Your first cruise ship

[KLLund]

Nothing like spending a Sunday morning with my cup of coffee and wonderful pictures of fabulous ships !!

Our first Cruise was our honeymoon in 1999 on the American Queen from New Orleans to Natchez and back .. loved it but I wanted the ocean under our feet ...

Next year we sailed on the lovely Crown Odyssey while she was still with Orient Lines .. from Athens through the Greek Isles to Istanbul and I was hooked!!

Fabulous thred John!!!

[Terre]

Emerald Seas (Admiral Cruise Lines), 1990, 3-day to Nassau and Coco Cay.

Yes, it got us hooked!

 

The Emerald Seas was an old War World II trooper carrier converted into a cruise ship. Our second cruise was also on her and from there, we've never stopped cruising!

[Krazy Kruizers]

 

Cunard Countess (1974-present) Although delivered in 1974, Cunard Countess did not begin sailing for Cunard until 1976. In 1982/83 she was used as a troop ship during the Falklands conflict. She was sold to Royal Olympic Cruise Line (Greece) in 1997 and became the Olympic Countess and, later, Olympia Countess. Following the collapse of Royal Olympia in January 2004, she was aquired after public auction by Majestic International subsidiary Maximus Navigation and named Ocean Countess. In 2005, she was chartered to TravelPlan/Globalia (Spain) and in 2006 to German tour operator Holiday Kreuzfahrten as Lili Marleen. Holiday Kreuzfahrten failed later that year and she was returned to Majestic International. In 2007 she was chartered Louis Hellenic Cruise Line and renamed Ruby to replace Sea Diamond (lost at Santorini). She is currently on charter to Monarch Classic Cruises, another subsidiary of Majestic International Cruises, once again as Ocean Countess

 

 

Thanks John!!

She was a great ship (What took you so long to do my first ship???)) :D

[Williebill]

Our first cruise was on the Carnival Mardi Gras out of Port Canaveral to the Bahamas. Chairs in the showroom were broken, the air didn't work the whole trip, the rooms were so small that when you got out of bed you were standing in the bathroom, we sailed through the backend of a hurricane and the seas were so rough most everyone was sick, including my wife. We promised ourselves that we would never sail again; even though, Carnival reimbursed us half of what we paid and gave us a discount for a future cruise. This was around 1990.

We decided two years later to try another cruise to give cruising a fair shot. If it weren't for a wonderful cruise aboard the Seawind Crown out of Aruba, I don't think we would have ever fallen in love with cruising as we are now.

Bill

[Joe_In_San_Diego]

Hi JLC,

 

We did the Fairsea out of LA in 1982. I remember the food was so much better on this ship compared to NCL. :rolleyes: :)

 

Enjoy!

Kel

 

1981...Fairsea as well. 14 days to Alaska, roundtrip from San Francisco. I was 16. Hooked since. I can still taste the rum cakes. Sitmar was a class act.

[Water Log]

1968 New York to Southhampton on the S.S. France - I was travelling to spend a year abroad at Oxford University. I flew from LA to Chicago to visit some friends ( just happened to be in the middle of the Democratic convention fiasco in Chicago ) and then on to New York.

 

I remember the France having a very small indoor pool and lots of bars and a cinema. There really wasn't much to do besides eat and sleep. And I do remember on the return crossing in 1969 watching the movie "If this is Belgium, it Must be Tuesday" over and over.

 

Forty years later I still have the trucks plastered with SS France decals. In years since I have cruised all over the world, taken ferries up to Newfoundland, river cruises down Danube, Carribean, Panama and South American cruises,but I have never forgotten the S.S. France

[cruise_4_2]

My first cruise in 1998 was on the Norwegian Sea, which was originally called the Seaward on their Texarribbean route from Houston to Cancun, Cozumel and Roatan. I think she is operating as a charter in Asia now.

 

Speaking of the SS France, in 2000 I had the privilege of sailing on the SS Norway (formerly SS France) on an Eastern Carribbean route. This was a fabulous cruise with so many treasures to find on board. My favorite was the old swimming pool, which was at one time surrounded by cabins that overlooked the pool area. The pool had glass windows so that you could watch people swim from below. The entire area was closed, but you could still sneak in and take a look.

