Your first cruise ship

[Copper10-8]

An overnight ro/ro ferry with cabins from Chicoutimi QE to Quebec City in the summer of '64? (I wish I could remember the name 'Lady of the Saguanay' or something like that... I remember seeing pilot whales - very cool).

 

But the first slightly more 'real' cruise was Epirotiki Semiramis 1968 in the Aegean for 2 nights (I think) Pireaus - Hydra - Delos - Mikinos - Pireaus. I was 10 years old.

 

I always loved big ships but never had much exposure, then I was family reunioned in '01 on Ocean Princess. That hooked me.

 

ms Irish Coast (1952-1989) Built as Irish Coast in 1952 by Harland & Wolff Ltd, Belfast, Northern Ireland for Coast Lines Ltd. (Great Britain). Coast Lines had been formed in 1913 as a result of the merger of three Liverpool coaster companies. Irish Coast was delivered to her owners on 16 October 1952 and placed with one of Coast's subsidiaries, Burns & Laird Lines. The passenger ship/coaster was placed on the Belfast, Northern Ireland to Liverpool, England run. During her career with Burns & Laird, she often was used as a replacement for ships who were in overhaul, so could frequently be found on routes to/from Cork, Ireland - Fishguard, Wales - Dublin, Ireland and Glasgow, Scotland.

 

On 2 October 1966, Irish Coast was operated by yet another Coast Lines' subsidiary, the Belfast Steamship Company, again for service between Belfast and Liverpool

 

On 16 August 1968, she was purchased by Greece-based Epirotiki Steamship Navigation Company aka Epirotiki Line who renamed her Orpheus (2). She departed Birkenhead along the river Mersey opposite Liverpool on 22 August 1968, bound for Piraeus, Greece.

 

In 1969, she received three consecutive name changes in quick succession; from Semiramis II to Achilleus, before her owners settled on Apollo XI, no doubt inspired by the first manned mission to land on the Moon in July 1969.

 

Epirotiki operated her from Piraeus on cruises to the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, calling at Crete, Rhodes, Kos, Patmos, Delos and Mykonos.

 

 

Yet one more name change, although minor, in Epirotiki service was received in 1980 when Apollo XI was changed to the Greek Apollon 11.

 

 

In 1981, she was sold to Corporacion Naviera Intercontinental de Panama, SA. and renamed Regency. On 11 October 1989, she was at Batangas City, on the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, when typhoon 'Dan' struck the area. Regency suffered severe damage as a result and was subsequently sold for scrap. She was towed to Manilla, where she was ultimately broken up.

 

Edited June 24, 2009 by Copper10-8

[woodofpine]

I was referring to the 'original' Semiramis,

 

see,

 

http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/EpirotikiPCs.html#anchor324003

 

Your dedication to ship history is impressive and commendable nonetheless... (find me something on that old Quebec cabin-ferry and I'd REALLY be blown away!!) :)

[Copper10-8]

My first ship experience was at less than a year old on Queen Mary in 1965 :o

 

Things have changed a little bit since then ;)

 

RMS Queen Mary (1934-present) Built in 1936 as RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Queen Mary by John Brown & Company Ltd. Clydebank, Scotland for the Cunard-White Star Line for transatlantic service. She was designed to be the first of Cunard's planned two-ship weekly express service from Southampton to Cherbourg, France to New York City, in answer to the superliners from the European mainland of the late 1920s and early 1930s.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

.

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

 

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

 

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

 

[/url]

 

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

 

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

 

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

[Copper10-8]

The Queen Mary museum and hotel

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Leaving Southampton for the last time on her way to Long Beach, CA - October 1967

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

[Copper10-8]

1994 Ms. New Amsterdam, Eastern Caribbean. Beautiful ship, wonderful trip

 

 

 

m/s Nieuw Amsterdam III (1983-present). Built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard, St. Nazaire, France and delivered to Holland America Line on 1 July, 1983 as the first of two identical sisters which would be known as the "N"-class with HAL. Her younger sister, Noordam followed just under a year later from the same yard. They would be the last new-builds for the, at that time, Dutch-owned Holland-Amerika Lijn.

 

After some difficulties, including a main switchboard that burned out and a twice postponed dedication ceremony in Le Havre, France, she left on her maiden voyage from Le Havre to New York City on 10 July 1983. She would operate for them until 2000, cruising in the Caribbean in the winter and cruising to Alaska in the summer season.

 

On August 10, 1999, American Classic voyages, parent company of Delta Queen and American Hawaiian Cruises, announced that it had purchased Nieuw Amstedam from Holland America Line for $114.5 million dollars, to operate an inter-island Hawaii service alongside their ss Independence. After her final Alaska season in 2000, Nieuw Amsterdam sailed, without passengers, to Sydney, Australia where she served as a hotel ship for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Following those games, She sailed to Honolulu, where about 60 crew came aboard from the newly formed United States Lines (under American Classic Voyages).

 

On October 18, 2000 American Classic Voyages officially acquired the ship with the transfer occurring in an usual ceremony at sea, approximately fourteen miles off Portand, Ore. At the same moment her registry was changed to Honolulu, she reverted to the U.S. flag, and was renamed ms Patriot.

