Brush Up on Your History Before You Sail Off : Cruises: It helps to know something about the age and history of the ship before you plunk your money down. Brochures can be misleading.

“You’ll sail on a classic,” reads one cruise ship brochure.

“A ship rich in history,” boasts another piece of promotional literature.

“You’ll cruise down memory lane.”

It all sounds good.

But two key questions remain unanswered: How old is your ship? And should that worry you?

An old cruise ship doesn’t necessarily mean that the ship is a floating firetrap, or a rust bucket on the verge of submerging.

Still, it’s important to know at least some of the history surrounding the ship you’re about to board. The bottom line is that as a passenger, it’s not only nice to know where your ship has been and how old it is, but that information can also be important in helping you decide which cruise to take.

Some cruise line brochures and advertisements have been guilty of using misleading words to sell their cruise ships. For example, a few years back, one Greek cruise line advertised sailings on the South American Riviera aboard their “new” ship, the Pegasus.

The ship was hardly new. In fact, it had already sunk once before--as the Sundancer, on June 29, 1984, near Vancouver, Canada. It was then resold to Epirotiki Lines in Athens, refloated and towed south out of Canada, through the Panama Canal and across the stormy winter swells of the North Atlantic--a slow journey that ended 52 days later in Piraeus, Greece. The ship was fixed, then advertised as the “new” Pegasus.

In 1985, when the Italian liner Achille Lauro was hijacked by terrorists in the eastern Mediterranean, most of the press described the vessel as a “luxury cruise ship.”

But the ship was already 50 years old when the hijacking occurred, and it had a history of severe problems. The ship had suffered a number of fires and at-sea collisions. (Its sister ship, the Angelina Lauro, caught fire and sank in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 1974.)

In 1982, the ship’s parent company declared bankruptcy. The ship itself was seized after Italian government authorities determined there had been “irregularities” in its casino operations. The Achille Lauro was later sold to Chandris lines and used for inexpensive Mediterranean sailings at the time of the hijacking.

Part of understanding a cruise ship’s history is looking at the number--and type--of owners who have sailed her.

In fact, with few exceptions, most cruise ships older than 10 years have probably been owned at least twice.

Functionally, older ships are potentially more troublesome. Plumbing is a major headache on older ships, followed by electrical problems. Maintenance costs are, not surprisingly, higher, which can mean--in some cases--that certain maintenance items are deferred because of the expense.

Some important questions to ask: Is the ship you’re booked on a ship that was built by the line that operates it? If so, chances are that the crew has been thoroughly trained on its equipment--and the engineering staff probably wrote the manuals.

If it wasn’t, how many years has the ship sailed with this line? If the answer is less than three years, you’re dealing with a crew that is still getting to know an older ship.

Interestingly, Carnival Cruise Lines, now the largest cruise line in the world, began with an older ship. In 1972, the company bought its first vessel, the Empress of Canada.

On its maiden voyage, the ship ran aground. After an extensive refit (and subsequent renovations in recent years), the ship sailed again. It’s called the Mardi Gras, and still sails with Carnival.

In 1975, Carnival bought the Empress of Britain (now called the Carnivale). And in 1977, the company purchased a ship called the S.A. Vaal, a liner that had been sailing between England and South Africa, and renamed her the Festivale. Since then, Carnival has built all of its own ships.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines has built its ships to specifications particular to the markets and cruise areas on its itineraries. RCCL was the first cruise line to build a ship for warm-weather cruising.

Holland America has built many of its own ships, the most famous of which is the Rotterdam. The first Rotterdam sailed in 1873. Since then, there have been four other Rotterdams, including the current Rotterdam V, which was brought into service in 1959 and is still sailing. Companies such as Holland America maintain the names of their ships, though the ships themselves are different.

The current Westerdam was once the Homeric before being purchased by Holland America in 1988.

Problems often occur with successive ownership changes. To what extent are needed renovations--especially safety standard improvements-- not performed because the new owner lacks proper capital, or because the new owner is not required to upgrade the ship under current laws?

By contrast, many states require new hotel owners to upgrade their purchases to comply with existing building, fire and safety codes as a condition of purchase.

“We’ve pushed hard to force cruise lines to report incidents, accidents and ownership changes,” says Alan Pollock, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board. But the NTSB currently lacks jurisdiction in most cases to demand accurate and current reporting.

“Because these companies don’t have to report incidents to us that occur in international waters,” says Pollock, “they can pull a vessel, go fix it up, paint it, sell it, give it a new name and no one will know, and consumers will have a hard time finding out before they choose what cruise to take.”

Some cruise ship histories:

The Azure Seas, which now sails on three- and four-day cruises to Mexico from Los Angeles, was originally built as the Southern Cross in 1955. The unusual, single-funneled ship sailed between England and Australia. Then it was sold and became the Calypso. It was sold again and became the Azure Seas in 1980.

The Regent Star was built in 1957 as the Statendam. Later it became the Rhapsody. It was refurbished in 1985 and 1987. Earlier this year, the ship suffered an electrical fire. The fire caused the ship’s fuel pumps to shut down (this is standard safety practice), and when the main engines shut down, the ship lost propulsion and ran aground.

The Bermuda Star was also built in 1957 as the Argentina. In 1972, it was purchased by Holland America and became the Veendam.

Anyone remember the SS Monterey? The ship, formerly sailing for Pacific Far East Lines out of San Francisco, was sold to a U.S. company a few years back to begin cruising around the islands of Hawaii, but the line went bankrupt. The ship was sold again to a Panamanian company, then chartered to Star Lauro of Italy for 12- and 14-day cruises of the Mediterranean.

Some older ships will never sail again, but they’re still floating.

Remember the Italian liners Michelangelo and Raffaello? In 1977, the ships were taken from Genoa to Iran to be used as a floating barracks.

Other older ships are still sailing. The Victoria, operated by Chandris, was built in 1936 as the Dunnotar Castle. The SS Britanis was built in 1932. The 58-year-old ship was once the Monterey, then the Matsonia and finally the Lurline.

Two older “superliners” of the past have been totally refurbished and modernized. Holland America’s flagship, the 31-year-old SS Rotterdam, was given a $15-million renovation last October.

And the 30-year-old SS Norway (formerly the SS France) recently completed a staggering $40-million refurbishment, including 135 new luxury staterooms, a new spa and an upgraded restaurant. Passenger capacity was also increased, from 1,794 to 2,044.

And what about the Achille Lauro? The ship is still sailing the Mediterranean. Most recently, the ship was chartered to bring Irish and Egyptian soccer fans to Italy for the World Cup.

Still, there are some benefits to sailing on an older ship. For one thing, it actually looks like a ship. Many of today’s mega-cruise liners look more like huge floating condominiums.

There seems to be more usable passenger space on older ships. These ships have promenade decks where passengers can truly promenade. And the ships have passenger cabins that are considerably larger in dimension.

In general, older ships usually carry fewer passengers, display a more thoughtful interior design and harbor more of a feeling of making a “passage” as opposed to simply taking a cruise.