Your first cruise ship

[Host Dan]

WOW!!! Thanks for the info on my first cruise - ship!

 

Host Dan

[innlady1]

 

tss Ocean Monarch (1951-1981) Built in 1951 as tss (Turbine Steam Ship) Ocean Monarch by Vickers-Armstrong Shipbuilders, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England for Furness, Withy & Co. She was based out of New York and was used on the New York - Bermuda service by Furness Bermuda Line, carrying passengers and fresh water supplies to the island's hotels. (Bermuda has no fresh water supply at that time). On 18 April 1951, she left England for New York City on her maiden voyage.

 

On 22 September 1966 following the ending of sea passenger services to Bermuda, she crossed back over to Great Britain but this time to be laid up in the River Fal, Cornwall awaiting disposal.

 

 

In August 1967, she was sold to Bulgarian-base Balkantourist (owned by Navigation Maritime Bulgare, Sofia), renamed Varna to earn foreign currency by cruising in the Black Sea. For three years, she was laid up during the winter season.

 

 

In 1970, she was laid up at Perama, Greece. In 1979, she was purchased by Greek-based Dolphin (Hellas) Shipping S.A., refurbished for full-time cruising. First renamed Venus, and then Riviera A, she was operated by Trans-Tirreno Express SpA for Mediterranean cruising. In 1981, she was renamed Reina Del Mar but laid up awaiting financing.

 

She was then chartered to German-based SUR-Seereisen for summer cruises and was to be overhauled at Ambelaki, Greece. On 28 May 1981, while at Ambelaki, engine running trials led to an engine room fire which gutted the ship. The next day, 29 May 1981 found Reina del Mar still burning vessel towed out to sea by the tug Titan, but the tow parted and she went ashore on Salamina Island. On 1 June 1981, she was towed off but again burst into flames and was scuttled at Kynosaura, Perama Bay where she fell onto her side and became a total loss

 

Love this thread, John! I just found these photos in it...my first cruise (in the 60's) was to Bermuda on the Ocean Monarch...during College Week. I'm sure all the the older folks loved seeing a bunch of college girls board in NYC! :rolleyes:

[djg541]

Our first cruise was on the Phatome,a four masted sailing yacht carrying about 195 passengers from Grenada through the Grenadine islands in April '93

The ship later sank in hurricane Mitch,maybe 99? Lost about 35 crew inculding captain.

This was the begining of the end of the "barefoot Winjammer" Co out of Miami as the co. was self insured, and this loss eventually ruined them.

We were able to sail aboard Flying Cloud,Yankee Clipper, Polynesia a few

times on various carribean venues before they folded. This was true sailing. We miss it.

[mudscraper]

Our first cruise was on the Phatome,a four masted sailing yacht carrying about 195 passengers from Grenada through the Grenadine islands in April '93

The ship later sank in hurricane Mitch,maybe 99? Lost about 35 crew inculding captain.

This was the begining of the end of the "barefoot Winjammer" Co out of Miami as the co. was self insured, and this loss eventually ruined them.

We were able to sail aboard Flying Cloud,Yankee Clipper, Polynesia a few

times on various carribean venues before they folded. This was true sailing. We miss it.

We also sailed on several Windjammer ships.

One favorite,in 1992, was to reinact the voyage of Columbus 500 years earlier. The Polynesia,Mandalay and Phantome sailed the Carribean together. We would party on each ship and had a wonderful time.

Swizzle time!!

 

 

Rich

[Copper10-8]

Our first cruise was on the Phatome,a four masted sailing yacht carrying about 195 passengers from Grenada through the Grenadine islands in April '93

The ship later sank in hurricane Mitch,maybe 99? Lost about 35 crew inculding captain.

This was the begining of the end of the "barefoot Winjammer" Co out of Miami as the co. was self insured, and this loss eventually ruined them.

We were able to sail aboard Flying Cloud,Yankee Clipper, Polynesia a few

times on various carribean venues before they folded. This was true sailing. We miss it.

 

sv Flying Cloud (1926-1998) Originally designed as a destroyer for the Italian Navy, her keel was laid during the First World War in Livorno, Italy, however work on her was never completed. In 1927 during the Roaring Twenties, she was finally commisioned for Great Britain's Duke of Westminster, He named her Flying Cloud, a floating palace, and had her idle along the French Riviera. Built for luxury on a grand scale, Flying Cloud was a steel-hulled, four-masted stay-sail schooner and at 282-foot and 676-ton, one of the world's largest.

