Nordic Prince

[berwyn]

Thanks Jersey,We had captain Osten Andreassen on our first cruise [song of Norway].We could not recall the spelling of his name.Now we can do a search for him.

[tourlink99]

The Nordic Empress was built by Admiral Cruises. Its "sister ships" would have been the Emerald Seas and the Azure Seas. Admiral was purchased by RCCL before it could finish building their new ship.

Mark

[KYBOB]

Our first cruise was on our Honeymoon on the Nordic Prince for 14 days in 1990 and we became cruisers. We sailed twice on the Nordic Prince and when I read here in the various boards people complaining about the size of the cabin, I remember the cabins and bath rooms on this ship and remember I would have to stand on the bed to put my clothes on while my wife had the 'floor', and we had a 'porthole'. So the cabins on the newer ships I have nothing to complain about, I just shows how 'spoiled' people have become. Also talk about rolling and movement I remember the waiters only filling the glasses half full. We also marveled at how the dancers could put on a show and not fall down.

 

We still compare all the Cruise Directors to Andy Graham. I will never forget the crew talent show, it was a riot.

 

On our second cruise on the Nordic Prince another 14 day cruise we meet some people who became dear friends. I have many fond memories of this little ship and miss the 'closeness' of the small ship over the larger liners of today. Unfortunately my wife needs to be on the big ships she is older now and is prone to sea sickness.

 

I have atached a picture of the Nordic Prince in 1991 in St Lucia.

[ROZO'SBEAU]

My wife and I honeymooned on the Nordic Prince on a 10-day sail out of Miami, which visited the ports of St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Martinique, Antiqua, and Barbados. That was Nov. 6, 1988, and the Captain was Osten Andreassen. To our delight and surprise, he had him again as our Captain again two and a half years later onboard the Song of America on a 7-day Western Caribbean cruise. We loved his voice coming over the loudspeaker, and I got pretty good at imitating him (I thought so, at least). We were not used to his accent, and we were often suspicious that he belted a few drinks before getting on the loudspeaker... but it was probably just us under the influence:p. But he always got us safely there and back, so we salute you Capt. Andreassen, wherever you may be!:cool:

 

Jim

 

My wife and I took the same 10 day Itinerary on NP back in 1986. Fun trip. My memories include...

(1) seeing malnourished sheep on Antigua that we thought were goats

(2) touring Princess Margaret's honeymoon villa overlooking Nelson's dockyard

(3) snorkling over at St John's and hand feeding some rays

(4) eating flying fish in Barbados (YUM!)

(5) having the excursion desk (then manned by the cruise staff) make a call to Barbados to arrange a visit to the Mount Gay factory (that was before they had organized tours there) and having the plant manager present us with two liters of Mt, Gay Eclipse for just being interested enough to visit

(6) visiting and shopping at Roger Albert in Martinique (eau de cologne, et alia)

(7) enjoying the ambience of Marigot on the French side of St Martaan

(8) buying poolside drinks and taking the empty glasses back to our cabin, mixing our own, and sauntering back topside with full glasses...that's when you could bring your own booze onboard.

 

I've outgrown two tuxedos since that trip...we're still cruising and loving it!

Beau

[springfire]

I remember the first time I saw the Nordic Prince and I thought she was such a big ship. She is so small compared to today's ships you would hardly notice her today. My Norwegian parents worked closely with all the cruise ships going out of Dodge Island in the 1970's. My dad was a salesman for Bailey Refrigeration and would constintly bring the officers before they went out to sea and when they returned to come to our house for some home cooking. I will never forget getting to Dodge Island early in the morning and waiting for the ship to come in and we were always able to board with the customs agent. Times have sure changed now. My father first got me a job as a deck hand in the late 1970's on the Nordic Prince. What an experience living on the ship as a youngster, I only spoke a little english but the guys on deck really made me enjoy my stay and I will never forget them. I again sailed on her in 1981 as we did two week cruises and she was much bigger this time as they extended her length. When I first worked on the ship we actually transported some cargo to the islands. My dad passed away in 1985 and he had his last wish's to have his ash's spread out to sea, of course his ship of choice was the Nordic Prince. It is logged into the captains book as they stopped the ship and honored my dad. After a few minutes the ship continued, the passengers never knew, only those of us who were involved. Needless to say this ship will always be in my heart.

