The Southward

[alpal1993]

I cruised on the Southward back in October 1980 for my first anniversary.We did the Western Caribbean.Still have several Souvenier glasses .We went to Mexico, Grand Caymen,Jamaica and Key West.It was my Love Boat.My love for cruising has out lasted the marriage as my New DH of 18 years will be taking our 16 cruise together next month

[vols52]

Being our first cruise we thought the Southward was a huge ship. Our ignorance was evident when waking up in Saint Thomas Soverign of the Seas was Docked behind us. I thought we were the Tender.

 

We sailed out of Miami on a 7 day caribbean trip. Missed Ocho Rios due to high seas. We stood on the deck and just watched the shoreline. For 8 hours the ship took on fresh water. The line did a nice job of keeping the passengers happy with bonus prizes and free amenities.

[alikaalex]

Am I crazy or do I recall them distributing streamers for use upon sailaway? For some reason I seem to remember that.

[DeepWaterMariner]

Am I crazy or do I recall them distributing streamers for use upon sailaway? For some reason I seem to remember that.

 

You probably remember correctly. While I don't think we got streamers on the Southward we did get them on RCCL's Nordic Prince in 1981 and on the Rotterdam back in 1972 so it was done by cruise lines back in that era.

[alikaalex]

Does anyone know if some scans of the Southward's deck plans are located anywhere online? I seem to recall seeing them a couple years ago, but Google's giving me the runaround right now.

[comet6270]

What time of year was your 1975 MS Southward cruise?

[comet6270]

CruiserDoc: What was the month of your 1975 cruise on MS Southward?

[comet6270]

I sailed on her twice. A 7 day Western Caribbean itinerary in 1975 or 76 and a 3 day out of LA in the early 90's. It was pretty amazing pulling out my old pictures the second time around. The casino on the later cruise was where a pool had been earlier!!! It's also amazing to see the differences in those old ships and the new ones. like the DAWN & JEWEL.

 

CruiserDoc: I was on the MS Southward in 1975. What month did you go?

[pilot68v]

First experience. Eastern Caribbean. Never forget the rough seas between Nassau and Miami during the last night of the cruise. To quote the line from Gilligan's Island, "The Tiny Ship Was Tossed".

 

Been on eight cruises since, and booked on Independence of the Seas in a couple of weeks but have never ever been in rough seas like that since.

[Zqueeze1]

WOW!!! We sailed on her for our first cruise as newlyweds in June 1983 out of Miami. Our cabin was on the second lowest deck with a small port hole. I remember the above mentioned baked alaska! I also remember watching some staff members dancing to "Matilda" by the pool. How about going to bed and getting up in time to make it to the midnight buffet? I wish I could remember the cost of our cabin.

 

Z and TB

Edited December 22, 2013 by Zqueeze1

[Another ship trip]

This was my first cruise in summer of 1986 for our honeymoon.  My husband had been on one with his family before we were  married two years earlier on the Song of Norway.  We had a teeny tiny inside cabin.  The bed was turned sideways as you entered the room and was against the wall.  The width of the room was just slightly longer than the bed by maybe 2-4 inches as I recall. I wonder if it was even 100 square feet!  We had done fishing charters and I loved boats in general, so this cruise ship seemed magnificent to me.  I found the information that was in effect on our cruise from 86.  The prices per the brochure started at 895 and topped out at 2055 per person. Back then they had three prices depending on the departure date.  You could get a nominal savings by booking early of from 50-150 dollars.  This was pre-internet, so most all bookings went through real brick and mortar travel agents.  I believe our fare (inside tiny cabin) was 2530.00 total ( next to the cheapest rate available) for a  seven day cruise from Miami leaving on Sunday to Puerta Plata, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Nassau.  I kept that printed information from the cruise brochure. I have a Honeymoon document from the line and also still have the gold picture of the Southward that maybe everyone got.   I won the women's skeet (trap) shooting off the side of  the boat which I really enjoyed.   I have the trophy picture and everything. The ship had seven public decks and had a gross tonnage of 16,609.  Completely full it would carry up to 767 passengers with 300 crew.  It states that it's maiden voyage was December 21, 1969 per my NCL brochure document.  Looking at a photo of her now, she looks like an overgrown yacht compared to current cruise ships.  Fast forward to today and we are about to take our 40th (or maybe 41st) cruise; I'd have to look at our list.  And this time it will be on the Bliss.  That first cruise on this wonderful ship was what began a love of cruising!!  I went back and looked at those pictures tonight from going on 33 years ago.  Wow....good times!

