Your first cruise ship

[Copper10-8]

All great stuff Copper:cool:

I just saw a show on the history channel about the SS Normandie fire in NYC, I had no idea that had happened.

Here's a link

http://www.history.com/shows.do?action=detail&episodeId=228717

 

Mark...

 

 

Thanks Mark!

[hawgwildterry]

Royal Caribbean Song of America, 1991 Western Caribbean.......hooked.........absolutley! :D

[Susie51]

Southward, 1993, Catalina, Ensenada sailing from San Pedro.

[Copper10-8]

1st cruise was a cruise to nowhere out of NYC in 1975, second was Rotterdam in 1977 and I been on at least 1 cuise a year since, next one in a couple of weeks will be #51. Most interesting might have been on Carla C which went to Grenada in 1983, US troops invaded the island about a month after the cruise.

 

 

ts Flandre (1952-1995) Built by Ateliers et Chantiers de France, Dunkirk, France as Flandre in 1952 for the French Line or Compagnie Generale Transatlantique (CGT), France's first new liner after the second World War. Originally designed for Caribbean service, she was modified during construction for services between le Havre and New York instead. She was delivered to her owners on 8 July 1952 an departed on her maiden voyage to New York on 23 July 1952.

That maiden voyage was considered a complete disaster, as she experienced mechanical difficulties throughout the voyage. The first sign of trouble was when her fuel line filters became clogged, due to impurities in the oil that she was carrying. This caused her to become essentially "dead in the water" for four hours while her fuel filters were cleaned out, and her boilers restored to normal operation. This was repeated later in the voyage, after which her captain elected to reduce speed for the remainder of the voyage. Upon arrival at the Quarantine Station at New York, she experienced a short circuit in her main electrical switchboard, causing a near-complete loss of power. Nearly three hours later, she had sufficient power restored to raise the port anchor. An additional three hours were required to raise the starboard anchor to allow her to continue.

Unlike most ocean liners' maiden arrivals, where they receive the traditional fireboat welcome while sailing under their own power, the Flandre arrived in New York harbor and received the traditional welcome while under tow by four Moran tugs, while also running one propeller of her own. Her funnel put out thick clouds of smoke, seeming to almost be straining as it was doing so. She was initially blowing her whistle as she arrived under tow, but after the whistle failed due to her limited power, the ship's siren was substituted.

Flandre's return voyage was delayed to allow engineers to repair her engines. Following her return to France, all of her 1952 sailings were cancelled, and she returned to her builders for thorough repairs. Repairs would take six months, and she returned for the 1953 sailing season.

During her French Line career, her passenger configuration changed several times, with the Flandre running on the transatlantic route for nine months out of the year, and three months cruising with her near-sister, Antilles. In 1963, her hull was painted white and she switched to the West Indies service for which she was originally designed.

In 1967 she was purchased by the Italian-based Costa Armatori SpA/Costa Line who would rename her Carla C. Her last voyage for the French Line was in January 1968.

 

After a major rebuilt, she was handed over to Costa in November 1968 but was immediately chartered to Princess Cruises. Marketed as Princess Carla and entering service from Los Angeles on 10 January 1969. For Princess, she sailed to the Mexican Riviera, and from there, through the Panama Canal to the Caribbean. It was the Carla C, in fact, that was the inspiration for "The Love Boat". The ship proved problematic at first, after problems were detected with her boilers. Her official name remained Carla C throughout this charter.

The charter was cancelled in 1970 and she finally appeared in her Costa colors operating Caribbean cruises until 1974 when she developed engine problems. In 1974 and 1975, Costa replaced the boilers with Stork-Werkspor diesel engines and Carla C was returned to service around the Caribbean, where she served until 1992. In 1984, she underwent another major refit and in 1986, she was renamed Carla Costa. Carla Costa was a common sight on the San Juan ship dock on Saturdays and Sundays during that era, and she travelled to Miami, the Bahamas, Santo Domingo (the Dominican Republic), the United States Virgin Islands, St. Maarten and many other Caribbean destinations.

In 1992, Carla Costa was sold to the Greece-based Epirotike Line who renamed her Pallas Athena after the Greek goddess of the same name. She ran seven-day cruises from Athens to the Aegean Islands and Turkey for Epirotiki.