 

Patriot proceeded to Cascade General Shipyard in Portland, Ore arriving on 18 October, 2000 where she underwent a multi-million dollar drydocking and refurbishment. The existing casino was replaced with a Destination Learning Center, where passengers would be able to explore the heritage of the Hawaiian Islands; hear "talk story" from the onboard kumu (Hawaiian teacher); learn the Hawaiian language, hula, arts and crafts; and read about the five ports and four islands visited during the seven-night cruise. Other renovations included a new 464 square foot Presidential Suite; an upgraded Conference and Business Center with Internet portals; and modern family activities areas, including Kaleidoscope, a kids' club, and a teen center. Two new bow thrusters were added along with one stern thruster. Her hull was painted blue and a new funnel logo appreared. On November 8, 2000 she was refloated and remained at wet dock in Portland while work progressed.

 

She began operating cruises from Honolulu for United States Lines on 9 December 2000, every Saturday evening to Nawiliwili, Kauai, Kahului, Maui, Hilo, Hawaii, and Kona, Hawaii, before returning to Honolulu. .

On 19 October, 2001, American Classic Voyages, Inc. announced that it had filed for bankruptcy court protection and would cease most sailings. Both ss Independence and ms Patriot stopped sailing on Saturday, 20 October after completing their cruises and were laid up at pier 24 in Honolulu. On 27 January 2002, she was auctioned off at the federal court in Honolulu, purchased by Carnival Corporation/Holland America Line and reverted back to her original HAL name of Nieuw Amsterdam (III). She left Honolulu on 15 March, initially for drydock at Freeport, the Bahamas but then arriving at Charleston, NC on 23 April 2002 for a wetdock.

 

 

She left Charleston for Piraeus, Greece on 7 May 2002 after being sold to Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines. Upon arrival there, she underwent an extensive refit at Piraeus and was initially named Spirit. Louis then chartered her to UK-based Thomson Cruise Line for ten years. She is currently sailing for Thomson under the name Thomson Spirit, mainly in the Mediterranean.

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Westerdam, October 29, 1994; Mother-daughter cruise. We never thought of hurricane season when we booked this cruise. As soon as we left Fort Lauderdale we were rocking and rolling. My mother stayed in her cabin for three days with only crackers and gingerale. I on the other hand love rough seas. Once we returned home she told me that she felt so sick while on board those first three days that she didn't care if the ship sank! Two years later though she asked me if I'd like to go to Alaska. I replied "with who?" "Me" was her answer. "But you told me you'd never get on a ship again." Well, we sailed to Alaska, had the calmest waters and she was hooked. We booked a cruise to the Mediterranean the following week and the rest is history (P.S. She does wear sea bands though).

 

 

Homeric (1986-present) Built by Jos. L. Meyer GmbH shipyard, Papenburg, (then) West Germany and delivered in 1986 as "Homeric" for Italian-based Home Lines for New York to Bermuda cruising in the summer and Caribbean cruising in the winter months. Homeric was planned during the first half of the 1980s as a replacement for the ageing ss Oceanic in the Home Lines' fleet. The ship was named in honor of the company's earlier ss Homeric, a popular ship for the line that had been destroyed by a fire in 1973.

 

She left Emden, West Germany on 12 May 1986 for New York. She then departed on her maiden voyage from New York City to Hamilton, Bermuda on 31 May 1986.

 

In March 1988, Home Lines (Homeric and Atlantic) was purchased by Holland America Line. Following their final season in Bermuda. HAL sold Atlantic to Premier Cruise Line and moved Homeric into a drydock and refit at the Norshipco yard in Norfolk, Va. Homeric was renamed Westerdam II on 2 November 1988 and departed Ft.Lauderdale, FL on her first HAL cruise, an alternating seven-day run to the Eastern, followed by a seven-day run to the Western Caribbean on 16 November 1988.

 

She was the second ship in Holland America Line history to receive the name Westerdam. The first Westerdam sailed for Holland America Line from 1946 to 1965. She was a combination cargo-passenger ship with accommodations for 143 first-class passengers. While being constructed during World War II, Westerdam I was sunk three times: On 27 August 1942, she was bombed and sunk by Allied aircraft while in the shipyard in Rotterdam. The German occupiers raised the ship in September 1944, but she was quickly sunk again, this time by Dutch resistance fighters. After being raised a second time, the resistance again sank her on 17 January 1945. After the Netherlands were liberated in May, 1945, Westerdam I was raised a third time and finally completed. She would go on to be a regular on the transatlantic run, making two eight-day crossings each month between Rotterdam and New York. Her name translates to one of the four directions of the compass in the Dutch language; wester meaning, well, westerly.

In the winter of 1989, Westerdam II was sent back to her place of birth, Jos. L. Meyer GmbH, Papenburg, West Germany for lengthening, emerging in 1990 with a new overall length of 243 meters (originally 204 meters) and a new passenger capacity of 1,476 souls (originally 1,132). She was primarily assigned to Ft. Lauderdale, Fl cruising the Caribbean in the winter and to Vancouver, BC for Alaska cruising in the summer months.