[berwyn]

What a nice post.Thank you.

[DeepWaterMariner]

I remember the first time I saw the Nordic Prince and I thought she was such a big ship. She is so small compared to today's ships you would hardly notice her today. My Norwegian parents worked closely with all the cruise ships going out of Dodge Island in the 1970's. My dad was a salesman for Bailey Refrigeration and would constintly bring the officers before they went out to sea and when they returned to come to our house for some home cooking. I will never forget getting to Dodge Island early in the morning and waiting for the ship to come in and we were always able to board with the customs agent. Times have sure changed now. My father first got me a job as a deck hand in the late 1970's on the Nordic Prince. What an experience living on the ship as a youngster, I only spoke a little english but the guys on deck really made me enjoy my stay and I will never forget them. I again sailed on her in 1981 as we did two week cruises and she was much bigger this time as they extended her length. When I first worked on the ship we actually transported some cargo to the islands. My dad passed away in 1985 and he had his last wish's to have his ash's spread out to sea, of course his ship of choice was the Nordic Prince. It is logged into the captains book as they stopped the ship and honored my dad. After a few minutes the ship continued, the passengers never knew, only those of us who were involved. Needless to say this ship will always be in my heart.

 

Wonderful story! BTW, we sailed the Nordic Prince the first time in 1981 on a 14 day cruise, probably when you working as a deck hand. I recall she had very little wood decking, but what she had was Norwegian pine.

[Kaare]

:)I worked on this ship back in 1971 from when she was brand new. As a Norwegian sailor I left Oslo with the rest of the Norwegian crew in June 1971 for the shipyard she was built at outside Helsinki, Finland. In the dry dock next to the Prince Sun Viking was being built June 1971.

 

We went through rough extensive fire drills outside Helsinki for three weeks before boarding the Prince in mid July. Our first job was to make the ship ready for its first voyage to Kristiansand, Norway where we stayed for two days taking on board provisions for the next long voyage across the Atlantic to Miami. On July 30th we set off and hit a nasty storm after crossing north west of Scotland and the Hebrides. The storm kept going to two days. After ten days we saw the skyscrapers on Miami Beach in the horizon popping up in the sun. A week later on a Saturday we set off on our first 14 days cruise. The last port of call on these cruises was Port of Spain, Trinidad. I recall a mayday message from a large bulk carrier outside Trinidad as we were about to leave Port of Spain. I was on the bridge steering at the moment. Our captain set full speed and those four hours it took the Prince to get to the bulk carrier, she did a better speed than ever. Across the Atlanctic she was tested to 24,5 knots, but that day from Trinidad she did no less than 26 knots, which I believe she never did later on her cruises. It was incredible to see how she moved through the water that day, and her engines actually made less vibration than when she kept her usual speed on cruises.

 

The Nordic Prince as far as I know is still doing cruises in the Carribean, but not for the RCCL which sold her in the early 90's. The "Crown" was removed before RCCL sold her. She was also extended with an 80 feet long section in the middle about ten years after being built. So was one of her sister ships, but not Sun Viking. The Prince started with 18400 tons, but ended up being extended to 23000 tons.

 

I also remember I fell in love with a young girl from Houston, Texas, though crew members were not allowed to fraternize with passengers, but that's another story.:)

[Mark]

That is a great story about Nordic Prince...thanks for sharing it. NP was my first cruise with RCCL and the captain at the time was Leif Otto Bang and from what I understand has become a legend with RCCL. I loved my cruise to Bermuda, the cruise line and the ship and have sailed with RCCL many times since...thanks again!

