Your first cruise ship

[GlendaleCruiser]

First cruise was on the Carnival Jubilee. We thought it was huge.

 

After cruising on the Conquest and the Dream, not so much.

 

Jubilee is still out there somewhere renamed.

[ovccruiser]

My first cruise was April 2004. We decided on a 4 day cruise to see if we liked it or not, trouble was, the ship was the Queen Mary 2. We did a short hop to Cherbourg, a wonderful reception was given on her arrival back in France where she was built, the whole town was out in celebration with many many coaches arriving with sightseers, yes, they were coming from all over France just to see us. The town had laid on a market with lots and lots of jazz bands. We left Cherbourg at night, and at a guess there were over 100,000 people on shore all with glow lights, the liquid filled tubes you break and they glow. Passengers on the ship had them as well, the sight was superb. Our next port of call was Guernsy in the Channel Islands, tender ashore, then the third day was cruising at sea and back into Southampton the following day. We were hooked on cruising

[Keith1010]

Homeric Cruise Ship which was part of Home Lines. 1968.

 

Keith

Edited December 12, 2009 by Keith1010

[groovielou]

SS Asure Seas circa 1985, I was 9 years old and with my family.

 

I still remember one of the entertainers, Michael Burger (Comedian). How down the hallway was a bronze dedication plaque. The "Disco" at the bottom of the ship. The movie theater midship, was where I played "spin the bottle" for the first time with other kids on the ship. How my parents danced on the wooden dace floor in the main albeit small auditorium area.

 

I remember the roof of that auditorium being black with pinholes, and light shining through the pinholes.

 

So many good memories on that glorious ship.... Its a tragedy she ended up scrapped.... (FYI, she was renamed the Ocean Breeze)

 

 

photos courtsy of ssMaritime website: http://www.ssmaritime.com/scrossobeached.htm

Edited December 17, 2009 by groovielou

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was to Hawaii, 16 days on the Regal Princess in August of 2007. It was her last roundtrip out of LA. Her next cruise was from LA to her new home as I believe she was going to P&O cruises. We were forever hooked on cruising. My only regret is we didn't discover cruising before.

 

ms Regal Princess (1991-present) Built by Fincantieri - Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A., Monfalcone, Italy as ms Regal Princess for the P&O Group however there’s a story behind that!

 

In 1985, Italy-based Sitmar Cruises had started an ambitious new-build program for the North American cruise market. Following an abortive attempt to order ships from Fincantieri, the company had placed an order for one ship, Sitmar Fairmajesty, with the France-based Chantiers de l’Atlantique. Sitmar were planning to order additional vessels however, and the Italian government, who owned Fincantieri, was eager to have these ships built by an Italian shipyard. Following more successful negotiations between Sitmar and Fincantieri, an order was placed for two 70,000 grt. cruise ships for 1990 and 1991 delivery. Although the ships maintained the same basic layout as Sitmar Fairmajesty, their exteriors were redesigned by Italian architect Renzo Piano.

 

 

In 1988, while these two vessels were in their early stages of construction at Monfalcone, Sitmar Cruises was purchased by the P&O Group and a decision was made to transfer all three of the Sitmar ships under construction (so Fairmajesty in France and the two sisters in Italy) to the fleet of P&O's subsidiary Princess Cruises. The second of the ships under construction at Fincantieri, would receive the name Regal Princess (her older sister would be named Crown Princess and would join Princess Cruises in 1990 - Fairmajesty was given the new name Star Princess and joined Princess in 1989) and she was launched from dry dock on 29 March 1990. Following successful sea trials in the Adriatic on 5 June 1991, Regal Princess was delivered to her new owners on 20 July 1991.

 

 

The ship then sailed via the Adriatic to the Mediterranean and, following a trans-Atlantic crossing, arrived in New York City, NY where on 8 August 1991, she was officially named by her godmother Margaret Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister. Regal Princess then joined her sister Crown Princess for cruising out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL to the Caribbean during the northern hemisphere winter season. During the summer months, she repositioned via the Panama Canal to Vancouver, BC for Alaska cruising.

 

In 2000, Regal Princess received a major refurbishment. Starting that year, she would spend the southern hemisphere summer months cruising out of Sydney, Australia, taking over Princess Cruises' Australian itineraries following the transfer of another former Sitmar ship, Sky Princess, to P&O Cruises Australia as Pacific Sky. For the 2003 northern hemisphere summer season, the ship was repositioned the Europe for Mediterranean and Baltic cruises.

 

 

In 2004, there were plans to have Regal Princess join her sister ship (Crown Princess, now named A’ Rosa Blu) in the fleet of newly established A’ Rosa Cruises, P&O's German brand aimed at that market. However, following the sale of A’ Rosa to Germany's leading deep sea and river cruise operator Arkona in 2003, that prospective transfer was cancelled. In late 2006, Regal Princess was again due to be transferred, this time to the fleet of Britain-based Ocean Village Cruises (yet another P&O/Carnival Group subsidiary), but this also did not materialize. Three times is usually a charm however, and in late 2007, Regal Princess received an internal transfer to the fleet of P&O subsidiary, P&O Cruises Australia.

 

During the summer of 2007, her last season with Princess, Regal Princess could be found sailing throughout the South Pacific, offering the line's first-ever summer Hawaii cruise season, several full Pacific crossings, and a special cruise to Midway Islands for the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Midway.

 

After an extensive multi-million-dollar refurbishment in a Singapore yard, she was renamed Pacific Dawn in a ceremony on 8 November 2007 by Australian swimmer and Olympic gold medalist Cathy Freeman. She then began operating cruises from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia to South Pacific destinations. Pacific Dawn was the first ship of the P&O Cruises Australia fleet with an all-white hull, to mark P&O's 75th anniversary in Australia. In December 2009, Pacific Dawn was moved north to her new home port of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia in order to clear Sydney for the Pacific Jewel and Pacific Pearl (ironically the two former Ocean Village ships) who will operate from there for P&O Australia.

 

[Copper10-8]

What memories all these photos bring back...my first sailing was on the Rotterdam in the summer of 1961. Went with my parents but I could not stay in their stateroom...had to be in an inside cabin to share with 3 other females whom I did not know. It was fairly large with 2 upper and 2 lower berths...each of us had a closet and there were 2 sinks. Had to go down the corridor to use the bathroom and shower. I swore then if I ever went on another ship, it would never be in an inside cabin. We had to get dressed every morning just to get on deck to see what the weather was like.

 

Almost fainted when I first saw the ship with it's bow sticking so far out of the water at the pier in New Jersey...had never seen anything so huge and now it looks so tiny in the pictures!

 

John:

Coincidentally, about a week before I happened upon this thread, I was doing some housecleaning and came across a folder for the last (1997) Grand World Cruise of ss Rotterdam V. My wife and I were privileged to sail the first leg of this cruise from Los Angeles to Auckland. I still have the personalized notepaper, a formal photo of us on the stairs of the Ritz-Carlton Lounge, and a menu from a dinner hosted by John Scheringa, the Hotel Manager in the Grand Voyage Room, February 2, 1997. We have fond memories of this trip; not only were we upgraded from inside cabin to boat deck (about eight levels) but we received commemorative gifts virtually every evening in our cabin. Alas, despite the upgrade, the shower stall was the smallest I have come across, Oceania ships included!

Happy memories indeed!