 

In 1997, the romantic commedy "Out to Sea" starring Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Rue McClanahan, Dyan Cannon, Gloria DeHaven and Brent Spiner was partially filmed onboard Westerdam II. Compulsive gambler Charlie Gordon (Matthau), hiding out from his various bookies and loan-sharks, cons his brother-in-law Herb Sullivan (Lemmon) into an all expenses-paid luxury cruise in search of rich, lonely ladies to fleece. The catch, which Charlie does not reveal to Herb until the ship has left port, is that they are required to be dance hosts and must sleep in a cramped cabin in the bowels of the ship.

 

Ruled over by tyrannical, control-freak Cruise Director Gil Godwin, "a song and dance man raised on a military base" (Spiner), they do their best, despite Charlie's not actually being able to dance. They each meet a lady of interest. One is the luscious heiress Liz LaBreche (Cannon), whose wealth attracts Charlie every bit as much as the rest of her does. The other is lovely widow Vivian (DeHaven), who is under the impression that Herb is a doctor, not a dancer. By the time Charlie literally drags ship owner Mrs. Carruthers (McClanahan) across the dance floor, the boys aren't sure if they will find true love or need to abandon ship.

 

 

 

In March 2002, After 643 cruises spanning over 13 years with Holland America, she was internally transferred within the Carnival Group to Italy-based Costa Crociere/Costa Cruise Lines. After a drydock in Genoa, Italy, she was christened Costa Europa and in April 2002 commenced cruising for the Italian company. She is still sailing for them as of this time.

 

[url=http://boards.cruisecritic.com/"http://media.shipspotting.com/uploads/photos/rw/119083/Ship+Photo+Costa+Europa.jpg&quot][/url]

Edited June 25, 2009 by Copper10-8

[RevNeal]

Thank you, Officer John, for the excellent write-up and photos of my beloved m/s Nieuw Amsterdam III. She was also my first cruise ship (as an adult) in 1994. I've given thought to sailing aboard either her or the old Noordam in their current incarnation with the Thomson Line. Sadly, those cruises are usually quite expensive. At least, the once I've priced have been. :(

[tallcruiser2]

My first ship was the Jupiter (Epirotiki Lines) in late 70's. The ship sailed 2 one week cruises out of Barbados. First week south (Grenada, Curracao, Caracas and others) and the second week North (Martinique, Guadalupe, St Thomas. St Lucia and others) .

Ship sank after being hit by a tanker off Greek coast in 1998.

[Copper10-8]

Thank you, Officer John, for the excellent write-up and photos of my beloved m/s Nieuw Amsterdam III. She was also my first cruise ship (as an adult) in 1994. I've given thought to sailing aboard either her or the old Noordam in their current incarnation with the Thomson Line. Sadly, those cruises are usually quite expensive. At least, the once I've priced have been. :(

 

Allthough she wasn't our first ever cruise ship, Nieuw Amsterdam III was our first Holland America Line cruise ship. We have great memories of that western Carib cruise from Tampa back in 1993. If you remember, on Eurodam in Newcastle upon Tyne last year, we saw her sister, the former Noordam, now Thomson Celebration in port. She looked pretty good also!

Edited June 26, 2009 by Copper10-8

[dandro]

Our first (and only) ship so far was just a few weeks ago, the Westerdam. We chose HAL at the recommendation of some close friends of ours, and we chose the Westerdam specifically because of the itinerary. I would sail HAL, especially the Westerdam, again anytime.

[Copper10-8]

The "old" Pacific Princess in 1978 and we thought it was a really big ship !!!

 

 

Sea Venture (1971-present) Built in 1971 as ms Sea Venture by Rheinstahl Nordseewerke GmbH, Emden, (then) West Germany for Norwegian-based Flagship Cruises. She departed on her maiden voyage on 8 May 1971 and would operate on the New York City to Hamilton, Bermuda run as well as on Caribbean cruises for Flagship but only for one month shy of four years.

 

In April 1975, she was sold (along with her sister Island Venture) to the P&O Group (Great Britain) and assigned to Princess Cruises as Pacific Princess (her sister became Island Princess). Princess would initially use her for cruises to The Mexican Riviera out of Los Angeles (San Pedro), summer itineraries to Alaska and a gradual expansion via the Panama Canal into the Caribbean. Later on, she would be used for world-wide cruising.

 

 

Princess Cruises agreed to have both these ships featured in the televison romantic weekly sitcom "The Love Boat", which debuted in May 1977 and would stay in production for nine seasons. The ship featured in nearly every episode of the series (which was filmed primarily on sets in a production studio) was Pacific Princess, although other ships also appeared, including Island Princess. The term "Love Boat" was heavily used by Princess Cruises in their marketing, and became synonymous with the Pacific Princess. The success of the television show, which remained on the air until 1986, is largely credited with the increase in popularity of cruise ship travel in Nortn America.

 

Pacific Princess was sold in 2001 to Seahawk North America Inc, Nassau, Bahamas, but was leased back immediately and continued to operate as part of the Princess fleet until 2002, when the former Renaissance Cruises R-Three replaced her and took her name. Pacific Princess made her final voyage with Princess Cruises in October/November 2002, sailing from New York City to Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy.

 

She then began operating for Spanish-based tour operator Pullmantur Cruises under the new name Pacific, sailing in the Caribbean as well as in the Meditteranean from Valencia, Spain.

