Golf18aday Posted April 22, 2006 #1 Share Posted April 22, 2006 Our very first cruise was on the RCCL Viking Serenade. Does anyone know what became of her ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Druke I Posted April 22, 2006 #2 Share Posted April 22, 2006 Page two of "What ever happened to" says that she is now Island Escape, of Island Cruises, out of the UK. Amazing what a little research will show! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesrtDrmr Posted April 23, 2006 #3 Share Posted April 23, 2006 Hi Golf, We were on the Viking Serenade early on, too. I found her in her new home, and went poking around. She looks pretty good for an old gal........... http://www.islandcruises.com/index.php?tpl_parent=35&tpl=86&pg=explore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golf18aday Posted April 28, 2006 Author #4 Share Posted April 28, 2006 She does look pretty good. You never forget your first cruise !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanjoseca Posted April 28, 2006 #5 Share Posted April 28, 2006 Thanks for starting this thread. We sailed about 12 voyages on her as both the Stardancer and Viking Serenade. The first one was May 1985 when she belonged to Sundance Cruises started by Stanley McDonald who originally started Princess c Cruises. We have a huge picture of her at Sawyer Glacier, Alaska hanging in our living room. One of her captains gave it to us. His name was Kjel Smitterberg from Sweden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abhb Posted May 5, 2006 #6 Share Posted May 5, 2006 I always wondered about her. We sailed on her June 1994. It was our kids 1st cruise and our 2nd. We are all going on the Navigator of the Sea this June. It will be our 5th and the now adult children's 2nd.:) Amy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJane Posted May 6, 2006 #7 Share Posted May 6, 2006 Our first cruise to Alaska was on Viking Serenade in 1990 just after RCI took it over and renamed it. I had sailed on RCI several times before and figured if Alaska was good enough for RCI it was good enough for me. I've now been back there eleven times. We also sailed with Captain Smitterberg, but on the Nordic Empress in 1991. We sailed on Viking Serenade twice more on the short cruises out of Los Angeles so we could see what changes had been made to her. (We lived in San Jose at that time. Now it's Sunnyvale.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviathan Posted June 14, 2006 #8 Share Posted June 14, 2006 Here is the complete history with photos: http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/RCI_VikingSerenadePCs.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smbier Posted August 14, 2008 #9 Share Posted August 14, 2008 My wife and I spent our honeymoon (and first cruise) on Viking Serenade. (10/09/95). We cant wait until 8/28/08 when we sail on Enchantment! Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomintulsa Posted July 15, 2011 #10 Share Posted July 15, 2011 My first real cruise was on the VS ( I cruised the Azure seas for work before). It was great! the one thing I remember was the men's room that had all the urinals along the wall but but the adjacent wall was full glass looking out to sea (or port). I know that you could not see in from outside but it was very interesting to say the least because it made you feel like you were out in the open. I loved the ship. I think RCCL's service and level of luxury was better then. Still great though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerboo Posted July 24, 2011 #11 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Wow - I have such a different experience on the Viking Serenade! Think it was August 1995, and a 4-night cruise from LA to Catalina and Enseneda. It was a joke!! Dirty bathrooms (think overflowing public toilets and no TP), tiny cabin, lousy food and service, and a horrible cruise (compared to the 10 I'd been on before). It really turned me off as far as the then RCCL!! We had water in our cabin - from the tiny bathroom, and our bed was never made during those 4 days. Everyone complained, but nothing was done. It took me until 2006 to try Royal Caribbean again. As far as I'm concerned, the Viking Serenade was a dump!~at least in 1995. Yuk!!:(:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbtagent Posted July 27, 2011 #12 Share Posted July 27, 2011 The Viking serenade used to be a ferry between oslo and Copenhagen, belonging to DFDS Seaways, a 16 hour ferry route. I was very surprised to see this ferry becoming a cruiseship in California, - it was not in a cruiseship shape when it left Scandianvia, but i guess it was refurbished, and the car-deck was re-build to other purposes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djshima Posted September 25, 2011 #13 Share Posted September 25, 2011 I remember taking the Stardancer though the Panama Canal with our car in the 80's. We had the option of a free flight back from Miami to LA or to transport our car on the ship for free. We loaded our car in LA and drove off in Miami and spent a week and half driving back to West Coast. My wife and I were in our late 20's and closed the Disco ever night with the crew since everyone was so much older. We still talk about the wonderful vacation and service we had on the Stardancer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B@ck2SeaAgain Posted July 25, 2016 #14 Share Posted July 25, 2016 The Viking serenade used to be a ferry between oslo and Copenhagen, belonging to DFDS Seaways, a 16 hour ferry route.I was very surprised to see this ferry becoming a cruiseship in California, - it was not in a cruiseship shape when it left Scandianvia, but i guess it was refurbished, and the car-deck was re-build to other purposes. She was a lovely lady when we were in her in 1999 - Just a short 3 night LA to Ensenda. We enjoyed her a lot more than Carnival's Ecstasy the year before, though met some really good folk on that Carnival ship. Smiles, Vicki On the Horizon: Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas Sept 3, 2016 Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas Nov 27, 2017 Happy Memories: Carnival Ecstasy (HL Clan Cruise II) Nov 1998 Royal Caribbean Viking Serenade (HL Clan Cruise III) Nov 1999 Disney Magic Oct 14, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare GeorgeCharlie Posted November 22, 2017 #15 Share Posted November 22, 2017 My wife and I sailed on the Viking Serenade on what was to be her final sailing as a RCCL cruise ship. We left LA on Feb 01/02 with stops in Cabo San Lucas, Acapulco, Panama Canal transit, Cartagena and ended in Aruba on Feb 14/02. Overall the cruise went okay, other then they were in the process of dismantling areas of the ship. The casino was gutted and some other public areas of the ship were also being stripped. During the day there was a lot of construction noise. While sailing the a/c was not working very good, which did add some discomfort. In the evenings and at night they seemed to slow down and then the a/c was better. All the passengers and most of the cruise staff disembarked in Aruba. We spent a week in Aruba and when we left the ship was still in the dock. Anytime we went by it, there seemed to be fair bit of dismantling going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesrtDrmr Posted November 22, 2017 #16 Share Posted November 22, 2017 So sad..... You can look up Cruise Ship Island Escape on You Tube. Island Escape is the name of the ship after RCI sold her. Last info I found was that she had a different name and was headed to be a refuge ship, or was going to the breakers, but kept having a new life suggested, but not finished. I saw she was still around in 2016. We loved this ship on our four day jaunt out of L.A. in 1995. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesrtDrmr Posted November 22, 2017 #17 Share Posted November 22, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now