In 1937, she was purchased by A.E. (Ernest) Guiness of the Guiness Brewery fame who renamed her Fantome II. She sailed into Seattle in 1939 and became stranded by the outbreak of the Second World War. After the war ended, King County blocked her departure in an effort to recover property taxes from Guiness. The vessel ended up resting at anchor in Portage Bay for a total of nearly fourteen years.

In 1956 she was again sold, this time to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. He planned to make her a wedding gift for Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco. However, Mr. Onassis and the Prince were not the greatest of friends, and after an argument, Onassis decided to cancel his bid. Basically, his present was never delivered because Mr. Onassis' name was not on the guest list for the wedding. Instead, sv (sailing vessel) Fantome was towed to Kiel, West Germany where she would lay rusting and deteriorating for thirteen years.

She was rescued from mothballs in 1969 by self-made Miami entrepreneur Mike Burke, founder of Windjammer Barefoot Cruises, Ltd., who found her laying on her side and who subsequently purchased the tall ship from Aristotle Onassis. After a six million dollar renovation, Burke had her converted into a luxury sailing vessel for up to 128 adventurous guests. He registered her out of exotic Equatorial Guinea in West Africa and began operating her in the Caribbean.

 

In her Windjammer service, Fantome would sail the Caribbean, carrying passengers on week-long fantasy cruises, spiced with rum and sun. Breakfast was a Bloody Mary; dinner attire was a T-shirt and shorts; her passengers dived off the side to snorkel, and climbed back up on rope ladders, all the simple tropical pleasures that $1,500 to $2,000 a week could buy. One of her itineraries offered was a six-day trip from Antigua to Nevis, St. Kitts, Dominica, St. Barts, Guadeloupe, Iles des Saintes and St. Maarten. Her last couple of years found her home ported in Omoa, a small harbor just south of Puerto Cortez, Honduras, offering summer/fall itineraries in the Belize and Honduran Bay Island areas.

Her final, fateful trip began in Omoa on Saturday afternoon, 25 October 1998, where she embarked one hundred passengers with a destination of Belize and the Barrier Reef for six days of diving and snorkeling.

 

Nearly 1,000 miles away to the south, 98-mile-per-hour 'Mitch', a late-season Caribbean hurricane, was tracking northeast towards Jamaica. Fantome's captain would play it safe: rather than sailing north to Belize, he would hug the Bay Islands off the Honduran coast. But around 2 AM Sunday morning, 26 October, with her passengers asleep, Fantome changed course. At 6 a.m. those same passengers learned that Fantome would make a sprint for Belize City, where they and all nonessential crew members would be dropped off. The hurricane no longer appeared aimed for certain at Jamaica. Its path seemed erratically northwestward. It was now blowing at 127 mph, a strong Category 3, serious enough to scare a ship of any size.

She arrived at Belize City at 11:30 a.m. on monday, 27 October, after a rough crossing and discharged her passengers who were taken to Miami, Fl on a charter flight arranged by Windjammer. Ten of her crew were also put ashore. After this was completed, Fantome left Belize City that same afternoon in an attempt to avoid Hurricane Mitch's fury. When contact was made on 27 October, her crew was experiencing 100-knot (110-115 mile per hour) winds and 40-foot waves. At that time, the four-masted ship was 10 miles south of Guanaja Island off the Honduran coast.

 

The plan was for Fantome to make for the lee side of the island of Roatan, which lies east to west, parallel to the Honduran coastline, perched between ship and storm, giving protection from large swells. But around noon on Tuesday, 28 October, with forecasters still predicting that the storm would bend west and northwest, Mitch dipped south instead and began churning directly toward Roatan.

Fantome's captain set sail to the east, hoping to slip out as the eye passed above. Instead, Mitch kept coming and coming, trapping Fantome between the dangerous coastline and the eye, the proverbial rock and a hard place. Around 4:30 p.m. on tuesday, Fantome had moved east of Roatan, about 40 miles south of Mitch's 155-mph eyewall fighting a 100-mph gale and 40-foot waves and Mitch taking dead aim at her. Tragically, Fantome was not heard of again.