 

 

In December 2007, she was aquired by Brasilian tour operator Viagens CVC Tur Ltda, Sao Paulo. They operate her out of Sao Paulo during the Southern hemisphere summer. Between April and October 2008 she was chartered to newly-established Spanish-based Quail Cruises to operate Western Med cruises out of Valencia.

 

In October 2008, she was seen in Valencia, still in Quail Cruises livery, and listing slightly to port. She had failed certain safety tests, and consequently had been "arrested" by the Spanish

Authorities. This cancelled her South American winter cruise and forced Quail to use the former Cunard Countess (now Ocean Countess) as a replacement. Pacific Consequently, went to the shipyard in Genoa, Italy for repairs as a result of corrosion and generator problems. She is tentatively going back in service for Quail in July, sailing once again from Valencia, Spain.

[Copper10-8]

We sailed the old Noordam, February of 1987. It was a Caribbean cruise. We were young and (in our 30's) and loved it even though most people (even still to this day) think of HAL as an older person's cruise line. This August I'm going on my 13th cruise, 11th HAL cruise, and can't wait. I'm just aggravated that it will be my 98th sea day on HAL and won't get my 100 sea day medallion until my next cruise!

 

 

 

m/s Noordam III (1984-present) Built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France and delivered to Holland America Line on 7 April 1984, registered in Sint Maarten, the Netherlands Antilles. She was the third ship in HAL's long history to bear the name Noordam and was the first built for luxury cruise service for the line. She was designed in the Netherlands but built in France.

 

Her name, Noordam, refers to the compass heading "North" as "Noord" in Dutch stands for "North". The first HAL ship with the name Noordam, built by Harland & Wolff Shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland, was launched in 1902 and served the line until 1928. The second "Noordam" was launched from the P. Smit Jr.Machinefabriek & Shipyard in Rotterdam and served the line between 1938 and 1963.

 

After a naming ceremony by her godmother, Mrs. van der Vorm-van der Wall Bake, daughter of former HAL president and CEO Nico van der Wallon 7 April 1984, she set off the next day on her maiden voyage from Le Havre, France to Tampa, Fl, via Horta, Azores and Bermuda. From Tampa, she would operate on Caribbean cruises in the winter season.

 

 

Noordam was identical to her sister, Nieuw Amsterdam III, but with art and decor in a Dutch East Indies theme. She would become a very popular ship with passengers as she cruised, primarily in the Caribbean in the winter and in Alaska in the summer. She made her final cruise for HAL from Barcelona, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal on 12 November 2004.

 

 

On 30 November 2004, the ship was acquired by Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines and was immediately placed on a long-term charter to British tour operator Thomson Cruises who renamed her Thomson Celebration. She is currently operating for them on low-price cruises around Europe.

 

[Sharon in AZ]

 

m/s Noordam III (1984-present) Built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France and delivered to Holland America Line on 7 April 1984, registered in Sint Maarten, the Netherlands Antilles. She was the third ship in HAL's long history to bear the name Noordam and was the first built for luxury cruise service for the line. She was designed in the Netherlands but built in France.

 

Her name, Noordam, refers to the compass heading "North" as "Noord" in Dutch stands for "North". The first HAL ship with the name Noordam, built by Harland & Wolff Shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland, was launched in 1902 and served the line until 1928. The second "Noordam" was launched from the P. Smit Jr.Machinefabriek & Shipyard in Rotterdam and served the line between 1938 and 1963.

 

After a naming ceremony by her godmother, Mrs. van der Vorm-van der Wall Bake, daughter of former HAL president and CEO Nico van der Wallon 7 April 1984, she set off the next day on her maiden voyage from Le Havre, France to Tampa, Fl, via Horta, Azores and Bermuda. From Tampa, she would operate on Caribbean cruises in the winter season.

 

 

Noordam was identical to her sister, Nieuw Amsterdam III, but with art and decor in a Dutch East Indies theme. She would become a very popular ship with passengers as she cruised, primarily in the Caribbean in the winter and in Alaska in the summer. She made her final cruise for HAL from Barcelona, Spain to Lisbon, Portugal on 12 November 2004.

 

 

On 30 November 2004, the ship was acquired by Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines and was immediately placed on a long-term charter to British tour operator Thomson Cruises who renamed her Thomson Celebration. She is currently operating for them on low-price cruises around Europe.

 

 

WOW, thanks so much for the info! The Noordam will always be special to us, being our first cruise ever. We loved it and fell in love with HAL.

[Copper10-8]

I know Sitmar has been mentioned several times, but Fairwind in 1974 and Fairsea in 1975. What a class act .....

 

Copper you have done a fantastic job pulling data and photos of some of these "older" ships. In those days it was all about class and service. One of the things I loved about Sitmar and probably other lines in those days was paying a small fee to have your deck chair reserved with your name on it ... no chair hogs back then. I remember we paid $8 for each deck chair for a 7-day cruise. Ahhh, fond memories.

 

Thanks for this thread and all the work that has gone into it.

 

Enjoy your cruise ........

