What is the oldest cruise ship still in service (on ANY line)?

Now that we know the oldest cruise ship for each line, lets thak this a step further.

 

What is the oldest cruise ship you have sailed on?

 

Where and when.

Did she act and look her age.

The Carnival Jubilee is the oldest one I've sailed on. She was built in 1986. Since that was my first ever cruise I have no idea if she looked her age or not. I had nothing to compare it to and then didn't sail again for 7 years by which time I didn't really remember much about that first cruise. One thing I do remember was that it had a topless deck :eek:

Now that we know the oldest cruise ship for each line, lets thak this a step further.

 

What is the oldest cruise ship you have sailed on?

 

Where and when.

Did she act and look her age.

In August 2002, about a year before a steam pipe explosion put her out of service, I sailed on NCL's SS Norway -- which was originally the French Line's

SS France - which I believe entered service in 1960 --- so make it 42 years.

In the mid 1990s, we sailed on the Fair Princess out of San Francisco to Alaska. 12 day cruise, IIRC. Fair Princess was sold by Princess shortly there after. She was built in 1957, so she was about 40 years old at the time.

She wasn't in bad shape. Definitely not modern. Remember the dip of the hallways- in long hallways you couldn't see the other end because it dipped in the middle. Port holes in the MDR. Most notably, she didn't have stabilizers, and we had a very rough entrance to the San Juan De Fuca Straights. About 4 hours of the roughest seas we have ever experienced in 30+ years of cruising.

Now that we know the oldest cruise ship for each line, lets thak this a step further.

 

What is the oldest cruise ship you have sailed on?

 

Where and when.

Did she act and look her age.

My first cruise ever, in the early 1970s, was on the Emerald Seas, which was built in 1944 and started life as a troop ship at the end of WWII and also served in the Korean War.

http://www.feethams.co.uk/emerald_past.htm

Did she look and act her age? Who knows -- I was 10 years old and on my first cruise ever. I had nothing to compare it with.

By the way, she continued sailing out of Port Everglades until 1992! It wasn't that long ago that they weren't building new ships every other year and ships more than 5 years old were considered ancient.

regal empress scrapping was complered in 2010

http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/m-s-regal-empress-being-scrapped-at-alang/view/?service=0

we sailed on her just before 9-1-1

took many many pics of her in the intervening years in nassau, and freeport!

In 1996 I did an Aegean cruise on Epirotiki's Olympic. She was first launched as the Empress of Britain in 1956 making her 40 at that time. She was in fairly good shape and continued cruising under different names for over 10 more years.

I don't think ships "aged" like they do now. The overall exterior design didn't change very much through most of the 1900s. Today with the "bigger is better", numerous balconies, more and different entertainment venues, etc. a 10-15 year old ship looks old.

we sailed on the amerikanis in about 90, she made her way to the breakers at alang about the turn of the century!

she was built as the kenya castle in 19 and 52!

I saw the mention above of the emerald seas, we had plenty of freinds and family sail on her in the 80's on the 3-4 day bahammas run!

that's when the sunward 2 , carnivale, emerald seas & dolphin, and sometimes maybe the britannis on a two day or the mardis gras would all haul but out of miami and race to nassau! or so it SEEMED! all lit up at night and sailing close enough to hear the rackett from time to time on the other ships!

hey scrappy, by aged

I assume you mean that ships aged way more gracefully in the 80's than today?

for sure, with all the lead paint on them and asbestos, they would hold up in the elements better than todays ships, + the old ships were not as open to the elements INSIDE, step over thresholds, little or no balconies etc.

This is quite possibly the most interesting thread I've ever read on CC!

Fascinating info here! :)

hi DonnaK,

I see your first cruise was to Bermuda on the Atlantic in 88! I remember seeing both Homeric and Atlantic back in the day. I can't recall if both were in port in Bermuda when we were there or just one. I believe we ported at the tiny St Johns while those ships ported at Hamilton?

We had to travel thru the tiniest cut into the harbor! It seemed like we were almost scraping the rocks going in! The Amerikanis was an old ocean liner and tiny by todays standard, certainly not a large ship back in the 80s either, about 16,000 tons I think.

But wow, the food was great! Chandris had the Britannis, and Galileo as well as one more....the Victoria I think, it usually summered in San Juan. The Britannis circled South America once a year for about 40-50 days, and spent time in Miami doing 2 and 5 day cruises, then summered up the coast doing Bermuda from Wilmington NC, Norfolk, Va and then on to New York. My mom and dad took their only cruise on Britannis, a two day to nowhere out of Wilmington.

We Cruised the Oceanic ( big red boat ) I think it was a sister sort of to the Atlantic? Or, maybe not?

SS Canberra, launched 1960, was probably my oldest. We sailed on her in 1993 and 1996. I prefer her to many of the newer ships just because the layout isn't so straight up-and-down - you could find passageways going sideways or in funny directions., and you could get lost even if you knew where you were heading and started off in the right direction. The non-en-suite cabins were not such a good thing, though we didn't know any better in those days.

It was possible to book a single berth in a shared cabin back then. You wouldn't know who you were sharing with till you go there (same sex, of course). Does anyone still offer that?

