Premier Cruise Lines

Last updated
Premier Cruise Lines
Company type Cruise line
Industry Transportation
Founded1983
Founders
  • A.E. Merhige
  • Bruce Nierenberg
DefunctSeptember 14, 2000
Fate Bankruptcy/Liquidation
Headquarters Cape Canaveral, Florida
Products Cruises
Parent

Premier Cruise Lines, a subsidiary of Premier Cruises, was a cruise line that was headquartered in Cape Canaveral, Florida. [1] [2] From 1985 to 1993, it was licensed as the official cruise line of Walt Disney World and used the trademark "The Big Red Boat" based on the color scheme of some of its ships. [3]

Contents

Company history

The S.S StarShip Oceanic in September 1987; most likely at Out Island SS Oceanic.jpg
The S.S StarShip Oceanic in September 1987; most likely at Out Island
Premier Cruise Lines first ship Royale "Royale" - Nassau, 1985.jpg
Premier Cruise Lines first ship Royale

Premier Cruise Line was formed in 1983 by A.E. "Ed" Merhige (Florida Export Warehouse/International Cruise Shops) and Bruce Nierenberg (NCL), two cruise veterans.

The lines first ship was the former Federico C from Costa Cruises, and renamed Royale. In 1985 the line would purchase their second ship the Oceanic from Home Lines, and in 1988, the Atlantic replacing the Royale. Also in 1988 the line would also expand further purchasing the Sun Princess from Princess Cruises, renaming the ship the Majestic. All the ships would later have the "Starship" prefix added to their names in the lines marketing.

The cruise line typically operated three- and four-day Bahamas trips out of Port Canaveral, Florida. The company earned over $20 million annually on a gross revenue of $100 million during the 1980s. The successful niche that Premier served was the family cruise line, especially attractive to grandparents sailing with their children and grandchildren.Premier Cruise line would purchase the Oceanic fromHome

Walt Disney World Partnership

Starting in 1985, Premier partnered with Walt Disney World, providing seven-night land and sea vacations on The Big Red Boat. Premier was licensed to provide Disney characters on its ships, until the relationship ended in 1993. [4] Disney then proceeded to start its own cruise ship line in 1995.

After the Disney contract ended, Premier then affiliated itself with Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes characters to maintain its family-friendly image, [5] and was returned to profitability under the direction of 20-year cruise veteran Jim Naik. The company had an aging fleet of Italian-designed ships competing with newer and larger liners. Mr. Naik brought Premier to profitability in his first quarter with the company.

The line was later bought by Dial Corporation (of Dial soap fame), which then also owned the Greyhound Bus Company. From the company's inception, Mr. Stensby grew Premier Cruises from one to six ships, operating on itineraries in the United States, Bahamas, South America, the Caribbean and Europe. Mr. Stensby resigned as chairman and chief executive officer of Premier Cruises in the fall of 1997 after growing the company to annualized revenues in excess of $200 million, an operating profit in excess of 20% and more than 3,000 employees, making Premier Cruises, with its 5,500 lower berths, the largest privately-held cruise line in the world at the time.

Following new ownership of Premier Cruises in 1997, the Atlantic was sold to the newly expanding MSC Cruises.

New Ownership & Rebranding to Premier Cruises

Seabreeze in the new Premier Cruises livery "SeaBreeze I" - Limon, 1999.jpg
Seabreeze in the new Premier Cruises livery

Premier's parent company, Dial, sold the company after posting profits for 1995, 1996, and 1997. New owners and new leadership followed, with Larry Magnan as president in 1998.

After the acquisition, three different operations; i.e. Premier Cruise Line, Dolphin Cruise Line, SeaWind Cruises and Direct Cruises fleets were merged. Premier would rebrand themselves as Premier Cruises with a new ship profile logo, with blue funnels and blue hulls for all the ships except the Oceanic , which would retain her red hull. Premier would also acquire the former SS Rotterdam, and renaming her Rembrandt . Premier Cruise Lines first ship the former Royale , now the Seabreeze that had been part of the Dolphin Cruise Line fleet, would return to Premier after almost 10 years.