 

A U.S. Coast Guard C-130 Hercules aircraft began searching the waters east of Honduras on thursday night, 29 October as soon as the bad weather cleared. The search resumed friday morning, with the Honduran Navy joining the effort. On the fifth day of the intense search, the crew of 'Monty 45' a Lynx helicopter, dispatched from the British Royal Navy frigate, HMS Sheffield, spotted debris in the water near eastern Guanaja: eight life vests, two life rafts. Stenciled on them was the name S/V Fantome.

Edited March 4, 2009 by Copper10-8

[rnnyce]

o gyou brought back such great memories. My first cruise was on the Premier ship Majestic. Loved the pictures. I have also sailed on Carnival's Mardi Gras, Fantasy, Imagination, Holiday, Victory. HAL's Maasdam, Zuiderdam, Noordam, Eurodam and RCCL Grandeu!:)r of the Seas. When I was a kid we took our very well to do neighbors to NYC to board HAL's First Rotterdam, back then you were allowed on the ship. I was hooked back then

[Imani68]

My first cruise was on the Carnival Triumph in September of 2000. I need to book another one...now! :D

[Seago2]

John- sad story!!!

[Copper10-8]

John- sad story!!!

 

Yes, very sad! They basically had no place to go!

[Taxguy77]

I remember. We were on one of the first cruiseships to port at Roatan after the hurricane. Roads were in horrible condition and a bus on a ship's tour had some problems.

Edited March 4, 2009 by Taxguy77

[dsparku]

This is a GREAT thread-have read every post-great pictures and stories-thanks to everyone especially Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was on the Carnival Triumph in September of 2000. I need to book another one...now! :D

 

 

ms Carnival Triumph (1999-present) Built as ms Carnival Triumph in 1999 by Fincantieri - Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A., Monfalcone, Italy, for Carnival Cruise Line (CCL). She was the second of the Destiny/Triumph class. That class was modified after the lead ship, Carnival Destiny, was built in 1996. Destiny was the world's largest cruise ship until 1998 and she was also the first passenger ship to be built over 100,000 gross tons. Carnival Triumph differs from Destiny in that she was launched with the addition of extra balcony cabins on her Lido deck and various changes to placement and shapes of her public areas. A third and final sister ship, Carnival Victory, similar to Triumph, was launched in 2000. Because of the additional of the extra cabins on Lido deck, Carnival Triumph and Carnival Victory are officialy part of the Triumph Class while Destiny is in a class by herself.

 

Carnival Triumph was delivered to her owners on 11 July 1999 and, after a transatlantic crossing, christened on 25 July 1999 in New York City by her godmother, Madeline Arison, wife of Carnival Corp chairman and chief executive officer, Micky Arison. She, the ship, not her godmother, departed the Big Apple on her maiden cruise to New England and Canada on 27 July 1999.

Carnival Destiny has a "Great Cities of the World" theme.Her amenities include the Paris Dining Room, the London Dining room, the Rome Lounge, Club Rio, featuring music, a workout center and the Spa Carnival. She sails on seven day itineraries through the Eastern and Western Caribbean from Miami, Florida during the winter season and on Canada/New England cruises from New York City in the fall. The ship has one of the first sea-going cellular systems which allow guests to use their own personal cellular phones to make calls directly from the ship at any time.

On August 19, 2008, Carnival Cruise Line announced that in November 2009, Carnival Triumph will begin operating four, five, and seven-day itineraries out of New Orleans, LA. The Triumph will start operating the new seven-day Eastern and Western Caribbean schedules to complement the line’s popular four and five-day cruises to Mexico.

 

Edited March 4, 2009 by Copper10-8

[Mollynme]

One of these days I need to change my signature.

My first "cruise" was actually in 1958 on the Pacific Far East Line's freighter, the California Bear. We were traveling from San Francisco to Yokohama. I was only 5 at the time but I still have memories of watching for flying fish and listening to the song "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" drifting down the hall from the crew's quarters.

The next was actually on more of a cruise ship - the American President Line's President Cleveland in 1964. My parents' employer decided at the last minute to send us home to Japan by ship instead of by plane and the only cabins left were in first class. That was a real treat! First had the better pool, dining room and kids play area. I did feel a wee bit guilty since another family of our acquaintance was on the same ship in second class and we never saw them except during our stop-over in Honolulu.

Until 41 years later and my first real cruise on the Volendam (after which I became hooked), I always thought of ships as just another method of transportation. (Idiot!)

[Copper10-8]

One of these days I need to change my signature.

