Cruise the Andrea Doria... today!

Well if not the Doria (lying in 200 feet off Long Island) how about the Stockholm?! Then a cargo vessel, the Stockholm "killed" the Doria - flagship of the Italian line - in a 1956 collision that was probably the most heavily publicized sinking in history (due to live reporting while it occurred).

The Stockholm survived, was converted into a cruise ship, and still - sails now as the Prima Valtur.

See,

http://www.greatoceanliners.net/stockholm3.html

http://www.cruiseserver.net/travelpage/ships/va_prima.asp

Now, for a moment there I thought you were going to say that some nut is claiming to build a replica of ANDREA DORIA, like the various (fake) replica TITANIC proposals that have come up over the years!

But as for the former STOCKHOLM, she is actually not VALTUR PRIMA any longer. Her Italian owners, Nina Cruises, shut down in 2001. In 2002, she was sold to Festival Cruises, but took an extraordinarily long time to enter service and only made a few cruises for them before they went under in 2004. In early 2005 sold again to Portuguese operator Classic International Cruises, already the successful operator of three ships, who have renamed her ATHENA. She is now operating for them both under their own name, mainly in the UK market, as well as for various European tour operators. You can visit the official Classic International Cruises web site here for more information.

I don't know anyone who has been aboard since she became ATHENA last year (though I have a friend who will sail in her in early 2007) but I do know several people who sailed in her as ITALIA PRIMA or VALTUR PRIMA and who were very impressed. Here is a review written by one of them after a cruise in her in 2001.

She looks like an absolutely lovely little ship and I would certainly like to try her.

I sailed on the Andrea Doria on August 30, 1955 from Genoa to NYC. I also sailed on the Christophero Columbo on May 31, 1955 from NYC to Naples. I would love to meet others that have sailed on these two magnificent ships.

Tika