Chandris Fantasy Cruiseline

We took this cruiseline back in the 80's for a Senior Cruise out of Miami's port. Boy, we thought it was the bomb being able to drink and stay out late. I remember they had games by the pool and disco until 4am, and we closed it down everynight. Gosh...now looking back after so many cruises...the ship literally was a bomb wreck. ha ha

whatever came of these ships...anyone know??

I am certain i still have a souvenier glass from this line in my high school boxes in the attic. LOL

Kim

First time I read this post, I thought, "wow, that must have been some lively group of senior citizens" ;) !

But in all seriousness, originally founded in 1915 and having first entered into the passenger business in 1936, the Chandris family of Chios (Greece) bought their first big passenger ship, PATRIS, the former BLOEMFONTEIN CASTLE, in 1960 and made a fortune carrying emigrants from Europe to Australia. Chandris Cruises developed at the same time with small ships doing cruises in Europe. After losing the Australian emigrant contracts in the early 1970s, they sent some of their big liners to the US to operate cruises. They soon bought an American travel agency to help them market their ships in the US and thus Chandris Fantasy Cruises was born. By 1976, Chandris was the largest passenger shipping company in the world and in the 1980s they dominated the mass-market cruise scene both in the US and Europe, until taken over by Carnival in the US and Costa in Europe. In 1989 they turned their attention to a more upmarket product, forming Chandris Celebrity Cruises with the rebuilt MERIDIAN (formerly the Chandris Fantasy GALILEO) and the orders for the brand-new HORIZON and ZENITH. From that point onward they phased out the older Fantasy ships in favor of Celebrity, and by the early 1990s the "Chandris" name was dropped from both Fantasy and Celebrity Cruises. Fantasy Cruises finally faded into oblivion in 1997, and in the same year Chandris sold Celebrity to Royal Caribbean in exchange for both cash and Royal Caribbean stock. The Celebrity "X" logo - really the Greek letter "Chi" for "Chandris" - and the Greek officers on Celebrity ships are both reminders of the Chandris era.

wow...that is very interesting to know! THANKS for the reply with the info on my 'ole Senior cruise!

If the ship you sailed on was the BRITANIS, she has met her maker. Sank in October of 2000 en route to be scrapped.

http://www.rhmsamerikanis.co.uk/myweb/britanis-sinking.htm

-Rob

If the ship you sailed on was the BRITANIS, she has met her maker. Sank in October of 2000 en route to be scrapped.

 

http://www.rhmsamerikanis.co.uk/myweb/britanis-sinking.htm

 

-Rob

Rob...wow thanks...I cannot remember if that was the exact ship, but that does look like the one I was on. I guess I should look through old high school stuff and see what my drink glass says on it.

Did they sink it on purpose? Natrual reef? it appears so.

Britanis, or Belofin-1 as she was named at time of sinking, sank due to leaks in the structure. She was being towed by oceangoing tug to a breaker in Alang, India at the time. Actually, you can see the tug in one of the photos from that last link. I know she was laid up at Tampa for a few years before being sold off to an investor for scrapping. She was one of the oldest active ships on the sea at the end of her passenger service career. I never sailed on Britanis, but remember seeing her multiple times in port at Nassau.

Here's a more comprehensive history of the ship if you are interested:

http://www.maritimematters.com/britanis.html

-Rob

Rob...after reading that interesting article I am certain that was the ship then. Because it was 1988 and we were on a 5 day out of Miami to the Western Caribbean and that's the time frame they show she did that type of sailing. Very interesting to see that since the cruise industry has changed so much. I have always tried to describe to my DH about the ship of my first cruise, as he never cruised on a ship like that...so now I can show him.

And I do see the tow boat in pic, that's what made me possibly think it was sunk on purpose, but I see otherwise. Very interesting...thanks a bunch for some memories of my "SENIOR CRUISE" :) :)

The history of the Britanis is fascinating, especially when it was a glamorous vessel on the Hawaii run, with lots of movie stars onboard, and then during the WWII years. She was the first ship I sailed on, as the photographer for STARLOG magazine, covering a floating STAR TREK convention with actors from the various shows. The ship had been chartered for the week, so it was an...interesting...group. We went to Jamaica, Grand Cayman Island, and circled around Cuba back to Miami. On the way back, we picked up a raft full of Cuban refugees, and tried to give them some of our extra Starfleet passports to present to immigration in Miami (it seemed like a good idea at the time--rum will do that to you). I believe the next year she was sold to the government and used as a floating barracks at Guantanamo Bay for a couple of years. The funniest part of the cruise was the Captain's formal dinner, the one where you get photographed shaking hands with him. The look on his face as he had to do his "grip and grin" with Vulcans, Klingons, women painted blue, and lots of people in Starfleet uniforms was priceless. The ship's officers seemed puzzled by the whole thing; I'm not sure they had ever seen the show or movies. The crew, on the other hand, were over the moon at rubbing shoulders with Jimmy Doohan, George Takei, etc.

