Another Royal Viking Luxury Ship Due in ’88

San Francisco-based Royal Viking Line has contracted for a 760-passenger, 36,000-ton luxury cruise ship to enter service in December, 1988, the first new ship for the company in 15 years.

The $125-million vessel, as yet unnamed, will be built in Helsinki, Finland, by Wartsila Marine Industries, the company that built Royal Viking’s three present ships, the Sea, Sky and Star, as well as Princess Cruises’ flagship, Royal Princess.

“The new RVL ship will be the most luxurious ship in the world,” said Joseph A. Watters, Royal Viking president, “and as spacious as any ship has ever been. It’s a classic ship with many innovative features.”

The new vessel, while almost a third larger, will carry the same number of passengers as each of the line’s present ships.

“We looked at the ship in all different sizes,” Watters said. “If it’s 1,000, 1,500, 2,000 passengers, it’s not going to be Royal Viking any more. We know how to operate ships in the 700-passenger range. It’s a natural extension of our other vessels.”

More Cabin Space

Cabins on the new vessel will be 212 square feet, compared with 179 on existing Royal Vikings. About 93% of them will be outside and 40% will have verandas. All will feature walk-in closets, bar with refrigerator and a TV-video combination; suites will also be equipped with Jacuzzi baths, convertible king-size beds and private verandas.

Plans are to continue Royal Viking’s single sitting dining room service as well as adding a 100-seat supper club, operating nightly by reservation only, that will serve elegant continental specialties. In contrast to the supper club, a “cafe at sea” will offer a special dinner menu for passengers who would like to relax in casual clothing.

The new ship is intended for cruises of two weeks and longer, as well as the line’s traditional three-month annual world cruise and another long cruise in the fall, Watters said.

Meanwhile, the Royal Viking Sea, fresh from a dry dock renovation, will be calling in Los Angeles and San Francisco later this month. Besides adding new carpets, draperies and bedspreads, the remodeling has moved the casino to the site of the Emerald Club nightclub and put a big new health club where the casino was. A new gift shop was also added.

Liberte Out of Tahiti

American Hawaii Cruises’ Liberte ceased operations in Tahiti as of Jan. 21, after completing slightly more than a year of scheduled French Polynesia cruises with a total of 32,000 passengers. The decision was made suddenly while the ship was in San Francisco on a scheduled dry dock.

“The logistical problems associated with operating a 720-berth vessel in seven-day cruises in French Polynesia have resulted in an unacceptable return on the assets employed,” said Conrad H. C. Everhard, president and chief executive officer of American Hawaii Cruises. The company will focus its attention and financial resources on its Hawaii operation, where the Constitution and Independence make seven-day round-trip sailings among the islands out of Honolulu.

Passengers booked on the canceled Polynesia cruises are offered a choice of a Hawaii cruise vacation or a full refund, and travel agent commissions will be fully protected. For more information about the alternate cruise plan, call American Hawaii’s reservations department toll-free at (800) 227-3666 between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. PST Monday through Friday, Saturdays between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. and Sundays from 7 a.m. until noon.

Meanwhile, Exploration Cruise Lines’ 86-passenger Tahiti Explorer continues its year-round sailings in French Polynesia, and Wind Star Sail Cruises’ 150-passenger Wind Song will begin seven-day Tahiti sailings in early July.

Maxim’s des Mers Cancels

The ultra-expensive, 32-passenger Maxim’s des Mers has canceled the remainder of its scheduled Caribbean season, due to what one officer called “commercial problems,” (which means a lack of passengers) and has been tied up since Dec. 13 in Fort-de-France, Martinique, with a skeleton crew on board.

When we went aboard in mid-January the $4,620- to $7,820-a-week suites were empty, and the few remaining crew members were lunching informally in the dining room. A former mine sweeper, the 1,600-ton ship was restyled and redecorated by Pierre Cardin to reflect the decor of Maxim’s restaurant in Paris. The crew plans to return the ship to Europe on Feb. 21.

A New York spokeswoman for the company said efforts are being made to “rethink” the marketing program. No cruises are scheduled.

Club Sea Closes Down

In Miami, the offices of the fledgling Club Sea, a cruise ship version of the Club Med concept, closed down at the end of January. After four weeklong cruises that began Dec. 27, the company has ceased operations because of weak bookings.

Ron Stevens, Club Sea vice president of operations, said the officers of the company are evaluating passenger comment forms from the four sailings and hope to return to business. He cited operational problems that ranged from charter aircraft delays to “catering company bartenders that couldn’t speak English and didn’t know how to mix tropical cocktails.”

The ship chartered by Club Sea, the Orient Express, is “accustomed to European ferry service,” Stevens said. “It ran out of ice one day when it was 85 degrees” and ran low on water because “the captain didn’t anticipate Americans using so much water to take showers.”

Still, Stevens said, by the fourth cruise everything was “virtually perfect.” Most of the passengers were singles in their mid-20s. The company promoted water sports instead of ports of call, and boasted no scheduled itinerary on the seven-day round trips out of Antigua.