[Celestial Traveler]

Our first was in 1999 for our 20th wedding anniversary. We felt bad about taking a vacation without our 15 yr old DD, so we took her with us ! We were on the Carnivale Tropicale the week after she came back on line after her fire. At the anniversary celebration, my DH asked the captain if the ship was listing and he confirmed my DH's suspicion. We didn't feel like taking another cruise until 2002.

 

We have taken many, many cruises since than. What a change from going from a room for the three of us to a suite. One moment stands out with respect to the Tropicale. We were on another anniverary cruise on the Costa Fortuna in 2005. Again, we were conversing with the captain and mentioned the Tropicale as our first cruise. He started laughing and said that it was now one of their ships and was the worst they had !

 

Linda

[Copper10-8]

First cruise 1992 Nieuw Amsterdam 7 day Western Carib. out of Tampa. Loved that boat & the crew. Since then Westerdam 1997, Ryndam 2000, Rotterdam 2004, Statendam 2006 and looking forward to Zeendam 2008 Hawaii Holiday Cruise 12-22-08 - 1-6-09. Love those Dam boats.

 

 

m/s Nieuw Amsterdam III (1983-present). Built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France and delivered to Holland America Line in 1983 as the first of two identical sisters, Noordam III being her sibling. Her delivery date of May 11, 1983 as well as her maiden voyage were postponed due to problems at the yard. Her maiden voyage on July 10, 1983 would take her from Le Havre, France to New York. During her tenure with HAL, she would operate primarily in the Caribbean in the winter and in Alaska in the summer.

On August 10, 1999, American Classic voyages, parent Company of Delta Queen and American Hawaiian Cruises announced its purchase of the Nieuw Amsterdam for $114.5 million dollars. After her final Alaska season, she sailed empty to Sydney, Australia where she served as an hotel ship for the 2000 Olympics. After the Games, She was U.S. flagged, renamed m/s Patriot and refitted at Portland. Ore. She arrived arrived at her new home base of Honolulu, Hi on December 7, 2000 and departed on her inaugural sailing on December 9, 2000 on her regular Honolulu, Oahu, Nawiliwili, Kauai, Kahului, Maui, Hilo, Hawaii, Kona, Hawaii, Honolulu run.

On October 19, 2001, American Classic Voyages, Inc. announced that it had filed for bankruptcy court protection and that it would stop sailing m/s Independence and m/s Patriot on the following day after completing their cruises. American Classic claimed that its bookings had fallen off since the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on September 11 and that cancellations had risen to 30 percent. Patriot was laid up at Honolulu on October 20 after less than a year's service. She was subsequently seized by federal marshals on Holland America's behalf (HAL was still owed money by American Classic Voyages from her sale).

She was auctioned on January 27, 2002 with Holland America Line (Carnival Cruises) once again becoming her owner. She regained her original name and, following a Bahamian refit in June 2002, would be offered for sale. After transitting the Panama Canal, plans changed and she headed for Charleston, South Carolina instead where she arrived on April 2, 2002 for maintenance. She then sailed for Pireaus, Greece following the news that Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Line had entered into an arrangement with Carnival to purchase her.

Louis subsequently entered into a ten-year charter with Thomson Holiday (UK) in which Thomson Cruises would operate her. She was renamed Thomson Spirit and underwent an extensive refit in Pireaus, Greece for Mediterranean service. She is currently operating for them on low-price cruises around Europe.

[Copper10-8]

RCCL Enchantment of the Seas, February 2003, Western Caribbean 7-nighter: Fort Lauderdale, Key West, Cozumel, Grand Cayman, back to Fort Lauderdale.

 

I believe this was the ship's last cruise before it was drydocked for an extension.

 

Had a great time and got us hooked! :)

 

 

 

Enchantment of the Seas (1997-present) Sailing for Royal Caribbean International after being "stretched".

In 2005, she was overhauled by cutting her in half amidship and adding a 73-foot long section. Enchantment entered dry dock at Keppel Verolme shipyards in Roterdam, the Netherlands on 15 May 2005. The mid-body extension section was built at Aker Finnyards ahead of time, allowing the construction to be done in just over a month. She resumed service on July 7, 2005, less than two months after entering dry dock.