Dave/Val Davies

 

 

 

ss Rotterdam V (1959-present) Built in 1959 as ss Rotterdam by the Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij (Rotterdam Drydock Company), Rotterdam, the Netherlands for the Holland Amerika Lijn/Holland America Line for which she would become their very popular flagship known as "the Grand Dame". At 748 feet long, 94 feet wide and weighing 38,650 tons, she would be the largest ship ever built in the Netherlands and she would sail for HAL for 39 years! She would be the last great Dutch "ship of state".

 

Rotterdam V was conceived as running mate to HAL's popular Nieuw Amsterdam launched in 1937, but work was put on hold at the outbreak of World War II in Europe. When economic conditions once again became favorable for completion of the new ship in early 1954, the beginning of the end of ocean liners as basic transport was visible on the horizon. Her designers took this in mind and created a groundbreaking vessel, a two-class, horizontally divided ship with movable partitions and a unique double staircase allowing for easy conversion to cruising. Rotterdam's machinery was shifted aft, to the now-traditional two-thirds aft position, and in lieu of a funnel twin uptake pipes were fitted. To provide balance, a large deckhouse was built atop the superstructure in the midships position of a typical funnel. While very controversial at the time, Rotterdam's appearance became groundbreaking, and her unique design features can be found on cruise ships today.

 

 

She was the fifth ship in the line's history to bear the name of Rotterdam, the principal city in the Dutch province of Zuid (South) Holland, second largest municipality in the Netherlands and the largest port in Europe. The name 'Rotterdam' originally comes from a dam built on the river Rotte.

 

Rotterdam V was painted in the then HAL house colors of a dove gray hull with a thin yellow band. Due to the absence of a traditional funnel (she had the twin set of uptakes instead), the then HAL colors (buff funnel with green-white-green bands) were unable to be applied there. Instead, all of her lifeboats were painted in the line's buff yellow colors with green and white bands (the colors of the city of Rotterdam) painted on their gunwhales.

 

On 14 September 1958, Rotterdam V was launched by her godmother, HRH Queen Juliana of The Netherlands in the city of Rotterdam in front of some 60,000 spectators. Succesful sea trials were conducted on the North Sea between 1-6 August 1959. On 3 September 1959, Rotterdam V, the flagship of the Holland Amerika Lijn set out on her maiden voyage from Rotterdam to New York, via Le Havre, France and Southampton, England under the command of her master, Commodore Coenraad Bouman. One of her passengers was the then Crown Princess of The Netherlands, the twenty-one year old Princess (currently Queen) Beatrix.

 

Upon passing Tompkinsville on north-eastern Staten Island, Commodore Bouman had the national flag of the Netherlands, flying on his ship, dipped in a salute to Henry Hudson. Back on 10 September 1609, the English sea explorer and navigator employed by the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or Dutch (United) East India Company, had anchored his ship the Half Moon (found in the current HAL logo) in the general area.

 

She arrived at the Fifth Street Pier in Hoboken, New Jersey on 11 September 1959 receiving a welcome by water spraying fireboats. After the Princess (via cutter and then to the Royal Netherlands Navy destroyer Gelderland in Gravesend Bay) and all her remaining passengers (the 'normal way') had disembarked, Rotterdam V was towed across the harbor to HAL's new terminal at Pier 40 in Manhattan. Rotterdam departed New York for her east bound journey across the Atlantic on 22 September 1959.

 

She then departed New York on her first cruise on 11 December, 1959, a 49-day cruise circumnavigating South America. She undertook a second, seventy five-day cruise on 1 February 1960. She would make her first world cruise in 1961, a seventy seven-day roundtrip from New York, From then on, she would operate the company's world cruise each year until 1986, developing a loyal following.

 

In 1969, Rotterdam made her last regularly scheduled transatlantic crossing and was converted to a one-class cruise ship. A new Lido estaurant replaced her Cafe de la Paix and other, more minor, changes took place. She would, however, make four more world cruises in 1993, 1995, 1996, and 1997.

 

 

From September until October 1989, she received a $15 million dollar (mostly interior) refit at the Northwest Marine Ironworks, a Portland, Oregon shipyard.

 

On 31 January 1996, HAL announced that the much loved ship would be taken out of service as of 30 September 1997. The reason given by her owners (later disputed) was the new SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) requirements coming into effect and the funds, supposedly U.S. 40 million, required to update the thirty-eight year old vessel. Rotterdam would make a farewell cruise at the end of her Alaska season from Vancouver, BC to Ft Lauderdale, Fl.

 

In October 1997, she was purchased by Premier Cruises who had her upgraded to SOLAS standards and renamed Rembrandt. Premier kept her classic ocean liner 'feel' and on 21 December 1997, she departed on her first cruise to South America. The summer of 1998 found her cruising in the Mediterranean. Premier however, also had grandiose plans to rename the ship 'Big Red Boat IV' and to paint her hull a bright red, an idea not very popular with her fans. As Big Red Boat IV she would sail out of Los Angeles on three and four-day party cruises to Mexico in the winter and out of Vancouver, BC on seven-day Alaska cruises in the summer.

 

As faith would have it, Premier Cruise Line ran into financial difficulties. On 13 September, 2000 during a northbound New England/Canada cruise, her captain was ordered to return his ship to Halifax, Nova Scotia. After off-loading her passengers, the ss Rembrandt was placed under arrest. As a special condition of her warrants, she was allowed to depart for Freeport, the Bahamas where she arrived on 30 December 2000 and was laid-up pending sale. Premier Cruise Lines filed for bankruptcy and went out of business.

 

 

On 7 May 2003 Rembrandt became the property of s.s. Rotterdam BV (part of RDM holding or Rotterdamse Droogdok Maatschappij, her original builders). On 17 June 2004, the Polish ocean-going tug 'Englishman' towed her from the Bahamas to the Camell Laird yard at Gibraltar where she arrived on 12 July 2004 and where renovation work was scheduled for her. She would remain docked at the British Crown Colony until October 2005 (see below). By that time, she also had new owner, 'Rederij De Rotterdam BV'.

 

 

On 25 October 2005, after a tow from Gibraltar by the Spanish tug 'V B Artico', she arrived at Cadiz, Spain, for additional (dry) dock maintenance including the repainting of her hull in her original light gray color. In addition, she was renamed Rotterdam and registered in the same city. 'V B Artico' would tow her again, this time from 10 to 27 February 2006, from Cadiz to Gdansk, Poland where her asbestos was removed and further renovating would take place (see below).

 

 

On 25 August 2006 she received yet another tow, this time to Wilhelmshaven, Germany (see below) where she stayed until August 2008 for additional exterior restoration work.

 

[Copper10-8]

 

On 2 September 2008, she left Wilhelmshaven and on 4 September 2008, she made her triumphant return (see above and below) to her city of birth, Rotterdam, where she was berthed at the “Katendrechtse Hoofd” (Head of Katendrecht) located on the northern edge of Rotterdam Zuid (South) in the Maashaven (River Maas harbor) and where she will serve as a floating hotel, static museum ship and conference center. The most recent information has her opening to the public at "the end of December 2009".