[srice]

Two years ago I had to prove I was a C & A. Those first cruises I kept everything so I could prove it. I even had the streamers from the sail away party.

 

The Nordic Prince was our first cruise too. The captain was Svein Pettersen. I have a good picture of Captain Pettersen shaking hands with my daughter on the bridge (that was back in the days when you could actually visit the bridge).

 

I would really be interested in the itinerary of your 1984 cruise. I don't have many details of that cruise and it might be the same as the one we took in June of 1984.

 

Would you mind sharing the itinerary? You can e-mail me at srice(at)yahoo.com.

 

Thanks

[CruiseDirections]

My DH and I were on the Aquamarine (former Nordic Prince) on a Greek Island cruise in March 2008. I enjoy vintage ships but we found this ship needed some updating. The beds were old and hard, the bedding and draperies were very old, and the cabin had a lingering odor it is obvious Louis Cruise Line has not updated the ship since they acquired it. The hallways had the original porthole shaped photos and they were very charming, better than some of the modern art on newer ships. The ports on this cruise were amazing, the price was better than the new ships sailing the Greek Isles and it was fun to sail on one of RCCL's first cruise ships. I am glad it has not been sent to the breakers like so many classic ships.

[berwyn]

The Nordic Prince was our first cruise too. The captain was Svein Pettersen. I have a good picture of Captain Pettersen shaking hands with my daughter on the bridge (that was back in the days when you could actually visit the bridge).

 

I would really be interested in the itinerary of your 1984 cruise. I don't have many details of that cruise and it might be the same as the one we took in June of 1984.

 

Would you mind sharing the itinerary? You can e-mail me at srice(at)yahoo.com.

 

Thanks

I have an old brochure that covers April'83 to March'84. It shows an 8 day cruise from Miami to Nassau,San Juan,and St.Thomas. It also lists some 10 day cruises. Hope this helps.

[srice]

I have an old brochure that covers April'83 to March'84. It shows an 8 day cruise from Miami to Nassau,San Juan,and St.Thomas. It also lists some 10 day cruises. Hope this helps.

 

I thought our first cruise was 7 days but it could have been 8. Were there any other ports?

 

I remember the first night out we stopped late at night to pick up some Cubans adrift in a raft heading for the U. S.

[aloha of the seas]

I am also looking to figure out my itinerary. I know that I departed and returned to Miami. Pretty certain it was a 7 day cruise that left in 11/85. I have some pix that indicate we stopped in Phillipsburg, St Maarten and Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas. I am not certain about other orts of call. Could be places like San Juan or Antigua. Don't know if we stopped at Coco Cay. Does anyone have any recollection. Your help is appeciated.

 

The NP was our 2nd RCCL cruise and at that point in time we knew we were not going to change cruise lines.

[srice]

...Don't know if we stopped at Coco Cay....

 

I think Coco Cay came along later, perhaps in the late '80s or early '90s.

[Copper10-8]

 

mv Nordic Prince (1971-present) Built by in 1971 as mv Nordic Prince by Oy Wärtsilä Ab/Wärtsilä New Shipyards, Hietalahti/Helsingors/Helsinki, Finland for (then) Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. She was the second new and purpose-built cruise ship built for RCCL and had two sisters - Song of Norway and Sun Viking. Nordic Prince was delivered to her owners on 8 July 1971 in Oslo, Norway and was names/christened that same day by her godmother, Swedish motion picture actress Ingrid Bergman. The ship then crossed the Atlantic and on 31 July 1971 began sailing seven and fourteen-day Caribbean cruises out of Miami, Fl. During her career, RCCL also operated her in Alaska, on the North American west coast and on Panama Canal transits.

 

 

In June 1980, Song of Norway was lengthened at the Wärtsilä yard by 85 feet, to increase her total passenger capacity to 1,024 as well as increase her size to 23,000 gross tons (her original size had been 18,416 GT). At the yard, she was basically cut in half and a a new hull section was inserted (a smiliar operation had been performed on her sister Song of Norway). Unlike cargo ships, this had never been done with a cruise ship. She was back in service on 17 June 1980. When RCCL acquired new tonnage in the late 1980s, Nordic Prince was operated on some world wide cruises.