The new section included 151 new staterooms, outdoor trampoline bungees, suspension bridges, an expanded pool area, a 64-jet interactive fountain area for kids, and floor windows allowing an unobstructed view of the ocean below. During its time out of service, Enchantment also received an overall renovation, which included paintings by Paul Critchley for the Windjammer cafe.

 

When the extension project was approved, an extension of Enchantment's sister ship, Grandeur of the Seas was also planned, with tentative plans to extend other ships in the Vision class (and possibly throughout the fleet). However, while the Enchantment project was successful, it proved to be prohibitively expensive, and all future extension projects have been cancelled.

[Copper10-8]

First cruise was on HAL's Volendam in June 2008. We traveled to Alaska visiting Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay and College Fjords. Although we enjoyed this cruise as our means to visit Southeastern Alaska, we are not hooked on cruising. It is not our favorite type of vacation. Most of our vacations have been driving/camping vacations, which is still our prefered vacation. I would cruise again if it was the best way to see what we wanted to see, the ship was a smaller size like the Volendam, and the price was right.

 

 

Volendam III (1999-present)

[Copper10-8]

RCCL - The Song of Norway - August 1976

 

 

Song of Norway (1970-present) Built 1970 in Helsinki, Finland as m/s Song of Norway for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, she was the first ship built for then RCCL. She was lengthened in 1978, due to the high demand for cruising, and sailed on seven- and fourteen-day cruises out of Miami, Fl. as well as on cruises to Alaska. In 1996, surpassed by the significantly larger ships in the RCCL fleet, she was sold to Sun Cruises part of the Airtours/My Travel group (UK), who operated the vesel under the name Sundream.

In October 2004 she was sold and refitted to become m/s Dream Princess for Israeli-based Caspi Cruises and operated the 2005 season from Haifa. She was sailing on four-night cruises from Haifa, Israel to Alanya, Turkey, Rhodes, Greece and Larnaca, Cyprus. Some itineraries also included Marmaris, Turkey and Santorini, Greece. In January 2006, she was used to house students from Tulane University after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, La.

On September 18, 2007, while anchored in the port of Rhodes, Greece, she 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 the discharge. That kept the waste onboard. Failure to pump the waste in a timely manner, resulted in the listing of the vessel.

The list was eventually corrected but on November 18, 2007, due to strong winds, Dream Princess came loose of her moorings and collided with an adjacent cargo ship causing minor damages to both vessels. The Greek Coast Guard managed to tow the cruise ship back to the dock using tug-boats. She remained 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.

In November 2007 the ship was sold to Miami, Fl-based Clipper Group, managed by International Shipping Partners, Inc. (ISP) and was renamed Clipper Pearl. After refitting in Turkey and Malta, she was (long-term) chartered to the Peace Boat organization in May 2008 and renamed Clipper Pacific. She is currently in service touring the world as part of Peace Boat's mission. Peace Boat is an international non-governmental organization based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, seeking to establish a global network among people, grassroots movements and NGOs working on issues such as peace, human rights development and environmental protection. In the past 15 years it has chartered passenger ships to make 25 voyages and taken over 10,000 people to more than 80 ports. Through personal exchange and co-operation with people in other countries, particularly in areas of conflict and former conflict, it works to increase mutual understanding and bridge the gap between peoples, countries and cultures. By inviting guests from all over the world to join the voyage and participate in conferences on board it offers a global perspective on events and issues.

On July 14, 2008, after arriving in New York harbor, Clipper Pacific was discovered to have numerous safety violations after inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard. In addition to a leaking hull, inspectors in New York discovered 66 other safety violations, including problems with life jackets, labeling of fire exits and damaged lifeboats. On July 18, 2008, the USCG cleared her for departure to Tampa, Fl. for repairs. She arrived there on July 21, 2008 and went into dry-dock at a Tampa Bay ship repair yard. Ultrasonic images of her hull were taken, to check the thickness of her plates and to determine whether repairs were needed before she resumed her voyage. On September 7, 2008, she had reached Yokohama Bay, Japan from where she would depart on a cruise mission that is to visit 200 ports in 20 countries and strive to pass along the stories and memories of the survivors to the present and future generations before ending her mission on December 18, 2008.

