Memories required! Vistafjord/MS Caronia/Saga Ruby

[castlewood]

In 2003, my wife and I were trying to think of some different way to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary. We decided to take a cruise (neither of us had done that) and we chose Cunard because my brother had enjoyed a QE2 cruise much more than he had a Holland America cruise. We booked a five-night cruise on the Caronia, coming and going from Southampton. We were so unsure of whether we'd like it that we decided if we didn't, we would simply leave the ship at the first port (Antwerp) and get back to London somehow. Even before the Caronia left port in Southampton, we knew we had made the right decision.

 

We were seated at a table of 8 -- including an English couple from Southampton, an older, very wealthy couple from Florida, and two ladies also from the U.S. All had sailed on the Caronia previously. The wife of the English couple asked where we were going after the cruise, and we told her to visit Clumber Park, near Worksop. She went pale -- she and her husband grew up in Worksop. I think they thought it was some sort of karmic experience. Such nice people! We stayed in touch with the Florida couple for a number of years afterwards, and even saw them again on our first QM2 cruise. The whole cruise was such a wonderful experience, the food was amazing, and everything was so very perfect. It was officially announced on this cruise that Cunard had finalized the deal to sell the Caronia. I reall the great sense of loss we felt, even though we had only spent a few nights on it.

 

Since the Caronia, we have taken 10 cruises, 9 of them with Cunard (QV and QM2), and we have a QE cruise booked for June 2014. They've mostly been wonderful, but none have captured the true magic of our time on the Caronia. I still have a Caronia sport shirt that I bought on that cruise, and I wear it from time to time. And whenever I've worn it onboard, passengers -- complete strangers -- have come up to me and remarked how much they loved the ship.

[Memory hunter]

Thank you Sharon and Castlewood: great stuff.

[UnclePedro]

Ah How my friend and I enjoyed the Tour of The Baltic and Med... on this Grand ship. Going through the "Straights" during the early morning Hours, fog mist filled air added to the mystical allure as I leaned over the side between the two Continents.

 

Varna, Sofia, Istanbul, Mikinos and Santarini ; Magical Country dancers performed and the warmth of the formal dinners was excellent.

 

Unfortunately some where over the years I either lost or they were stolen, the treasured small round Rosenthal dishes with the itinerary of the cruise that were given to we passengers. I would love to get one just for the memories of it. Such a small token but so elegant and refreshing. If there is a way to get one again and you know how I can do do, please email me.

pt12007@gmail.com:)

[Colin_Cameron]

... the treasured small round Rosenthal dishes with the itinerary of the cruise that were given to we passengers. I would love to get one just for the memories of it. Such a small token but so elegant and refreshing. If there is a way to get one again and you know how I can do do, please email me.

 

We have a few from some of our cruises. Unique mementos. They do come up occasionally on ebay so may be worth keeping an eye out for them there.

 

Regards, Colin.

[Colin_Cameron]

Some of the music onboard was a classical trio, Viva Espresia. They played Bach, Rachmaninof, Astor Piazola, among others. Wonderful.

Oksana, Svetlana and Olena

 

If yourself and balf would care to drop me an email (sandra dot cameron at tesco dot net (replace the dots and the at)) I have a little present for you:D

 

Can you recall the name of the cruise director? An ex dancer I think, Australian.

Andrew Graham (David Pepper isn't Australian and as far as I know was never a dancer:))

 

Regards, Colin.

[bobby1119]

My travel agent finally pried us off QE2, and we embarked on a 14 night Med cruise of the ship in her reincarnation as Caronia.

 

What a jewelbox she was! It seemed that everyone got to know everyone else, passengers and crew alike. I loved her sleek, classic liner style, and her intimate, classy and clubby ambience. It was as if she were a miniature QE2, the greatest compliment any ship can hope to receive.

 

We struck up a nice onboard relationship with the wonderful and gracious captain, the late Ron Bolton, who hosted several parties in the ward room and in his private quarters to which we were invited.

 

Sad to see her go.

[Colin_Cameron]

Whilst on the Cunard countess in the carribean 1985 we saw the vistafjord for the first time. i knew then that we had to save up to go on her, she looked so classic.

Similarly, we first saw Vistafjord from Cunard Princess in Katakolon, Greece, and had the same reaction as you.

 

We have since sailed on her nine times.

1997 Transatlantic

1997 Western Med

1997 Western Med

1999 Canaries - Vistafjord's final voyage

2001 UK, Norway, Faroes, Iceland, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New York

2002 Spitzbergen

2003 Spain Portugal France

2003 UK, Ireland

2004 Canaries - Caronia's final voyage

 

We have many, many wonderful memories of the ship, it's crew and the passengers but it was our first time on board that will always rermain the most memorable. Unfortunately for the wrong reasons. And probably not suitable for your purposes, Memory Hunter.

