Remembering Some Stars of the Sea

Every ship buff knows that the great ocean liner Queen Mary is now a hotel and tourist attraction in Long Beach. But whatever happened to the Royal Viking ships, the old Rotterdam, the Sitmar ships, the Azure Seas? And what’s going to happen to the Norway, the Viking Serenade and the original “love boat,” the Pacific Princess?

Every year for the past decade or so, the cruise industry has introduced a half-dozen or more new ships with flashy features that make the lines’ older ships look dowdy. At the same time, cruise lines are faced with tough decisions about older vessels that do not meet international SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) standards. For instance, all ships must have retrofitted sprinkler and smoke detection systems in place next year.

Should the owners invest a lot of money in the necessary renovations, or should they sell the old ships to companies abroad that don’t have to meet the same technical standards? Or do they simply send the vessel to the breakers, companies that break ships down into scrap metal?

World Explorer Cruises’ Universe, built in 1953 in Chester, Pa., as the cargo-carrying Badger Mariner, is an example of a ship that went to the breakers--in our opinion, not a moment too soon. Although it had a dedicated following for its 14-day Alaska cruises among fans of nonfancy cruising, it had tiny, cramped cabins, very basic shower-only bathrooms and walls you could hear conversations through. The line’s replacement ship, Universe Explorer, also American-built in the same era, is more attractive, seaworthy and comfortable.

Then there is American Hawaii’s Constitution. This is the ship that took Grace Kelly and her bridal party to Monaco for her 1956 wedding to Prince Rainier, and the ship that served as the location for the romantic 1957 film “An Affair to Remember,” with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr.

After its sister ship Independence underwent extensive renovations that cost more than originally expected, the Constitution was taken out of service in 1994 rather than undergo the same expensive remodeling. While being towed across the Pacific to breakers in 1996, the ship somehow slipped loose and sank.

One of the greatest of all ocean liners was the France, built in 1962 as the last of the celebrated French Line fleet, which included the Normandie and the Ile de France. After being laid up for six years in the 1970s when jet planes replaced transatlantic cruising, the France was bought by Norwegian Cruise Line’s Knut Kloster and turned into the Norway, making its first voyage in 1981. In September it was scheduled to be turned over to NCL’s parent company, Malaysia-based Star Cruises.

The Azure Seas had a lot to do with popularizing cruising to a mass market, offering Southern Californians a weekend vacation to rival Las Vegas or Palm Springs. The ship sailed three-and four-night cruises from Los Angeles to Ensenada, Mexico, between 1980 and 1992. From 1992 to 1999, it sailed in the Caribbean as the OceanBreeze for now-defunct Premier Cruise Lines.

We most recently spotted the Azure Seas in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in March, where, as the OceanBreeze of Imperial Majesty Cruise Line, it makes inexpensive two-night sailings to the Bahamas.

Last December another Premier ship, the SeaBreeze, was off the Virginia coast being towed to a shipyard for repairs when it lost engine power, took on water and sank. All crew members were rescued. The ship was built in 1958 as Costa’s Federico C.

Holland America Line’s old Rotterdam, built in 1959 as a two-class ocean liner, also had sailed for Premier, as the Rembrandt, until Premier declared bankruptcy in September 2000. The last we heard, the ship was up for sale.

Royal Caribbean’s Viking Serenade, a longtime fixture in Los Angeles for its popular three-and four-day cruises to Ensenada, is leaving next month to sail for a British tour company.

Princess Cruises’ Pacific Princess, famous as a location for the TV series “The Love Boat,” is slated to leave the fleet late next summer as the line abandons its love boat advertising in favor of the new “Princess--Where I Belong” slogan. Sister ship Island Princess left the fleet in April 1999 to relocate to the Asian cruise market.

The Royal Viking Sea is currently the Norwegian Capricorn in Sydney, Australia, and the Royal Viking Star is now the Black Watch for Fred Olsen Line.

Holland America Line will become the latest owner of the Royal Viking Sun next April. After the demise of Royal Viking Line, the ship continued to sail under the same name for Cunard Line until Carnival Corp. took over Cunard and put the Sun and the Sea Goddess ships into the Seabourn fleet, which Carnival also owns.

Last winter, Carnival split up Seabourn and Cunard to distinguish the two labels, marketing Seabourn and Sea Goddess vessels as “the yachts of Seabourn.” Carnival turned the Sun over to Holland America, where it will be named Prinsendam (the last ship of that name burned and sank in Alaska in 1980 with no loss of life).

Royal Cruise Line’s flagship Crown Odyssey, back under its original name after a period as the Norwegian Crown, now sails all over the world for Orient Lines. The former Golden Odyssey sails as the Astra II for Hapag-Lloyd, and the former Queen Odyssey is the Seabourn Legend.

Sitmar as a brand name disappeared overnight when the line was acquired by Princess in 1988, and none of the former Sitmar vessels remains in the Princess fleet. Last to leave was the Fairsky/Sky Princess, which is now sailing in Australia for P&O;, Princess’ parent company, as the Pacific Sky.

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Shirley Slater and Harry Basch travel as guests of the cruise lines. Cruise Views appears twice a month.