Premier Cruises (under new ownership and management led by Bruce Nierenberg) [6] changed their business strategies and decided to cancel their marketing agreements with international marketing partners such as Thomson Holidays, Pullmantur and others and decided to reposition a number of their ships back to the United States. [7] [8]

Oceanic in the new Premier Cruises livery Premier oceanic 1998.jpg
Oceanic in the new Premier Cruises livery

In 1999, Premier would again rebrand, and revert back to the Premier "P" logo in red on a white funnel and introduced "Seven Star Service". The line would again plan to rebrand their primary fleet as "Big Red Boats". [9] However, plans for the Rembrandt , to be named Big Red Boat IV, were canceled after public outcry of ruining the former Holland America flagship.

The line announced they intended to be reorganized Premier Cruises Corp. with a Big Red Boat brand; the MexiCruises brand with the Seawind Crown and planned charter of the Triton and Odysseuss, and the "‘transitional’ blue-ship brand, which was intended to be the new-ship brand that would temporarily include the SeaBreeze . [9]

Newbuilds

It was announced by president Bruce Nierenberg that new blue-hulled “new-ship” brand, was to have first newbuilding delivered by the end of 2002 with an order of or at least five ships. [9]

In March 1999, Premier bid on acquiring the former Eugenio C , with a costly refit of $25million and renamed Big Red Boat II. [10] Towards the end of 1999, the Oceanbreeze was chartered to Imperial Majesty Cruises, who would later purchased her in May 2000.

In December 1999 Premier Cruises launched new round-trip Mexico cruises from Cancun chartering Royal Olympic Cruises Triton. The charter was canceled after one month due to low interested, with the ship being returned to Royal Olympic on January 2 ,2000. [11]

Bankruptcy

Premier Cruises would file for bankruptcy and cease all operations on September 14, 2000, with passengers on the still-running cruises being docked and given flights home on a first-come, first-served basis; the company's primary lender had seized its existing fleet, which had been put up for collateral. [12] [13] The ship seizures disrupted the vacations of about 2,800 passengers. Creditors seized Premier's Big Red Boat I in Nassau, Bahamas; Big Red Boat III in Cozumel, Mexico, and the Rembrandt and SeaBreeze in Halifax, Nova Scotia. [14] Premier's Seawind Crown, under charter to Spanish tour operator Pullmantur Cruises, continued to operate in the Mediterranean.

Most of the 1,700 passengers who disembarked Rembrandt and Sea Breeze in Halifax were flown back to their points of origin, but several hundred were allowed to board Premier's Big Red Boat II for its return voyage to New York, where it was reclaimed by Ocean Marine.

"The shutdown cost about 270 shoreside employees their jobs at the company's Port Canaveral headquarters. Employees were informed of the shutdown upon arriving at work on Sept. 14." [14]

Legacy

The SS Oceanic (Big Red Boat I) was still sailing until 2012 when she was sailed to Yokohama for scrapping. [15] The Big Red Boat II , formerly Eugenio Costa , was put up for sale and was laid up in Freeport, Bahamas. She had no potential buyers and remained there until 2005, eventually being sold to the breakers and was scrapped in Alang, India in late 2005. [16] The former Starship Majestic, now known as the Ocean Dream , was sailing out of Asia. In 2016, the Ocean Dream, which had changed hands and names multiple times and been abandoned by its owner, capsized and sank off the port of Laem Chabang, Thailand, leaking oil into the Gulf of Thailand. [17] [18]

The Big Red Boat III , formerly Carnival Cruise Line's Festivale, was also sold for scrap. The former Frederico C (called the Seabreeze I ) was to be scrapped at India but instead sank in a storm 220 nautical miles (407 km) off the Virginia coast. Lastly, the Rembrandt , formerly the Rotterdam, was purchased by the city of Rotterdam, The Netherlands and restored and kept as a historic landmark.