 

 

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was on the Carla C in 1980, but the cruise bug bit me many years earlier. Back in the mid 60's, my grandparents sailed on the Michelangelo from NYC to Genoa. We were able to visit them on board for a bon voyage party. I remember walking all over the ship and felt the bite that day on deck. In my head, I vowed to myself that I would someday take a cruise, if I was very lucky. I think I was 9 at the time. This was also one of the only times that the Michelangelo and Raffaelo were berthed together in NYC. Next month, I will take my 22nd cruise...and I'm not done yet...not for a very very long time.:)

 

Oh, I may have sailed many times, but I wasn't truly spoiled until I cruised on the Sitmar ships.;)

 

 

t/s Michelangelo (1965-1991) Built in 1965 by Ansaldo Shipyards, Genoa, Italy as an ocean liner for the Italian Line or the Societa di Navigazione Italia. She was one of the last ships to be built primarily for liner service across the North Atlantic and she was a sister to t/s Rafaello. It was decided that the new ships would be the largest to be built in Italy since the s/s Rex in 1932 and that the ships would be true liners, their accommodations divided into three classes. For some reason it was also decided that the three bottom-most passenger decks would not have any portholes. The most striking feature in the ships were their Turin polytechnic-designed funnels, which consisted of an intricate trellis-like pipework (instead of the traditional even surface) to allow wind to pass through the funnel, and a large smoke deflector fin on the top. Although much criticised, the funnel design proved to be highly effective in keeping smoke off the rear decks.

 

After several delays, she was finally ready for service in May 1965 and would operate on the Genoa-New York run. In April 1966, she was hit by an unusualy large wave during a storm in the mid-Atlantic, which tore away the aluminum plating of the superstructure and swept two passengers into the sea. One crew member died a few hours later and over 50 people were injured. When repairs were carried out after the accident, the aluminum plating in the superstructure was replaced by steel plates.

During the following years, passenger numbers in the Transatlantic trade declined steadily due to competition from the air, and more and more ships were withdrawn. Michelangelo spent more time cruising to warmer waters, but she made a poor cruise ship with her windowless cabins and three-class layout. What she did have was large lido decks that were superior to even most purpose-built cruise ships of the time, but those were not enough to compensate for the ship's shortcomings, and Italian Line did not have enough funds to rebuild the ship to make her a more usable cruiser. Additionally, she was considered to be too large to be a cruise ship by that time's standards.

She made her last Atlantic crossing in July 1975. Afterwards she was laid up, first at Genoa and then at La Spezia, Italy alongside her sister. Several buyers (including Knut Kloster of Norwegian Cruise Line) inspected the ships but decided against buying them due to the costs required to modernise them into cruise ships. There was, however, one serious buyer, Home Lines (Italy), who wished to buy the ships and keep them under Italian flag for cruising in the Caribbean. Incredibly, Italian Line refused to sell the sisters, reportedly because they felt keeping the Italian flag would have associated them with "embarrassing money-losers".

In 1976, a buyer was found that agreed to the terms sought by Italian Line. The Shah of Persia purchased both ships with the intension to use them as permanently moored military barracks. She left Italy on July 8, 1976 and sailed through the Suez Canal, past Saudi Arabia before reaching her new home in Bandar Abbas, Iran on July 21st. In the Shah's presence, the Iranian flag was hoisted, as the ship became an 'Iranian citizen'. She was rebuilt so that she could accommodate 1,800 military personnel.

She would wind up spending the last fifteen years of her life there. In 1978, plans were made to reconstruct her as the luxury cruiser Scia Reza il Grande however, an expert team sent from Italy to inspect the ship came to the conclusion that she was too badly deteriorated to make rebuilding a viable option. Similar plans were made again in 1983, but they too fell short. Finally in June 1991, an end was put to the Michelangelo's suffering when she was sold to the breakers who towed her to and scrapped her at Gadani Beach, Pakistan.

 

[MightyQuinn]

Wow Copper John, this thread is so great. Just when I think I'm caught up (and maybe you're caught up too) there's another bevy of first ships posted. Thanks for the entertaining tales that you're including with the pics. Awesome job.:cool::cool:

[Copper10-8]

25 anniversary cruise to the western Carribbean. We loved the ship and all the romance of the sea. As we look back we were in the worst room we have ever been on....but it didnt matter....we were cruising!