 

 

Nordic Prince became the first RCCL ship to be supplanted by larger tonnage and on 15 March 1995 she was sold to British-based Sun Cruises, part of the Airtours/MyTravel Group. Before the ship entered service for her new owners, the RCCL hallmark glass-enclosed Viking Crown Lounge around her funnel was removed.

 

Renamed mv Carousel, the ship began cruising for Sun Cruises on 6 May 1995. During her time with Sun Cruises she spent summers cruising in the Mediterranean but during the winter seasons she returned to the Caribbean. On 13 February 2000, Carousel was grounded near Cancun, Mexico, which led to cancellation of five cruises while she was being repaired. Toward the end of her service with Sun Cruises the ship received My Travel funnel colors. In the early 2000s Sun Cruises started pulling out of the cruise business.

 

 

On 19 July 2004, Carousel was sold to Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines, but chartered right back to Sun Cruises until May 2005. She would be Sun Cruises last ship in service.

 

On 13 June 2005, Louis Cruise Lines renamed the ship mv Aquamarine and, started operating her on 7-day cruises around the Mediterranean with Genoa, Italy as her home port.

 

 

On 3 April 2006, the ship was chartered for five years to Germany-based charter operator Transocean Tours who renamed her mv Arielle. However, this charter was terminated early on 28 October 2007 and the ship returned to the Louis fleet in early 2008 and reverted back to the name Aquamarine.

 

 

On 9 May 2008, Aquamarine was diverted to Milos on the Greek island of Paros in the Southern Aegean Sea, after a 1.5-meter gash was found on her hull at about 1.5 m above the water line. The ship's hull was damaged after it scraped against a pier during its departure from the port of Iraklio/Heraklion in Crete enroute to the resort island of Santorini with 1,200 passengers onboard. It was discovered that the gash was above the water line so the ship proceeded to Piraeus for repairs. When these were completed, she continued with her three and four-day Aegean cruises for Louis Cruise Line.

 

On 9 May 2008, Aquamarine was diverted to Milos on the Greek island of Paros in the Southern Aegean Sea, after a 1.5-meter gash was found on her hull at about 1.5 m above the water line. The ship's hull was damaged after it scraped against a pier during its departure from the port of Iraklio/Heraklion in Crete enroute to the resort island of Santorini with 1,200 passengers onboard. It was discovered that the gash was above the water line so the ship proceeded to Piraeus for repairs. When these were completed, she continued with her three and four-day Aegean cruises for Louis Cruise Line.

 

A new endeauvour for Louis Cruise Lines under the banner of subsidiary Louis Cruises India saw ms Aquamarine travel to the Indian subcontinent in early December 2009 to start operating there from the port of Kochi (Cochin) in southern India for a five-year period. Her itineraries include Kochi-Maldives Islands-Kochi and Kochi-Colombo (Sri Lanka)-Kochi. With this, Aquamarine becomes the first international cruise ship to operate a regular service from a port in India.

 

Edited January 31, 2010 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

Some add'l Nordic Prince (and subsequent identities) pics

 

 

As Nordic Prince in Fort-de-France, Martinique in 1989

 

 

As Nordic Prince in Hamilton, Bermuda in 1986

 

 

As Carousel in Palma de Mallorca, Spain in 1998

 

 

As Carousel at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain in 2003

 

 

As Arielle in Odessa, Ukraine in 2007

 

 

As Aquamarine at Rhodos (Rhodes), Greece in 2008

[springfire]

Thank you so much for those photos. I have spent alot of time on this ship and seeing those photos of the Nordic Prince yesteryear and today. What a history. Thank You.