My first "cruise" was actually in 1958 on the Pacific Far East Line's freighter, the California Bear. We were traveling from San Francisco to Yokohama. I was only 5 at the time but I still have memories of watching for flying fish and listening to the song "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" drifting down the hall from the crew's quarters.

The next was actually on more of a cruise ship - the American President Line's President Cleveland in 1964. My parents' employer decided at the last minute to send us home to Japan by ship instead of by plane and the only cabins left were in first class. That was a real treat! First had the better pool, dining room and kids play area. I did feel a wee bit guilty since another family of our acquaintance was on the same ship in second class and we never saw them except during our stop-over in Honolulu.

Until 41 years later and my first real cruise on the Volendam (after which I became hooked), I always thought of ships as just another method of transportation. (Idiot!)

 

I'll get you her story later on!;)

[George C]

1st cruise was a cruise to nowhere out of NYC in 1975, second was Rotterdam in 1977 and I been on at least 1 cuise a year since, next one in a couple of weeks will be #51. Most interesting might have been on Carla C which went to Grenada in 1983, US troops invaded the island about a month after the cruise.

[Mollynme]

I'll get you her story later on!;)

Wow! Thanks for the picture. I'll send it on to my brothers who are always interested in pictures from their past.

The only record we have is a home movie of us out on the deck waving at my Dad as we passed under the Golden Gate Bridge. I had no idea that is what the ship looked like.

[Sir PMP]

The 'old' Nieuw Amsterdam in august 1991, 10 day Alaska with Capt. Jacob Dijk and hotel mgr. Hans Dernison

[Atlanta_Cruiser]

I am not a very experienced cruiser like you all, but I do remeber taking my first cruise in something rinky-dink ship out of Palm Beach in 1989. It was a 1 or 2 day to the Bahamas. The ship might have been 300ft. long. It was sooooo cheap, that the band they had playing out by the pool sang a total of 3-5 of the same songs over and over and over! One of the songs was Red-Red-Wine accompanied by steel drums. When we first boarded the ship we were like, "yeah! Red-Red-Wine! wooohooo! great song! Yipppeee!!" after about 30 times hearing it on our way to the Bahamas then all the way back from the the Bahamas it became more like, "hurry up and get me another drink so I can handle listening to that stupid song! Stop it! This is torture!" To this day, when I hear that song on the radio I immediately turn if off. Now that was a cheap cruise. I have since learned :)

 

 

 

What was your first cruise ship? What cruise line, the year and the itinerary? (if you remember;) ) Did it get you hooked?

 

Ours was Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's m/s Viking Serenade, a converted car ferry, back in NOV 1991, a 3-day L.A. - Catalina Island - Esenada, Mexico - L.A. cruise. Never forget our first impressions - we were hooked from that day on!

 

 

Viking Serenade (still sailing today as Island Escape)

 

[Copper10-8]

I am not a very experienced cruiser like you all, but I do remeber taking my first cruise in something rinky-dink ship out of Palm Beach in 1989. It was a 1 or 2 day to the Bahamas. The ship might have been 300ft. long. It was sooooo cheap, that the band they had playing out by the pool sang a total of 3-5 of the same songs over and over and over! One of the songs was Red-Red-Wine accompanied by steel drums. When we first boarded the ship we were like, "yeah! Red-Red-Wine! wooohooo! great song! Yipppeee!!" after about 30 times hearing it on our way to the Bahamas then all the way back from the the Bahamas it became more like, "hurry up and get me another drink so I can handle listening to that stupid song! Stop it! This is torture!" To this day, when I hear that song on the radio I immediately turn if off. Now that was a cheap cruise. I have since learned :)

 

ms Viking Princess, maybe?

 

[Nutrioso]

Boy, Copper John, I imagine myself having access to your library. I could spend days - weeks even - just keep sending in food and water. What luxury! ----Penny

[Copper10-8]

Boy, Copper John, I imagine myself having access to your library. I could spend days - weeks even - just keep sending in food and water. What luxury! ----Penny

 

Pretty scary, huh Penny?;)

[sylteach]

First and only cruise, so far, was on the Sun Princess with hubby for our 25th anniversary to Alaska. I LOVED it. My mom and dad cruised for years but never up to Alaska. Mom is gone now and Dad wanted to "give" me a cruise for all the care I have given him through 3 surgeries and helping him to be able to still live on his own over the past 3 years. I couldn't wait to get back to Alaska!! Then he told me to ask my daughter, who lives in another state, to go with us. He does not get to see her very often and he wanted me to have some quality time with her too. Her hubby does not enjoy traveling too much. This may be the only cruise for her-unless she gets the cruising bug, as so many others on here have!!! I want to go through the Panama Canal and do the New England/Canada cruise too. I think I can talk hubby into going for those someday.

