Royal Cruise Line

Last updated
Royal Cruise Line
Founded1974
FounderPericles Panagopulos
Defunct1996
HeadquartersPiraeus, Greece
Area served
Worldwide Cruises

Royal Cruise Line was a Greek cruise line that operated from 1974 to 1996 and founded by Pericles Panagopulos. The line catered mainly to American passengers looking for an upscale cruise experience and sailed mainly worldwide routes.

Contents

History

Golden odyssey, Royal Cruise Line's first ship Golden Odyssey at Truman Annex (7164014507).jpg
Golden odyssey , Royal Cruise Line's first ship
Crown Odyssey, the line's second new build Crown Odyssey (ship, 1988) (15190850555) (cropped).jpg
Crown Odyssey, the line's second new build

Royal Cruise Line was founded in 1974 with its first ship the Golden Odyssey, the first purpose built Greek ship, with an entirely Greek crew. [1] [2] With success of the Golden Odyssey, the line purchased their second ship from Home Lines, the SS Doric, in 1982. [2] The ship was completely refurbished and debuted as the Royal Odyssey . The line ordered its second new build, the Crown Odyssey , in 1986, delivered in 1988. [3] The new ship would replace the Royal Odyssey, which would be sold to Regency Cruises. [4]

Royal Cruise Line became very successful and renowned as a high standard cruise line. In 1989, owner Panagopulos unexpectedly decided to sell the highly successful and profitable line. [2] Royal Cruise Line was acquired by Kloster Cruises, the parent company of Norwegian Cruise Line for 225 million, with Kloster's intent of gaining a foothold in the upscale European cruise market. [5]

In 1991, Norwegian transferred the Royal Viking Sea from their subsidiary Royal Viking Line to Royal Cruise Line, and renamed it Royal Odyssey . [6] In 1994, Norwegian transferred her sister ship, which was had been sailing as the Westward, to Royal Cruise Line after a 30 million dollar refit and renamed it Star Odyssey . [7] The same year, the line would sell its first ship the Golden Odyssey.

In 1995, the Royal Cruise Line's fleet received a new addition with the Queen Odyssey, another ship that was transferred from the now former Royal Viking brand.

In 1996, parent company Kloster Cruises, was continuing to have financial difficulties, and was forced to reorganize. [8] The Royal Cruise Line brand was dissolved that year after 22 years in business. The fleet was transferred or sold, with the Crown Odyssey and Royal Odyssey transferred to the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet to become the Norwegian Crown and Norwegian Star; the Queen Odyssey sold to Seabourn Cruise Line to become Seabourn Legend; and the final ship to leave the fleet, the Star Odyssey , which went to Fred Olsen Cruise Line to become the Black Watch.

Fleet

BuiltYears in FleetCurrent StatusNotes
Golden Odyssey at Truman Annex (7164014507).jpg Golden Odyssey 19741974-1994Gambling ship Rex Fortune out of Hong Kong
Federico and doric (Doric).jpg Royal Odyssey 19641982-1988Sank on the way to scrap yard in 2001
Crown Odyssey (ship, 1988) (15190850555) (cropped).jpg Crown Odyssey 19881988-1996Sailing for Fred Olsen Cruise Lines as the Balmoral
MS Norwegian Star (4163364643) (cropped).jpg Royal Odyssey 19731991-1996Ended career as Phoenix Reisen's Albatros , Scrapped in 2021
Royal Viking Star 1989.jpg Star Odyssey 19721994-1996Ended sailing career with Fred Olsen Cruise Lines as the Black Watch. Scrapped in 2022. [9]
Le paquebot de croisiere MS Seabourn Legend (1).jpg Queen Odyssey 19921995-1996Sailing for Windstar Cruises as Star Legend

Related Research Articles

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">Norwegian Cruise Line</span> American cruise line

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), also known in short as Norwegian, is an American cruise line founded in Norway in 1966, incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in Miami. It is the third-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, controlling about 8.6% of the total worldwide share of the cruise market by passengers as of 2021. It is wholly owned by parent company Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Star Cruises</span> Cruise line

Star Cruises was a cruise line headquartered in Hong Kong and operating in the Asia-Pacific market. The company was owned by Genting Hong Kong. It was the eighteenth largest cruise line in the world after Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Cruises and 15 others.

