Help!! Info on the old NCL Ship Skyward

[Fairsky]

Hi

 

I am looking for some info on the old NCL cruiseship the Skyward, I went on my very first cruise on this Ship sometime in the late 70's or early 80's she went to Cape Hatien, Haiti, Puerto Plate, Dominican Republic, San Juan, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas... I also know the cruise was delayed because of a huge snowstorm in the midwest and they rushed us in Cape Hatien to keep to our schedule...Also there was a very large contingent from BASF on board the ship...I would like to find out the exact year I took this cruise, but unfortuneatly I suffer from CRS...

 

Thanks to anyone who can help...

 

Karen:)

[mpk218]

The huge snow storm in the Midwest was 1979. We recieved several feet of snow.

 

I wish I where on a cruise then.

 

mpk

[shoreguy]

The Skyward is still cruiising

 

MS Skyward 1969-1991 (now Leisure World for New Century Cruises, Singapore) - sistership to Starward

 

 

[mbisson]

Thanks for the photo Shoreguy!

 

My SIL has only sailed once & it was on the Skyward or Starward. We're taking her to Alaska with us in '08 & will (probably) be either on the Pearl or Star. I wonder if she will notice any differences between her 2 cruises!!!

 

-Monte

[JudyOh]

We sailed on the Skyward Dec of 1976 on the exact itinerary you mention. It was also our first cruise! We also sailed on the Starward twice. Remember on the Skyward on the very top deck they had a small bar and bucket chairs hanging from the ceiling? We thought it was the neatest thing, we would go up there every night after dinner and get a drink and sit in those chairs and swing watching the ocean go by:) It is a fond memory after all these years.

 

mbisson - your sister won't believe the difference. I believe they were around 17,000 tons and we thought they were marvelous ships.

[denlyd]

Brings back memories. I cannot remember the year but we were on the SKYWARD and we had a suite. I thought that suite was the greatest but in comparison to today's suites it really was only the size of a decent size outside cabin.

The swing chairs were great and the ship was small by today's sizes but we loved it.

We hit really rough seas and they locked all the outside doors. At 17000 tons you rocked and rolled.

Thanks for bringing back the memories.

ps.

As I recall I thought we also were on the STARWARD? Wasn't that a different ship about the same size.

Regards,

Dennis

[electricron]

You can see photos and read the history of all past NCL ships, including the Starward, at http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/NCLPCs1.html

 

Specifically, the Starward (NCL : 1968-1994)

 

Following the sucess of Sunward, two larger cruise ships were ordered by NCL, the Starward and Skyward. Starward was completed in 1968 by AG Weser of Bremerhaven, for the Kloster subsidary NCL (Norwegiaan Caribbean Line, later Norwegian Cruise Line). She operated out of Miami, on seven day cruises to the Caribbean Islands. S/he originally had a stern car door and garage space to take trailers, particularly to Jamica. This space was later converted to cabins. She is a sister to Skyward (later Leisure World).

Starward was sold to Festival Cruises in 1994, becoming their second ship Bolero. In 2000, Bolero was chartered to First Choice Cruises, followed by charters to other travel companies. In 2002 Bolero was chartered to Spanish Cruise Line. In 2004, Festive Cruises failed and Bolero was sold. Following the collapse of Festive Cruises, Bolero became the Orient Queen of Orient Queen shipping. This past year, the Orient Queen passed to Louis Cruise Line.

 

Louis Cruise Lines sails many older cruise ships from Cyprus, Greece, France, and Italy. Here's a list of ships they presently own:

 

From Greece 3 ships:

Orient Queen, Sea Diamond, Perla

From Cyprus 3 ships:

Ivory, Serenade, and Princess Marissa

From France and Italy 2 ships:

Sapphire and Coral

Chartered to Thomson 3 ships:

Calypso, Emerald, Thomson Destiny, and Thomson Spirit

Chartered to Transocean of Germany 1 ship:

Arielle

 

That's a total of 12 ships under they own. Almost as much as NCL. By the way, last year there were rumors that Louis Cruise Lines was interested in purchasing the Majesty. If they bought the Majesty, it would be the largest ship they owned by far. Here's their web site, http://www.louiscruises.com/cruise_ships.html

[knarf]

Hi all,

This must be the old timers cruise club..I too was on the Skyward in the early 80"s. It was our (ex and me) first first cruise. Of course, I was only 16 years old :rolleyes: !! I can't remember the exact year. It was a sister ship to the Starward. While on our cruise alot of folks said "You should cruise on the Norway" It was one of the larger ships at that time,I believe. I think it had just been "redone and it had another name and NCL renamed it the Norway. Well, we did cruise on it a year later and IT WAS BIG !!! :eek: We really had a good time. I didn't cruise again until the early 90"s and have been cruising since( and with a new wife (and he had a MUCH better time (wifey here!! ) DW came in and added her two cents !!:) We love cruising and this past year I cruised NCL again-I couldn't get the past passenger rate from NCL because I didn't have anything to show that I cruised with them and their records didn't go back that far. We are seriously thinking of cruising the Aloha on 9/29/07 --11 day Hawaii. As Bob Hope would have said..."Thanks for the Memories"

Sincerely, Knarf (Frank backwards)

[denlyd]

We sailed on the NORWAY, in the 80's or 90's (old age is a bi !!!!!!!!). We used Marriott Points and had a Suite, which was 3 times the size of our SKYWARD Suite.