[Copper10-8]

One of these days I need to change my signature.

My first "cruise" was actually in 1958 on the Pacific Far East Line's freighter, the California Bear. We were traveling from San Francisco to Yokohama. I was only 5 at the time but I still have memories of watching for flying fish and listening to the song "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" drifting down the hall from the crew's quarters.

The next was actually on more of a cruise ship - the American President Line's President Cleveland in 1964. My parents' employer decided at the last minute to send us home to Japan by ship instead of by plane and the only cabins left were in first class. That was a real treat! First had the better pool, dining room and kids play area. I did feel a wee bit guilty since another family of our acquaintance was on the same ship in second class and we never saw them except during our stop-over in Honolulu.

Until 41 years later and my first real cruise on the Volendam (after which I became hooked), I always thought of ships as just another method of transportation. (Idiot!)

 

 

 

USS Tyrrell (AKA-80) (1944-1971) Delivered in 1944 as USS Tyrrell (AKA-80) by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Co, Wilmington, NC. under Maritime Commission contract. On 30 July 1944, she was transferred to the United States Navy and on 8 August, she was towed to Baltimore, Md for conversion to an attack cargo ship by the Key Highway plant of the Bethlehem Steel Co. She was commisioned on 4 December 1944, with Lt. Comdr. John L. McLean, USNR, in command.

 

Tyrrell was a Tolland-class attack cargo ship, named after Tyrrell County, North Carolina, itself named after Sir John Tyrrell, a lord proprietor of Carolina. She was designed to carry military cargo as well as landing craft, and to use the latter to land weapons, supplies, and United States Marines on enemy shores during amphibious operations. She would serve her country as a commissioned ship for sixteen months, all of it in the Pacific theater, receiving a battle star as a result.

After shakedown training in the Virginia Capes area, she departed Hampton Roads, Va on 5 January 1945 and steamed via the Panama Canal to Pearl Harbor Naval Station, Hi. After a short stay there, shep embarked Navy personnel and proceeded to the Carolines. She participated in the assault on Okinawa in the Japanese Ryukyus islands. On 2 April, a twin-engined Japanese bomber attempted to crash the ship, diving through a storm of anti-aircraft fire. In an attempt to ram the bridge, the plane sheared off the ship's main radio antenna, hit the lower yardarm support on the starboard side of the mainmast, and continued on to sideswipe the starboard 5-ton cargo boom at the number 5 hatch. As the plane splashed alongside, it blew up and showered the cargo ship's decks with pieces of wreckage. After war-time voyages to such places as Guam and the Marshall Islands, she received word on 13 August 1945 that Japan had surrendered.

After shuttling men and supplies between the Philippines and Japan, she departed Japanese waters on 2 February 1946, and proceeded via the Panama Canal to the East Coast of the United States.

Upon her arrival at Norfolk Naval Base, Va on 4 March 1946, USS Tyrrell reported to the Commandant, 5th Naval District, for disposition. She was decommissioned at Norfolk on 19 April 1946, was returned to the War Shipping Administration on 22 April, and struck from the Navy List on 1 May 1946. After a lay-up period in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, she was struck from the Naval Register on 1 May 1946.

In 1948, she was purchased in 1948 by Delaware-based Pacific Far East Line, Inc. who had her converted to a freight carrier and homeported her in San Francisco, CA. She received the new name of ss California Bear and was used on trans-Pacific freight and passenger services. Her normal route would take her from Los Angeles to San Francisco,Yokohama (Japan), Kobe (Japan), Okinawa (Japan), Pusan (South Korea), Inchon (South Korea), Keelung (South Korea), Takao (Taiwan), Hong Kong, Saigon (then South Vietnam) and to Bangkok (Thailand).

The Pacific Far East Line was created by Thomas E. Cuffe after World War II to take advantage of the availability of surplus wartime cargo ships. The line was exceptionally successful for its first decade, operating across the Pacific with 31 ships by 1949 and an especially strong position in shipping US military cargoes. However, after Cuffe suddenly died in 1959, the standard of management declined and the company repeatedly missed opportunities to upgrade to the new container technology. It finally went bankrupt in 1978. All PFEL ships had names ending with the world "Bear," and the flag was blue with a golden bear below the script letters PFEL.