On March 24, 1994 while in Piraeus and while her passengers were disembarking, a fire broke out in an empty stateroom which ultimately caused her superstructure and funnel to cave in on themselves. As a result, she was declared a total loss and subsequently sold for scrap. She arrived at the Aliaga Company scrapyards in Turkey on 25 December 1994 and was broken up in 1995.

[Allis154]

Our first cruise was on the QE2, December 2003. We were hooked and have cruises 4 more times. Looking forward to the fifth in the fall!

[hogwildcruzers]

Commodore Cruise Lines' Enchanted Isle, 2000 Exotic Western Caribbean out of New Orleans.....been hooked ever since.......actually got hooked on cruising by watching the Love Boat.

[Copper10-8]

I am not a very experienced cruiser like you all, but I do remember taking my first cruise in something rinky-dink ship out of Palm Beach in 1989. It was a 1 or 2 day to the Bahamas. The ship might have been 300ft. long. It was sooooo cheap, that the band they had playing out by the pool sang a total of 3-5 of the same songs over and over and over! One of the songs was Red-Red-Wine accompanied by steel drums. When we first boarded the ship we were like, "yeah! Red-Red-Wine! wooohooo! great song! Yipppeee!!" after about 30 times hearing it on our way to the Bahamas then all the way back from the the Bahamas it became more like, "hurry up and get me another drink so I can handle listening to that stupid song! Stop it! This is torture!" To this day, when I hear that song on the radio I immediately turn if off. Now that was a cheap cruise. I have since learned

 

 

ms Ilmatar (1964-present) Built in 1964 as ms Ilmatar by Oy Wärtsilä Ab (Wartsila New Ship Yard), Helsingfors (Helsinki), Finland, the largest ship built by the shipyard at the time, for Suomen Höyrylaiva Osakeyhtiö or Finland Steamship Company. In the early 1960s, the Finland Steamship Company decided to construct a 5,171 gross register ton ship for their Finland—Sweden service, the company operated in collaboration with Steamship Company Bore, Rederi AB Svea, and Siljavarustamo, a joint subsidiary of the three companies.

 

For the first time in Finland SS Co's history, the new ship was fitted with diesel engines and her original interior layout was a compromise between a traditional two-class passenger liner and a new ro-ro car/passenger ferry. In order to transport cars she was fitted with a gate on her port side, from where up to 50 could be driven inside the ship and then lifted mechanically to the actual car deck. This arrangement was already out of date when the ship was delivered, as Finland SS Co.'s subsidiary Siljavarustamo in 1961 had taken the delivery of the first ro-ro ferry with bow and rear gates on the North Baltic. Her service speed was planned at 16.50 kn (30.56 km/h), and she was to carry 1,000 passengers, 332 of them in two classes with berths and the remainder as 'class-less' deck passengers.

 

On 29 October 1963 the ship was launched and christened Ilmatar (Spiritess of the air, a character from the Finnish national epic Kalevala) by Sylvi Kekkonen, the wife of Urho Kekkonen who was the President of Finland at the time. Ilmatar was delivered on 15 June 1964.

 

Following delivery, she was used on the Helsinki or Turku to Skeppsbron in Stockholm run. In July of the same year she lost her rudder near Mariehamn. During 1965 she was also used on short cruises from Stockholm to Mariehamn in the Aland Islands. She was stuck in Turku harbor during the winter of 1966 for two weeks due to thicker than usual sea ice in the North Baltic and was only able to get underway after the Finnish icebreaker ms Karhu was able to break a route through the ice to Stockholm.

 

 

In 1970 Finland SS Co, Bore and Svea restructured their joint operations, creating a new marketing company by the name of Silja Line. As a result, ms Ilmatar came to be marketed as a Silja Line vessel and logos of the new company were painted on her sides. All was not well however, when she was found to be too small from the start, so in 1973, she arrived at Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) in Hamburg, (then) West Germany, where she was lengthened by 20.04 m (65 ft 9 in), increasing her passenger capacity to 1,210, passenger berths to 450 and car capacity to 75. An extra cardeck was added on the ship, but that too was served by the original side gate and lift. The lengthening also saw the addition of several new cabins, a children's playroom and a new waste processing plant. Additional engines and two additional propellers increased her speed to 20 kn (37 km/h). Due to the increased passenger capacity, her crew carried was also increased from 93 to 113.

