Regal Empress / Caribe I / Olympia: Any Stories?

Yeah, the ol' gal is gone, but there must be stories out there, and I have a TON of them from Regal Empress. Anyone ever sail on her with Commodore or Regal with the inimitable captain Rolf? I just spoke to him yesterday. He turned 79 in March and is doing well at his home in Georgia.

He had a double hip replacement a few years back. "That was all the running around the ship and dancing you did!" I told him. He was known as "captain roadrunner".

Anyway, let's hear from others, and I'll chime in also with some funny stories. :)

Hey there.....yes, we loved the old girl. So many good memories.

My very first cruise in 1989 was on her with Commodore Cruise lines as the Caribe I

Its how I became hooked on cruising......was so impressed with the old ship...the wood..who could ever forget that library or he dining room.....just a real original Ocean Liner. Old deck plans and articles show There were more beautiful public rooms that were later converted to guest cabins. The crew was wonderful and the food was very good. Entertainment was great. In fact they had Herman's Hermits as part of the entertainment. Had cabin U92, there were 3 of us.

On of my greatest treasures is a publication i bought off of ebay...called "The Journal of Commerce" (Olympia Number) it measure 11x17 and is dedicated to the ship.

Full Original Deck plans....and color cross section art....Photos, there are ads from companies that provided much of the work and instruments on board.

And you must be familiar with the website http://www.maritimematters.com with all it's info and photos

Thanks! I used to call her "my little Queen Mary", due to that wonderful woodwork on board. She was a gem, and if God came down today and asked, "Lou, you can go on one of two ships for a week tomorrow, "Regal Empress" or "Oasis of the Seas", which would you choose"?

I think you know my answer!

I have the clock from the captain's cabin in my den (given to me well before the ship's demise!) and a piece of bow hull plate that was removed when the ship suffered damage when docking at Halifax, back in the 90s.

Some folks just don't know how special these little old ships were!

My wife and I were onboard in 1986 when she sailed for Commodore Cruise Line and was named "Caribe 1". At this point in her career, she had the worst funnel attached to her upper decks I have ever seen on any passenger ship. Thankfully, some years later, it was removed and a more proper funnel was installed on the ship.

Anyway, at the time of our cruise, the Captain was Rolf Bassenburg (sp?) who was German if I remember correctly.

The cruise was memorable for several reasons, but I won't go into all the details here. Long story short, one of our tablemates in the dining room was a flashy blonde who was immediate eye-catcher. While lounging out on deck, the captain approached her and offered her a tour of the ship. Not wanting to go alone, she (the blonde) grabbed my wife, who in turn, grabbed me and said "let's go".

During the tour, he took us through the whole ship, including the engine room. I, being a ship-nut, was thrilled...my wife and the blonde, not so much. Anyway, while in the engine room, Captain Rolf showed me the Deutz diesels used to propel the ship and gave me a thorough (at least in my mind) overview of what the ship had to go through during its conversion from a steam-turbine ship to a diesel ship.

The captain was very out-going and seemed to love to mix with the passengers. When asked by the passengers who was "driving" the ship, his standard answer was always "the nurse".

The Funnel. ? Shows how much I notice... Now I have to go back and check my picture .

We did a great cruise on her when she was the Regal Empress sailing out of Port Manatee. It was a Mardi Gras cruise to New Orleans. That was a great trip, fun passengers, as always great crew! We had two nights in New Orleans, including Fat Tuesday!

I don't really put much thought into these things... But the only time in my life I thought I saw a ghost / Spirit.... Whatever.... Was on that ship. We had one of those rooms.. I don't remember what the deck was called... But it was an odd deck with just a few cabins. Access to the deck was a staircase offi of the dining room entry. In the middle of the night my partner got up to use the bathroom and I saw what looked like a crew member kneeling in the room... I was trying to get the words out to tell my partner when it faded away. So strange.... I felt no fear of what happened... Just curious ? AND I swear I'm not the type of person to expect such things !

Loved the little Commodore Club lounge .....those sunken booths on the sides ....

The Funnel. ? Shows how much I notice... Now I have to go back and check my picture .

Take a look here: http://www.ssmaritime.com/olympiacarib0.jpg

So when was that taken ? Do you remember...

Caption on the photo says 1983....

Just happen to have on my phone ... I believe this the late. 1990s at a stop in key west

A not so pleasant memory:

When the ship was the Greek Line's Olympia, the line's Flagship, I visited a friend sailing on her from New York on a Solar Eclipse cruise. (Or was it a lunar eclipse? Not sure, but it was an eclipse cruise. Couldn't tell you the year other than it was in the '70's.)

He was sharing a triple, forward: 2 lowers and an upper in a small cabin with the smallest bathroom I have ever seen on any ship. Old-style plumbing with a cheap shower curtain.

The public rooms were as the Greek Line brochures showed them: lots of wood, and pleasant decor, but dark. Except for the dining room: it reminded me of my college dorm's dining room.