 

Marilee

 

 

Carnival Elation (1998-present)

[Copper10-8]

Carnnival Fantasy 05 and I have been hooked ever since

 

 

Carnival Fantasy (1990-present) First of her class

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was in 1952 on the Queen of Bermuda - NYC to Bermuda and back.

 

 

 

s/s Queen of Bermuda (1933-1967) Built by Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness, England as Queen of Bermuda for the Furness, Withy & Co. After her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York City in February 1933, she was used on their New York-Bermuda service by Furness-Bermuda Line, a subsidiary. When World War II broke out, she was pressed into service, first as an armed merchant cruiser after having been converted in 1939, and then as a troop transport between 1943 and 1947. During this service, she had one of her original three funnels removed. Laid up for refitting for two years, she resumed Bermuda service in 1949. She was rebuild again between 1961 and 1962 and had a second funnel removed, leaving just one. After 33 years of service, she was sold for scrap in 1966, and was broken up at Faslane, Scotland between 1966 and 1967.

 

 

[Copper10-8]

I'm caught up in this fun thread now. My first cruise was on the Cunard Sylvania from Montreal to Greenock, Scotland in 1960 with 11 other college friends...... and have been an avid cruiser ever since.

Thanks for starting this trip down memory lane.

 

 

Sylvania (1957-2004) delivered in 1957 for Cunard Line for secondary North Atlantic services. She was sold to Sitmar Line and was renamed Fairwind in 1968 after rebuilding. She was briefly renamed Sitmar Fairwind in 1988, before becoming Dawn Princess when Princess Cruises acquired Sitmar. In 1993, Princess sold her back to the Vlasov Group V-Ships, the previous owners of Sitmar, with Phoenix Seereisen operating her under charter as Albatros until 2004. She was then sold for scrap and broken up at Alang, India.

 

[COLLEYBERRY]

Clearly ships and their stories are a passion of yours.

The photographs and research you share are wonderful. I have learned so much ,it's like taking a course on cruise ships and their history. Thanks for all your hard work

[Copper10-8]

My first was Carnival's Sensation ... my second was the (old) Westerdam - the former HomeLines ship (I think that was where it was from). Been on lots sense then, but keep coming back to HAL.

 

 

Carnival Sensation (1993-present)

[Copper10-8]

our first cruise was on the Ryndam for 10 days Caribbean march 17,1999.

And it took that one cruise for us to be addicted to cruising. Like the Holland America the best. Have you tried their bread pudding?

 

 

m/s Ryndam (1994-present)

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was on Carnival's Mardi Gras out of Ft. Lauderdale in 1986. I sailed on the Carnivale the same year but that may have been out of Miami. I've been hooked ever since.

 

 

Empress of Canada (1960-2003) Delivered in 1961 as the Empress of Canada to British company Canadian Pacific Steamships as their last passenger liner, to serve on the Liverpool-Canada line. Sold in 1972 to Carnival Cruise Lines and renamed Mardi Gras. In 1993 she was sold to Greek company Epirotiki Lines who chartered her to Gold Star Cruises as a casino ship, renamed Star of Texas. In 1994 she became Lucky Star cruising out of Miami. In 1995 she was laid up in Greece and renamed Apollon. In 1999 she was chartered as Apollon to Direct Cruises in the UK for one year. From 2001 she operated out of Piraeus for Royal Olympia Cruises (the former Epirotiki) on 3- to 4-day cruises. In December 2003, renamed Apollo for her final journey, she was beached at Alang, India, and scrapped.

 

 

rms Transvaal Castle (1966-2004) Built in 1962 by John Brown & Company, Ltd at Clydebank, Scotland as ocean liner Transvaal Castle for Union-Castle Line (UK) for the Southampton-South Africa service. She was the second largest in the Union-Castle fleet and the only one-class express liner ever conceived for that historic run. International politics played an increasing role in the life of the service and after South Africa pulled out of the British Commonwealth, the government in Pretoria put greater stock in the enlargement of a South African merchant marine. In mid decade they "suggested" that Union Castle transfer two passenger ships to South African flag. Union Castle, whose sole business by then was the South Africa run, could not but comply and arranged to sell two ships to the South Africans. In 1966, the vessel was transferred to the South African Marine Corporation and renamed S. A. Vaal.