Well...that is another interesting story about this ship I would have never known. I don't remember the Captain, but I do remember one night on the way into dinner there was someone dressed in a Bunny Rabbit suit and they took pics with us as we were going into dinner and like now those pics were for sale on the ship. How funny is that now? a BUNNY? Where did that come from. LOL

Very interesting I am learning about this cruise ship! :)

a BUNNY? Where did that come from.

I guess they ran out of pirate suits :rolleyes: !

(Is it just the ships I've sailed in lately, or have cruise lines gone off the ridiculous idea of having pasengers ambushed by "pirates" in the middle of dinner one night so that photographers can take bad photos?)

Doug...it seems like those pirate pics coming out of the dining room have been around FOREVER...I guess for us that have cruised a bit get sick of it. yes, get rid of it...but maybe the first time cruiser enjoys it. Who knows...but the Bunny is definitely WAY worse! LOL :)

Just found this forum. Funny enough I was one of the photographers on the Britanis. Worked there in 85/86 and again on the fifty day around S America. Remember well the Cubans too.....David OHSOD1T@AOL.COM:)

Just found this forum. Funny enough I was one of the photographers on the Britanis. Worked there in 85/86 and again on the fifty day around S America. Remember well the Cubans too.....David OHSOD1T@AOL.COM:)

Well you probably took some photos of my older classmates as our HS would go on this ship for senior trips many years. Mine wasn't until '88. Do you remember the bunny I am talking about or was that something mayber they started right after you left???

Kim,

I think my high school senior trip was aboard this ship also! I'm going to look at some of the pictures from my senior trip when I go to my parent's house this weekend. We went in 1982. We also enjoyed being able to drink and gamble in international waters!

Funny thing, as seniors we vowed to take a cruise 5 years later - by then everyone would be out of college with one year experience (and savings) under their belt. We thought it'd be fun to go back with no chaperones and no rules. Well, that didn't happen! I've been on three cruises since then, and none have been with my senior class!

I actually went on a cruise in 1974 at the age of twelve. It boarded in Miami also. I want to find the name of that cruise ship so when I put my cruise history in my signature, it will be complete!! :D

Sabrina

I spent the summers of 1980, 81 and 82 taking long weekend cruises on the Chandris lines out of all the east coast ports and some in Florida as well. Once of our friends was a travel agent and got us amazing rates for 4 young women in a cabin. We never paid for a drink onboard and danced into the wee hours of the night/morning with all the officers.

I don't remember the names of the ships we were on but I will check my photo albums as soon as I get home!

One of my friends ended up dating the Vice Captain and I had the Chief Engineer chasing me around. He never caught me, much to his dismay.

I remember a bunny but it was on the Sitmar Line (another golden oldy) and it came out around the Easter cruise. I still have a picture of myself with the bunny - I'm the one in the hideous striped dress!

I think I'm going to be sick! The Britanis was my first cruise (back in 1989). It was my senior week cruise also. To think the home of all those memories I have, is sitting at the bottom of the ocean right now. It makes me sad and it makes me feel old. But it only sank 11 years after I was on it so I'm not that old. It's not like I was on the Titanic! I have many memories of the ship's photographer too, hmm!;););)

Funny, you were on it the year after I was...and just last month I reconnected with a girlfriend from high school, and her and I shared the cabin together on this cruise and I emailed her those photos...she too was sad...LOL Piece of high school history/memories! :)

i was on the britanis in august 1991, 6 girls, we did a back to back 5 night then 4 night through labor day. what a great time we had, did not want to get off the ship when we got back. 4 of us had a nice size room with a port hole, 1 bathroom and another room with a sink and mirror which was great for 4 girls in 1 room to get ready. about 4 years ago i did a search on the computer to see what ever happened to the britanis and was very sad to see her sinking. small ship but lots of fun!

i was on the britanis in august 1991, 6 girls, we did a back to back 5 night then 4 night through labor day. what a great time we had, did not want to get off the ship when we got back. 4 of us had a nice size room with a port hole, 1 bathroom and another room with a sink and mirror which was great for 4 girls in 1 room to get ready. about 4 years ago i did a search on the computer to see what ever happened to the britanis and was very sad to see her sinking. small ship but lots of fun!

