Welcome to Cruise Talk the Internet's most popular discussion forum dedicated to cruising. Stop by Cruise Talk anytime to post a message or find out what your fellow passengers and industry insiders are saying about a particular ship, cruise line or destination.
>>> Reader Reviews >>> CruisePage.com Photo Gallery >>> Join Our Cruise Club.
Latest News...Disney Cruise Line announced today that the honorary role of "godparent" for its new ship, the Disney Treasure, will be held by The Walt Disney Company cast, crew, Imagineers and employees around the world. The profound declaration is a heartfelt tribute to the more than 200,000 dreamers and doers who make every Disney entertainment, vacation and at-home experience possible. Disney Cruise Line is proud to celebrate...
Latest News...Carnival Cruise Line is adding to its line-up of 2026/27 deployment with sailings from New York City on Carnival Venezia, and more Long Beach sailings on Carnival Firenze and Carnival Radiance. “Our two Carnival Fun Italian Style ships offer great options from the east and west coasts, conveniently connecting New York and Long Beach to popular destinations, while delivering unique experiences on board...
Latest News...Vacationers are in for more ways to make memories across Royal Caribbean’s latest combination of tropical and Northeast 2026-27 getaways. The lineup of 12 Royal Caribbean ships rounds out a variety of adventures across Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico and the Northeast for every type of family and vacationer to get away any time of year. Crown & Anchor Society loyalty members...
We were able to visit the Esmeralda, a beautiful sailing ship used by the Chilean Navy as a training ship. It wasn't until we got home that I discovered that the ship has a dark past.
The Oceanic II (Kungsholm, Sea Princess, Victoria, Mona Lisa, now ScholarShip) wan't allowing visitors. Like always when I see a retread ship, I looked for old names under the paint on the bow. The name that we saw there was Sea Princess.
[ 11-16-2007: Message edited by: JP ]
Pam
Its nice to know that her engines appear be be maintained in good condition and that she is keeping to schedule on her present voyage and programmed for two more round the world trips over the next two years.
Lets hope that when the 2010 Solas regulations are applied she is preserved in Sweden and returned to her original appearence with two funnels.
P & O / Princess Cruises spoilt her original appearance by removing one funnel and re-building the other funnel to try and make her look like their other Princess Cruises ships.
To my mind this was a complete failure !
Pictures of her in Auckland with what appears to be a boat drill going, with some of her lifeboats in the water, have appeared on one of the New Zealand newspaper websites.
Neil ( Bob )
[ 11-16-2007: Message edited by: Neil Whitmore ( Bob ) ]
quote:Originally posted by Neil Whitmore ( Bob ):[...]Lets hope that when the 2010 Solas regulations are applied she is preserved in Sweden and returned to her original appearence with two funnels.[...]
Lets hope that when the 2010 Solas regulations are applied she is preserved in Sweden and returned to her original appearence with two funnels.[...]
As you might know, a certain Mr. Lars Hallgren has already signed a letter of intent to buy her to convert her into a as hotel ship berthed in Gothenburg. It also has been announced that she might undertake some cruises as Kungsholm reviving her SAL days before she is not allowed to carry passengers anymore. (with two funnels?)Let's hope all this works out fine - it certainly sounds good.
quote:Originally posted by Neil Whitmore ( Bob ):HiP & O / Princess Cruises spoilt her original appearance by removing one funnel and re-building the other funnel to try and make her look like their other Princess Cruises ships.2007: Message edited by: Neil Whitmore ( Bob ) ]
2007: Message edited by: Neil Whitmore ( Bob ) ]
Thankfully her forward dummy funnel is still partly intact and the aft one could be cut down and restored easily. The cabins on the enclosed promenade deck (w/the small windows) look bad but I assume could be used as hotel rooms.
Whoever designed the P&O alterations appears to have intentionally destroyed her good looks.
quote:Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:The cabins on the enclosed promenade deck (w/the small windows) look bad but I assume could be used as hotel rooms.
Now, the original SAL cabins are mostly huge and mostly outside and would make nice hotel rooms . But the added ones should, at least, be gutted and replaced with new ones (it is not like doing so would be destroying anything of any importance).
The design of the existing aft funnel is totally different to the original and it will need to be totally removed and replaced with a replica.
The existing "new" cabins on Riviera deck are easily removed but whether they are replaced with new ones or indeed the space used as a conference suite would depend on the use she is eventually put to.
I personally have many happy memories of Sea Princess and hated to see her go to P&O as Victoria, I hope that she does find a home after her current deployment but am very sceptical, ships have a defined life span, after that they are hideously expensive to maintain, I would rather see her go to Alang graciusly than rot away as she cannot be made commerically viable, I am yet to see one such project anywhere in the world work yet.
The costs in converting her will be huge, every single bathroom will need replacing, air con / heating system overhauled or replaced, wiring throughout, never mind furnishings etc.
One ex cruise/passenger ship which is paying her way is the Chinese ship Ming Hau.
She has been completely landlocked and coverted into a hotel and is at Shenzhen, China.
Her appearence is altered some what, from when she was on Australian cruising, by the cutting of large windows in her sides. Details of her history, from when she was built in France, are on the American maritime website.
quote:Originally posted by mike sa:Just a point, the refurb of Kungsholm had nothing to do with Princess, she was a replacement for Arcadia in Aussie, again the name was just a co-incidence.
I am told that for quite a while the long term plan at P&O was to phase out the P&O name as ORIANA and CANBERRA were retired and replace it with Princess. But in the 1990s things took a rather different turn with the building of the new ORIANA etc.
quote:Originally posted by Neil Whitmore ( Bob ):Mike SAOne ex cruise/passenger ship which is paying her way is the Chinese ship Ming Hau.She has been completely landlocked and coverted into a hotel and is at Shenzhen, China.Her appearence is altered some what, from when she was on Australian cruising, by the cutting of large windows in her sides. Details of her history, from when she was built in France, are on the American maritime website.Neil ( Bob )
I have some fairly current interior and exterior shots of Minghua I can post if anybody is interested
quote:Originally posted by Thad:I'd like to see the shots of Minghua...
You got it. I'll start a separate post so I don't muddy this one up
Ultimate Bulletin BoardTM 6.1.0.3
More Vacation & Cruise Specials...