 

 

Following the lengthening she was mainly used in Finland Steamship Company cruise traffic, and only occasionally for Silja Line service. More cabins were added during a 1974 refit at the Valmet shipyard in Vuosaari, Finland. During 1974—1975, she was used on Finland SS Co's Helsinki—Copenhagen—Travemunde run. In 1975 the company withdrew from the joint Finland—Germany service with Finnlines. As a result, Ilmatar was chartered to Finnlines from 25 May 1975 until 6 July 1976 and used on their Helsinki—Copenhagen—Travemünde service.

 

In 1976 Finland Steamship Company changed their name to Effoa. Following the end of charter to Finnlines, Ilmatar was used by Effoa on cruise traffic aimed at the German and Finnish markets, with her itineraries taking her to the Baltic Sea, Norwegian Fjords and the Mediterranean. Starting in 1978, the marketing of the Ilmatar's cruises was once again taken over by Silja Line, and Silja Cruise logos were painted on her superstructure. Her cruises were successful, and during the winter 1978—1979 she was rebuilt as a genuine cruise ship by Wärtsilä. Her cabins were rebuilt and a casino, swimming pool, gym, movie theater and a lounge featuring live entertainment, were all added

 

However, restrictions placed on cruise traffic by the (then) Soviet Union, the long maritime strike of 1980 and increased crew costs resulted in the decision to stop cruise service in June 1980. Ilmatar returned briefly to Helsinki—Stockholm service for Silja Line, until she was sold on 27 October 1980 for $6.5 million to the Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab, one of the owners of the Norway-based Hurtigruten consortium

Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab re-registered the Ilmatar in the Norwegian International Ship register, but kept her original name and initially even her Effoa funnel colours, although these were later changed to those of Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab. The ship was used for cruising around Europe until 27 November 1982, when she was laid up at Toulon, France.

 

 

After being laid up there for over a year, Ilmatar was sold to Grunstad Maritime Overseas, renamed Viking Princess and re-flagged to Panama. Initially, Viking Princess was used for cruising from San Diego, CA to Mexico in Crown Cruise Line colors from April 1984 until 1985, when she was moved to cruising from West Palm Beach, Fl to the Caribbean. Following the bankruptcy of her owners, she was laid up in October 1995.

 

 

In November 1997, Viking Princess was sold to Deerbroke Investments, renamed Palm Beach Princess and used for casino cruising out of West Palm Beach in the colors of Palm Beach Casino Line. Her ownership would change several times during the following years, but she continued cruising on the same route in the same colors.

 

 

A press release in the South Florida Sun Sentinel, dated 11 November 2008, reported that the Palm Beach Princess had been acquired for about $6 million by South Florida resident Mauro Sebben. It is hoped that this purchase will clear the company's debt and breath new life into the Princess, which has been financially troubled for years. Since 2003 her previous owners have filed for bankruptcy twice, most recently in late 2006.

Edited March 12, 2009 by Copper10-8

[DutchByAssociation]

 

On 23 February 2006, RMS Queen Mary 2 saluted her predecessor as she made her port of call in Los Angeles Harbor, while on a cruise to Mexico. The event was covered heavily by local and international media. The salute itself was carried out with the Queen Mary blowing her one working air horn in response to the Queen Mary 2 blowing her combination of two brand new horns pointing forward and an original 1932 Queen Mary horn (donated by the City of Long Beach) aimed aft.

 

When I first saw the footage of this online, the incredibly low baritone roar of the Queen Mary's horn gave me chills. Simply incredible to hear!

[Copper10-8]

When I first saw the footage of this online, the incredibly low baritone roar of the Queen Mary's horn gave me chills. Simply incredible to hear!