 

 

ss Sylvania (1957-2004) Built by John Brown & Company Ltd, Clydebank, Scotland and delivered in June 1957 to the Cunard Steamship Company as ss Sylvania for "secondary" North Atlantic (Liverpool-Eastern Canada) service. She was the last Cunard Line vessel built specifically for transatlantic crossings. In addition to their more prestigious run from Southampton to New York, Cunard also operated other services, including one from Liverpool to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. On that run, their main competitors were Canadian Pacific Steamships. In order to strengthen their position on this service, Cunard decided to order a series of four identical liners, eventually referred to as the Saxonia class, for the run in 1951. Per Cunard's tradition, all four ships were named using the Latin names of provinces of the Roman and Holy Roman Empires; Saxonia (1954), Ivernia (1955), Carinthia (1956) and last but not least, Sylvania in 1957.

 

The new ships reflected the economics and travel patterns of the post-war world; they were not built exclusively as passenger liners, but also included cargo-carrying facilities. Their passenger accommodation were divided into just two classes, first and tourist, with the tourist class occupying the majority of the ship. The outer dimensions of the ships were defined by the Saint Lawrence Seaway, as they had to be able to navigate from the Atlantic Ocean up river to Montreal.

 

Sylvania started on her maiden voyage from Greenock, Scotland to Montreal on 5 June 1957. On 26 June 1957 she joined her sisters on their northern hemisphere summer service from Liverpool to Montreal via Greenock and Quebec City. By the time she entered service the growth of passenger numbers in transatlantic liner service had ceased, while the amount of passenger transported by jet airliner was growing.

 

In 1958, Sylvania made one crossing from Liverpool to New York via Cobh, Ireland and Halifax, Noca Scotia. In April 1961 she was moved permanently to the Liverpool - New York service, replacing RMS Britannic. At some point during her career with Cunard, she also served on the Rotterdam, the Netherlands 0 Southampton - Le Havre, France - Quebec City - Montreal route.

 

When the North Atlantic passenger operation became unprofitable in the early sixties, Sylvania was used on more and more cruises. In early 1965 she received a refit to make her accommodations more cruise-friendly. In November 1966 her transatlantic service was altered back to the Liverpool—Montreal route. Due to heavy losses Cunard withdrew the Sylvania and her her sister ship Carinthia from service in December 1967. They were subsequently laid up in Southampton and put up for sale.

 

 

On 2 February 1968, Sylvania and Carinthia were purchased by the Italian cruise company Societa Italiana Transporti Marittimi S.p.A aka Sitmar Line, managed by the Russian Vlasov family. The sisters were renamed Fairwind and Fairland, respectively, with the intention of converting them into immigrant liners for the Europe to Australia and New ZEaland service. Sitmar had held the immigrant service contract by the Australian government from 1955, but the Australians were asking for new tenders for the period of 1970 onwards so Sitmar needed more ships. However, despite the purchase of the Fairwind and Fairland, Sitmar lost the contract to the Greek Chandris Line, resulting in Fairwind and Fairland staying put at Southampton.

 

Sitmar then decided to convert the two sisters for cruise service instead. Fairwind received a year-long refit at the Arsenale Triestino San Marco shipyard at Trieste, Italy between January 1970 and January 1971 where her appearance was radically altered. Her forward superstructure was rebuilt to a sleek, streamlined form, her funnel rebuilt to a more modern, slightly conical form with a smoke deflector fin on top, and her cargo cranes eliminated and removed. In keeping with the then-current Sitmar livery, the Fairwind had a yellow funnel with a large V (for Vlaslov) painted on it. In addition to the funnel, the topmost decks of her superstructure and her radar mast were painted yellow.

 

She emerged from the yard to join her sister (having her refit completed some two months earlier and renamed Fairsea instead of Fairland) on the North American cruise market, on which she proved highly popular. During the northern hemisphere winter season, Fairwind made cruises to South America from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, while during the summer season she sailed from San Francisco, CA to Canadian west coast and to Alaska.

 

In 1988, Sitmar decided to change their brand identity with a new external livery and a new naming policy. That livery consisted of an entirely white superstructure, a dark blue funnel with Sitmar's new Swan logo, and three wave-like ribands painted on her hull.

 

Her career as Sitmar Fairwind proved short however, when on 14 September 1988, Sitmar Cruises was sold to the British P&O (Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company) Group. P&O closed down the Sitmar brand and just eight days after the acquisition, Sitmar Fairwind was renamed Dawn Princess and transferred to the fleet of Los Angeles-based Princess Cruises.

 

 

 

 

 

As Dawn Princess, the ship continued cruises mainly aimed at the North American market. Princess Cruises would be investing heavily in new tonnage, and in early 1993, the popular Dawn Princess was sold to V-Ships, a subsidiary of the the Vlasov Group or "V" Group of Monte Carlo. the original owners of Sitmar.

[Copper10-8]

 

Under that ownership starting on 27 March 1993, German tour operator Phoenix Seereisen started operating her initially under a five-year charter as Albatros for world-wide cruising for mainly German tourists. On 18 August 1993, she departed on her first cruise for Phoenix from Germany to North Cape, Norway.

 

On 22 May 1995, during a cruise in the Red Sea, an engine-room fire broke out forcing her passengers to be evacuated to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. After the fire was contained and eventually extinguished, Albatross, without her passengers, travelled via the Suez Canal to Livorno, Italy for temporary repairs. She then continued on to Germany, arriving at the Lloyd Werft, Bremerhaven in June for more permanent repairs. She returnred to service on 30 June 1995.

