Song of America

[Philly Steve]

With so much attention among ship buffs about the scrapping of RCI's Sovereign of the Seas, it made me wonder about the fate of the ship that inspired the wrap around Viking Crown design, Song of America.  

 

I know SOA was cruising for another line, maybe in Europe.  Anyone know what happened to her?

Edited August 21, 2020 by Philly Steve

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, Philly Steve said:

With so much attention among ship buffs about the scrapping of RCI's Sovereign of the Seas, it made me wonder about the fate of the ship that inspired the wrap around Viking Crown design, Song of America.  

 

I know SOA was cruising for another line, maybe in Europe.  Anyone know what happened to her?

 

She is currently laid up in Piraeus in Greece. Current name is Celestyal Olympia, operated by Celestyal Cruises. Since leaving RCCL in the late 90's, she had multiple owners - Sun Cruises, Thompson Cruises 

[rkacruiser]

One of the things that I remember about the Song of America was her connection with President and Mrs. Jimmy Carter.  I think they sailed on her after his term as President of the United States was over.  

[shipgeeks]

One of the activities we've been enjoying this summer, without cruises, is visiting charity stores in our area.  A couple of months ago, DH found a large framed poster, "Ship of the Year, 1985, Song of America, Royal Caribbean".  Beautiful picture of her at sea, possibly from a travel agent's office.  80% off that day.  It is now hanging in our hallway.

[Philly Steve]

Thanks Heidi13 for the update. So glad to hear she lives.

[Philly Steve]

I know about the Carter connection to Sovereign of the Seas but did not know about the former president's ties to Song.  I guess they were Royal fans.

 

Don't you love it when a flea market adventure nets a piece of cruise memorabilia? Sounds like a great poster found a proper home.

 

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, Philly Steve said:

Don't you love it when a flea market adventure nets a piece of cruise memorabilia?

 

I didn't find it, but a friend found at a church's thrift shop an old candy tin from the Queen Mary.  It's part of my collection now.

 

Flea markets and churchs' thrift shops are good places to go looking for memorabilia.  Unused baggage tags and a glass mug from Tourist Class on Queen Elizabeth are a couple of things that I have found.  

 

1 hour ago, Philly Steve said:

I know about the Carter connection to Sovereign of the Seas but did not know about the former president's ties to Song.  I guess they were Royal fans.

 

You have me wondering if my memory is correct about the Carter's connection with Song of America.  I was not aware that there was a connection to the Sovereign of the Seas.  

[Philly Steve]

Love those candy tins that can be a sub-collection addiction.  I found, in East Tennessee, a framed print of the SS United States: a ship I can see from my condo.

 

Back on topic, it could be said the Song of America Viking Crown design was inspired by older sisters including Nordic Prince.  We cruised NP in her incarceration as MS Carousel but to my disappointment the funnel lounge had been removed.

 

 

[snaebyllej]

2 hours ago, Philly Steve said:

Back on topic, it could be said the Song of America Viking Crown design was inspired by older sisters including Nordic Prince.  We cruised NP in her incarceration as MS Carousel but to my disappointment the funnel lounge had been removed.

 

 

SOA had the first wrap-around lounge, and it was the first where they let an eventual purchaser keep it.

 

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, snaebyllej said:

SOA had the first wrap-around lounge, and it was the first where they let an eventual purchaser keep it.

 

 

Sovereign of the Seas was transferred from Royal Caribbean to Pullmantur which was a Company under the Royal Caribbean International umbrella.  Not sure that would be considered a new "purchaser".  

[rkacruiser]

5 hours ago, Philly Steve said:

it could be said the Song of America Viking Crown design was inspired by older sisters including Nordic Prince

 

Indeed.  Song of Norway was the first with such an innovative design followed by sisters Nordic Prince and Sun Viking.  

 

I sailed on Nordic Prince during the Summer of 1984 and patronized the Viking Crown Lounge once.  Had to climb a flight of stairs to get to the Lounge; no elevator service was available.  Once there, it was quite a scenic spot.  But, the longer I stayed, the warmer I got.  At the time, I "blamed" it being attached to the ship's funnel and heat was being radiated through the walls into the Lounge.  No idea if my "thought" was correct or not, but one visit to that Lounge was sufficient for me.