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

 

ss Rotterdam V alongside the Wilhelminakade, Rotterdam in 1961

 

 

ss Rotterdam V on her way westbound to New York - Taken from ss Statendam on her way eastbound to Rotterdam - somewhere in the Atlantic in 1962

 

 

ss Rotterdam in her 'Nieuw Amsterdam' blue livery in 1987

 

As Rembrandt in Rotterdam in 1998

 

As Rembrandt in Rotterdam in 1998

[westerly]

sea venture from flagship cruiseline

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was not that long ago but it was with HAL on the Oosterdam. It was fabulous! I had a mini suite and didn't know what to expect, but it more than met my expectations about a cruise, the ship and fellow passengers. Everything was perfect and it really got me hooked on cruising. My parents went on about 8 cruises. Their first cruise was on the original Love Boat ship on a Christmas/New Years cruise roundtrip from Los Angeles to Acapulco. We lived in Los Angeles and my parents, actually my father, got the bug to cruiseand dragged my mother with him. She eventually learned to like it but refused to go on a HAL Alaskan cruise with him because ddn't like cold weather. Whenever they would ask me if I'd like to go with them, I'd say no thanks. They are deceased and I took my first cruise at age 62. I'm sorry now that I waited so long but I'm trying to take one cruise a year now. Hope I can continue to afford it. Since I'm single and got spoiled with mini suites, it does cost me more, but I love it.

 

Thanks.

 

ms Oosterdam (2003-present) Built in 2003 as ms Oosterdam by Fincantieri - Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A., Marghera (Venice), Italy for Holland America Line. She is the second vessel of HAL’s four Vista class ships (her sisters are Zuiderdam, Westerdam and Noordam). The names of the four ships translate to the four directions of the compass in the Dutch language; Zuid meaning south, Oost (rhymes with “toast”) for east, Noord is north and West means, well, west. The only previous ship with the ‘Ooster’ prefix in the Holland America Line historical roster was the 8,251 ton one-propeller freighter Oosterdijk (or Oosterdyk) which began service with the line in May 1913, sailing on a regular service from Rotterdam to Savannah, GA. When the United States entered World War I (the Netherlands remained neutral), Oosterdyk was in Baltimore, MD. She was subsequently seized by the U.S. Government and, after a nine-month period in lay-up, pressed into service, carrying military supplies for the allied war effort. Sadly on 20 July 1918, Oosterdijk was lost at sea, sinking in the North Atlantic after a collision with a U.S. troop transport.

 

After successfully running technical trials in the Adriatic and having been accepted by her new owners on 27 June 2003, Oosterdam made her way to Rotterdam, the Netherlands under the command of HAL Captain Hans van Biljouw, arriving on 27 July 2009. She would remain there for four days since from 28 through 30 July, HAL celebrated its 130th anniversary year in the city of its founding, Rotterdam. HAL’s ms Rotterdam VI joined the new Oosterdam in Rotterdam with both ships berthed bow-to-bow at the Wilhelminakade (Wilhelmina Quai), Scheduled events during the celebration included visits from former HAL employees, a luncheon for HAL World War II veterans, a Royal maritime gala, a HAL Society of Mariners luncheon and ship’s tours for local dignitaries. The festivities included the christening/naming of the new Vista-class ship on 29 July 2003 by her godmother, HRH Princess Margriet of The Netherlands. Some of the dignitaries present for the naming included Princess Margriet’s husband Pieter van Vollenhoven, Carnival chairman and CEO Mickey Arison, his wife Madeline, HAL president and CEO A. Kirk Lanterman and his wife Janet, Fincantieri’s chairman Corato Antonini, Rotterdam’s Alderman for the Port and Economic Affairs Wim van Sluis and the City’s Mayor Ivo Opstelten. A fireworks show closed out the festivities that evening. On 3 August, 2003 Oosterdam and Rotterdam departed the city on her (Oosterdam’s) maiden voyage to European ports. Tens of thousands of spectators lined the Nieuwe Waterweg (New Waterway) on the way to the North Sea, waving flags, towels and bed sheets. Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 Falcon fighter jets made several passes over the two ships as they provided an aerial escort out to sea.

 



 

Oosterdam spent the first part of her inaugural season cruising around Europe before heading across the Atlantic to Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. for Caribbean itineraries. The last several years, her “winter home” has been San Diego, CA. for Mexican Riviera cruising. Summers have found her in Alaska (out of Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC) and back to Europe.

 

 

At 81,769 grt, Oosterdam is almost 30% larger than HAL's "R" class and almost 35% larger than the "S" class of ships. There were originally five Vista’s planned for HAL but that fifth hull was first transferred to Cunard Line in 2003 to become their Queen Victoria but then a second time to P&O Cruises to become their ms Arcadia in March 2005. The four HAL ships were designed mainly for shorter (less than two weeks) cruises in the Caribbean, Alaska, and Europe. The Vista’s are equipped with a diesel-electric power plant and an Azipod propulsion system. This basically consists of two pods, as opposed to traditional screws, that operate like giant outboard motors underneath the ship’s hull. The Azipod propulsion system gives the ship outstanding maneuvering ability, making rudders and stern thrusters obsolete when negotiating smaller ports and allowing full turns at high speed. Oosterdam has two azipods made by ABB in Finland.

 

 

 

Eighty-five percent of Oosterdam’s staterooms have ocean views and sixty-seven percent have verandas. The extensive use of glass in the superstructure of the Vista-class ships is also reflected in the class name. They feature "exterior glass elevators," located on both sides of the vessels and vertically traversing 10 decks, providing guests with panoramic sea views.

 

Prominent “HAL-marks” familiar to Holland America Line passengers such as the Crow’s Nest observation lounge, a gym overlooking the bow, a Magro (sliding) dome-covered mid-ship Lido pool and aft Sea view pool, two-level main dining room, The Pinnacle Grill, an alternative restaurant, an Explorers Lounge for classical chamber music, Ocean Bar for before or after dinner dancing to life music, a Piano Bar and the HAL trademark fully-encircled teak promenade deck are still found on Oosterdam. However, like her sister Zuiderdam before her, Oosterdam came out with new innovations such as an expanded Greenhouse Spa & Salon offering thermal suite treatment, a hydrotherapy and thalassotherapy pool and heated ceramic lounges, a 867-seat three (as opposed to two) deck Vista show lounge, a 170-seat cabaret-style Queens Lounge which doubles as a movie theater, a dedicated “Northern Lights” nightclub, a Windstar gourmet coffee and pastry shop, a much larger Internet Center and a greatly expanded Club HAL children’s facility.

 

 

Oosterdam pays homage to the 130-year legacy of Holland America Line as well as to the traditions of Dutch maritime history, most notably the Dutch East India Company. Prominently displayed in a three-story atrium, a revolving Waterford crystal globe sets the mood for several art pieces which can be found throughout the ship. Artifacts and artwork from Holland, Italy, India and China are very visible onboard. At the forward end of the main Lido Pool are a life-sized family of six adult penguins and one pup. The penguins are complemented at the opposite end of the pool by cartoon-like fish who stand on their heads and support the bar stools of the Lido Bar with their elevated tails.

 



 

In November, 2003, Holland America Cruise Line announced a program of up-scaling their cruise ships, cruise line image and passenger cruise experience called the 'Signature of Excellence program'. This enhancement program included stateroom amenities (luxury beds and 100% Egyptian cotton bed linens upgrades, Euro-style mattresses and deluxe waffle-weave bathrobes to all cabin categories), new massage-type showerheads in all bathrooms, new flat-screen LCD televisions and DVD players in all cabins and a Culinary Arts Center presented by Food & Wine magazine for gourmet cooking demonstrations and interactive classes. Oosterdam had her SOE enhancements installed while in dry-dock in Freeport, the Bahamas between 14-22 April 2007.