Great ship.

The next scheduled cruise was booked by the French Government and on the return voyage they were transforming the ship to resemble the original Il De France (spelling?).

They coverered over the NORWAY emblem and were putting up signage in French.

It was quite an experience.

Regards

Dennis

[riz]

Miss Festival Bolero 1995 here......just thought I would throw that in :)

 

Ahhhhhh...to be young again.

[mburnell]

We were on the Skyward for our first cruise in 1985. We paid $699 for two including air from Michigan and one night pre-cruise in Miami. The bed in our cabin was from one wall to the other. We had a wonderful time.

 

We also enjoyed the swings by the bar upstairs.

[Fairsky]

Thanks everyone....I am still no closer to figuring out when I cruised on her, I also loved the swinging chairs, it was my favorite bar....The only other thing I remember about the cruise is that the cruise staff also went with you on the tours, When I went on a cruise on her in 1985, they no longer went with you....I know I went before March of 1982 and after 1974...I also saw the Starward on a cruise I took in 1992, I noticed the old sun logo (it was raised and showed up on the bottom of the Hull) I talked to one of the crewmembers of this ship and was told it was the old Starward...

[Kpehr]

I was on that ship in 1973. Went to the same places. Oddly, what I remember most are our waiters. Jaques and Bennet, both from Haiti and they both came to our home in Florida for visits on separate occasions. Other memory is the apple seed necklaces in Haiti. 10 for $1.

[BSR]

I also sailed on the Skyward, Sunward and Starward in the late 80's and early 90's. :)

Edited August 17, 2015 by BSR

[antmaril]

My late husband and I took our first cruise on the Starward in 1982. I remember that I was shocked at the size of the cabin. It was SO small. And, I became seasick the minute the ship pulled away from the dock. Another passenger heard me complaining and gave me a patch to put behind my ear. I felt better about 1:00 a.m. Once I started feeling better, we had a great time. Fond memories!

[3kidsncats]

We sailed on the Starward in 1993 for our honeymoon. I remember we were next to the then mammoth Monarch of the Seas in St. Thomas and I was in awe of how big she was -- so years later we sailed on the Monarch for an anniversary. And at that point she was small. Can you imagine the Starward next to Quantum of the Seas??

 

We did have a lovely trip on the Starward, and she will always have a special place in my heart. They had a karoake evening, and my husband is a professional singer, so he sang a song he had done at our wedding (My Girl) and the whole rest of the cruise people were recognizing him and asking him to sing. It was pretty funny.

[jakesnana]

OMG !!! Talk about flashbacks :) My first cruise was on the Southward in 1989. A 5 nt out of Port of Long Beach, which I had to fly to from Boston. I'm amazed I still wanted to cruise after that adventure. I was cruising solo, a snow storm hit Boston the morning I was supposed to leave so we left 1 hour late, missed my connection in DFW, flew to San Diego instead then a puddle jumper to LAX. Boarded the ship at 3:45 PM and was the last passenger onboard and my luggage never made it.

 

Thank God that at that time I booked everything through NCL (including flight)and they took care of everything, including giving me money to purchase some clothes and one of the entertainment staff lent me a gown and shoes for formal night. It certainly was an adventure, but one that provided GREAT memories :)

[butterfinger]

I also cruised on the skyward but I think it was in the early 70s - it was my first cruise! I am determined to find something to verify and satisfy my curiosity as to the particulars. In Nov. of this year, I'll be sailing on my 15th cruise. I love it!!!

[cruisencrazy]

We cruised on both the Skyward and the Norway. We had a window on the Skyward in May of 1988 and the Owners suite on the Norway in 1991. We still love to cruise.

 

We had purchased pictures from NCL on both cruises and they accepted those as proof that we sailed with them for latitudes points.

Edited September 12, 2016 by cruisencrazy

[bonvoyagie]

There were two ships that were stretched by adding a section to the middle. I remember them working along with the Sky in 2002 when we did our first AK cruise - just can't remember their names - thinking Windward ?

[Ohio_Bob]

There were two ships that were stretched by adding a section to the middle. I remember them working along with the Sky in 2002 when we did our first AK cruise - just can't remember their names - thinking Windward ?

I think they were Windward and Dreamward (formerly Norwegian Wind and Dream). I remember one went to Bermuda when we went there on Celebrity Zenith back in 1995.

[chefjellynow]

I was on the skyward in very early 80's. My first cruise with the family. I was 12ish. I rwmember and we have photos of going partway thru the panama canal and mexican ruins.

[Elainemh]

There were two ships that were stretched by adding a section to the middle. I remember them working along with the Sky in 2002 when we did our first AK cruise - just can't remember their names - thinking Windward ?

 

The second ship was the Dreamward. We sailed on her twice. Once before and then again

after the addition.

[lcpagejr]

There were two ships that were stretched by adding a section to the middle. I remember them working along with the Sky in 2002 when we did our first AK cruise - just can't remember their names - thinking Windward ?

 

Dreamward was one of the ships they stretched. I cruised on this ship twice before it was stretched. Renamed to "Dream" after stretching.

[newmexicoNita]

The Skyward is still cruiising

 

MS Skyward 1969-1991 (now Leisure World for New Century Cruises, Singapore) - sistership to Starward

 

 

and the names were changed from Skyward and Seaward to Sky and Sea. We sailed our first NCL cruise on the Seaward in about 1990 and then the Sea with friends in about 2002.