Farewell to the Sun Viking

[tahqa]

Let's all say good bye to the Sun Viking... last of the first three ships

 

https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/royal-caribbean-s-last-original-ship-sold-for-scrap-after-50-years

Edited January 27, 2022 by tahqa
Added link

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, tahqa said:

Let's all say good bye to the Sun Viking... last of the first three ships

 

Related thread.

 

 

[DarthGrady]

She was before my time, but I wish I could've sailed on her. I'm really going to miss the old ships. I guess I'm one of the few folks who don't care much for the giant ships. It's going to be a sad day for me when RCI gets rid of the last Vision and Radiance class ships, same with Carnival and the remaining Fantasy class sisters. I wish the big cruise lines would get back into building sub-100K gross ton ships again. 

[ONECRUISER]

5 minutes ago, DarthGrady said:

She was before my time, but I wish I could've sailed on her. I'm really going to miss the old ships. I guess I'm one of the few folks who don't care much for the giant ships. It's going to be a sad day for me when RCI gets rid of the last Vision and Radiance class ships, same with Carnival and the remaining Fantasy class sisters. I wish the big cruise lines would get back into building sub-100K gross ton ships again. 

Agree, also going miss Radiance and Vision Class when at some point they leave Service

[jcl410]

The Sun Viking was my first RCI cruise, back in the mid 90's. It was also my favorite cruise.. Two week roundtrip from Singapore. A nice, small ship; very easy to get around.

 

Aloha,

 

John 

[pcur]

I can't look at the picture: it's too sad.  She was our second cruise in 1974, and it was glorious.  A 2 week Caribbean cruise with the retired pastry chef from the French Embassy in D.C.  Oh, what pastries we had on that cruise!!  

[Sunshine3601]

1 hour ago, DarthGrady said:

She was before my time, but I wish I could've sailed on her. I'm really going to miss the old ships. I guess I'm one of the few folks who don't care much for the giant ships. It's going to be a sad day for me when RCI gets rid of the last Vision and Radiance class ships, same with Carnival and the remaining Fantasy class sisters. I wish the big cruise lines would get back into building sub-100K gross ton ships again. 

I definitely agree.   Our favorite ships are Serenade and Jewel 

[pcur]

1 hour ago, DarthGrady said:

She was before my time, but I wish I could've sailed on her. I'm really going to miss the old ships. I guess I'm one of the few folks who don't care much for the giant ships. It's going to be a sad day for me when RCI gets rid of the last Vision and Radiance class ships, same with Carnival and the remaining Fantasy class sisters. I wish the big cruise lines would get back into building sub-100K gross ton ships again. 

I love all the ships!  The Oasis and the Allure only bother me with the poorly designed  traffic jam area getting into the Windjammer.

 

I agree, however, the Vision, Serenade, and the Jewel are my favorites.  Our 50th anniversary "odyssey" in 2019 was on the Jewel and the Adventure, and we loved both ships.

 

I guess I'm "an equal opportunity ship" passenger................😁

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, DarthGrady said:

She was before my time, but I wish I could've sailed on her. I'm really going to miss the old ships. I guess I'm one of the few folks who don't care much for the giant ships. It's going to be a sad day for me when RCI gets rid of the last Vision and Radiance class ships, same with Carnival and the remaining Fantasy class sisters. I wish the big cruise lines would get back into building sub-100K gross ton ships again. 

 

Did you ever sail any of Carnivals original 3🤔

[Another_Critic]

I sailed on her stretched sister Nordic Prince in 1990 and 1992.  Manhattan to Bermuda.

[miraflores]

I grew up in Ocho Rios, Jamaica and, when I was about 8-9, I used to sneak on the cruise ships that would come into port. I snuck onto the Sun Viking a bunch of times (and the other RCL ships, the first Carnival, Royal Viking and Norwegian ships too). I'd swim in the pools, eat food, run around and then get off the ships a couple of hours before they left.  Last time I saw the Sun Viking, it was a casino ship in Hong Kong.

Edited January 27, 2022 by miraflores

[Snackdaddy]

1 hour ago, jcl410 said:

The Sun Viking was my first RCI cruise, back in the mid 90's. It was also my favorite cruise.. Two week roundtrip from Singapore. A nice, small ship; very easy to get around.

 

Aloha,

 

John 

Greetings,

 

The Sun Viking was our first cruise in 1982. We spent our honeymoon on her.  The extravagant midnight buffets were a thing of beauty and taste.  Climbing the stairs to enter the Viking Crown lounge was an experience to say the least. All good things must come to an end.