[gottagoacruzn]

Yes, I had been on the Nordic Prince twice, once in the Caribbean and up in Alaska. Also been on Song of Norway, Sun Viking, Viking Serenade. Sure liked them ships. Had seen the Soverign leave Miami once, and thought one day I'd sail on that ship, but never get around to it. So many ships and not enough time.

[Kellie Poodle]

Wow! What memories. Nordic Prince was our first Royal Caribbean cruise, too. DH surprised me with tickets for a Mexican Riviera cruise out of Los Angeles. We had to fly across the country from New Jersey where we lived at the time. It was Easter vacation and I think there were maybe 5 people besides me on the full ship who were not teachers on holiday. The food was wonderful, but the ship was showing some wear and tear.

 

I do recall that the berths were screwed into the wall and they refused to put them together. I had one of those little metal disks with screwdriver stubs on my keychain. We unscrewed the beds from the wall and put them together at night, then back against the wall in the morning. We gave the steward an advance gratuity to play along. He did.

 

At that time we had done two cruises with NCL. One was on the old ferry that I believe was called the Starward. Tiny ship that thrashed about in the Atlantic when she sailed out of San Juan. DH says that the captain and I were the only people who were not seasick. The other was the brand new Seaward's second cruise. That was a pretty ship. Those were the days when NCL didn't paint graffiti on their ships :)

 

I remember thinking that I liked NCL better. Since NCL went bargain basement and freestyle, it's just the opposite. We mostly cruise with RCI now.

 

Amazing how things change over the years.

[Philly Steve]

I enjoyed all the pics. Thanks for posting! :cool:

[davidjplatt]

My first cruise was in 1974 on the Cunard Adventurer - 7 night So. Caribbean from San Juan all the way to Caracas. Loved that small ship and the British crew.

 

When I wanted to go on a cruise in 1975, my travel agent at the time insisted I go on Royal Caribbean as she had been on the Song of Norway and raved about RCCL. When she checked on when I could get booked on Song of Norway for a 7 day cruise (Nordic Prince and Sun Viking were doing 14 day cruises and I didn't think I could afford a 2 week cruise) there was an 18 month waitlist. My agent found out that a one week cruise on Song of Norway would have been $850 for the week (I was 24 years old and single at the time and RCCL did book cabins on a share basis then). She decided to check on the 2 week cruises on Nordic Prince and Sun Viking and they told her that they had a share available in 3 weeks on Nordic Prince and it would run $1100 for 2 weeks. I stopped by her office "on a lark" about 30 minutes after she got off the phone with RCCL and they had the cruise on "courtesy hold" for 48 hours. Needless to say when she told me about the one week cost, the waitlist for Song of Norway and then the price and availability for Nordic Prince I snatched it up right away.

 

Nordic Prince was one of the best vacations I have ever taken. I have done 13 cruises in all (getting ready to book #14) on Cunard (1), RCCL (3), Carnival (1 -1 too many), NCL (2 - ss Norway both times), HAL (2 - first was great, second horrible), Silversea (1) and Princess (3).

 

Silversea can't be compared to the others - 7 days of total luxury, impeccable food and impeccable service. An entire week of absolute pampering.

 

Right behind Silversea was the Nordic Prince. Fantastic table companions (some of which I am still in contact with after 36 years), superb food, superb service and an ultra clean ship. Not to mention a two week itinerary that included my second favorite Caribbean island - Curacao. I still want to go back to Curacao on a cruise - a "little peice of Europe". I obviously travelled on NP before it was lengthened.

 

RCCL isn't the same. I did Adventure of the Seas in September 2006 and Brilliance of the Seas from Rome to Barcelona in 2007 and I must say the level of service and quality of food was a far cry from what I experienced on Nordic Prince.

 

At this point, my cruise lines of choice are Silversea and Princess. All three of my cruises on Princess have only been surpassed by Silversea and Nordic Prince.

[isujim]

My first cruise was in 1974 on the Cunard Adventurer - 7 night So. Caribbean from San Juan all the way to Caracas. Loved that small ship and the British crew.