 

Beats "Wish upon a star" by the two Disney's, doesn't it?;)

[Copper10-8]

Some more Ilmatar pics:

 

May 1981 at London

 

As Viking Princess in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico in December 1984

 

 

As Viking Princess for Crown Cruise Line in Nassau, the Bahamas in 1987

 

As Palm Beach Princess entering the port of Palm Beach, Fl in June 2007

[Copper10-8]

o gyou brought back such great memories. My first cruise was on the Premier ship Majestic. Loved the pictures. I have also sailed on Carnival's Mardi Gras, Fantasy, Imagination, Holiday, Victory. HAL's Maasdam, Zuiderdam, Noordam, Eurodam and RCCL Grandeur of the Seas. When I was a kid we took our very well to do neighbors to NYC to board HAL's First Rotterdam, back then you were allowed on the ship. I was hooked back then

 

 

Spirit of London (1972-present) Built in 1972 as ms Spirit of London by Cantieri Navali del Tirreno e Riuniti S.p.A., Genoa, Italy for British-based P & O Lines (Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company). She had originally been ordered by Norwegian Caribbean Line (NCL) and was to be named Seaward (a sister to Southward), but P & O bought her unfinished hull on 30 March 1972 after NCL had pulled out of the deal due to problems with the Italian shipyard. On 11 November 1972, she departed Southampton, England on her maiden cruise to San Juan, Puerto Rico. January 1973 found her cruising on the U.S. West coast.

 

In 1974, P & O bought Princess Cruises and on 9 October 1974, Spirit of London was renamed Sun Princess, joining the Island Princess and Pacific Princess (from Love boat fame) in the Princess fleet. The ship appeared in the 1975 TV series Columbo episode "Troubled Waters", guest starring Robert Vaughn, as well as in the 1980 motion picture 'Herbie Goes Bananas".

 

 

1988 saw the sale of the Sun Princess by P & O to Premier Cruises, where she was initially named Majestic, but then in February 1989, becoming Starship Majestic, one of the "Big Red Boats". In May 1989, she underwent a refit at Lloyd-Werft in Bremerhaven, Germany.

 

 

In 1994, she was chartered to British based shipping company CTC (Charter Travel Club) and on 5 March 1995, she was renamed Southern Cross, leaving Tilbury, England three days later for worldwide cruising.

 

In October 1997, she was purchased by Greece-based Festival Cruises who began operating her as the Flamenco. The year 2003 saw her on charter to a Spanish travel company. After Festival Cruises financial collapse in January 2004, she was laid up at Gibraltar for a month.

 

In February 2004, she was acquired at public action by Fulton Shipping Inc. / Elysian Cruises (both Ravenscroft Ship Management subsidiaries) who first chartered her to Spanish-based Travelplan/Globalia as Elysian Flamenco. That name was changed to her New Flamenco later in 2004.

 

 

In February 2007, she was chartered by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Development and used as a floating accomodation ship.

 

On 6 November 2007, she was aquired from Fulton Shipping Inc. by Dutch company Club Cruise and used as a hotel ship in Noumea (French Caledonia). However, one year later in November 2008, Club Cruise ceased operations due to their inability to repay loans. The ship, now named Flamenco I, remains under arrest in Singapore awaiting another public auction. On 23 February 2009, she was sold at public auction however, information as to her new owners and their plans has not yet been publicized.

[jtl513]

Copper/John - Did you start this thread just to flaunt your ability to come up with great ship pictures?? :D:D

[Copper10-8]

Copper/John - Did you start this thread just to flaunt your ability to come up with great ship pictures?? :D:D

 

 

I started it as an FYI as to what has happened to 'your' 1st cruise ship, John but, I guess, I just kinda got more 'in to it' as it moved along. You've gotta admit some of these ladies have pretty fascinating histories:)

[mom58]

My first cruise was in 1976 for a senior trip on the Flavia. I think the line was Costa.

 

We were thrilled by the whole experience even though there were 4 ppl to a cabin and the toilet was in the shower:). I'm pretty sure we were in "steerage".

 

I remember the Italian crew members hitting on every girl, having my first martini (and hating it), and the beautiful menus we received every night. We thought we were so grown up!

[Druke I]

Copper John failed to note that Flandre was forever known by the wags as the Flounder, after her ignominious entry to New York on her maiden voyage.