 

 

In November 2003, her charter contract having been extended, Albatros suffered severe machinery problems. As a result, Phoenix Seereisen decided to terminate the contract. Owners V-Ships, in turn, concluded that the price of repairing the the 46-year old ship was too high.

 

 

As a result, Albatross was sold to Indian scrappers in December 2003. She was renamed ss Genoa and departed Genoa, Italy on 21 December 2003 on her final journey to India. She arrived at Alang on 16 January 2004 where she was beached and subsequently broken up.

 

[traveler111]

My husband & I sailed on our first cruise 8/29/82. The ship was the Volendam to Bermuda, round trip from NYC. I'll always remember the cabin steward stopping by after we arrived at our cabin. He started a sales pitch for renting a tux, looked at my husband (who was rather tall etc.), and then STOPPED. If anyone knows what happened to the Volendam I'd appreciate knowing. :)

[Pat.bz]

As a junior in college I sailed on the Queen Mary in 1965. As an aside, there were 4 women, 2 sets of bunks, a sink and group showers down the hall thru the "iceberg" (we'd be dead if we hit one)doors. Yes, there were classes (with restricted, off-limits areas) and they didn't call it "steerage" but I will. It was a cruise I will always fondly remember.

[Copper10-8]

I know Sitmar has been mentioned several times, but Fairwind in 1974 and Fairsea in 1975. What a class act .....

 

Copper you have done a fantastic job pulling data and photos of some of these "older" ships. In those days it was all about class and service. One of the things I loved about Sitmar and probably other lines in those days was paying a small fee to have your deck chair reserved with your name on it ... no chair hogs back then. I remember we paid $8 for each deck chair for a 7-day cruise. Ahhh, fond memories.

 

Thanks for this thread and all the work that has gone into it.

 

Enjoy your cruise ........

 

RMS Carinthia (1956-2006) Built by John Brown & Company Ltd, Clydebank, Scotland and delivered in June 1956 to the Cunard Steamship Company as RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Carinthia for their Liverpool-Montreal route, known as the Dominion service. In 1951, Cunard decided to order a series of four (initially two) identical liners, eventually referred to as the Saxonia class. Carinthia was the third ship of that class. Per Cunard's tradition, all four ships were named using the Latin names of provinces of the Roman and Holy Roman Empires; Saxonia (1954), Ivernia (1955), Carinthia (1956) and Sylvania (1957).These ships were largest ships to be operated to Canada at the time and were designed for luxury and speed carrying both passengers and cargo up the St. Lawrence river.

 

Her launch on 14 December 1955, performed by HRH Princess Margaret, was only the fourth time a Cunarder was launched by a member of the British Royal Family.The previous ones being RMS Queen Mary (by HM Queen Mary in 1934), RMS Queen Elizabeth (by HM Queen Elizabeth in 1938) and RMS Caronia (by HRH Princess Elizabeth in 1947). Carinthia was handed over to Cunard and set sail for Liverpool where she arrived on 17 June 1956. On 27 June, she embarked 890 passengers for her maiden voyage to Canada where she arrived for the first time on 27 June 1956.

 

Although it was planned that the new Saxonia-class ships would replace the old pre-war vessels that had been running the Canadian service, at the time that Carinthia entered service in 1956, the Franconia, Ascania and Scythia were still fully committed on the Canadian run. Subsequently, Franconia and Ascania would be withdrawn from the service in November 1956. Early in 1957, Scythia was transferred to the Liverpool- New York service and in January 1958 she was sold for scrap and at that time, the Canadian service was entirely in the hands of the new quartet. At the time of her entry into service, Cunard announced that Carinthia would undertake a “dollar earning cruise” out of New York to the Caribbean during the 1956-1957 Christmas and New Year holiday season. Consequently, in mid-December she departed Liverpool via Cobh, Ireland and Halifax, Nova Scotia for New York. She made her first ever port of call in Halifax on 20 December. Two days later, she left New York on a 14-day cruise that took her to Martinique, Trinidad, La Guaira (Venezuela), Curacao, Cristobal (Panama) and Port au Prince (Haiti), arriving back in New York on 6 January 1957. After returning to Liverpool, Carinthia underwent a brief overhaul. She made her first call at Rotterdam, the Netherlands on 31 October 1959 and remained there until 2 November. On 20 November, she made her first port call Southampton. In April 1960 she made a record breaking crossing between Montreal and Greenock in 5 days, 6 hours and 27 minutes, averaging 21.8 knots. Carinthia narrowly avoided disaster on 30 August 1961 when, bound for Montreal from Liverpool and Greenock and in thick fog, 30 miles west of Quebec, she collided with the 7,013 ton Canadian ss Tadoussac. As a result, both vessels sustained damage with Tadoussac having windows and lifeboats smashed. Carinthia had 873 passengers on board at the time but luckily, there were no casualties onboard both vessels. It was later reported that only frantic last minute maneuvers by the pilots onboard each ship had avoided a head-on collision.

