Assedo, 20,500 GRT, loa 176m, 750 passengers. Built in East Germany in 1968. One of a series of five vessels (the others being Ivan Franko, Mikhail Lermontov, Alexandr Pushkin and Taras Shevchenko) Sailed on cruises mostly in European waters mainly for British CTC Cruises and in her later years for Italian Grandi Viaggi. Before her […]
Assedo (1968 – 2003) Metropolis Turs Read More »
At the end of their careers, both Queens, the Elizabeth and the Mary, were rapidly losing money. The jet airliner had obviously won the battle, and in 1966, almost all transatlantic travellers had deserted the liners……. Plans for a successor of both Queens, known as the Q3-project were short lived. Q3 would have been a transatlantic
Queen Elizabeth 2 (1969) – Cunard Line Read More »
She was one of Royal Caribbean’ Cruises first trio of ships and sailed for RCL from 1970 until 1995 as their Nordic Prince. In 1980 she was lengthened at the Wartsila shipyard by adding a midship-section of 26 mtrs. Sold to Sun Cruises in 1995 and renamed Carousel. RCL demanded her Sky Lounge (a lounge attached to
Aquamarine (1979 – 2015) Louis Cruises Read More »
11.700 GRT, loa 159m, 220 crew, pax not applicable as she was sailing as a medical aid vessel at the time. She was built in Trieste Italy in 1953 as a cargo passenger liner Victoria for Lloyd Triestino and with her twin sister, Asia sailed to Pakistan, India and Far East destinations. When air lines took over her trade
Anastasis (1953 – 2007) Mercy Ships Read More »
17.000 GRT, loa 176m, 250 crew, 911 passengers. Union Castle took the Kenya Castle into service in 1952. She was the second vessel in a series of three, she and her sisters Rhodesia Castle and Braemar Castle were built in 1951-1952. She sailed for Union Castle on the round Africa service She was sold to
Amerikanis (1952 – 2001) Chandris Lines Read More »
In 1956, P & O ordered a new flagship from the Belfast based yard Harland & Wolff (famous for building the ill-fated liner Titanic among others). The ship was to be of 45.000 gross tons, a length of 814 ft and a beam of 103 ft. Both inside and out, she would be most modern. Her machinery
Canberra (1960) – P&O Cruises Read More »
One of three contemporary well known British cruise ships, Andes, Caronia and Reina del Mar, Andes can be regarded as one of the finest passenger ships of her time. Andes could compete with Cunards famous Caronia of 1949 in terms of luxury and service. Originally, she had been built to the highest standards, as Royal Mail intended her to be
SS Andes (1939) – Royal Mail Lines Read More »
Oriana is the first purpose-built cruise ship commissioned for P&O Cruises and the first cruise ship especially designed for the British cruise market. P&O is the world’s oldest cruise company, starting passenger shipping operations in 1822 on routes connecting England with Spain and Portugal. Their Ceylon which was converted from liner to cruise ship is said to have
Oriana (1995) – Piano Land (2019) Read More »
Last January (2019) I visited the former Cunard transatlantic liner Queen Elizabeth 2 in Dubai. She is a hotel ship nowadays and is located in Port Rashid directly opposite to the pier where cruise ships dock. Dubai being a popular cruise hub regularly receives 4 or 5 vessels a day and I happened to see Pullmantur’s Horizon calling. She
Horizon (1990) – Celebrity Cruises Read More »
The Orient Queen is one of the recent casualties in the world of cruising. Not -as usual these days- because of companies disposing of inefficient tonnage because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but because she fell victim to the extremely heavy explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020. Better known as Vistamar, construction started in 1988
Vistamar (1989) – Orient Queen (2012) Read More »