 

 

 

On 1 April 2009, after finishing her trans-Atlantic cruise in Civitavecchia, Italy, an army of subcontractors and dry-dock workers as well as construction material was embarked on Oosterdam. She then departed Civitavecchia that afternoon bound for dry-dock in Palermo, Sicily for her SOE phase II upgrade. Upon her arrival there on 2 April 2009, a new block of thirty-four prefabricated cabins was lowered into place and installed on her stern increasing her passenger capacity from 1,848 to 1,916 and her gross registered tonnage from 81,769 to 82,305. Her existing Internet Center was moved to the starboard side of the Crow's Nest becoming part of her new Explorations Café. A dedicated small-size 36-seat movie theater (six rows of six theater-style reclining leather seats with small tables in between) called the "Screening Room" was added in the space vacated by the original Internet Center. Also there on Deck 3 in place of the original library, a new Digital Workshop was installed. Oosterdam gained a second alternative restaurant when “Canaletto”, serving Italian cuisine, was added to her Lido restaurant starboard side, forward.

 

 

On Deck 2 (LP) starboard side, a new Pinnacle and Wine Bar was added in place of her original Windstar Café, outside and across from her 130-seat Pinnacle Grill restaurant (The Windstar Café Coffee Bar was moved to Deck 10 forward to become part of the Explorations Café). A high-end jewelry shop called “Merabella” as well as a viewing room was added on Deck 3 in front of the existing shops. That existing shopping arcade was expanded and upgraded. The part of Oosterdam’s Ocean Bar that was originally hidden from view behind walkway panels was “opened up”. Lastly, “routine dry dock maintenance” was performed and her original port-side azipod, which had developed mechanical problems back in December 2006 forcing it to be removed for repairs in the Spring of 2007, was reinstalled.

 

[Copper10-8]

Somewhere around 1960, I went on the Chicago, Duluth and Georgian Bay Line's steamer, North American from Navy Pier in Chicago to Mackinac Island and return. This was the annual Grand Rapids, MI Chamber of Commerce cruise. They chartered the whole boat.

 

Doc

 

ss North American (1913-1967) built by the Great Lakes Engineering Works (the same yard which launched the Edmund Fitzgerald 44 years later) at Ecorse, Michigan in 1913 for the Chicago, Duluth & Georgian Bay Transit Company as a Great Lakes overnight passenger steamboat. The vessel was launched on January 16, 1913 and entered service in May 1913 as the oldest of two sister ships, the newer one being the ss South American.

The Chicago, Duluth and Georgian Bay Line, based at Holland, Mich., operated the steamers North American and South American, which were nearly identical sister ships, for 50 years. The ships, referred to by some as “the ocean liners of the lakes were popular vessels which sailed the upper lakes and would dock at Greilickville, Mich at various times. The South American was the largest of the three vessels and about 30 feet longer than her near-sister. The two could be distinguished by windows that ran the length of the North’s hull. The South had only portholes in her hull. They carried passengers between Chicago, Ill, Mackinac Island, Mich, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich, Duluth, Minn, Georgian Bay, Ont, Detroit, Mich, Cleveland, Ohio and Buffalo, NY (and sometimes intermediate points).

The North American was 280 feet in length, had a 47-foot beam, and drew 17 feet 6 inches. She was powered with a 2,200 indicated horsepower (IHP) quadruple expansion steam engine and three coal-fired Scotch boilers. In 1923 the boilers were converted to burn oil and a second stack was added also.

The ships were oil-fueled, had neat, airy staterooms and deluxe bedrooms, all outside, facing the water, spacious decks, carpeted promenade encircling the ship, as well as sun and observation decks. Each ship has accommodation for about five hundred passengers, with ample sports and entertainment facilities. The North American, until 1962, made Chicago, IL its base of operations, generally leaving Saturdays during the first half of the season on cruises to Duluth, Minn and later into the season to Buffalo, NY.

.

In 1963 the North American was sold to the Canadian Holiday Co. of Erie, Pennsylvania. The company used her in cross-lake service between Erie, Pennsylvania and Port Burwell and Port Dover, Ontario, Canada for one year until she was retired in 1964. After being retired from service, North American’s name kept coming up in several purchasing deals but nothing materialized. In 1967, however, she was finally sold at public auction to the Seafarers International Union who had plans to use her as a training ship and floating barracks at Piney Point, Maryland. After leaving the lakes and while under tow to Piney Point in the North Atlantic on 4 September 1967, North American unexpectedly sank 25 miles northeast from Nantucket Light. The ocean bottom there is at 400 feet and the wreck still remains at this location. In July 2006, the wreckage of the ss North American was located by a research team aboard Quest Marine’s rv Quest close to the edge of the continental shelf, approximately 140 miles off the New England coast in 250 feet of water.

[Copper10-8]

Oh Man, I cannot remember the name of our first cruise ship. But it was on Seneca Lake, outside of Seneca Army Depot, Romulus New York in 1974.

 

Our 2nd cruise I do not remember it's name either but I can tell you this, when we got off the ship 3 days later we were met with the news that Its' sister ship "The Achille Lauro" had been hijacked!!! Our cruise was Italy to Pireaus/Athens Greece 1985. (I know I have to change the date in my sig block below)

 

Joanie

 

 

ms Oranje (1939-1979) Built in Amsterdam by the NV Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij or Netherlands Shipbuilding Company in 1938 for the Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland (Netherlands Steamship Company) aka the Netherland Line. She was launched by HRH Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands on 8 September 1938, receiving the name “Oranje” or “Orange” in honor of the Royal House of Orange. She undertook sea trials in June 1939 and attained a speed of 26 knots, making her the world's most powerful and fastest motor liner at the time. She was intended to carry passengers to the Dutch East Indies, the current Republic of Indonesia.

As built, Oranje's specifications were: 20,117 gross register tons (GRT); length: 656 ft; width: 83 ft; draft: 29 ft; engines: 3 x 12 cylinder Sulzer diesels providing 37.500 hp; screws: triple; service speed: 22 knots; passengers: 283 First, 283 Second, 92 Third and 82 Fourth Class for a total of 740; passenger decks: 8.

Oranje's first scheduled voyage was from Amsterdam to Jakarta (known at the time as Batavia) on Java, via the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. Three days before Oranje left Amsterdam on 4 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. By the time the ship arrived in Java, World War II had reared its ugly head and for security reasons Oranje was laid up at Soerabaja, also on Java from December 1939 until February 1941, At that time, the ship's Captain was ordered to sail for Sydney and place his vessel at the disposal of the Australian military. Consquently, the Dutch Government in exile informed the Australian Government that they would bear the cost of Oranje's conversion to a hospital ship. Although sailing under Australian command, Oranje remained Dutch-crewed, and continued to sail under the Dutch flag. Oranje was the largest hospital ship operated from Australia, serving for five years throughout multiple theaters of World War II, including the Middle East, Indian and Pacific Campaigns. During this time, Oranje made 41 voyages, carrying mostly ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand) soldiers.