Former fleet

ShipBuiltIn service with PremierTonnageStatusImage
Royale
SeaBreeze 		19581983–1988
1997–2000		21,000  GT Previously Federico C for Costa Cruises. Sank in 2000. "Royale" - Nassau, 1985.jpg "SeaBreeze I" - Limon, 1999.jpg
StarShip Oceanic
Big Red Boat I 		19651985–200038,772  GT /
39,241  GRT 		Also known as Oceanic for Home Lines, Sold to Pullmantur Cruises in 2000 and to Peace Boat in 2009. Scrapped in 2012. Oceanic in December 1987.jpg
StarShip Majestic 19701988–199517,042  GT Previously Spirit of London for P&O Cruises and Sun Princess for Princess Cruises. Sold in 1995. Capsized and sank in 2016. "Southern Cross" - Copenhagen, 1995.jpg
StarShip Atlantic 19831988–199735,143  GT Previously Atlantic for Home Lines. It later became the MSC Melody for MSC Cruises and the Qing. The ship sank at its berth in Goa, India in 2016. She was later refloated and sold for scrap in 2018. "StarShip Atlantic" - Nassau, 1989.jpg
OceanBreeze 19551997–199920,204  GRT Previously Southern Cross, Calypso, and Azure Seas. Sold for scrap in 2003. Imperial Majesty Oceanbreeze.jpg
IslandBreeze
Big Red Boat III 		19621997–200026,632  GRT Also known as Transvaal Castle, S.A. Vaal, IslandBreeze, and Festivale. Sold for scrap in 2003. "The Big Red Boat III" & "Rembrandt" - Freeport, 2001.jpg
SeaWind Crown19611997–200023,306  GRT Previously known as Infante Dom Henrique and Vasco Da Gama. Scrapped in China, 2004. SeaWindCrown at Barcelona.jpg
Rembrandt 19581997–200038,645  GT Previously Rotterdam for Holland America Line. Converted into a hotel and museum in 2004. Valdez - SS Rotterdam (3847789627).jpg
Big Red Boat II 19661999–200032,753  GRT Also known as Eugenio C / Eugenio Costa for Costa Crociere, and Edinburgh Castle for Lowline Shipping. Sold for scrap in 2005. Cammell Laird across the Tyne - geograph.org.uk - 1188755.jpg
Triton 19711999-200014,194 GT Built as the Cunard Adventurer, chartered from Royal Olympic Cruises for Mexico Cruises, charter was canceled after one month due to low bookings. Ship was returned to Royal Olympic Cruises. [11] "Sunward II" - Miami, 1980.JPG
Planned Charters
Odysseus19611999- [19] Planned chartered from Epirotiki Line for Mexico Cruises, appeared in Premier Cruises brochure but never ended up occuring. "Odysseus" - Keratsini, 2005.jpg


Timeline

Premier Cruise Lines

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnival Cruise Line</span> International cruise line

Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue color scheme. This trademark funnel design is built onto the line's ships. Carnival is ranked first on the list of largest cruise lines based on passengers carried annually.

Windstar Cruises is a cruise line that operates a fleet of small luxury cruise ships. Its six yachts carry just 148 to 310 guests and cruise to 50 nations, calling at 150 ports throughout Europe, the South Pacific, the Caribbean, and Central America. In May 2014, Windstar added to its sailing yachts by adding the Star Pride power yacht, followed by Star Breeze and Star Legend in May 2015. The additional capacity opened up new itineraries such as voyages to Iceland, the Panama Canal, and Costa Rica and allowed Windstar Cruises to sail Tahiti year round.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celebrity Cruises</span> Cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida, US

Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in 1997. Celebrity's signature logo is an "Χ" displayed on the funnel of Celebrity ships, and is the Greek letter chi, for "Chandris".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney Cruise Line</span> Cruise line operation, subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company

Disney Cruise Line is a cruise line operation that is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The company was incorporated in 1996 as Magical Cruise Company Limited, through its first vessel Disney Magic, and is domiciled in London, England, with their operational headquarters located in Celebration, Florida.