SS Canberra, launched 1960, was probably my oldest. We sailed on her in 1993 and 1996. I prefer her to many of the newer ships just because the layout isn't so straight up-and-down - you could find passageways going sideways or in funny directions., and you could get lost even if you knew where you were heading and started off in the right direction. The non-en-suite cabins were not such a good thing, though we didn't know any better in those days.

 

It was possible to book a single berth in a shared cabin back then. You wouldn't know who you were sharing with till you go there (same sex, of course). Does anyone still offer that?

In the early 2000's Holland America offered a share program. You were not charged a single supplement, and you might get the whole cabin to yourself -- but you had to be willing to take your chances sharing with a stranger.

My first cruise was in 1989 aboard Bermuda Star Lines Veracruz for college spring break ... It was almost my last. There was a bathroom near the pool that was so small that I (5'2" 90 lbs) couldn't close the door. We went into Cozumel for a fun time only to return having missed dinner, there was no other option for food, so we broke into the dining room and ate sugar and ketchup packets. There were several travelers who were constantly crying because they wanted to get off so bad. It took me 6 years to try again aboard Carnival.

I sailed on the Carnival Tropicale in 1988 (she was built in 1982) at 36,674 GT.

Then in 1999 I sailed on the HAL Noordam (built in 1984) at 33, 960 GT.

I really prefer the smaller ships. HAL Noordam was so easy to navigate form one end to the other. We loved her!

My last two cruises have been on two lovely SMALL ships, neither of which is very new:

• Aegean Odyssey (operated by Voyages to Antiquity): 11,906 tons
  
• Minerva (operated by Swan Hellenic): 12,500 tons
  

Both carry around 350 passengers, at most. I also love the smaller ships and plan to limit most of my cruises to ships that carry not more than 2,000 passengers -- which would have seemed huge just a few years ago.

I sailed on Louis Cruise Perla, which became Aegean Pearl, in 2006. She was built in 1971.

..... French Line's

SS France - which I believe entered service in 1960 --- so make it 42 years.

The France was launched in 1960. She entered service in 1962.

that's some high dollar cruising there!

or high yen, marks, pounds, or euros?

I've done some digging: this info from a wikipedia table that didnt cross over too well! I have not crossreferenced all this info with other sources, however, I do have other sources I have looked at and had picked out 4 of these to mention, I did also see the other one ( arion) but its 65 date wasn't quite old enough I thought to mention.

anyway diggin in another source also reveals the sailing ships, covered already, and also the Emerald built in 1958 and sailing for Louis in 2012

I have read of CIC's troubles and it may be that some, none or all of these ships are idled right now, OR possibly even some have gone to the scrapyard?

gotta good movie on tcm right now, Sleuth, and I may peruse individual ship listings to see if any current info is available...

Ship

Built

In service

Tonnage

Status as of 2010

Funchal

1961

1985-Present

9,563 GRT

Formerly a Portuguese passenger liner and presidential yacht.

MV Princess Danae

1955

1994-Present

16,335 GRT

Rebuilt 1972, identical to Princess Daphne.

Arion

1965

1999-Present

5,888 GRT

Originally Yugoslavian passenger ship MS Istra.

Athena

1948

2005-Present

10,603 GRT

Originally Swedish ocean liner MS Stockholm, rebuilt 1994.

MV Princess Daphne

1955

2008-Present

15,833 GRT

Rebuilt 1972, renamed Princess Daphne 2009.

emerald scrapped in 2012, looks like all those CIC ships may still be arrested, the funchal was in port having upgrades to the solas standards and there are ongoing disputes on ownership and repair and refit bills!

I remember reading in cruise travel about a world cruise in either the daphne or danae getting interrupted a few months ago, passengers taken off and had to arrainge their travel home while the ship and crew was arrested, I think that was over feul charges and crew pay?

Marco polo is not owned by Orient lines anymore

 

If fact Orient is a name only they have no vessels in service

m

Marco Polo is operated by Cruise and maritime

I realize that this is an old thread but as of 2017 MV Astoria, launched in 1946 as Stockholm, is still in service. She is most infamous for her role in the mortal wounding of the Andrea Doria. She was gutted out to the water line and completely rebuilt in 1989 so it's only her hull that is original. She's expected to remain in service at least until 2018.

m

Marco Polo is operated by Cruise and maritime

Welcome to CC

As you will notice the thread was started several years ago

I replied to someone about Orient lines and ownership of MP

Yes MP now sails for C & M

In August 2002, about a year before a steam pipe explosion put her out of service, I sailed on NCL's SS Norway -- which was originally the French Line's

SS France - which I believe entered service in 1960 --- so make it 42 years.

Our second cruise was in 2002 on the SS Norway, in February, just a few months prior to the steam pipe explosion.

The Lewis R French - 1871 -

Built by the French brothers and named for their father, the schooner Lewis R. French was launched in April, 1871, in Christmas Cove, Maine. She is the last schooner remaining of thousands built in Maine during the 19th century. Due to some luck and love, the French has carried an assortment of cargoes for various owners around the Northeast for over 130 years! She freighted bricks, lumber, firewood, granite, fish, lime, canning supplies, Christmas trees, and now people.

I have sailed on her. Beat that. I believe that I have won!!!

DON