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What became of RCCL Viking Serenade


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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.

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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

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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.)

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 years later...
  • 2 years later...

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.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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!!:(:(

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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.

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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.

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  • 4 years later...
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

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  • 1 year later...

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.

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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.

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