[Copper10-8]

My first cruise was in 1976 for a senior trip on the Flavia. I think the line was Costa.

 

We were thrilled by the whole experience even though there were 4 ppl to a cabin and the toilet was in the shower:). I'm pretty sure we were in "steerage".

 

I remember the Italian crew members hitting on every girl, having my first martini (and hating it), and the beautiful menus we received every night. We thought we were so grown up!

 

ss Media (1947-1989) Built as ss Media in 1947 by John Brown & Co Ltd, Clydebank, Scotland for the Cunard-White Star Line Ltd as a transatlantic cargo-passenger liner. She was the first British liner to be built after the Second World War. On 20 August 1947, she commenced on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York. In 1953, she became noted for being the first Atlantic liner fitted with Deny-Brown fin stabilizers, as a "test case" for Cunards's Queens. These stabilizers proved to be so successful that they were soon fitted to the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth.

By the early 1960’s, traditional passenger-cargo ships were becoming obsolete on the North Atlantic route, leading Cunard to start looking for a way to dispose of Media. She was subsequently sold in July 1961.

Her new owner was the Italy-based Compagnia Genovese di Armamaneto S.p.A., better known as Cogedar Line of Genoa, who had purchased her for 740,000 pounds sterling and intended to use her as an immigrant ship on routes to Australia. She arrived in Genoa on 21 October 1961 to be renamed Flavia. She received one of the most extensive rebuilding programs of any liner to date which completely transformed her into a sleek liner. She would gain 26 feet as her bow was reshaped and lengthened. She also gained a new funnel with a large fin. Her original superstructure was removed and a new one built. Her old accommodation was scrapped and her cargo spaces were transformed into extra passenger decks.

Flavia now had accommodations for up to 1,224 tourist class passengers in 153 two-berth cabins, 220 four-berth cabins and five eight-berth cabins, plus 100 folding-bed settees for children. The majority of her cabins had private facilities. Public rooms extended the full length of her Riviera deck, which was directly below her Boat deck. Forward was the two-deck high Ballroom, with a Movie theater located starboard aft. She also featured two swimming pools and a glass-enclosed children playground complete with wading pool forward of the upper level of the main lounge. Her two dining rooms catered to all passengers in two sittings.

Flavia, now at 15,465 GRT, departed Genoa on her first voyage to Australia on 2 October 1962. Sailing via the Suez Canal, she arrived in Fremantle on 30 October and in Melbourne on 5 November, remaining there for two nights, then reaching Sydney on 9 October and departing on her return voyage to Europe the next day. This time she returned to Bremerhaven, (then) West Germany which would become her European turn-around port. She would also make a number of Pacific cruises out of Sydney, including one to Japan and other Far East ports. She once again departed Bremerhaven on 22 December 1962 but it would not be until late 1963 that she began operating her round-the-world service from Bremerhaven, Rotterdam and London via the Panama Canal to Tahiti, Auckland (New Zealand), Australian ports and back via the Suez Canal.

Changes to immigrant contracts resulted in Codegar ceasing their Australian service in 1968. She would make one final cruise out of Australia, departing Sydney on 18 October 1968 for her return to Europe.

During that return voyage, she was chartered to Atlantic Cruise Line and on 20 December 1968, began cruising for them out of Miami, Fl to the West Indies. In 1969, she was purchased by Italy-based Costa Line or Linea "C" (now Costa Crociere S.p.A.) who had her refitted as a cruise ship.

Flavia thus began what turned out to be a successful second career, operating year-round three and four-day cruises from Miami to the Bahamas. She would remain on that service until July 1977. She then operated a series of cruises out of South America, before returning to Europe for Mediterranean cruising which commenced in April 1978. In September of that year she returned to Miami where she recommenced her previous cruise duties.

Flavia ultimately developed engine problems so in 1982 was sold to Hong Kong-based C.Y. Tung Group, owned by the shipping magnate of the same name. Her name was changed to Flavian and the plan was for her to begin local Asian cruises out of Hong Kong harbor. This fell through however, and she was laid up. In 1986, she was sold to another Hong Kong shipping company by the name of Virtue Shipping. They renamed her Lavia but their plans also did not pan out so she remained laid up at anchor near Landau Island.