 

Between 29 December 1963 and 30 January 1964, Carinthia and sister Sylvania underwent refits in Liverpool which included the addition of private bathrooms as well as new interior decorating to eighty of their Tourist class cabins. This however, turned out not to be enough to make them competitive with other ships then in service, or being built. Both ships were pure transatlantic liners and were not suited for seasonal cruising. However, as the demand for transatlantic voyages in mid-winter was rapidly declining, a decision was made to send Carinthia and Sylvania on a series of winter cruises. So, on 7 January 1966, Carinthia sailed from Liverpool on a Mediterranean cruise. Two days after her return, she departed again on a similar 13-night cruise.

 

On 23 November 1967, Carinthia would depart Southampton for her final voyage across the Atlantic under the Cunard flag. This last voyage did not take her into her ususl route up the St. Lawrence since winter ice had become a hazard. Instead, she docked at Halifax and sailed from there back to England on 3 December. Six days later she was in Southampton and her Cunard Line career was over. She was laid up alongside the Caronia which had also been retired the previous month.

 

Carinthia and Sylvania would spend over two years laid up at Southampton’s 101 berth in Western Docks. On 31 January 1968, the pair was purchased for 2 million British Pound Sterling and the buyers were initially reported to be the Fairland Shipping Corporation and the Fairwind Shipping Corporation. Carinthia was to be renamed Fairland and Sylvania Fairwind. Instead however, they would sail for the Italian-based Sitmar Line or Societa Italiana Trasporti Marittimi S.p.A.

 

At the time of the purchase, Sitmar had the Australian government contract to carry immigrants from Southampton to Australia. However, almost as soon as Sitmar had bought the two ships, the Australian government awarded the contract to the Greek Chandris Line. Consequently, Fairland and Fairwind continued to lay up at the Southampton waterfront as Sitmar attempted to work out other ways of employing them. In the end, it was decided to totally (dude) rebuild the two ships into deluxe cruise ships based in Los Angeles, CA. Grandiose plans had them sailing north to San Francisco and Vancouver, BC before crossing the Pacific with calls at Honolulu, Hi. Papeete, Raitea, Pago Pago and Suva before arriving in Auckland, New Zealand and then Sydney. After about three months of cruising from Sydney a return voyage would be made to California. While one ship would be cruising from Sydney, the other one would be doing the same from Los Angeles. These trans-pacific voyages were due to start in May 1972.

 

The contract for the rebuilding of the ships was awarded to Arsenale Triestino, San Marco of Trieste, Italy. On 6 January 1970, Fairwind left Southampton under tow arriving in Trieste on 18 January. She was soon joined by Fairland on 21 February. While the ships were being rebuilt, Sitmar continued to market their proposed Pacific liner service and cruises, establishing Sitmar Cruises, Inc. However, despite their efforts they found that they could not arouse sufficient interest. Sitmar eventually saw the light and decided to market the new ships purely as cruise ships out of L.A. (Fairland had been renamed Fairsea) for Mexican Riviera cruises in the winter and to Alaska in the summer.

 

Upon leaving the Italian yard, Fairsea emerged as an elegant Italian cruise ship. Her superstructure was now extended forward while her once enclosed promenade from which to view the cold Atlantic had been opened up to allow passengers to enjoy tropical sea breezes. The greatest change was aft, where she now had tiered sun decks, a lido area and three outside pools. She also had a new raked funnel and had been repainted in an all white livery, with just three short blue stripes at her bow and her uppermost decks painted buff to match her funnel with now had the “V” (for Vlasov). On 3 November 1971, she left Trieste for Los Angeles via the Panama Canal, calling at Cadiz, St Thomas, Antigua and Acapulco. The voyage was a series of firsts for the former Cunarder: her first voyage through the Panama Canal and her first time in the Pacific. She arrived in Los Angeles on 9 December 1971 and then continued to San Francisco where she was officially presented to the press and representatives of the travel industry.

 

On 14 December 1971, Fairsea departed San Pedro (L.A.) on her first 6-day cruise to the Mexican Riviera. For the southbound portion, after departing at 9pm, the next two days were sea days. Her first call would be at Puerto Vallarta in the state of Sinaloa and the next day was again a sea day, before Fairsea would arrive in Acapulco on the morning of the 6th day. Her passengers would use the ship as their hotel that day and it was not until the following day that they would transfer to hotels in the city, flying home three days later. For the northbound cruise, passengers would fly down to Acapulco and after three nights there would board Fairsea for the cruise home via Zihuatanejo and Mazatlan. Both the southbound and northbound cruises could be combined to make it a 12-day round trip.

 

 

Between August and November, Fairsea was employed on two longer cruises: 17 days from Los Angeles to Acapulco, Balboa, through the Panama Canal to Cristobal, Cartagena, Colombia, Aruba, Martinique, San Juan, PR and Port Everglades, Fl. After an overnight stop at that port, she would begin the return cruise to Los Angeles. This was also 17 days and by calling at different Caribbean ports enabled the round trip to be marketed as a 35-day cruise.

