Song of America

[shipgeeks]

We just acquired a large, framed poster of Song of America, Ship of the Year '85.  Beautiful!  Don't know where we will hang it, but we are ship geeks and had to have it, plus it was for a charity fundraiser.

Any reminiscences of this ship would make it even more enjoyable!

[denmarks]

I was on it in 97. Hard to remember much about it. The only other RCCL ship I was on was Majesty of the Seas.

[RenieRaider]

You had to climb up a staircase to get to the Crow's Nest. You could get a card punched and you would be a member of the Night Owl. 

[CruisinSinceAge5]

Beverly Sills, the opera star, was the godmother of the Song of America. It cruised as part of RCCL only until 1999 when it became Sunbird. I believe it is still cruising in Europe as part of Louis Cruises under another name.The Viking Crown lounge, now referred to as sky lounge in many articles, was not removed when it was sold as had been done with its sister ships. The lounge of the SOA was the first one to be completely circular and was higher than in the past. Enjoy!

[Catnip]

I sailed on SOA many times and just loved her!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Catnip]

Found some RCCL memorabilia in an old box.

[interapid]

We took our first cruise on SOA, our honeymoon, in 87. Super great time. I was so impressed how huge it was and clean. People constantly cleaning. I can still remember the 6 other people who sat at our dinner table, an unusual experience for us. The bridge tour was cool. I shot clay birds off the rear side of the ship, hit all of my birds and the spectators cheered. Such fun. I remember telling the wife to pack light cause when boarding you had to jump across from the dock to the ship. Not sure she believed me but it was a fun joke. Sail away was great in those days with all the confetti. About an hour after the life jacket muster we were standing on the top deck and my new wife was nervous and asked what to do if it sank. I looked out and 600 yards away was a beautiful white and red coast guard cutter. I simply said "there is the coast guard to pick us all up" She has never been concerned about ships since! LOL. Great times.

[shipgeeks]

Thank you, Interapid!  Now I'm going to go upstairs and look at the poster again.

[CruisinSinceAge5]

I flew down to Miami for the parties the week SOA was christened. It was my future husband’s intro to my world of cruising. My father who passed away in 2022 was one of the last living modern cruise industry pioneers. 
The reason the Viking Crown wasn’t removed when it was sold was that, unlike with the previous 3 ships, it was so much larger that its removal would make the ship structurally unsound. Enjoy your poster.