[maler]

The Southward was also my first cruise, 3 days out of Longbeach in the late 80's stopping at Catalina Island and Ensenada.

Ice carving, midnight buffets, no premium restaurants, just the MDR for all meals. It seemed like an older ship at that time but I've  been on 8 cruises since then and have another one scheduled for this May.

[teese]

My husband and I sailed on her Dec 1987 on our honeymoon. 8 day western Caribbean out of Miami. Had an absolute ball, thought the ship was huge.

 

I remember there wasn’t any real storage in our room, so we kept our clothes in our suitcases under the bed. That poor steward made the tiny room up as two singles during the day so we had some room to move around. Then pushed the beds together at night. Which also meant he had to push our suitcases around too. 

 

The dining room was fabulous, we were both blown away by the food and service. 

 

I remember each night after dinner and the show, everyone went on deck and strolled around. 

 

Fun times. 

 

 

[jb58]

On 3/19/2019 at 9:36 PM, Another ship trip said:

This was my first cruise in summer of 1986 for our honeymoon.  My husband had been on one with his family before we were  married two years earlier on the Song of Norway.  We had a teeny tiny inside cabin.  The bed was turned sideways as you entered the room and was against the wall.  The width of the room was just slightly longer than the bed by maybe 2-4 inches as I recall. I wonder if it was even 100 square feet!  We had done fishing charters and I loved boats in general, so this cruise ship seemed magnificent to me.  I found the information that was in effect on our cruise from 86.  The prices per the brochure started at 895 and topped out at 2055 per person. Back then they had three prices depending on the departure date.  You could get a nominal savings by booking early of from 50-150 dollars.  This was pre-internet, so most all bookings went through real brick and mortar travel agents.  I believe our fare (inside tiny cabin) was 2530.00 total ( next to the cheapest rate available) for a  seven day cruise from Miami leaving on Sunday to Puerta Plata, St. Thomas, San Juan, and Nassau.  I kept that printed information from the cruise brochure. I have a Honeymoon document from the line and also still have the gold picture of the Southward that maybe everyone got.   I won the women's skeet (trap) shooting off the side of  the boat which I really enjoyed.   I have the trophy picture and everything. The ship had seven public decks and had a gross tonnage of 16,609.  Completely full it would carry up to 767 passengers with 300 crew.  It states that it's maiden voyage was December 21, 1969 per my NCL brochure document.  Looking at a photo of her now, she looks like an overgrown yacht compared to current cruise ships.  Fast forward to today and we are about to take our 40th (or maybe 41st) cruise; I'd have to look at our list.  And this time it will be on the Bliss.  That first cruise on this wonderful ship was what began a love of cruising!!  I went back and looked at those pictures tonight from going on 33 years ago.  Wow....good times!

We cruised on the Southward as well for our Honeymoon, August 24th, 1986.  We had an inside cabin on the Boat Deck (inside cabins and suites).  Really enjoyed the small ships of the time.  You could meet so many people and the crew and staff were so approachable.  We also sailed on the Southward out of LA  for our last cruise before kids.

[FabFam4]

Southward was my first cruise. I remember thinking the ship was huge and beautiful! The service was unlike anything I ever experienced. I also remember how sea sick I was. The ship was moving so much I would run into the hall walls and they were handing out meclizine like candy. They had baskets of the motion meds on the customer service desk to grab and also in the infirmary. It took me many years to dare get on another ship after that experience but I'm so glad I did. 