After the war ended, Oranje was converted back to as a passenger oceanliner. In 1947, she once again picked up the Amsterdam to Jakarta service, this time sailing via Southampton in the UK. In January 1953 on an outbound voyage, Oranje collided with her Royal Rotterdam Lloyd running mate Willem Ruys in the Red Sea. Willem Ruys was homeward bound heading in the opposite direction and had been in radio contact with Oranje. The plan was for the two ships to pass each other at close range for the “amusement” of the passengers. However at the last moment, Willem Ruys, already on a fast approach, made an abrupt and unexpected swing to port resulting in the collision. Oranje sustained a badly damaged bow and due to the possibility of her being impounded for safety reasons, she did not call at Colombo, Ceylon and instead continued on to Jakarta. The passenger service to Jakarta eventually ended in 1957.

In 1958, Oranje made her first liner voyage from Amsterdam to Australia, sailing via Southampton, Suez, Egypt and Singapore. In 1959, she underwent a refit and a minor facelift in Amsterdam and upon completion, her tonnage was increased slightly to as 20,565 GRT, and her occupancy to 323 First Class and 626 Tourist Class passengers.

On 7 September 1960, she departed on her first round-the-world voyage from Amsterdam via Southampton, Suez, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Panama, Port Everglades, Fl, Bermuda, Southampton, and Amsterdam. On 26 February 1961, Oranje sailed in the opposite direction, visiting the same ports.

At about this time, passenger and cargo shipping industries were suffering from the steady growth of the airline industry. The increasing popularity of air travel and in particular, the introduction of jet airliners, resulted in a sharp decline in ship passenger and cargo totals. As a result, the Netherland Line decided to end its passenger services in 1964 and Oranje commenced her last voyage around the world as a Dutch liner on 4 May 1964.

Towards the end of 1964, Oranje and her Royal Rotterdam Lloyd running mate Willem Ruys were purchased by the Italy-based Flotta Lauro also known as StarLauro. After an extensive rebuilt, they would be renamed Angelina Lauro and Achille Lauro, respectively.

For her refit, Oranje was sent to the Cantieri del Tirreno shipyard at Genoa, Italy. The rebuild extended the ship’s promenade deck would fully “glaze” it in. The ship was also given a sharply raked bow which extended her length by 16 feet. Her original propulsion plant and auxiliaries were automated and now controlled from a central control room. She also received a tall louvered funnel topped by a large smoke deflector wing and a completely new interior lay-out.

Upon emerging from the yard, Angelina Lauro was listed at 24,377 GRT, 672.4 ft long and 83.6 ft wide. Her new passenger configuration allowed for interchangeable cabins between first and tourist class. First Class could accommodate between 180 and 377 and Tourist Class between 946 to 1,050 passengers, resulting in a total capacity of 1,230 passengers.

On 6 March 1966, the ship departed on her maiden voyage from Bremerhaven, Germany sailing via the Suez Canal to Australia. She continued this Australian run until 1972, when Flotta Lauro discontinued the service due to low passenger numbers. In 1972 Angelina Lauro received another extensive refit in order to start life as a full time cruise ship with 800 passengers in a one class configuration. She was then relocated to San Juan, Puerto Rico for regular cruises to the Caribbean under management by another Italian line, Costa Crociere.

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In 1977 Angelina Lauro was chartered full-time to Costa Lines for three years, taking delivery of her on 10 October. They would base her at Port Everglades, Fl. From where she would continue her Caribbean cruises. Although the ship retained her name, according to Costa’s custom of using Christian (first or given) names, marketed the Angelina Lauro simply as the “Angelina”. Angelina Lauro turned out to be a popular cruise ship in the Caribbean. At times during this period, she would also operate a so-called “line voyage” from South America across the Atlantic to Italy. For these line voyages, she reverted to her original two class configuration.

On 30 March 1979, while berthed at Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, USVI, tragedy struck when a devastating fire broke out onboard. The fire started in the aft crew galley, and rapidly spread forward through the restaurants and passenger accommodations and soon reached the top decks. Most of the passengers and crew were ashore when the fire broke out, and those remaining onboard were evacuated safely. It would take firefighters four days to put out the fire. A number of attempts were made to tow the ship away from her berth, however this failed due to the weight of the water that had been pumped into her. Slowly Angelina Lauro ended up sitting on the shallow bottom with a list to port.

Angelina Lauro was declared a total loss and would remain dockside at Charlotte Amalie for some three months. Eventually the German salvage company Eckhardt & Company of Hamburg was awarded the contract to raise her from the bottom and have her re-floated achieving this on 2 July 1979. Lauro Cruises ultimately decided to sell the ship for scrap to Taiwanese ship breakers, resulting in her departing St. Thomas under tow for Asia on 30 July 1979.

Under tow, Angelina Lauro successfully navigated the Panama Canal and was headed across the Pacific towards Taiwan when on 21 September her fire-affected warped hull plates began to take on water. This resulted in a slow list. The ship remained afloat for three days, but by the evening of 23 September she was fully on her side. It was not until early the next morning, just before sunrise on 24 September 1979 that she slowly sank underneath th waves. As a side note, Angelina Lauro's previous running mate Achille Lauro, the former Willem Ruys, which became well-known for the notorious terrorist attack in Egypt, continued cruising until November 1994, when she caught fire and sank on 2 December 1994.

Edited December 20, 2009 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

Some add'l pics of Oranje:

 

 

June 1939 in Amsterdam

 

 

As hospital ship during World War II

 

 

 

At IJmuiden, the Netherlands in 1964

 

 

At IJmuiden, the Netherlands in 1963

 

 

On her way into her place of birth, Amsterdam

[Copper10-8]

And some of Angelina Laura including the fire at St. Thomas:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Shelledpea]

My first cruise was onboard Epirotiki lines Oddyseus in 1990. It was a school cruise round the Med including Israel and Egypt.

 

Yes it got me hooked even though she was extremely small and the crossing to Port Said was rough

 

[Copper10-8]

The first cruise ship I ever stepped on was in the Bahamas in 1983, in the the Nordic Prince, I had just graduated from college and was there with my best friend..we talked our way onto the cruise ship..can you imagine today?? The guy let us on, we stayed for a few hours, had some drinks and then left...I thought it was so great, but I was too poor to afford a cruise...

My first cruise was in 1990 on the Festivale from San Juan for a southern Caribbean cruise.. I remember that ship being so dark, the dining rooms..I think the only balconies were suites, and our room had a tiny port-hole..

Cruising has come a long way...thank goodness...

 

 

 

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. After being delivered to her owners on 8 July 1971, she soon crossed the Atlantic and on 31 July 1971 began sailing seven- and fourteen-day cruises out of Miami, FL. During her career, RCCL also operated her in Alaska, on the Canadian and 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.

[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

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise, as a pre-teen with my parents, was on Homeric in 1958. It was a 14 or 16 day Caribbean cruise from NYC. My dad spoke Italian so we were treated like royalty.

 

For those who never experienced a Home Lines cruise, there is really no way to describe the experience which cannot be bought today, at any price.

 

 

ss Mariposa (1931-1974) Built in 1931 as ss Mariposa by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Mass. for the Matson Navigation Company/Matson Lines. She was launched on 18 July 1931 as a luxurious ocean liner designed by William Francis Gibbs. With increasing passenger traffic to Hawaii, Matson Line had introduced the ss Malolo in 1927. Her success led to the construction of three sister ships between 1930 and 1932: ss Mariposa, was the first, then ss Monterey and last, ss Lurline. These were known as ‘the great Matson liners’ in the line’s ‘White Fleet’.

