a rather steep angle (a new, overnight development).

 

We spent that entire day waiting to be tendered, breathing diesel fumes, then waiting to be bussed, to the Moon Palace resort, where we were put up for the final 5 days. It was a Valentine's Day to remember (or forget).:( The transfer procedure began around 9 AM, and we didn't reach our room until after 9PM.

 

The company, "Sun Cruises", if memory serves me, went out of business. The word was that the Captain had been drunk that first night and had refused to allow the Pilot to take the boat out of the harbor.

 

We were turned off to cruising for 4 years after that. Then I found Cruise Critic - and Celebrity's Galaxy, and the rest is history. :)

 

Susan