On 7 January 1989, the by then neglected Lavia caught fire which gutted her and caused her to partially sink. Shortly after this, her hulk was sold to Taiwanese ship breakers. She was ultimately towed to Kaohsiung where she met her fate at the hands of the breakers.

Edited March 13, 2009 by Copper10-8

[mom58]

:)Thanks for letting me know what happened to the Flavia.

 

I'm from south Georgia and at age 17, that cruise was the most exotic trip of my life.

 

No balconies back then, but some friends and I climbed over a rail to stand somewhere at the very front of the ship. Ah, the hubris of youth. I wouldn't dare do that now!

 

One of the bars had a glass window in it that looked into the pool. We thought that was soooooo cool.

 

Thanks for updating my memories.

[TurtleL]

Veracruz out of Tampa in the 80's.

Out to sea, no ports, turn around and head back in three days.

Not even 'cruising' by todays standards.

[Copper10-8]

Veracruz out of Tampa in the 80's.

Out to sea, no ports, turn around and head back in three days.

Not even 'cruising' by todays standards.

 

 

ss Theodor Herzl (1957-1991) Built in 1957 by Deutsche Werft, Hamburg, Germany as Theodor Herzl, she was part of a special reparations pact between what was then West Germany and the state of Israel. She was designed for Mediterranean service

Named in honor of the founder of the Zionist movement, she operated for Zim Israel Navigation Company aka Zim Israel Lines on routes from Marseilles, Naples and Venice to Haifa, carrying both immigrants and budget tourists. In the winter season, she could be found on Mediterranean cruises. She also had at least one season to the Mexican Riviera as well as a celebratory maiden voyage to New York and, in later years, made several immigrant crossings to South America, to Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo and Buenos Aires.

 

 

During the 1958-1959 winter season, Zim entered the international cruise market from the United States to the Caribbean Islands with three cruises per season. In 1964, she was converted into a one-class cruise ship, which saw all cabins converted to two bedded/two berth cabins, all having private facilities, She completed her final voyage for Zim on on 27 November 1969 and was sold to the American International Service Travel Services (AIST) - Yes, there is a Ted Arison/Carnival Cruise Line connection here - who renamed her Carnivale (not to be confused with the later CCL Carnivale, the former Empress of Britain) and employed her in the Caribbean as a floating luxury hotel. Nothing else came to pass for her and she did not sail again until as late as 1975, when she was sold to the New Horizons Shipping Ltd. who renamed her Freeport, rebuilt her, and used her on the Miami-Nassau-Freeport run.

 

In 1976, she was renamed Veracruz I and was largely responsible for making New York via Eastern Canada to the St. Lawrence River cruises popular.

In 1978, New Horizons Shipping Ltd became Freeport Cruises Lines and she became Veracruz Primero and in 1985, under Bahama Cruises Inc./Bahama Cruise Line management, just plain Veracruz.

In 1987, Bahama Cruise Line became the Bermuda Star Line and in 1990 was bought out by Commodore Cruise line. That same year, Veracruz was sold to Festival Shipping & Tourist Enterprises and was renamed Sun Ambassador however this did not last long and she was laid up in Florida.

 

Then in 1991, newly-formed Greek-based Fiesta Cruise Lines came calling. She was brought over to Greece as "Fiesta" and, once moored in Perama Bay near Piraeus, her resurrection began. She was to emerge as yet another "new" cruiseship, taking travelers around the Eastern Mediterranean in summers and in Caribbean waters in wintertime. But it all went astray when on 24 October 1991, she caught fire, burned out and then, overloaded with firefighters' water, capsized.

[KAYEF]

Our first cruise was on FAIRSKY (owned by Sitmar) from SanFrancisco to Alaska. I think it was fifteen days; the year was 1987. I got sick the second day but after that it was nice. We got hooked on ALASKA and spent the entire next summer in the far north............in our motorhome.............via the Alaska Marine System..........disembarked "everywhere" and finally hit land for good. Drove all over Alaska and all the way back home (Oregon) via Yukon, British Columbia, etc. It was SO wonderful.