MS <i>Monarch</i> Scrapped cruise ship

MS Monarch was the second of three Sovereign-class cruise ships owned by Royal Caribbean International. Beginning on April 1, 2013, Monarch was operated by RCCL's Pullmantur Cruises, before being sold for scrap in 2020 following Pullmantur's closure. The ship was built in 1991 at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyards in Saint-Nazaire, France.

SS <i>Southern Cross</i> (1954)

SS Southern Cross was an ocean liner built in 1955 by Harland & Wolff, Belfast, Northern Ireland for the United Kingdom-based Shaw, Savill & Albion Line for Europe—Australia service. In 1975 she was rebuilt as a cruise ship and subsequently sailed under the names Calypso, Azure Seas and OceanBreeze until 2003 when she was sold for scrap to Ahmed Muztaba Steel Industries, Chittagong, Bangladesh.

<i>Empress of the Seas</i> Cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International

Empress is a cruise ship owned by Cordelia Cruises, an Indian cruise line. She is the sole ship of her class. She entered service with then-Royal Caribbean International in 1990, transferred to Pullmantur Cruises in 2008, and then returned to Royal Caribbean International in 2016. In December 2020, she was retired from the Royal Caribbean fleet and sold to Cordelia Cruises.

SS <i>Rotterdam</i> Cruise ship from 1958-2010

The fifth SS Rotterdam, also known as "The Grande Dame", is a former ocean liner and cruise ship, and has been a hotel ship in Rotterdam, Netherlands, since 2010. She was launched by Queen Juliana of the Netherlands in a gala ceremony on 13 September 1958, and was completed the following summer.

MV <i>Horizon</i>

The MV Horizon was a cruise ship that sailed from 1990-2020, and was the first new build for Celebrity Cruises. She was sent for scrapping in Aliaga in 2022.

<i>Carnival Sensation</i> Fantasy-class cruise ship

Carnival Sensation, initially named Sensation, was a 70,367 GT cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. She was built in 1993 in Finland and cruised from Florida, USA to ports in the Bahamas and the Caribbean until the COVID-19 pandemic stopped operations in March 2020. The ship was subsequently sold for scrapping.

MS <i>Sovereign</i> Cruise ship (1987–2020)

MS Sovereign was one of three large cruise ships of the Sovereign class operated by Pullmantur Cruises and formerly by Royal Caribbean International. When she was completed in 1987, Sovereign of the Seas was the world's largest passenger ship. On 24 June 2020, due to economic losses caused by COVID-19 pandemic, Sovereign arrived and was beached at Aliağa, Turkey, where she was dismantled.

MV <i>Zenith</i> Horizon-class cruise ship

The MV Zenith was a cruise ship built in 1992 by Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany for Celebrity Cruises as Zenith. After a career for Pullmantur Cruises and Croisières de France she was sold for scrapping in Alang, India in 2022.

RMS <i>Transvaal Castle</i>

RMS Transvaal Castle was a British ocean liner built by John Brown & Company at Clydebank for the Union-Castle Line for their mail service between Southampton and Durban. In 1966 she was sold to the South Africa-based Safmarine and renamed S.A. Vaal for further service on the same route. Following cessation of the service between the UK and South Africa in 1977 the ship was sold to Carnival Cruise Line and rebuilt in Japan as the cruise ship SS Festivale, re-entering service in 1978. In 1996 she was chartered to Dolphin Cruise Line and renamed IslandBreeze. In 1998 the ship was sold to Premier Cruise Line, which renamed her The Big Red Boat III. Following the bankruptcy of Premier Cruise Line in 2000, The Big Red Boat III was laid up until 2003 when she was sold to scrappers in Alang, India. She was renamed The Big Red Boat for her final voyage to the scrapyard.

MS <i>Tropicale</i> Cruise ship built 1982

MS Tropicale was a cruise ship that entered service in 1982, and was one of the pioneering cruise ships in the modernization of the cruise industry. She was Carnival Cruises Line's first newly built ship, initially operating mainly in the Mexican Riviera and the Caribbean.

Pullmantur Cruises was a cruise line headquartered in Madrid, Spain. It began operations in the late 1990s as an offshoot of the Madrid-based travel agency Pullmantur. In 2006, Pullmantur Cruises, through its parent company, was purchased by U.S.-based Royal Caribbean Group, but Royal Caribbean later sold a 51% stake in the cruise line to Spain-based investment firm Springwater Capital, retaining a 49% stake.