 

Departure was in the evening so We had dinner, then went out on deck as we sailed from Fort Lauderdale at around 9:30pm. Lifeboat drill was scheduled for 11am the next morning. We went to the show and then a bar and sat chatting to some new friends.

 

Not long after we were in bed there was a commotion outside in the corridor, we had just commented that it was a little late for noisy behavour, approx 1:30-2:00am., when the alarms rang.

 

I jumped back into a pair of trousers and opened the cabin door to find people in lifejackets coming out of a 'crew only' door across from our cabin. This was obviously a stair down to the crew decks. I asked what was happening and a young girl who was crying said that she wasn't sure but we should get dressed put on our lifejackets and go to our lifeboat. I went back in and we got dressed in a hurry. This can only have taken a couple of minutes but in that time stewardesses had been at the door twice to make sure that we were awake and on the go. When we opened the door again there was smoke in the corridor.

 

Despite the fact that the muster drill wasn't until the next morning I knew that we had to turn right, pass three doors. then the lift, and up the stairs.

 

So with my wife holding the back of my jacket we turned right, counted three doors and... I have to admit my heart missed a beat as we walked into a three inch thick solid steel watertight door!

 

It was only closed over to reduce the spread of smoke and was opened for us by a crewmember, we then went to our boat without any further probems.

 

At the boat station we were all lined up, men at the back, women in front, I don't think there were any children on board. Roll call was taken in both English and German and then the heads were counted as a cross check. If there were any missing (none at our boat) the other boat stations were checked via walkie-talkie and when none had any surplus heads a crewman was sent to search for them.

 

While all this was going on the boats were prepared and swung out and down level with the deck, the engines were started and tested and we were told how to get into the boats ie. first ones on were to go right to the front and back of the boat and not just sit in the first seat they came to.

 

The captain came on the tannoy to tell us that this was just a precaution. I'm not sure how many people beleived him. The cause of the emergency was a fire in a dry goods store near the ships laundry. This was right forward and we heard from some of our table companions who had cabins at the 'sharp end' that things had been quite bad up front. One couple had to put damp towels over their heads and followed their steward to the stairs, when the woman had to stop for a rest half way up she was picked up and carried up the stairs by a six foot tall, blond, Swedish barman wearing nothing but his shorts. She said that was the highlight of her holiday. One woman travelling alone was crawling on her hands and knees and missed the stairs in the thick smoke, she realised she had gone too far and doubled back and found them.

 

The doctor was doing the rounds to make sure everyone was ok. There were the usual bumps and bruises, throat irritations from the smoke, a broken arm, a broken ankle and rumours of a suspected heart attack amoung others(but you know how rumours spread in a situation like this). A couple of waiters were going round with water containers for those who wanted a drink. I burst out laughing when they handed me a good crystal glass and a little paper napkin.

 

Listening to the officers radios it became clear that there were two people missing, a fireman (he was later found unconcious) and a waiter who was looking for missing people (they turned up at the boat on their own, the waiters body was found several hours later).

 

Around 5 am the captain announced that the fire was now contained, we were heading for the Bahamas and breakfast would be served in the dining room at 7am. But we must stay on deck meantime as there was still lots of smoke in the interior of the ship.

 

Come breakfast time the galleys were still out of bounds and we expected nothing more than a cold snack, but they had set up the deck BBQ's and flambe cookers and almost a full service was available. With the air conditioning shut down it wasn't long before the room was dripping with condensation and the chefs and waiters dripping with sweat. It must have been difficult for the waiters who by now knew that one of their collegues was dead. And there were still some passengers whose eggs were too hard or too soft! At lunchtime with the fire still burning one woman at our table ordered for dessert "the largest bowl of rasberries you can find". And she got it!!!

 

By now we were in Freeport, Grand Bahama and just after lunch the captain announced that the fire was out.

 

Those who couldn't or wouldn't return to their cabins were moved to hotels but I'm glad we had two more nights aboard, it made going back on in August that much easier.

 

The next morning there was a memorial service for the waiter that died and I think everyone, passengers and crew, was there. The captain later announced that the damage was too great to continue and arrangements were being made to fly us wherever we wanted to go.