 

 

She was designed for service in the Pacific Ocean, including regular stops in ports along the west coast of the United States, Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. Her maiden voyage began on 16 January 1932 when she departed New York City and sailed to Havana, Cuba, transited the Panama Canal and berthed in the Port of Los Angeles, before continuing on to visit ten more countries in the South and West Pacific. Meanwhile, the Malolo and Lurline continued to operate the traditional San Francisco to Hawaii route. In May 1932, Mariposa was joined on her new route by her other sister Monterey. This famous South Pacific route was from San Francisco to Australia via Los Angeles, Honolulu, Pago Pago, Suva (Fiji), Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne. This would be the heyday of the great Matson Liners, with passenger trains adopted as "Boat Trains", carrying passengers from New York and Chicago to connect in San Francisco with the liner sailings.

 

 

The Mariposa and her sisters were attracting Hollywood stars sailing to Hawaii in ever increasing numbers. These stars including famous names such as William Powell, Carole Lombard, Jimmy Durante, Claudette Colbert, Myrna Loy, Joel McCrea, Frances Dee and Shirley Temple. Despite the difficulties of the Depression, the popularity of travel to Hawaii remained high. During this period the Matson Liners became such a popular institution in San Francisco that during the Golden Gate Exposition celebrations on Treasure Island in 1939, the City named August 9th 1939 as Matson Day. Mariposa continued on this service until 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the subsequent entry of the United States into World War II.

 

During the war, she served the United States Government as a fast troop carrier. When the war first broke out, she rescued numerous individuals who were stranded in foreign countries. In the next three years, she transported supplies as well as support forces to distant shores as the USAT Mariposa. Her war-time service would last from 24 January 1942, when she left San Francisco, until 25 October 1945, when she arrived in Boston, Mass. It would take her to such diversified ports as Melbourne, Perth and Hobart (Tasmania), Australia, Freetown, British Sierra Leone, Cape Town, South Africa, Karachi and Bombay, British India, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the British Crown Colony of Aden, Massawa, British Eritrea, Casablanca, French Morocco, Liverpool, England and Marseilles and Le Havre, France.

 

After the war, USAT Mariposa was decommissioned and both she and Monterey were returned to Matson Line for conversion to passenger service on 26 September 1946. However, financial problems in July 1947 halted the project at United Engineering Works in Alameda, CA. and she was laid up only 30% completed at the Bethlehem-Alameda Shipyard where she would remain mothballed for six years.

 

 

 

In 1953, Genoa, Italy-based Home Lines bought her and renamed her ss Homeric, sailing her to Trieste for refitting/reconstruction of her passenger accommodation by the Monfalcone shipyard in order to allow her to carry 1,243 passengers; 147 first class and 1,096 tourist class. Her first voyage for Home Lines after this work was done, saw her departing Venice on 24 January 1955 bound for New York City. Home Lines operated her as an express liner on the Southampton-Le Havre-Montreal-New York (occasionally from Cuxhaven, then West Germany) route and during the winter season for cruises to the Caribbean.

 

 

In October 1963, she was assigned to cruising the Caribbean from New York City and other U.S. ports, eventually replacing Home Lines’ ss Italia on the run to Nassau, Bahamas. Homeric herself would be replaced by Home Lines’ ss Oceanic. After this occurred, she was reassigned to intra-Caribbean cruises.

 

 

On 1 July 1973, while 90 nautical miles west of Cape May, NJ, a major onboard fire destroyed much of her galley and restaurant. The line wound up sending her to Genoa where she arrived for repairs on 16 July 1973. The damage turned out to be so extensive however, that the idea of repair was given up and she was withdrawn from service. She was ultimately sold for scrap to the Nan Feng Steel Enterprises Company of Taiwan and on 29 January 1974, she arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan where she was broken up.

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was also in 1958. The SS Mauritania. I was 4 years old and had a great time!

RMS Mauretania (1938-1965) Built in 1938 by the Cammell Laird yard at Birkenhead, England as RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Mauretania for the newly formed Cunard White Star Line, their first new built. (Cunard had merged with White Star Lines in April 1934). She was the successor to the first RMS Mauretania of 1906 and she was completed in May 1939. The new liner had a tonnage of 35,677 gross, an overall length of 739.4 feet and a beam of 89.4 feet and her design was similar to the Queen Elizabeth I. The vessel was powered by two sets of Parsons single reduction-geared steam turbines giving 42,000 shaft horsepower and driving twin propellers. Her service speed was 23 knots.

RMS Mauretania of 1938 was the largest ship built in England at that time. This new medium sized Cunarder was launched on 28 July 1938 at the Birkenhead yard by Lady Bates, wife of Cunard White Star chairman Sir Percy Bates. She was named Mauretania to honor the previous record breaking Mauretania which had recently been retired in 1935. The ship was designed for the London to New York service and was the largest vessel ever to navigate the River Thames and use the Royal Docks. She was also intended to stand in for one of the Cunard Queens when they were undergoing maintenance.

On 17 June 1939, Mauretania sailed on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on under the command of Captain A. T. Brown who had delivered the previous Mauretania to the shipbreakers. After remaining in New York for a week, she returned to Southampton via Cherbourg, France on Friday, 30 June 1939. Like Cunards’s RMS Aquitania, 25 years before, Mauretania was to experience only a brief period of commercial operation before the outbreak of hostilities in Europe put the breaks to this for over six years. Returning from her next voyage, Mauretania called at Southampton, Le Havre, France and finally London where she berthed at the King George V Dock. Starting in August 1939, she was switched to the London to New York service for which she was intended. On this route, she supplemented the lines’ Britannic and Georgic.

On 11 August 1939 she left on her final pre-war voyage to New York. On her return she was requisitioned by the British Government and armed with two 6-inch (150 mm) guns and some smaller weapons, painted in battle grey, and then dispatched to the U.S. at the end of December 1939. For three months the ship lay idle in New York, docked alongside Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary and the French Line’s Normandie until it was decided to use her as a troopship. On 20 March 1940 she sailed from New York to Sydney, Australia via the Panama Canal to be converted for her new role. On her long voyage to Australia via Bilbao, Panama, San Francisco, CA and Honolulu, Hi, she was tracked for much of the way by the Germans, forcing her to evade concentrations of U-boats that were known to be laying in wait for her.

Her conversion to troop transport was carried out in Sydney in April and in May 1940. She then departed Sydney as part of one of the largest convoys ever mustered for the transport of troops. With her were Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, and Aquitania, with 2,000 troops, bound for the River Clyde in Scotland via a route around South Africa. Other notable liners in this great convoy were Empress of Britain, Empress of Canada, Empress of Asia and HAL’s Nieuw Amsterdam. During the early stages of the war the ship transported Australian troops to Suez, Egypt, India and Singapore but later she mainly served in the North Atlantic. Like Aquitania, she amassed over 50,000 sea miles over the course of her war duties, first crossing of the Indian Ocean, then working the Atlantic with American and Canadian troops and finally serving in the Pacific.

