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Anyone Remember the "Song of America?"

grab007

By grab007,
in Royal Caribbean International

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grab007

grab007

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I noticed the thread about the Song of Norway and immediately thought of our first RCI cruise which was on the Song of America out of Miami. We actually cruised on her twice back in the 80's. I did a little research and she's passed through a number of different cruise lines since her retirement from RCI. I was encouraged to see that she's still afloat and cruising for Louis Cruise Lines out of Greece under the name Louis Olympia. But she was the one that really hooked us on cruising.

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seacruise9

seacruise9

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Hi,

 

I cruised on the Song of America with my parents in 1985 (seven-day Eastern Caribbean). Because the ship entered service in 1982, it was still fairly new. This was a wonderful ship that I remember very well. In 1985, the Song of America was Royal Caribbean's largest ship. This was my second cruise with Royal Caribbean (my first Royal Caribbean cruise was on the Sun Viking in 1983). The Song of America was a unique ship (no sister ships) which is fairly rare for Royal Caribbean.

 

Chuck

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interapid

interapid

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Our first cruise was on Song of America on June 28th 1987, the day after our wedding. From somewhere in Florida we went to St Thomas, San Juan and Labadie. We were the last cruise that stopped at Labadie for a while due to political unrest. We had the best time, not just because we were on our honeymoon, on that ship. I had my dads huge VHS camcorder. It was a whole suitcase. I shot the shotgun at a few clay birds off the rear side of the ship. We had a bridge open house and looked at the radar. The food was great and I still remember our table partners. All 8 of them.

The wife was nervous at first and asked me what would happen if the ship sunk. I looked out at the sea and there was a U.S. Coast Guard cutter. I said "look at that" and she never was scared again on any cruise! I was very impressed that the crew was constantly cleaning everything. I have been in hospitals that were not half as clean! In those days you did not have sea pass cards. On the last sea day we were on the pool deck having a few drinks and a wind gust blew my credit card off into the sea. What a time we had explaining that to the purser!

On the last day my wife did the aerobics class and the next day she was limping a little when we got off the plane at home. My grandfather said "you should not have been so hard on her" My wife turned bright red!

What a great trip. We love that ship.

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Loyal2RCCL

Loyal2RCCL

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When did RCL start naming their ships "_____ of the Seas?" And which ship was renamed to become the Empress of the Seas? That's where I met my husband in 2006 so the Empress is very special to me.

 

Soveriegn was the first ship to bear the "of the Seas" moniker. Nordic Empress was the ship they renamed Empress of the Seas after her refurbishment.

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cruiserhal

cruiserhal

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Oh yes, my first cruise. Sailed on her 5 times with the first being in 1988. Loved that ship. One item I always remember (as near as I can remember these days) was the passenger count was 1404 but deck chair count was 1600. This was on the specification sheet they gave everyone. I still have it somewhere but don't know where at this minute so forgive me if I am off by a few.

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linkerbink

linkerbink

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Here is another whose first cruise was on the Song of America. We went to Bermuda from NY in1996. As an earlier poster stated, we've been hooked ever since! We thought she was so huge! Actually, i think that is the perfect size for a cruise ship!

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BJane

BJane

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I remember Song of America from way back when she was considered a large ship! In 1985 we were on Nordic Prince for an overnight stay in St. Thomas and Song of America was in port with us. We were able to go on board to have lunch and were amazed at how "big" a ship she was. We later cruised on her twice and enjoyed each trip.

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Proudmom1120

Proudmom1120

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I certainly remember Song of America. It was my first cruise and also my honeymoon. That was back in 1990. That cruise got me addicted to cruises. Went to Cozumel and Ocho Rios. My husband and I will be going on the Explorer in April. Looking forward to see the changes Royal has made.

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LisaGoeke

LisaGoeke

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Yes! Song of America was my family's first RCI cruise. Ever since then we've mostly sailed with RCI. My parents loved the Song of America so much we sailed on it six times! First time in 1983, last time in 1990. Fun times! Makes me want to dig through our old pictures....

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