[Philly Steve]

On 8/29/2020 at 3:24 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

Indeed.  Song of Norway was the first with such an innovative design followed by sisters Nordic Prince and Sun Viking.  

 

I sailed on Nordic Prince during the Summer of 1984 and patronized the Viking Crown Lounge once.  Had to climb a flight of stairs to get to the Lounge; no elevator service was available.  Once there, it was quite a scenic spot.  But, the longer I stayed, the warmer I got.  At the time, I "blamed" it being attached to the ship's funnel and heat was being radiated through the walls into the Lounge.  No idea if my "thought" was correct or not, but one visit to that Lounge was sufficient for me.

What a treat it must have been!  Not many interior pics around, sadly.  

[rkacruiser]

8 hours ago, Philly Steve said:

What a treat it must have been!  Not many interior pics around, sadly.  

 

My cruise on Nordic Prince was a treat because it was done after I had finally recovered and put my life back together following a fire in my condo building.  I lost all of my ocean liner memorabilia during that event and it took me a year for my Homeowners Association  to have my residence restored and for me getting it adequately furnished.  My Mother suggested:  let's take a cruise this Summer as a "reward" for getting to a sense of normality again.  That 7 day cruise to the Caribbean from Miami was that cruise.

 

Three memories from that cruise:

 

#1:  Two of our dining room tablemates were from the UK.  They flew to Miami just to take that cruise.  I was surprised someone would come so far for just a 7 day cruise.  The other two were a couple from California with whom we booked a shore excursion and a couple with whom I kept in touch for over 3 decades until both began their "cruise in eternity".  Both couples were really wonderful people!

 

#2:  We had an outside cabin with two sofas across from each other that were made into beds each night.  If both of us sat on the sofas facing each other, our knees touched.  It was a small cabin!  Not sure that it even had a closet, but a rack on which to hang clothes.  

 

#3:  The cruise was over the 4th of July.  Upon sailing from Miami, our Norwegian Captain made it very clear to the guests during his "welcome aboard" PA "speech" that no fireworks were to be discharged by anyone!  Such fireworks at sea, he said, were considered a sign of a vessel in distress.  

 

Entertainment was good; cuisine and service was good; it was just what I needed.  Very fond memories of Nordic Prince!

 

 

[Philly Steve]

Thanks for sharing those wonderful memories. Yes indeed, mom knows best.

 

 

 

We cruised Nordic Prince/MS Carousel in 1999 on a Sun Tours southern Carribbean trip out of Aruba. Passengers were mostly British and we were amused at some of the showtime comic barbs aimed at Americans.  My wife says she's never had a better scone.  We played "find the old RCCL logo" game.  Remember the ship's daily "newspaper" that included sports and a Wall Street summary?

 

Cruising in the 90s was something else. A true get away.

 

 

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, Philly Steve said:

We played "find the old RCCL logo" game.

 

What was that game?  No recollection of that when I sailed.

 

1 hour ago, Philly Steve said:

Remember the ship's daily "newspaper" that included sports and a Wall Street summary?

 

No, I really don't.  I know that the ship's daily "newspaper" for all ships thoroughly changed over the years.  Specifically, for RCCL, I don't remember that at all.  

 

On my most recent 3 cruises--2 on HAL and 1 on MSC--there was no such "newspaper" available.  When I inquired at the Front Desk on the Volendam, the staff person didn't quite laugh, but indicated that I needed to use my stateroom's TV for such "information". 

[gottagoacruzn]

Was on Song of America back in 11-8-88 when the ship caught fire, it was 32 yrs ago. The passengers renamed the ship, Flame of America. Nobody ever heard about it, cuz it was on election night. Those passengers if they wanted got their money back, or else take another cruise, I chose to take another cruise, along with some other folks, who had been on the cruise.