One of her wartime voyages, of 28,662 nautical miles duration, took her around the world which took 82 days to complete. During this voyage, Mauretania established a speed record for the crossing time from Fremantle, Australia to Durban, South Africa. She covered the 4,000 miles in 8 days and 19 hours at an average speed of 21.06 knots. Another wartime troop transport voyage began in New York on 10 May 1943 and terminated in Bombay, India on 24 June 1943, with calls enroute at Trinidad, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Capetown, South Africa and Diego Suarez, the British island group in the Indian Ocean.

After World War II concluded, Mauretania made several additional voyages for the British Government repatriating troops. This would mainly take the ship to Canada and Singapore. Mauretania would also take the first dedicated sailing of English war brides and their children to Canada in order to join their husbands, arriving at Pier 21 at Halifax, NS in February 1946.

During the Second World War she traveled 540,000 miles and carried over 340,000 troops. Mauretania was not designed to be an exceptionally fast ship and during her war duty her engines received little attention for six long years of service. On 2 September 1946 she returned to Liverpool, was released from Government service, and immediately entered Gladstone Dock to be reconditioned by Cammell Laird & Co. for her return to Cunard White Star service.

After a complete overhaul and refurbishment of her interior, Mauretania made her first post-war Atlantic crossing to New York on 26 April 1947. After using Liverpool as her home port for the first two voyages she was then based at Southampton. Here she would act as relief ship for Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, standing in on the transatlantic service when one of them was undergoing maintenance. By this time the London to New York service had been discontinued as Georgic was in no shape to resume passenger service, while her other old “partner”, Britannic, had been transferred to a new Liverpool to New York service. Later that year she began to be used as a cruise ship during the winter months to the West Indies/Caribbean.

For the next 10 years she served on the Southampton to New York route during the summer months and operated on cruises from New York during the winter months. When Mauretania was taken in for her annual overhaul at Liverpool in December 1957 air-conditioning was installed throughout the ship. By 1962, however, she was facing competition from much more modern ships and was beginning to lose money for the Cunard Line. In October 1962 similar to Caronia, the famed “Green Goddess”, the ship was painted pale green and her passenger capacity was adjusted to accommodate 406 First class, 364 Cabin class and 357 Tourist class passengers. On 28 March 1963, she began a new Mediterranean service calling at New York, Cannes, France, Genoa, Italy and Naples, Italy. This, however, turned out to be a failure and by 1964 she was mainly employed cruising from New York to the West Indies.

Mauretania’s final voyage was a Mediterranean cruise which left New York on 15 September 1965. It had been announced that on her return to Southampton, the twenty-six year old ship would be withdrawn from service and sold. She arrived at Southampton on 10 November 1965 by the time she had already been sold to the British Iron & Steel Corporation for scrap. On 23 November 1965, she arrived at Ward's Shipbreaking yard in Inverkeithing, Fife in Scotland. On this voyage, her final one, Mauretania was under the command of Captain John Treasure-Jones who navigated the mud straits of the Forth without the assistance of tugs. Ironically, he had also been RMS Queen Mary’s captain on her final voyage.

Edited December 22, 2009 by Copper10-8

[aloha of the seas]

My first cruise was on the Chandris Line ship Amerikanis on a 7 day cruise round trip NYC to Bermuda in 1975.

[Copper10-8]

Mine was a 14 day Western Med. cruise on the Legend of the Seas and oh yes did it get me hooked! Departed July 16, 2005 from Southampton.

 

She is still sailing with RCI but shes got moved to 6 day cruises out of China which surely cant be a good thing.

 

 

ms Legend of the Seas (1995-present) Built in 1995 by Chantiers l’Atlantique, Saint-Nazaire, France as ms Legend of the Seas for Royal Caribbean International. RCI calls the six vessels members of the Vision class, with Legend being the lead ship. In reality the Vision class consists of two pairs of sister ships (Legend OTS & Splendour OTS–1996 at 69,130 grt and Rhapsody OTS–1997 & Vision OTS–1998 at 78,491 grt) plus another pair of ships that were lengthened, thereby becoming a class by themselves (Grandeur OTS-1996 at 74,140 grt & Enchantment OTS–1997 at 80,700 grt). The six ships are not identical to each other and as such do not constitute a class by the actual definition of the term. In fact, the Vision class is named after the last ship built, and formerly the largest ship in its class.

When Legend OTS emerged from the French shipyard, she measured 69,130 gross registered tons and could carry 2,074 passengers. She was the first RCI ship to offer private balconies in a number of different categories. Her guest facilities include a 18-hole miniature golf course, a show lounge and a movie theater, a solarium with a sliding roof, an adult plus a children’s pool, four whirlpools, a spa and fitness center, a two-story dining room by the name of the “Romeo & Juliet”, a Windjammer Cafe, four themed bars, a dance center, shopping center, a teen disco, a piano bar, an observation center, a rock-climbing wall and the RCI trademark circular Viking Crown Lounge. Her central 7-deck high atrium or Centrum, the heart of the ship, is “anchored” by champagne bars and filled with music after dark. The trademarks of the six ships, known as the “ships of light”, are their glass skylights and massive floor-to-ceiling windows that allow natural sunlight to come in.

Legend OTS was delivered to her new owners on 28 April 1995 and her maiden voyage took place on 16 May 1995 when she left Saint-Nazaire for Miami, Fl. She then departed Miami for Los Angeles (San Pedro) via the Panama Canal and began west coast cruising which would take her to Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska. Legend of the Seas was one of the first ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet to claim its own distinction. Back in June 2005, the ship served as the American-based Royal Caribbean's Anglophilian ambassador spending several summers sailing cruises from its homeport of Southampton in the UK. The ship was (and still is) tweaked for the UK and European market by adding touches such as “British branded tea bags” and different wine and food menus.

 

Legend is the most-traveled ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet, having been based in Asia, Australia and New Zealand, the South Pacific, Alaska, Central America, Caribbean, the Baltic, Mediterranean and the Middle East during her 14 year career at sea. As of 17 November 2009 she is once again based in Asia, this time on a year-round basis. Her year-round deployment will begin with a series of Southeast Asian cruises of three, four and five nights out of Singapore to the popular destinations of Penang, Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang) and Langkawi, Malaysia as well as Phuket, Thailand. From February 2010 on, the ship will homeport in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and for the first time, Tianjinm China and Yokohama, Japan from where she will be offering North Asian cruises.

Among the highlights of this deployment of Legend of the Seas are four distinct itineraries from Hong Kong to historical destinations such as Sanya, China, Hue/Danang, Vietnam, Taipei, Taiwan and Okinawa, Japan. Legend's passengers can also experience the best of Japan and Korea on six different itineraries out of Shanghai and two from Yokohama to port calls at Hakodate, and Kobe, Japan as well as Jeju (Cheju)Island and Busan (Pusan), South Korea.

[Copper10-8]

1st cruise was on RCCL Majesty of the Seas 5/26/1996 to the Western Caribbean. Our Honeymoon cruise. Of course we were hooked!

 

 

ms Majesty of the Seas (1992-present) Built in 1992 as ms Majesty of the Seas by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France for Norwegian-based Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL). She is one of three Sovereign-class vessels, Sovereign of the Seas (1987) being the lead ship of the class, followed by Monarch of the Seas (1991) and then Majesty of the Seas (1992). Those three vessels became RCCL's third generation of cruise ships and theirfirst modern megaships to be built. They were also the first series of cruise ships to include a multi-story atrium with glass elevators. They have a single deck consisting entirely of cabins with private balconies as opposed to ocean-view only cabins.