But, the over-riding memory, an odor was immediately noticeable upon embarking the ship and stayed with me during most of my visit: the odor of hot olive oil.

My previous ships up to that point had been Rotterdam V and Home Lines' Oceanic. I left the ship glad that I had decided not to sail with him on this voyage. Olympia did not well compare with the other two, I thought.

But, my friend had a wonderful cruise and enjoyed the eclipse sighting which is why he went on the trip.

Yeah, the original funnel was horrendous, thank goodness they later fixed it. A later 90's photo is easy to distinguish as the ship then had the balcony cabins and roofs over the bridge wings.

My wife and I were onboard in 1986 when she sailed for Commodore Cruise Line and was named "Caribe 1". At this point in her career, she had the worst funnel attached to her upper decks I have ever seen on any passenger ship. Thankfully, some years later, it was removed and a more proper funnel was installed on the ship.

 

Anyway, at the time of our cruise, the Captain was Rolf Bassenburg (sp?) who was German if I remember correctly.

 

The cruise was memorable for several reasons, but I won't go into all the details here. Long story short, one of our tablemates in the dining room was a flashy blonde who was immediate eye-catcher. While lounging out on deck, the captain approached her and offered her a tour of the ship. Not wanting to go alone, she (the blonde) grabbed my wife, who in turn, grabbed me and said "let's go".

 

During the tour, he took us through the whole ship, including the engine room. I, being a ship-nut, was thrilled...my wife and the blonde, not so much. Anyway, while in the engine room, Captain Rolf showed me the Deutz diesels used to propel the ship and gave me a thorough (at least in my mind) overview of what the ship had to go through during its conversion from a steam-turbine ship to a diesel ship.

 

The captain was very out-going and seemed to love to mix with the passengers. When asked by the passengers who was "driving" the ship, his standard answer was always "the nurse".

Yup! That's Rolf to a "T"!! :D

Caribe I was our first cruise. It was back in the early 90s, when all the cruise lines moved their ships from the Med to the Caribbean (after a terror attack on a cruise ship over there, where the man in the wheelchair was tossed overboard). Since there was such an overload of ships in the Caribbean, I called Commodore direct to get pricing. I asked what level cabin could we get for "H" cabin pricing?! How about "A"? I was asked....I grabbed it! $250 per person for the week. Oh wow. We had one of the old first class cabins with curtain draped bed and a sitting room. A little dated but still a very nice cabin. My husband found the bar that had once served the old first-class section, and very few others on board even knew it was there. He loved it! The bartender knew exactly what he wanted each time he went in there and called him by name. She was such a gorgeous ship....yes, those fabulous woods! Lots of fond memories.

I loved the Commodore Lounge, especially the starboard side sunken area, which was later named the captain's corner. That's where I first spoke to Rolf on my second cruise on the ship. We always sat at the forward portion of it with the banquette seating and club chair opposite the table, of course same as the aft portion, and a mirror of the port side!

I remember seeing friends off on the "Olympia" who were sailing TA in the 60's. They were sailing to Naples. The booked too late to sail on the "Leonardo Da Vinci"...... it was sold out! Not quite the same as the Italian line flagship, but "nice enough"! Boy...... do I miss the days when visitors could go on the ships in NYC.

I just found this thread, Oh yes , Regal Empress brings back many memories to us. Captain Rolf, what a guy, read the post about the blond, seems like every cruise had that "blond", the captains cocktail party, what a party. We sailed the Regal many times, the first time out of Port Manatee, then out of NY many times. And there were no cruising "tiers", no OBC, and no extra charges to your account, Oh, yeah, the cruise cards were paper. It was the first ship I was able to get my husband to cruise on, he wanted no part of it, but he set foot on the Regal and fell in love with her. He became a changed man. No, I'm not jealous, I wanted to get him to cruise to take me for our 25th anniversary, if he hated it he would never speak to me again, if he loved it he would pay for the next one, either way I win!!! We are now cruising for our 43rd anniversary. He loved the wood, brass, even the "smell" those cabins were to be desired. Remember the TV? and those Bathrooms!! I have the book Captain Rolf wrote, "The Tales of the High Seas" It is autographed to us on 8/8/97. Its filled with photos and stories from his 45 years on ships. The only thing I can say is how lucky we were to have sailed with Captain Rolf and on the Regal Empress.

I would like to know if there is anywhere that I could buy a model of the regal Empress. We sailed on her in 2007. I have a model of all the other ships that I have traveled on. I would like to get one of this ship.

I would appreciate any information that you could give me.

Thanks

Garry Rogers

glrog@msn.com

Chances of finding a model are pretty small.

If searching sites like E-Bay be sure you also search under her original name "Olympia". And also Caribe 1, as well as Regal Empress.

Here's a shot of her docked in Cozumel with a Princess ship behind. Funny I didn't remember what line the "big" ship was and came across this pic yesterday. We are leaving on Emerald Princess tomorrow. Funny how life has a way of making odd connections.

Sorry for the grainy quality, this is from 2002, digital photos were not what they are now.