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, gottagoacruzn said:

Was on Song of America back in 11-8-88 when the ship caught fire, it was 32 yrs ago. The passengers renamed the ship, Flame of America. Nobody ever heard about it, cuz it was on election night. Those passengers if they wanted got their money back, or else take another cruise, I chose to take another cruise, along with some other folks, who had been on the cruise.

 

This is an incident that I have never heard before.  Please elaborate.  

[marco]

Song of America was our first time on RCI.   Everyone always talks about being upgraded.....we were downgraded.  When we got home, I contacted our TA.  She got no answer from RCI, I contacted RCI, they said contact your agent.  I even wrote to the Ombudsman at Conde Nast.  He contacted RCI and they told him to contact the agent.  Never got an answer, never got the $$$ difference from the category cabin we paid for the category cabin we got, even though I sent copies of invoices, confirmation letters, etc.. This was all years before the internet.   It was over 20 yrs that we went on RCI again.

[Heidi13]

17 hours ago, gottagoacruzn said:

Was on Song of America back in 11-8-88 when the ship caught fire, it was 32 yrs ago. The passengers renamed the ship, Flame of America. Nobody ever heard about it, cuz it was on election night. Those passengers if they wanted got their money back, or else take another cruise, I chose to take another cruise, along with some other folks, who had been on the cruise.

 

Memory is a little hazy, but I believe that one was an engine room fire, which resulted from either a seized piston, or fuel line break. It was before the days of Hi-fog systems, so they had to replenish the CO2 system and had extensive engine & electrical repairs.

[gottagoacruzn]

Yup Heidi, it was an engine room fire. It happened at 7:58 p.m. an the captain announced that there was a fire, an said for everyone to get their life jackets on an go to their stations, an said this is not a drill, well they sounded the alarms, an everyone did what they were suppose to do. Was in the cabin, an grabbed my camera, an life jacket, but left my purse behind, an took pictures on the way up to the stations, when I left the cabin, the room steward was walkin by, an said, stay by your cabin door, an I looked at him like he was crazy. We were dead in the water all night, an the next morning, the captain came on an said everything was ok, but we had to return to Cozumel, an wait for parts to fly in from Norway. Course, they had to cancel the rest of the cruise, an return to Miami, we saw Cozumel twice. When we got back to Miami, we had to sit out in the harbor on Sat, cuz of all the out going ships were beginning to sail, the last ship to sail was Soverign ots, an it looked like a christmas tree all lit up. About those pictures I took, I still have them. Seems like a long time ago, now, an yes am still cruising.

[gottagoacruzn]

Hey Heidi, were you on that cruise too?

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, gottagoacruzn said:

Hey Heidi, were you on that cruise too?

 

Negative, it was one of many cruise ship fires that we studied. This one was compared to a later RCCL engine room fire on a ship fitted with Hi-Fog.

[rkacruiser]

On 11/11/2020 at 8:14 PM, Heidi13 said:

 

Negative, it was one of many cruise ship fires that we studied. This one was compared to a later RCCL engine room fire on a ship fitted with Hi-Fog.

 

How common are engine room fires?  Do they occur more frequently than we, the guests, realize?  Is the alarm system alerting guests activated every time that a fire such as that takes place?

[Heidi13]

8 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

How common are engine room fires?  Do they occur more frequently than we, the guests, realize?  Is the alarm system alerting guests activated every time that a fire such as that takes place?

 

E/R fires are a less frequent these days and with Hi-Fog systems are quickly extinguished.

 

One of our studies were 2 RCCL E/R fires, one ship had Hi-Fog the other had CO2. The first one with CO2 cost millions, while the Hi-Fog ship was extinguished in seconds with the only cost being a new sensor. On the video, it flashed, then the Hi-Fog cut in with instant knock-down.

 

By the time the fire party entered the space there was no fire.

 

Based on my experience, fires are apparently less common these days than back in the 70's.

[rkacruiser]

15 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Based on my experience, fires are apparently less common these days than back in the 70's.

 

Thank you for your reply.  This is very good to know.