 

At the time, the three sisters were the among the largest modern cruise ships ever to sail during the late eighties and early nineties. During that time, other major cruise lines followed RCCL's lead in building their ships to include many of the same features and dimensions that the Sovereign Class debuted with.

[url=http://boards.cruisecritic.com/"http://media.shipspotting.com/uploads/photos/rw/1029145/Ship+Photo+Majesty+of+the+Seas.jpg&quot][/url]

 

 

After being christened by HRH Queen Sonja of Norway, Majesty of the Seas departed on her maiden voyage on 26 April 1992. Royal Caribbean International (RCI) routinely operates her on a seven-day cycle that includes two weekly voyages. Four-night cruises operate every Monday through Friday from the Port of Miami, Fl. with ports of call at Nassau, the Bahamas, Coco Cay, RCI's private island in the Bahamas and Key West, Fl. A three-night cruise follows from Friday through Monday, stopping at Nassau and Coco Cay.

Majesty OTS' features include the line's trademark Viking Crown Lounge overlooking the pool and sun decks. She has an onboard casino and eleven passenger elevators, two of which are glass-walled. Onboard bars include the Schooner Bar, the 'A Touch of Class' Champagne Bar, the Blue Skies Lounge, the Boleros Latin Bar/Night club, the 'On Your Toes' Night Club, the Windjammer Café, and the Pool Bar. Majesty of the Seas also has two outdoor swimming pools, two hot tubs, a basketball court, and the famous RCI rock climbing wall.

 

On 12 January 2007, Majesty of the Seas entered a four-week dry-dock period where she underwent a multi-million dollar refurbishment of her pool decks, all public areas, restaurants, shops, centrums, and cabins. Additions include Johnny Rockets, The Compass Deli, Seattle's Best Coffee, Freeze Ice Cream Parlor and the previously mentioned Boleros Latin Bar/Night Club).

 

Edited December 23, 2009 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

Our honeymoon on the Song of Norway 1980.

 

 

Song of Norway (1970-present) Built by in 1970 as ms Song of Norway by Wartsila Shipyards, Helsinki, Finland for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. She was the first new ship built for RCCL, would have two sisters - Nordic Prince and Sun Viking - and soon began sailing seven- and fourteen-day cruises out of Miami, FL. In 1978,Song of Norway was lengthened by 85 feet, to increase her total passenger capacity to 1,024 as well as increase her size to 23,000 gross tons (original size had been 18,416 GT). She would serve RCCL (later RCI) throughout the world, breaking in new territories for the line.

 

 

In 1996, surpassed by the new and significantly larger ships in the Royal Caribbean International fleet, Song of Norway was sold to British-based Sun Cruises, part of the Airtours/MyTravel Group, who operated the vesel under the name Sundream on cruises, mostly to the Med. As part of the deal, Song of Norways's distinctive Viking Sky Lounge on the funnel, a trademark of RCCL/RCI, was removed

 

 

 

After a short lay-up that began on 26 September 2004 in Piraeus, she was sold and refitted there in order to become MS Dream Princess for Israeli-based Caspi Cruises/Tumaco Navigation in October 2004. Upon completion of the refit in early 2005, she began sailing three and four-night Eastern Mediterranean cruises from Haifa and Ashdod, Israel to Alanya, Turkey, Rhodes, Greece and Larnaca, Cyprus. Some itineraries also included Limassol, Cyprus, Marmaris, Turkey and Santorini, Greece. January 2006 found her some distance away from her home, being used to house students from Tulane University after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, LA.

 

 

 

2006 and 2007 found her chartered to Cyprus-based Lance Shipping under the name Dream. Princess Cruises had let it be known that they had not been happy campers when the name "Dream Princess" was selected for the ship by her Israeli owners in late 2004! In November 2006, Dream was chartered to Gulf Dream Cruise, running out of Dubai in the Gulf, but the venture collapsed after one cruise. On 18 September 2007, while anchored in the port of Rhodes, Dream developed a 10 degrees list. She was immediately evacuated and four officers who where on duty at the time of the incident were detained. The crew was accused of deliberately grounding the vessel to prevent further listing and an ultimate sinking. Divers investigating the incident discovered that hatchways in her hull designed for discharging untreated waste into the ocean, had been crudely plugged with chunks of wood, to prevent those discharges. Doing this kept the waste onboard. However, failure to pump the waste in a timely manner, resulted in the listing of the vessel.

 

[Copper10-8]

The list was eventually corrected but on 18 November 2007, due to strong winds, Dream came loose of her moorings and collided with a cargo ship which was tied up adjacent to her, causing minor damages to both vessels. The Greek coast guard managed to tow Dream back to her dock, using tug-boats. Dream would remain in the port of Rhodes for nearly two months until her seaworthiness was established. On November 28, 2007 she was towed to the port of Kusadasi, Turkey were she underwent repairs.

 

 

During that same month (November 2007) Caspi Cruises sold the ship to Miami-based International Shipping Partners, Inc. (ISP) who renamed her Clipper Pearl. After her refitting both in Kusadasi and in Valetta, Malta, she was chartered to the Peace Boat organization as a replacement for their Topaz, and once again renamed, this time as Clipper Pacific. The Peaceboat organization is a Japan-based international non-governmental organisation (NGO) that works to promote peace, human rights, equal and sustainable development and respect for the environment.

 

Clipper Pacific's bad luck continued however when, on 16 July 2008 while on her maiden arrival in U.S. waters (for her new owners), she was discovered to have numerous safety violations when inspected in New York by the United States Coast Guard. In addition to her hull damage, inspectors discovered 66 other safety violations, including problems with life jackets, labeling of fire exits and damaged lifeboats.

 

On 18 July 2008, the USCG cleared her for departure to Tampa, Fl where, upon arrival on 21 July, she entered drydock at the Tampa Bay ship repair yard. Ultrasonic images of her hull were taken to check the thickness of her hull plates and needed repairs were made before she was able to resume her transit to Japan. She did eventually reach Yokohama in early September.

 

 

 

Clipper Pacific set off on Peace Boat's 63rd Global Voyage for Peace from Yokohama on 7 September, 2008. After visiting various ports in Asia (held up once again in Singapore on 19 September due to electrical problems) and Africa, she passed through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean Sea. Her next stop was at Kusadasi on 13 October where inspectors from the Classification Society came onboard to take a serious look see. They were not happy with what they found and sent her to Izmir, Turkey for repairs. She would be stranded at Izmir with 700 passengers on board for over two weeks due to problems with her engines as well as other maintenance problems. Now completely off schedule, she arrived at Piraeus, Greece on the evening of 29 October 2008 only to be forced to stay there until 11 November. On that morning she was last seen cruising off the port to an anchorage area.

 

This was the final drop in the bucket for the Peace Boat organization who decided to end its charter contract with the ship. Clipper Pacific's mostly student passengers were transferred to the last minute chartered ms Mona Lisa, which resumed the 63rd Voyage for Peace, picking up where Clipper Pacifc left off.

 

 

 

From June through November 2009, the ship was renamed to 'Festival' and used on Mediterranean voyages as a stand-in by Caspi Cruises whose own advertised voyages on smaller vessels had booked to overcapacity.

Her next "assignment" will be a charter from 7 March 2010 onwards to Spanish operator Quail Cruises under the name of Ocean Pearl

 

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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.