 

If it hadn't been for this event our cruising history would probably have been very different. All the little niggles and disagreements with someone in an office in Southampton or Miami (and there have been numerous) would probably have driven us to try other cruise lines. But this sort of puts it all in context. When you are at sea you are literaly putting your life in the crew's hands and every single crewmember we had dealing with that night, and in the following days, proved they were more than up to the task. As I put it to one captain much later when he asked, surprised, "And in spite of that you came back to Cunard?" I replied, "It's because of that, that we keep coming back to Cunard."

 

Although the ship is gone, many of the crew are still around. I spoke to two waiters, and saw a third, that we first met on Vistafjord, just last month on Queen Victoria.

 

Regards, Colin.

[bcscot]

Colin's experience is a hard act to follow! Although I had long known of her, my first sight of her was from the HAL Westerdam, in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, in 2005 when she was on her maiden voyage as Saga Ruby. I fell in love with her at once. As Captain Alasdair Mclundie once said of the Saga Rose, it was like appreciating a beautiful old Bentley, next to all the new monsters. She later left port first and I watched, bedazzled, as she sailed out to sea, the rays from the setting sun radiating off her shiny new dark blue paintwork. She gleamed in the evening light. I watched her sail away into the distance and then turn and sail all the way back to port. I suppose that she must have had some sort of emergency on board.

I got my chance to sail on her in 2009, during what we called our 'four ship relay.' Having taken the chance to sail on QE2 during her final days with Cunard in 2008, we planned another classic voyage in 2009. We crossed to Southampton on QM2, changed ship to Black Watch for a Norway cruise, a couple of days ashore and onto Saga Rose for her final cruise around Ireland, one of her last, before we joined Saga Ruby for the crossing from Southampton back to New York. I had only just made it to 50 in time!

Sailing up the Hudson to dock in Manhattan, was special. We were accompanied on board, by Stephen Payne, designer of QM2, who was one of the lecturers. He wasn't wearing his Blue Peter badge though! The Captain was Philip Rentell, a great character, who had been on QE2 in the Falklands Campaign along with Commodore Ronald Warwick. We had the pleasure of dining with Captain Rentell and he was great fun. We were allowed to visit the bridge and I had a laugh getting the Canadian First Officer to teach the captain how to say 'Newfoundland'. Whenever the captain saw us after that, he would always say 'Newfinland'!

That little ship is so classic and so beautiful. I loved the beautiful wood panelling and marvelled at how it creaked at night as we crossed the Atlantic. I also loved the 50s style twisted seat in the lobby.

I feel privileged to have sailed on that ship and her older sister. She certainly is one of the last of her breed.

[capnpugwash]

Similarly, we first saw Vistafjord from Cunard Princess in Katakolon, Greece, and had the same reaction as you.

 

We have since sailed on her nine times.

1997 Transatlantic

1997 Western Med

1997 Western Med

1999 Canaries - Vistafjord's final voyage

2001 UK, Norway, Faroes, Iceland, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New York

2002 Spitzbergen

2003 Spain Portugal France

2003 UK, Ireland

2004 Canaries - Caronia's final voyage

 

We have many, many wonderful memories of the ship, it's crew and the passengers but it was our first time on board that will always rermain the most memorable. Unfortunately for the wrong reasons. And probably not suitable for your purposes, Memory Hunter.

 

Departure was in the evening so We had dinner, then went out on deck as we sailed from Fort Lauderdale at around 9:30pm. Lifeboat drill was scheduled for 11am the next morning. We went to the show and then a bar and sat chatting to some new friends.

 

Not long after we were in bed there was a commotion outside in the corridor, we had just commented that it was a little late for noisy behavour, approx 1:30-2:00am., when the alarms rang.

 

I jumped back into a pair of trousers and opened the cabin door to find people in lifejackets coming out of a 'crew only' door across from our cabin. This was obviously a stair down to the crew decks. I asked what was happening and a young girl who was crying said that she wasn't sure but we should get dressed put on our lifejackets and go to our lifeboat. I went back in and we got dressed in a hurry. This can only have taken a couple of minutes but in that time stewardesses had been at the door twice to make sure that we were awake and on the go. When we opened the door again there was smoke in the corridor.

 

Despite the fact that the muster drill wasn't until the next morning I knew that we had to turn right, pass three doors. then the lift, and up the stairs.

 

So with my wife holding the back of my jacket we turned right, counted three doors and... I have to admit my heart missed a beat as we walked into a three inch thick solid steel watertight door!

 

It was only closed over to reduce the spread of smoke and was opened for us by a crewmember, we then went to our boat without any further probems.

 

At the boat station we were all lined up, men at the back, women in front, I don't think there were any children on board. Roll call was taken in both English and German and then the heads were counted as a cross check. If there were any missing (none at our boat) the other boat stations were checked via walkie-talkie and when none had any surplus heads a crewman was sent to search for them.

