Ship by Another Name Is Still a Trip

In the fast-changing world of cruising, it’s getting to where you can’t tell the players without a program. This year marked sweeping changes, in part because of new SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) regulations requiring older vessels to be brought up to date with sprinkler systems, low-level lighting and other improvements.

Big lines with lots of new ships--such as Royal Caribbean International, Carnival and Princess--divested themselves of their older vessels, which were then bought by other cruise lines and renovated to SOLAS standards.

The newest cruise line to make its American debut is First European. Under its European parent company, Greek-owned Festival Cruises (a trademark in the United States by another company), the new line operates the 802-passenger Bolero, the former Starward of Norwegian Cruise Line; the Azur, a 720-passenger ship previously owned by Paquet French Cruises; and the newly acquired 784-passenger Flamenco, the former Star/Ship Majestic from Premier Cruise Lines. Premier Cruise Lines operated the Big Red Boats out of Port Canaveral since 1984, but it has since been absorbed into a new cruise line called Premier Cruises, which was unveiled in mid-October. This company retains the one remaining Big Red Boat, the three ships that were previously operating under the Dolphin Cruise Line label (OceanBreeze, SeaBreeze and IslandBreeze), the Seawind Crown and the newly bought Rembrandt, which is the former Rotterdam V from Holland America Line. The Rembrandt debuts in December in South America and in the Mediterranean in the spring.

Another new company working for a stronger presence in the U.S. is Mediterranean Shipping Cruises. MSC operates a fleet of four ships in the Mediterranean, and their newly acquired 1,500-passenger Melody, the former Star/Ship Atlantic from Premier Cruise Lines, debuts in the Caribbean in January. Their other ships are the 600-passenger Monterey, formerly operated by now-defunct Aloha Pacific Cruises; the 790-passenger Rhapsody, the former Cunard Princess from Cunard Line; and the 632-passenger Symphony, the former EnricoCosta from Costa Cruises.

Frequent cruisers may have noticed the absence of two family-owned Greek companies, Sun Line and Epirotiki, from shipping rosters. The two have merged into one company, Royal Olympic Cruises, under which they operate two different cruise categories. The “blue ships,” named for the color of their hulls, offer traditional, classic cruises aboard the Odysseus, Stella Oceanis and Stella Solaris, while the “white ships”--Orpheus, Triton (the former Sunward II from Norwegian Cruise Line) and Olympic (the former Carnivale/FiestaMarina from Carnival)--provide more casual sailings. Star Cruises, a giant based in Singapore, debuted in 1993 and has seven ships, including some you may remember under another name. The Sun Viking from Royal Caribbean International begins service in January as Star Cruises’ SuperStar Sagittarius. The former Golden Princess, which was the Royal Viking Sky, is the SuperStar Capricorn, and the former Cunard Dynasty is the SuperStar Gemini.

For free brochures, call First European at (888) 98-EUROPE; Premier Cruises at (800) 327-7113; Mediterranean Shipping Co. at (800) 666-9333; and Royal Olympic Cruises, (800) 872-6400. You can write Star Cruises at 3819 Orchard Road, 13-01 Ngee Ann City Tower B, Singapore 238874.