[Scandinavian World]

@alikaalex

 

Here some deck plans from the beauty:

 

SOUTHWARD 1974:

 

 

SOUTHWARD 1991:

 

 

unfortunately she lost her cinema after sales 1995 rebuilding to SEAWING

 

PERLA 2005:

 

 

and a beauty picture as PERLA in Louis Cruise Line colors:

 

 

[norboy76]

I have a couple of souvenirs from the Southward from NCL that were given to me. One is an unique deck of playing cards that are round as you'll see in the photo. The other is a nice glass souvenir dish showing the whole fleet's names and a couple of postcards

 

[CGTNORMANDIE]

MS Southward was scrapped in 2013 after having been sold and chartered under  different names.  She first sailed in 1971 as the fourth ship of NCL.  42 years is an enviable record...in “ship years”.

Edited March 18, 2021 by CGTNORMANDIE

[norboy76]

I know the MS Southward came out in 1971, I have a nice vintage model of her, I believe it's when she first came out. There is a *K* on her at the top near the radar mast and on the hull is the sunburst pattern, anyone know what era this model is from? when was the *K* removed off the ship? Hope someone can help, here is are photos of her to show what it looks like.

 

[rkacruiser]

On 3/18/2021 at 4:11 PM, norboy76 said:

There is a *K* on her at the top near the radar mast and on the hull is the sunburst pattern, anyone know what era this model is from? when was the *K* removed off the ship

 

Not 100% certain, but that paint scheme is what I recall seeing when the ship began service.  The "K" represented the shipping company/family that started Norwegian Caribbean Cruises; I am fairly certain that is accurate.  

[norboy76]

5 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Not 100% certain, but that paint scheme is what I recall seeing when the ship began service.  The "K" represented the shipping company/family that started Norwegian Caribbean Cruises; I am fairly certain that is accurate.  

ok thank you, I was curious. I was happy to get this model as it's in really great condition. I wish I had the other ones too the Skyward and Starward, but at least I have one of the original 3.

 

I know not related to this topic, but can you check out my thread I created on the mystery ships? I'm going bonkers cause unable to identify the ships in the postcards. maybe you or a friend could help me figure out who they are?

[norboy76]

On 3/20/2021 at 3:30 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

Not 100% certain, but that paint scheme is what I recall seeing when the ship began service.  The "K" represented the shipping company/family that started Norwegian Caribbean Cruises; I am fairly certain that is accurate.  

I sent a photo to NCL and got a nice lil history on the logo, which was really nice of them to answer and give me the info, here is part of what the email I got said:

"The sunburst logo ultimately lasted until 1987. That year, NCL announced its first cruises beyond The Caribbean, redeploying M/S Southward to California for the upcoming summer season. Norwegian Caribbean Lines rebranded itself as Norwegian Cruise Line to reflect the broader scope of operations, with a new logo & livery to match. By the time M/S Southward set sail on her first cruise from Los Angeles in May 1988, the sunburst was gone - replaced by a red/blue stripe that ran from her bows & wrapped around her stern." so that puts my model between 1971 - 1987

[CGTNORMANDIE]

On 3/20/2021 at 3:30 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

Not 100% certain, but that paint scheme is what I recall seeing when the ship began service.  The "K" represented the shipping company/family that started Norwegian Caribbean Cruises; I am fairly certain that is accurate.  

And that name would be Kloster...as in Knut Kloster...the founder of NCL.  Back in the days when NCL stood for quality.  

Edited March 24, 2021 by CGTNORMANDIE

[rkacruiser]

10 hours ago, norboy76 said:

I sent a photo to NCL and got a nice lil history on the logo, which was really nice of them to answer and give me the info, here is part of what the email I got said:

 

Indeed, that was good of them to respond.  

 

3 hours ago, CGTNORMANDIE said:

And that name would be Kloster.

 

Yes, I thought that was the name.  I was reluctant to say that because I did not want to be inaccurate.  

 

Your comment about NCL standing for quality during those early years is so correct.  My sole NCL cruise was on Sunward II in the next to bottom grade cabin.  Entertainment, cuisine, service, etc.--all was of the quality that I had previously experienced on other cruises.