 

In 1961, she was again renamed, this time to ss America Bear. She was sold in 1963 to the Central Gulf Steamship Corporation who homeported her in New Orleans, LA and renamed her ss Green Lake. After plying the waters of the Caribbean under this name from 1963 to 1968, she was taken over by the United States Department of Commerce and named ss Oceanic Cloud, a capacity in which she served through 1971 when she was broken up.

Edited March 6, 2009 by Copper10-8

[u4ea]

All great stuff Copper:cool:

I just saw a show on the history channel about the SS Normandie fire in NYC, I had no idea that had happened.

Here's a link

http://www.history.com/shows.do?action=detail&episodeId=228717

 

Mark...

 

[Copper10-8]

The 'old' Nieuw Amsterdam in august 1991, 10 day Alaska with Capt. Jacob Dijk and hotel mgr. Hans Dernison

 

 

 

m/s Nieuw Amsterdam III (1983-present). Built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard, St. Nazaire, France and delivered to Holland America Line on 1 July, 1983 as the first of two identical sisters which would be known as the "N"-class with HAL. Her younger sister, Noordam followed just under a year later from the same yard. They would be the last new-builds for the, at that time, Dutch-owned Holland-Amerika Lijn.

After some difficulties, including a main switchboard that burned out and a twice postponed dedication ceremony in Le Havre, France, she left on her maiden voyage from Le Havre to New York City on 10 July 1983. She would operate for them until 2000, cruising in the Caribbean in the winter and cruising to Alaska in the summer season.

On August 10, 1999, American Classic voyages, parent company of Delta Queen and American Hawaiian Cruises, announced that it had purchased Nieuw Amstedam from Holland America Line for $114.5 million dollars, to operate an inter-island Hawaii service alongside their ss Independence. After her final Alaska season in 2000, Nieuw Amsterdam sailed, without passengers, to Sydney, Australia where she served as a hotel ship for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Following those games, She sailed to Honolulu, where about 60 crew came aboard from the newly formed United States Lines (under American Classic Voyages).

On October 18, 2000 American Classic Voyages officially acquired the ship with the transfer occurring in an usual ceremony at sea, approximately fourteen miles off Portand, Ore. At the same moment her registry was changed to Honolulu, she reverted to the U.S. flag, and was renamed ms Patriot.

 

Patriot proceeded to Cascade General Shipyard in Portland, Ore arriving on 18 October, 2000 where she underwent a multi-million dollar drydocking and refurbishment. The existing casino was replaced with a Destination Learning Center, where passengers would be able to explore the heritage of the Hawaiian Islands; hear "talk story" from the onboard kumu (Hawaiian teacher); learn the Hawaiian language, hula, arts and crafts; and read about the five ports and four islands visited during the seven-night cruise. Other renovations included a new 464 square foot Presidential Suite; an upgraded Conference and Business Center with Internet portals; and modern family activities areas, including Kaleidoscope, a kids' club, and a teen center. Two new bow thrusters were added along with one stern thruster. Her hull was painted blue and a new funnel logo appreared. On November 8, 2000 she was refloated and remained at wet dock in Portland while work progressed.

 

She began operating cruises from Honolulu for United States Lines on 9 December 2000, every Saturday evening to Nawiliwili, Kauai, Kahului, Maui, Hilo, Hawaii, and Kona, Hawaii, before returning to Honolulu. .

On 19 October, 2001, American Classic Voyages, Inc. announced that it had filed for bankruptcy court protection and would cease most sailings. Both ss Independence and ms Patriot stopped sailing on Saturday, 20 October after completing their cruises and were laid up at pier 24 in Honolulu. On 27 January 2002, she was auctioned off at the federal court in Honolulu, purchased by Carnival Corporation/Holland America Line and reverted back to her original HAL name of Nieuw Amsterdam (III). She left Honolulu on 15 March, initially for drydock at Freeport, the Bahamas but then arriving at Charleston, NC on 23 April 2002 for a wetdock.

 

 

She left Charleston for Piraeus, Greece on 7 May 2002 after being sold to Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines. Upon arrival there, she underwent an extensive refit at Piraeus and was initially named Spirit. Louis then chartered her to UK-based Thomson Cruise Line for ten years. She is currently sailing for Thomson under the name Thomson Spirit, mainly in the Mediterranean.