 

In 1988 in anticipation of their new and larger cruise ships soon to enter service, Sitmar embarked on a program to update their image. The buff funnels were repainted deep blue and the V logo was replaced with a stylized swan in white and red. As a result of this re-branding all the ships were renamed with the addition of the Sitmar name as a prefix. However everything soon changed when on 28 July 1988, P&O announced that they were taking over Sitmar Cruises. Under this new ownership all Sitmar ships were to adopt the identity of P&O’s subsidiary, Princess Cruises. Fairsea was renamed Fair Princess with her sister becoming Dawn Princess. Both ships continued to operate their Sitmar schedules for a while. In 1993, Dawn Princess was withdrawn from service, however surprisingly, Fair Princess remained part of the Princess Cruises fleet. In 1995 however, news came that Princess Cruises was selling Fair Princess to Regency Cruises who would rename her Regent Isle.

Regency Cruises announced that the Fair Princess would be renamed Regent Isle and she was to sail from San Francisco to Hawaii on 14 October 1995. However, just days before Regency Cruises was to take delivery of her, it was revealed that the company was in serious financial difficulties. They stopped operating on the weekend of the 28th and 29th of October 1995. When Regency Cruises collapsed, the sale of the Fair Princess had not been finalized. As a result P&O / Princess Cruises were left with a ship they did not want. She was sent to for lay up at Ensenada, Baja California Sur, Mexico to await her fate.

 

In the summer of 1996 P&O announced that their P&O Australia ship, Fairstar would be replaced by the Fair Princess which would move to Australia. The Fair Princess was refitted in San Diego’s Southwest Marine dockyard to meet the new SOLAS requirements that had just come into effect. After crossing the Pacific, Fair Princess sailed her first cruise from Sydney to the South Pacific on 7 February 1997.

 

When the newly transferred Pacific Sky joined the P&O Australia fleet in November 2000, Fair Princess was repositioned to sail from Auckland, New Zealand. However, P&O announced on 19 June 2000 that they had put the by now 44-year old ship up for sale. Her buyers would be Chinese interest who wanted her as a casino ship. In 2000 she was positioned in Sydney for use as a hotel ship for the Olympic Games. At the conclusion of the games she had less than two months left as a Sydney-based cruise ship. A few days after her final cruise she slipped out of Sydney virtually unnoticed on 15 November 2000.

 

 

In February 2001 it was announced that her new owners, a company called China Sea Cruises, had changed her initial name of Emerald Fortune to China Sea Discovery. They would use her on the overnight gambling run from Hong Kong. This endeavor turned out to be far from successful. She was then used for cruises from Hainan Island which was also short lived and by June 2001, she was arrested and laid up in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. On 2 October 2002, she resumed cruising from Keelung, Taiwan. By 2003, she was laid up again, this time in derelict condition in Hong Kong. In early summer 2005 she was auctioned off and sold for scrap. On 20 November 2005, the former Carinthia under the delivery name Sea Discovery arrived at Alang, India and was beached. Thus the last surviving ship from the Saxonia Sisters quartet will soon be no more. On 17 February 2006 the beached and partially dismantled Sea Discovery suffered a serious fire in her engine room. The fire trapped some workers inside and nine of them had to be taken to local hospitals with burns. The fire left the ship a charred hulk from stem to stern.

[Host Walt]

Thanks for this photo. We booked a canal cruise from San Juan on the Sitmar FairWind in 1989 and wound up sailing on the first sailing of the Dawn Princess with the "Sea Witch" Princess logo. The ship, however, was still loaded with Sitmar and FairWind logos on everything.

 

The shop was selling everything Sitmar at 1/2 price. What a missed opportunity for some great EBay stuff.

 

In January 1991 we sailed the Mexican Riviera on the Fair Princess. By then all traces of Sitmar were long gone.

 

Edited July 5, 2009 by Host Walt

[Copper10-8]

Some more pics of the former RMS Carinthia:

As Cunard's Carinthia in Liverpool in 1957

And a couple as Princess Cruises' Fair Princess

As Fair Princess for P&O Australia in 1997

 

One more as P&O Austrilia's Fair Princess

 

And one as China Sea Discovery in 2001 in better days

Edited July 5, 2009 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

As Sitmar's Fairsea in 1986 at Vancouver

Edited July 5, 2009 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

Thanks for this photo. We booked a canal cruise from San Juan on the Sitmar FairWind in 1989 and wound up sailing on the first sailing of the Dawn Princess with the "Sea Witch" Princess logo. The ship, however, was still loaded with Sitmar and FairWind logos on everything.

 

The shop was selling everything Sitmar at 1/2 price. What a missed opportunity for some great EBay stuff.

 

In January 1991 we sailed the Mexican Riviera on the Fair Princess. By then all traces of Sitmar were long gone.

 

[/url]

 

 

Sitmar's Fairwind

 

 

Princess' Dawn Princess outbound from Vancouver in 1990

[78232]

Sometime in the mid 80's I inherited a few hundred dollars so we decided to take a cruise.,,,4 nights to the Bahamas aboard one of the smaller NCL ships ,,I can't remember the name..something ward...sun, south, or sea.

We stayed in the least expensive cabin. I had never seen a room that small and we even slept in bunk beds. I have cruised through the years mixed with land vacations. I have now booked a cruise in November with my grandaughter on the Zuiderdam. A tradition continues.

 

.Compared to an all inclusive that I stayed at in Cancun the food, drinks, and shows on all of my cruises have been wonderful. That vacation gave me a lesson in looking on the bright side of a situation.

 

Marcia

[irishjim]

My wife and I took our first cruise aboard the Carousel from Festival cruises in 1998.:)