 

While all this was going on the boats were prepared and swung out and down level with the deck, the engines were started and tested and we were told how to get into the boats ie. first ones on were to go right to the front and back of the boat and not just sit in the first seat they came to.

 

The captain came on the tannoy to tell us that this was just a precaution. I'm not sure how many people beleived him. The cause of the emergency was a fire in a dry goods store near the ships laundry. This was right forward and we heard from some of our table companions who had cabins at the 'sharp end' that things had been quite bad up front. One couple had to put damp towels over their heads and followed their steward to the stairs, when the woman had to stop for a rest half way up she was picked up and carried up the stairs by a six foot tall, blond, Swedish barman wearing nothing but his shorts. She said that was the highlight of her holiday. One woman travelling alone was crawling on her hands and knees and missed the stairs in the thick smoke, she realised she had gone too far and doubled back and found them.

 

The doctor was doing the rounds to make sure everyone was ok. There were the usual bumps and bruises, throat irritations from the smoke, a broken arm, a broken ankle and rumours of a suspected heart attack amoung others(but you know how rumours spread in a situation like this). A couple of waiters were going round with water containers for those who wanted a drink. I burst out laughing when they handed me a good crystal glass and a little paper napkin.

 

Listening to the officers radios it became clear that there were two people missing, a fireman (he was later found unconcious) and a waiter who was looking for missing people (they turned up at the boat on their own, the waiters body was found several hours later).

 

Around 5 am the captain announced that the fire was now contained, we were heading for the Bahamas and breakfast would be served in the dining room at 7am. But we must stay on deck meantime as there was still lots of smoke in the interior of the ship.

 

Come breakfast time the galleys were still out of bounds and we expected nothing more than a cold snack, but they had set up the deck BBQ's and flambe cookers and almost a full service was available. With the air conditioning shut down it wasn't long before the room was dripping with condensation and the chefs and waiters dripping with sweat. It must have been difficult for the waiters who by now knew that one of their collegues was dead. And there were still some passengers whose eggs were too hard or too soft! At lunchtime with the fire still burning one woman at our table ordered for dessert "the largest bowl of rasberries you can find". And she got it!!!

 

By now we were in Freeport, Grand Bahama and just after lunch the captain announced that the fire was out.

 

Those who couldn't or wouldn't return to their cabins were moved to hotels but I'm glad we had two more nights aboard, it made going back on in August that much easier.

 

The next morning there was a memorial service for the waiter that died and I think everyone, passengers and crew, was there. The captain later announced that the damage was too great to continue and arrangements were being made to fly us wherever we wanted to go.

 

If it hadn't been for this event our cruising history would probably have been very different. All the little niggles and disagreements with someone in an office in Southampton or Miami (and there have been numerous) would probably have driven us to try other cruise lines. But this sort of puts it all in context. When you are at sea you are literaly putting your life in the crew's hands and every single crewmember we had dealing with that night, and in the following days, proved they were more than up to the task. As I put it to one captain much later when he asked, surprised, "And in spite of that you came back to Cunard?" I replied, "It's because of that, that we keep coming back to Cunard."

 

Although the ship is gone, many of the crew are still around. I spoke to two waiters, and saw a third, that we first met on Vistafjord, just last month on Queen Victoria.

 

Regards, Colin.

 

I think this is a marvellous story and I thank you so much for sharing it. That would have kept me coming back as well.

[blackpool uk]

Thanks for your memories, you jogged mine about the trio. They were aboard in June 2003 and we went to every performance.

 

Can you recall the name of the cruise director? An ex dancer I think, Australian. Most hands on CD we have known.

 

David.

 

David

I appreciate other names have been put forward but we have wonderful memories of Andrew Graham who was probably one of the best CD 's we have ever met in over 60 cruises.

He was formerly a dancer on the Cunard Countess as I recall.

Chris and Sheila

[Rotterdam]

On a cruise on QE2(the start of the World cruise) I met one of the officers - Electrical Engineer - that had been with Cunard for many years. One day he invited me for cocktails & we spoke about the ships he worked on & the ones I sailed on since the 1970's. Several times we met & enjoyed each others company. When I disembarked he mentioned that he would be transferring to Caronia & the ship would be in NYC a few times( I live in Manhattan).

 

When he the ship arrived in NYC he gave me a tour and we had lunch, once again it was great & interesting to spend time together. He actually convinced me to take a 2 week cruise on her & I loved every minute. She was so different from QE2 and reminded me of the Franconia, Bremen & Rotterdam V - elegant & sailed beautifully no matter the seas.

