Song of America

RCCL's Song of America. my first cruise from new york to bermuda. got me hooked on cruising.

I remember taking my cruise on the SOA. I was so impressed by the size after sailing on RCCL's smaller ships. Of course now she would be considered very small at less than 40,000 tons. She was built in 1982 and sold in 1999 to Sun Cruises where it operated as the Sunbird. Since 2005 Thomson Cruises has been operating it as the Thomson Destiny.

Lets raise a glass to the many great times we shared on her:)

thanks for the info. i would love to see the ship in person to actually visualize the size of the ship. i remember first looking at the soa and thinking how huge the ship was. all meals were in dining room so you really got to know your servers and head waiter.

Yes, the Song of America was a great ship. Even though it is hard to believe today, the Song of America was actually one of the 10 largest passenger ships in the world when it entered service in 1982. I cruised aboard this ship in 1985 and had a wonderful time. The cabins were very small, but the public areas and pool deck were very nice.

I have seen pictures of the Song of America since she started sailing for Thomson. The exterior of the ship is not nearly as attractive because the large blue stripes on the sides have been removed.

Chuck

i remember the rooms very well, especially the bathroom. my wife and i thought it was fine since it was our first cruise. do you know where the ship sails now.

Here's some info.

http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/RCI_SongOfAmericaPCs.html

Here's some info.

http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/RCI_SongOfAmericaPCs.html

thanks, i really enjoyed reading and looking at the photos

Song of America was my first cruise also in 1993, a group of friends sailed on her from San Pedro and ended in Acapulco, but she continued thru the Panama canal to reposition. It was a great time!

to me the ship seemed so huge at the time. i would love to cruise it again.

ms Song of America (1982-present) Built in 1982 as ms Song of America by Oy Wärtsilä Ab (Wartsila New Ship Yard), Helsingfors (Helsinki), Finland, for (then) Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL). At 37,584 grt, she was one of the largest cruise ships built at the time.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line had operated throughout the 1970s with three ships; Song of Norway, Nordic Prince and Sun Viking, that had been built at the same yard in Finland, two of which (Song of Norway in 1978 and Nordic Prince in 1980) had been lengthened. Due to increased demand, RCCL decided to order a new and larger ship, again from the Wärtsilä shipyard, which was to become Song of America.

For the interior layout of this new ship, RCCL decided to adapt a system with cabins stacked towards the front, furthest away from engine noise, with public spaces to aft. This layout, widely used on large ferries built by Wärtsilä at the time, had rarely been seen on cruise ships. The public spaces on decks five and seven were built with one and a half times the standard deck height, leading to deck six only existing in the forward part of the ship. Unlike Song of Norway, Nordic Prince and Sun Viking, Song of America's Viking Crown Lounge, the trademark of all Royal Caribbean ships, completely surrounded her funnel providing passengers with a 360 degree view

She was delivered to her owners on 11 November 1982 and after a transatlantic crossing, sailed her maiden voyage on 5 December 1982 from Miami, Fl to Nassau, the Bahamas, San Juan, Puerto Rico and St, Thomas, USVI. During the early part of her RCCL career, this seven-day itinerary from Miami would be her staple. Later on, she would make several trips to the U.S. west coast via the Panama Canal, operating on the Alaska run in the summer season and down to the Mexican Riviera out of Los Angeles during the winter months.

She was sold in May 1998 for $94.5 million to Sun Cruises, a subsidiary of UK-based travel company Airtours. Sun Cruises immediately chartered the ship back to RCCL until March 1999. Unlike earlier ships sold by RCCL, her Viking Crown lounge had not been removed when she was handed over to her new owners. Sun Cruises had her refitted with additional suites on deck nine, renamed her ms Sunbird, and operated her for cruising around Europe, mainly in the Mediterranean. Later on during her Sun Cruises career, she received MyTravel colors.

When Airtours decided to pull out of the cruise vacation and ship ownership business, she was purchased by Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Line, a subsidiary of Cyprus-based travel and tourism group Louis plc, on 26 July 2004. History repeated itself when Louis chartered her back to Sun Cruises until February 2005 when she was laid up in Pireaus, Greece.

On 3 May 2005, she was placed on long-term charter (until 2011) by UK-based Thomson Cruises who renamed her Thomson Destiny. Thomson has used her for cruising in the Mediterranean as well as Red Sea, to the Canary Islands and to the west coast of Africa. She recently returned to the Caribbean, her initial area of operations with RCCL back in the early eighties.

Some more RCCL Song of America pics for those who sailed on her in those days:

thanks so much. the photos were absolutely awesome. i really enjoyed looking at them.

i remember this cruise that friends of ours packed two cases of bud light in the suitcases. each had a beer explode and had to have their clothes cleaned onboard. lol

I was on the Song of America, 11-8-88, when the ship caught fire, 3d night at sea, we had left Cozumel a couple of hrs before, had to go back to Cozumel the next day to wait for parts to fly in from Norway. They had to cancel the cruise and go back to Miami. Rcl gave out a letter to all on board, if you want a full refund, go see your travel agent, or if you want another cruise on the line, go see your t a. Five months later, I took another cruise on the Sun Viking:D Don't think the news picked up on it, cuz it was election night. No one was hurt or injured. When they sounded the alarm, I grabbed my life jacket and my camera, and took pictures on the way up to the life boat station, I still have those pictures today.

Virginia

can you post those pictures please.