SS <i>Oceanic</i> (1963) Cruise ship

SS Oceanic was a cruise ship built in 1963 by Cantieri Riuniti dell' Adriatico, Monfalcone, Italy for Home Lines. Between 1985 and 2000, she sailed for Premier Cruise Line under the names Starship Oceanic and Big Red Boat I, before being sold to Pullmantur Cruises and reverting to her original name. In 2009 was sold to a new owner-operator, Peace Boat, which kept her until 2012. She was broken up in China later that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Premier Cruises</span> Former cruise line

Premier Cruises was a cruise line holding company formed in the early 1990s that focused on the family cruise market as well as on developing cruise operations in new geographic markets. The company's business focus was to acquire older cruise vessels, refurbish these vessels in order to offer "traditional cruise experiences", operate the vessels in geographic areas, such as Europe and south/Central America.

SS <i>Eugenio C</i> Ocean Liner/Cruise Ship Owned By Costa Line

The SSEugenio C was a 1966 Italian built ocean liner/cruise ship originally owned by the Costa Line. She was scrapped as the Big Red at Alang, India in June 2005.

FleetPro Passenger Ship Management was founded in 2012 as a merger of two existing passenger ship management companies and is based in Switzerland. It combined International Shipping Partners (ISP), a passenger ship management services company headquartered in Miami, Florida, United States, and River Advice of Basel, Switzerland. The majority owners became a Netherlands-based private equity fund. In January 2014 the two operations were renamed FleetPro Ocean and FleetPro River respectively.

<i>Disney Wish</i> Cruise ship operated by Disney Cruise Line

Disney Wish is the fifth cruise ship owned and operated by Disney Cruise Line, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. She is the largest ship in the fleet and the first of the Triton-class. She entered service in June 2022 and will be followed by her sister ships the Disney Treasure in 2024 and the Disney Destiny in 2026. The other four ships in the fleet are the Disney Magic, Disney Wonder, Disney Dream, and Disney Fantasy. The Disney Adventure will join the fleet in 2025.

References

  1. ↑ "Cape Canaveral city, Florida [ permanent dead link ]." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on September 27, 2009.
  2. ↑ "FALL AND WINTER CRUISES; Where to Get Information". The New York Times . Sunday October 4, 1998. Retrieved on September 27, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Sealetter Cruise Magazine". Archived from the original on 2015-07-22. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  4. ↑ "How Disney Cruises Started" USA Today Travel.
  5. ↑ "Cruise Line Will Cut a Disney Link". The New York Times , October 7, 1993.
  6. ↑ "Premier Cruises Appoints New President and CEO". Archived from the original on 2008-12-06.
  7. ↑ HighBeam [ dead link ]
  8. ↑ "SS IslandBreeze".
  9. 1 2 3 Industry News, Cruise. "Big Red Boats - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News". Cruise Industry News.
  10. ↑ Fran Golden, and Ernest Blum. "Premier bids on 'Big Red Boat' ship".
  11. 1 2 Archives, L. A. Times (2000-01-02). "Premier Line Cancels Sailings From Cancun". Los Angeles Times.
  12. ↑ "Cruise Ship Co. Goes Belly-Up". CBSNews.com. CBS News. September 15, 2000. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Vacationers flown home after cruise company forced to shut down". money.cnn.com. CNN Money. September 14, 2000. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  14. 1 2 "Premier Cruises seems sunk for good".
  15. ↑ Peter Knego (June 2012). "Scraps Of Shipping News".
  16. ↑ Eugenio C / Big Red Boat II
  17. ↑ "Abandoned Cruise Ship Ocean Dream Sinks Off Thailand". The Straits Times. February 29, 2016.
  18. ↑ Bond, Mary (February 29, 2016). "Abandoned cruise ship capsizes in Thai waters". Seatrade Cruise News.
  19. ↑ "Premier sets Mexico cruises".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.