[Corby114]

Sailed on the Sun Viking on a repositioning cruise in April 1995 with my wife. We left from Long Beach, California and visited San Francisco, Grays Harbor Washington, Seattle and Victoria, British Columbia. We disembarked in Vancouver,  British Columbia. The ship was very small and only held around seven hundred passengers. To visit the Viking Crown Lounge which was located on the aft of the ship you had to walk outside up a set of stairs that were leas than two feet wide. The lounge when full held less than two dozen people. The Oasis class ships are at least twelve times bigger than the Sun Viking. The Sun Viking will live in my mind forever.

[Ocean Boy]

5 hours ago, pcur said:

I love all the ships!  The Oasis and the Allure only bother me with the poorly designed  traffic jam area getting into the Windjammer.

 

 

The issues with their Windjammers don't end once you get in.

[mek]

4 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

I sailed on her stretched sister Nordic Prince in 1990 and 1992.  Manhattan to Bermuda.

We were on Nordic Price in the early 90's to Bermuda.  It was a lovely ship.

[Fury1995]

Sailed Sun Viking July 1980. 2 weeks Southern Caribbean out of Miami. Hard to beat that cruise. I still have the original passenger manifest.

[topnole]

6 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Did you ever sail any of Carnivals original 3🤔

I did all 3 Of the originals. Also sailed on the Norway.  But I was relatively young.  Sailed many of the fantasy class many times and all of the predecessors to the that which I think were Jubilee class.  Boy did Royal seem tame when I cruised Sovereign of the seas.  😂.  Went back to carnival after that for a while.  Then did Mariner a few years later and thought wow this ship is massive and cool.  

[John&LaLa]

Just now, topnole said:

I did all 3 Of the originals. Also sailed on the Norway.  But I was relatively young.  Sailed many of the fantasy class many times and all of the predecessors to the that which I think were Jubilee class.  Boy did Royal seem tame when I cruised Sovereign of the seas.  😂.  Went back to carnival after that for a while.  Then did Mariner a few years later and thought wow this ship is massive and cool.  

 

Similar to us, but I wad a wee bit older. 

 

We hated Empress, but were blown away by Mariner. 

 

I'm sad I never sailed Norway

[Jimbo]

5 hours ago, miraflores said:

I grew up in Ocho Rios, Jamaica and, when I was about 8-9, I used to sneak on the cruise ships that would come into port. I snuck onto the Sun Viking a bunch of times (and the other RCL ships, the first Carnival, Royal Viking and Norwegian ships too). I'd swim in the pools, eat food, run around and then get off the ships a couple of hours before they left.  Last time I saw the Sun Viking, it was a casino ship in Hong Kong.

Can you give some clues how to sneak onto a cruise ship?

[LGW59]

10 hours ago, tahqa said:

Let's all say good bye to the Sun Viking... last of the first three ships

 

https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/royal-caribbean-s-last-original-ship-sold-for-scrap-after-50-years

bye

[Gardener5b]

Our first Royal Caribbean cruise was on Song of Norway.   I remember the treacherous climb to the Viking Crown Lounge, although I remember very little else about that cruise.   Obviously it helped get us hooked on cruising, though.

 

We also sailed on one of the early Carnival ships-- the Tropicale.  It was our only Carnival cruise.

 

 Our favorite older ship was the SS Norway--absolutely loved that ship and some of its quirks.   I remember having one cabin that had a huge bathroom (probably at least the size of our cabin) with a claw foot tub!

 

We have a fondness for the smaller ships.   I was so disappointed my Empress cruises were cancelled before I got to sail on her.   We hope they keep some of the lovely ladies in the fleet for some time to come.

Edited January 28, 2022 by Gardener5b

[Ocean Boy]

I would also have liked the opportunity to sail Norway in order to have experienced a true ocean liner.

[pcur]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

The issues with their Windjammers don't end once you get in.

I agree.  The "flow" is terrible.  As my husband used to say, "they had a 'C' student design this one".

[topnole]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Similar to us, but I wad a wee bit older. 

 

We hated Empress, but were blown away by Mariner. 

 

I'm sad I never sailed Norway

People talk about getting lost on the big ships like oasis class.  I have idea how that could happen.  But on Norway it really was possible.  Boy did she dwarf the other ships too.  I still have fond memories of that ship.  
 

I can’t say the same about the carnival ships.  At that point I was a young adult and there is much I don’t remember.  But I’ve heard we always had a blast.  😂😂.  I will say you could get lost a bit on the old 3 original carnival ships too.  Very disjointed like most ships back then.   But Norway was on a different level of big so easier to get lost a bit.  

 

After Mariner it was Freedom class and then Oasis the first year it was out.  After that it was all Royal.  Oasis class made me stop looking elsewhere.  

[miraflores]

On 1/27/2022 at 6:56 PM, Jimbo said:

Can you give some clues how to sneak onto a cruise ship?

Be a little white kid growing up in Jamaica in the 1980's, haha...and then steal stuff from the ships for the Customs/Immigration Officers when they ask you to.