Now we go to Alaska often (again this summer) via cruise ship but we cruise other areas as well..............what fun memories this thread brought up! Thanks!:)

[dsparku]

This thread has been so informative-thanks for everybody's input

[Calgary North]

An excellent thread! Thanks Copper 10-8 for a superlative job of photo posting.

 

My first ship was the TS Hanseatic of the Hamburg-Atlantik Line, crossing from New York to England in June, 1964. We returned in January, 1965 on the Statendam.

 

I was 12 and it was another 40 years before I got to go again.

 

Regards

[KenM]

August 1965. Yarmouth out of Miami.

High School Graduation Party.

 

That was the time when kids could go by themselves..

[Copper10-8]

Royal Caribbean Song of America, 1991 Western Caribbean.......hooked.........absolutley!

 

 

ms Song of America (1982-present) Built in 1982 as ms Song of America by Oy Wärtsilä Ab (Wartsila New Ship Yard), Helsingfors (Helsinki), Finland, for (then) Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL). At 37,584 grt, she was one of the largest cruise ships built at the time.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line had operated throughout the 1970s with three ships; Song of Norway, Nordic Prince and Sun Viking, that had been built at the same yard in Finland, two of which (Song of Norway in 1978 and Nordic Prince in 1980) had been lengthened. Due to increased demand, RCCL decided to order a new and larger ship, again from the Wärtsilä shipyard, which was to become Song of America.

 

For the interior layout of this new ship, RCCL decided to adapt a system with cabins stacked towards the front, furthest away from engine noise, with public spaces to aft. This layout, widely used on large ferries built by Wärtsilä at the time, had rarely been seen on cruise ships. The public spaces on decks five and seven were built with one and a half times the standard deck height, leading to deck six only existing in the forward part of the ship. Unlike Song of Norway, Nordic Prince and Sun Viking, Song of America's Viking Crown Lounge, the trademark of all Royal Caribbean ships, completely surrounded her funnel providing passengers with a 360 degree view

 

She was delivered to her owners on 11 November 1982 and after a transatlantic crossing, sailed her maiden voyage on 5 December 1982 from Miami, Fl to Nassau, the Bahamas, San Juan, Puerto Rico and St, Thomas, USVI. During the early part of her RCCL career, this seven-day itinerary from Miami would be her staple. Later on, she would make several trips to the U.S. west coast via the Panama Canal, operating on the Alaska run in the summer season and down to the Mexican Riviera out of Los Angeles during the winter months.

She was sold in May 1998 for $94.5 million to Sun Cruises, a subsidiary of UK-based travel company Airtours. Sun Cruises immediately chartered the ship back to RCCL until March 1999. Unlike earlier ships sold by RCCL, her Viking Crown lounge had not been removed when she was handed over to her new owners. Sun Cruises had her refitted with additional suites on deck nine, renamed her ms Sunbird, and operated her for cruising around Europe, mainly in the Mediterranean. Later on during her Sun Cruises career, she received MyTravel colors.

When Airtours decided to pull out of the cruise vacation and ship ownership business, she was purchased by Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Line, a subsidiary of Cyprus-based travel and tourism group Louis plc, on 26 July 2004. History repeated itself when Louis chartered her back to Sun Cruises until February 2005 when she was laid up in Pireaus, Greece.

On 3 May 2005, she was placed on long-term charter (until 2011) by UK-based Thomson Cruises who renamed her Thomson Destiny. Thomson has used her for cruising in the Mediterranean as well as Red Sea, to the Canary Islands and to the west coast of Africa. She recently returned to the Caribbean, her initial area of operations with RCCL back in the early eighties.

[jetwet1]

What was your first cruise ship? What cruise line, the year and the itinerary? (if you remember;) ) Did it get you hooked?

 

Ours was Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's m/s Viking Serenade, a converted car ferry, back in NOV 1991, a 3-day L.A. - Catalina Island - Esenada, Mexico - L.A. cruise. Never forget our first impressions - we were hooked from that day on!

 

 

 

Viking Serenade (still sailing today as Island Escape)

 

 

Just to let you know, it was the Stardancer between the ferry part on the Viking Serenade, the cruise director was my father.

 

My first ship was the QE2, first cruise ship was the Cunard Countess.