 

That done, she retained her Union Castle crews and continued in operation exactly as before though now wearing the white hulls of their new owners. By the mid 1970s the fleet was down to five passenger liners. The mail route was costing too much money to operate so Union Castle and Safmarine agreed to close it down. Only one of the six ships ever traded again...the S.A. Vaal.

 

In October 1977, she was sold to Carnival Cruise Line who converted the vessel into a cruise ship in Japan at the cost of $30 million, doubling the vessel's passenger capacity and installing discotheques, lounges and casinos. She was renamed Carnivale and began cruising in October 1978 from Miami thereby becoming one of Carnival's 'First Generation' cruise ships. With Carnival creating substantially larger cruise liners, she was superseded by the new "Fun Ships" a few years later and was sent to work on 7-day cruises from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

 

The winter of 1996 saw her turned over to Dolphin Cruise Lines on a bareboat charter as Island Breeze. There was still a market for passengers who preferred "traditional" looking ships, and after a brief charter with a British travel firm Thomson, Dolphin Cruise Cruise Line purchased her outright in 1998. She operated from Montego Bay, Jamaica on 7-night cruises to the Panama canal in winter and from May, 2-night and 5-night cruises from New York.

 

During Premiers' reorganization in the mid 1990s, all but the Oceanic (Big Red Boat I) were sold off. Premier then became an amalgamation of Dolphin and Seawind Cruises and obtained the remainder of that fleet. She was renamed Island Breeze: Big Red Boat III, as she was their third liner, and like all of their ships, had her hull painted a bright red. Premier ceased operations on September 13th, 2000. The cruise line's banker, investment firm Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ), made the decision to pull the plug after a summer of highly visible mishaps on a fleet of aging ships that were becoming more expensive to maintain each passing day as fuel prices increased. Their ships were seized in various ports in the Caribbean, North America and Europe.

 

By now, old, out-of-date and in need of repairs, she could find no work and was sold to the shipbreakers in Alang, India in the summer of 2003. On June 4, 2003 she sailed as Big Boat from Freeport, Bahamas via Gibraltar, to Alang. She had the sad distinction of being the first Carnival Cruise liner to be scrapped there which occurred in 2003-2004.

 

 

[Copper10-8]

My 1st cruise was in January 2003 onboard the Imagination (now called the Carnival Imagination). :D It was a 4 day from Miami and we went to Key West, Cozumel and had 1 sea day. Now, 12 cruises later (so yes, it started the addiction), it's still one of my favourites and the Imagination will always have a special place in my heart. :D The ship is 70,367 tons, 855 feet long and carrys 2,052 passengers. I remember when I 1st saw her how huge she looked. I was just looking at a picture of her now and was thinking "OMG! She's so small!!" :eek: Here's a pic of her:

 

 

 

I have four more cruises crurrently booked: the Carnival Valor for October 2008, the Eurodam for December 2008/January 2009, the Carnival Freedom for May 2009 and the Oasis of the Seas for December 2009. I can't wait to cruise again!! :D Oh, and I got my fiancee into cruising as well. I took him on his 1st cruise in February 2008 on the Carnival Conquest and he's coming on the Valor with me in 3 weeks!!!! :D

 

My Eurodam cruise will be my 1st on HAL!!

 

 

Carnival Imagination (1995-present)

[Copper10-8]

Cunard Dynasty, Northbound Alaska Vancouver to Seward 1995 (or maybe 1996?). I was only 25 at the time but became immediately and totally addicited to cruising and have had 25 cruises to date with many, many more to come over the next 50 years or so :D

 

It took my wife a few years to reach "addiction level" (I think it was Cunard's Sea Goddess II that sealed it) but now she is there, as is our 6 year old daughter.

 

Crown Dynasty (1993-present) Constructed in 1993 for Effjohn International 's Crown Cruise Line, operating under the name Crown Dynasty. Between 1993 and 1997, she vessel was charted by Cunard Line, who named her Cunard Crown Dynasty while under their flag. In 1997, she was chartered to Majesty Cruise Line, who renamed her Crown Majesty. This only lasted until the end of that year when she was chartered once again, this time to Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), who renamed her Norwegian Dynasty. She returned to her original name of Crown Dynasty in 1999, but was them sold to Fred Olsen Cruises (UK) in 2001, where she is currently operating under the name Braemar.

[Vic The Parrot]

You've been a busy beaver lately ...