Hi LISAPO...funny it was a big time...I guess I really should post in my siggy like u did, just never had because I figured most would have never heard of it...and see u are a RCI fan like us too...we're going on Mariner in 2 mos. saw u have been on it...did u like it? We like the VC ships...have fun on your upcomign cruise as well...not quite the same as Britanis is it?? LOL

Well, this is just hilarious b/c my sister, my college roomate and I sailed on the Britanis in the early 80's and we weren't seniors; quite the opposite. We were three young women afloat at sea with about 500 gorgeous Greek crew members and 1,500 senior citizens. And they said "The Love Boat" was just a TV show!

This was my first cruise ship!!!! Honeymoon cruise 1993. My marriage lasted a little longer than the ship!

Our first cruise was on the Brittanis and I will never forget it. It was in 1987 and we paid about $750 per person including air from Denver to Miami with transfers from our hotel. You can almost get that good of a deal nowadays! On our transfer to the ship we were with another couple that was heading to a Royal Caribbean ship with the big Crows Nest bar that was such a signature for RCCL. When we pointed out our battleax looking ship with the two big X's on the stacks we were a little embarrased! But we had no idea what to expect and we had the best time ever. Our waiter "Digno" from Honduras goes down as one of our fav's of all time still to this day. He would spell it out "D-I-G-N-O - DIGNO" because people would inevitably call him Dingo.

We had an inside cabin and it made the most funny creaks and whistling noises in the middle of the night. I remember my husband and I just layed there and giggled. The captain was Greek and I can still hear him saying "Welcome to my sheep...the ss Bree-tan-ees" It went to Cozumel and Key West and at sea for the rest of the 5 day cruise. One of the couples we dined with we are still in touch with today. ahhh, you never forget your first one!!!! It was sad to see the pics of her floundering but still such great memories.

We took our first cruise on the Britanis back in the 1980's, it was a 5 days cruise out of New York to Bermuda. Long before all of the security concerns of today, we were able to tour the ship before we booked our cruise. We found out when the ship was in port in New York and we went down to the pier on our lunch hour and were able to checkout the entire ship. We were throughly impressed and immediately booked our cruise with Liberty Travel.

After our cruise, we were hooked and booked 2 more cruises on the Britanis' sister ships, the Galileo and the Amerikanis also doing 5 day runs to Bermuda. We later went on the Britanis again out of Miami to the Western Caribbean.

Based on the current ships, the Fantasy ships were primitive, no TV or Internet, just a newletter that was published on a daily basis. The old flush toilets overflowed, there was only one bar called the Smoke Bar (how times have changed!) and everything on the ship was ancient having been built in the 1930's.

We loved it all!:)

18 cruises and 25 years later, and we are still cruising thanks to the great experience on Fantasy.

Based on the current ships, the Fantasy ships were primitive, no TV or Internet, just a newletter that was published on a daily basis.

Actually, the Amerikanis was the first cruise ship to boast of TVs in each passenger cabin. My first cruise in 1979 was a 14 dayer out of Venice to the Eastern Mediteranean on Chandris' The Victoria and my second was on the Amerikanis in 1980 (she had TVs then, if memory serves me correctly) a 7 day to the Caribbean out of San Juan.

I was hooked during the first cruise and haven't stopped yet! The Chandris ships were tons of fun and good value for the money. GREAT memories!! :D:D

This was our first cruise also and though it rocked and rolled and a little old LOL. It started us on our 28 year run on cruises. Funny story we were standing at the rail entering the harbor in Bermuda and a gentlemen came next to us looking out at the ocean when he turned to us and said this is the 2nd time I have been on this ship, we turned to each other, both of us thinking the same thing why would anyone come on here twice on purpose. (After all before we went on the Britanis in New York RCCL was giving tours on the Nordic Prince) So we said oh you have been to Bermuda on this ship before, he said no I was Medivaced out of Normandy on this ship in WWII.

My wife turned green and said we are flying home LOL.