 

I really miss the old classic ships like Caronia - the service, food & above all the officers & crew were exceptional. The officers name was Robert Robinson aka ROBO....he soon retired and lived in England...wonderful memories of a beautiful ship & friendship.

[BlueRiband]

The ex-Vistafjord is reported to have been sold and will be a floating hotel in Myanmar. As Oasis she will sail under her own power on Feb 6th or 7th.

 

(Where have we heard that story before? Hope she fares better than her one time big sister fleet mate.)

[Salacia]

Thanks for sharing memories; I enjoyed reading the wonderful stories about the ship which sadly, I never experienced.

 

 

BTW according to Shipping News, her name has been changed to Oasia (Maritime Matters had it incorrectly as Oasis in their initial report):

 

"Now she appears to have been renamed OASIA, owned by a Singapore company called Millennium View Ltd. From various sources it would appear she is to be converted into a floating hotel, probably in Singapore." copied from http://www.shippingtimes.co.uk/item_10675.html

Regards, S.

Edited February 4, 2014 by Salacia

[Al54]

First I want to apologize for my bad English : I'm French.

It's a great emotion for me to speak about my favorite ship and I thank you for giving me the opportunity to do. I made two fifteen days cruises on the Vistafjord : Baltic capitals (1996), British Isles and Iceland (1998). What made this ship so special? I don't know, probably something called charm. I'll always keep the image of this beautiful thin, elegant sand-color ship anchored in the Akureiry fjord in Iceland, appearing through a light fog. My favorite place in the ship was the elegant winter-garden, where classical concerts took place almost every afternoon on seadays.

The Vistafjord had a lot of single cabins (glorious forever gone days for solo travellers!) some with bath tubs, some with showers. The single cabins showers were very narrow and some passengers complained, but I remember a very funny lady who was a little bit......(In French the politically correct word is "round" but I don't know if it is correct in English) who said : " This tiny shower is very convenient for me : I just put the soap on the walls and turn!"

Unfortunately, I also have a very sad memory about the Vistafjord : during my 1998 cruise, the cruise director's assistant suddenly died aboard. His name was Hans and he was in his fourties. I'll never forget the touching memorial service organized aboard, with the crew and passengers. May this post also be a respectful tribute to him.

I never cruised again on this ship which was renamed "Caronia" the year after and had her beautiful sand-color hull repainted in black.

[Salacia]

Quoting a report today from Maritime Matters: "Sporting her new name OASIA, the recently sold former SAGA RUBY was spotted in the Malaysian port of Penang today, presumably before proceeding to Yangon to begin her next career as an hotel." http://maritimematters.com/2014/03/arrival-of-oasia/

[Al54]

Thanks a lot, Salacia, for those nostalgic pictures : this ship was so elegant! I hope she'll have a better future than the unfortunate QE2!

 

 

Envoyé de mon iPad à l'aide de Forums

[Sabrina Fair]

Stowaway2K, excellent slide show with music that enhances images. Thanks for sharing.

 

Sabrina Fair

[Very Critical]

Have you ever travelled on this ship, under any of her names?

 

The Saga Ruby, as she is now, is to be sold. I am collecting reminiscences of anyone who has had anything to do with her, whether the original builders at Swan Hunter, ship's staff, or holiday makers. These will be printed and packaged with memorabilia to give to her buyers so her 40 year history is not forgotten.

 

Can you help by providing a quote for me to use? Any (positive!) memory very gratefully received.

 

Thank you.[/quote

 

Hi, I was an entertainer (Paul Vernon) on Ms Sagafjord in 1974/5/6, and one thing that I remember is being at the pursers desk when a passenger asked what the temperature was in the next port. Fahrenheit or Centigrade was asked, to which the passenger replied, "No, Lenningrad"

[vistaman]

i did 25 cruises on Cunard 1990 - 1999

20 on Vistafjord ,4 on QE2 and 1 on Sagafjord ( did not like her at all )

most of the time i had great cruises especially on Vistafjord

when finally Brakstadt left , we had the great captains Rodahl and Soerensen and the wonderful cruise director Gesa.

also the cruise sales from south africa Tracey was wonderful - i remember in those days she could not go ashore in some countries.

the chef on board was usually Karl Winkler who moved to QE2 and he started up the QM2

the standards declined as from 1996 - small nice items were taken away from shopping bags , caps to the ashtrays and finally the credits and welcome wines or champagne for bronze, silver and gold Club.

i will not mention his name however the Austrian FB manager was hated on board both by crew and a lot of passengers.

the maitre d'h Doris was liked by nearly everybody and the most popular assistant maitre d'h was the Italian Felice.