Pearl of Scandinavia

[jmkennett]

Hi. What ever happened to the Pearl of Scandinavia? I know it became the Ocean Pearl, then I lost track. We sailed on her in 1984, 1986 and 1987 in the Orient and SE Asia.

[chasetf]

Hi. What ever happened to the Pearl of Scandinavia? I know it became the Ocean Pearl, then I lost track. We sailed on her in 1984, 1986 and 1987 in the Orient and SE Asia.

I found the following on the simplonpc dot co (do) uk site concerning the Pearl of Scandinavia / Ocean Pearl.

"Finlandia was delivered by Oy Wärtsilä Ab, Helsinki in 1967 to Finska Ångfartygs Ab (FÅA), for the route Helsinki-Copenhagen-Travemünde, which was marketed as Finlandia Line. In 1975 she was sold to Finnlines without change in name or route. In 1978 Finlandia was converted to a cruise ferry and renamed Finnstar. She commenced cruising in the Mediterranean, but was laid up in Toulon in 1980. In 1981 she was sold to I.M.Skaugen and converted into a luxury cruise ship by Aarlborg Werft, returning to service in 1982 as the Pearl of Scandinavia of Pearl Cruises. In 1987, Pearl Cruises was sold to Ocean Cruise Lines. Pearl of Scandinavia was rebuilt again in 1988, receiving a new bow and funnel. and renamed Ocean Pearl. In 1990, Ocean Cruise Lines was acquired by Croisieres Paquet. The owners of Paquet also owned Costa, and management passed to Costa in 1994. The name was changed to Pearl. In 1995 Pearl was refurbished and reappeared as the Costa Playa of Costa.

 

In 1998 she was sold to Mega Wave International Ltd, Hong Kong and renamed Oriental Pearl under the Bahamas flag. The following year she was sold back to Costa Crociere and renamed Joy Wave. In 2000 she was sold to Eurasia International, Hong Kong and renamed Golden Princess for casino cruises out of Hong Kong."