 

When I wanted to go on a cruise in 1975, my travel agent at the time insisted I go on Royal Caribbean as she had been on the Song of Norway and raved about RCCL. When she checked on when I could get booked on Song of Norway for a 7 day cruise (Nordic Prince and Sun Viking were doing 14 day cruises and I didn't think I could afford a 2 week cruise) there was an 18 month waitlist. My agent found out that a one week cruise on Song of Norway would have been $850 for the week (I was 24 years old and single at the time and RCCL did book cabins on a share basis then). She decided to check on the 2 week cruises on Nordic Prince and Sun Viking and they told her that they had a share available in 3 weeks on Nordic Prince and it would run $1100 for 2 weeks. I stopped by her office "on a lark" about 30 minutes after she got off the phone with RCCL and they had the cruise on "courtesy hold" for 48 hours. Needless to say when she told me about the one week cost, the waitlist for Song of Norway and then the price and availability for Nordic Prince I snatched it up right away.

 

Nordic Prince was one of the best vacations I have ever taken. I have done 13 cruises in all (getting ready to book #14) on Cunard (1), RCCL (3), Carnival (1 -1 too many), NCL (2 - ss Norway both times), HAL (2 - first was great, second horrible), Silversea (1) and Princess (3).

 

Silversea can't be compared to the others - 7 days of total luxury, impeccable food and impeccable service. An entire week of absolute pampering.

 

Right behind Silversea was the Nordic Prince. Fantastic table companions (some of which I am still in contact with after 36 years), superb food, superb service and an ultra clean ship. Not to mention a two week itinerary that included my second favorite Caribbean island - Curacao. I still want to go back to Curacao on a cruise - a "little peice of Europe". I obviously travelled on NP before it was lengthened.

 

RCCL isn't the same. I did Adventure of the Seas in September 2006 and Brilliance of the Seas from Rome to Barcelona in 2007 and I must say the level of service and quality of food was a far cry from what I experienced on Nordic Prince.

 

At this point, my cruise lines of choice are Silversea and Princess. All three of my cruises on Princess have only been surpassed by Silversea and Nordic Prince.

 

I agree it isn't the same.........RCCL isn't the same........Nordic Prince was our first cruise in 1987.....I still have the passenger list from that cruise along with a ton of pictures...........

 

I keep asking myself if the service and food was that much better.......or was it because it was my first cruise...........I believe the standards were much better than today.

[ddhrpec]

What memories. My first cruise was on the Song of Norway at about age 12. Then onto the "new" Nordic Prince...then on it again when it was lengthened...then the Sun Viking... I remember sailing with my dad alone on most of the cruises as my mother didnt like cruising. We always stayed in "owners cabins" which if I remember were a group of about 7 cabins on the promenade deck. Tiny by todays standards but hey they had a bathtub! LOL...I remember the food was incredible and you dressed every night for dinner. Formal nights were tuxedos.... I probably have 1000 old slides from those cruises and actually about five years ago I decided to book another RCCL cruise. They had no records of my previous sailings in the 70's but accapted a photo of me playing a slot machine I had at age 13 and made me a past guest for the discounts LOL...The proof they said was the RCCL logo on the machine itself... Honestly I have never sailed RCCL after that cruise 5 years ago..it just isnt the same anymore. I remember most of the decks had stem to stern walkways where most people strolled at night, now they want more cabins and less deck areas. The food was awesome even for a child. I remember crying one night because I didnt want lobster I wanted a hamburger....within a few minutes out came a burger..LOL..My dad has been gone over 20 years now and some of my most treasured memories was he and I on those cruises. Still enjoy cruising several times a year mostly on NCL or CCL but I sure miss the old days and those "tiny" ships LOL

[CruiseDirections]

Louis Cruise Line has sold The Aquamarine (former Nordic Prince) to a Mexican Cruise Line and it has been renamed Ocean Star Pacific.