MS <i>Amera</i> Cruise ship operated by Phoenix Reisen

MS Amera is a cruise ship operated by Phoenix Reisen. She was launched in 1988 as Royal Viking Sun for Royal Viking Line, and began operating for Cunard Line under the same name in 1994. She was renamed Seabourn Sun when Seabourn Cruise Line acquired the ship in 1999. In 2002, Seabourn transferred the ship to Holland America Line, which was renamed as Prinsendam. In 2018, Prinsendam was sold to Phoenix Reisen, debuting in 2019.

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.

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

Seabourn Cruise Line is a cruise line headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is owned by Carnival Corporation & plc.

<i>Star Pride</i> Cruise ship

Star Pride was the first of three German built cruise ships that were initially built for the Seabourn Cruise Line. She was known as Seabourn Pride and is now operated for Windstar Cruises and was the first of her class.

<i>Star Legend</i> (ship) Cruise ship, commissioned in 1992

Star Legend is a cruise ship constructed by Schichau-Seebeckwerft in Bremerhaven, Germany and operated by Windstar Cruises.

The Norwegian Capricorn Line was a cruise line and was founded by some of Australia's foremost cruise professionals, in partnership with Norwegian Cruise Line. The 1997 launch of Norwegian Capricorn Line brought something entirely new to the Asia-Pacific region -- a four star cruise ship based in Australia offering some 35 cruises throughout the year in the waters of Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. NCL operated the vessel originally named Royal Viking Sea as the Norwegian Star on several affordable itineraries that included many Queensland ports of call.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Viking Line</span>

The Royal Viking Line was a luxury cruise line that operated from 1972 until 1998. The company was the brainchild of Warren Titus and had its headquarters at One Embarcadero Center in San Francisco.

Silversea Cruises is a luxury cruise line headquartered in Monaco. Founded in 1994 by the Vlasov Group of Monaco and the Lefebvre family of Rome, it pioneered all-inclusive cruising with its first ship, Silver Cloud. Since July 2020, it has been owned by Royal Caribbean Group.

<i>MS Windward</i>

The MS Windward was a cruise ship that was built in 1993 by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France for Kloster Cruise as Windward. In 1998 she was lengthened at Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven, Germany and renamed Norwegian Wind. In 2007 she was transferred to the fleet of Star Cruises as SuperStar Aquarius. The ship remained in passenger service for the cruise line until the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown in 2020. The ship was sold for scrap as Arius in 2022 following the liquidation of the cruise line's parent company after filing for bankruptcy, which also led to the demise of Star Cruises.

MS <i>Black Watch</i> (1971)

MS Black Watch was a Royal Viking Star-class cruise ship. She was built by Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard, Finland for Royal Viking Line as Royal Viking Star, entering service in 1972 as the lines first ship. She has also sailed for Norwegian Cruise Lines as Westward and Royal Cruise Line as Star Odyssey. As of June 18, 2022 she has been beached for scrapping as Odin at Alang, India.

MV <i>Balmoral</i> (2008) 2008 cruise ship

Balmoral is a cruise ship owned and operated by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines. She was built in 1988 by the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, West Germany, as Crown Odyssey for Royal Cruise Line. She has also sailed for the Norwegian Cruise Line as Norwegian Crown and Orient Lines as Crown Odyssey. In 2007–2008 she was lengthened by 30 m (98 ft) at the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg prior to entering service with her current operator.

Pericles Panagopoulos was a Greek shipping magnate. He is considered to have been an institutor of the modern shipping industry, and the most successful Greek shipping magnate since Aristotle Onassis. He gained acclaim for having created three shipping business entities, in his lifetime. In 1989, he sold Royal Cruise Lines to Kloster for a reported US$300 million. In 2007, he sold his Athens-based Attica Group for about US$404 million to Marfin Investment Group (MIG). He also owns Magna Marine Inc., a modern shipping company that owns and runs modern bulk carriers. His death was announced by his wife, on Facebook on February 5, 2019.

MV <i>Boudicca</i> Royal Viking Star-class cruise ship

MV Boudicca was a Royal Viking Star-class cruise ship that last served as accommodation vessel at Pendik, near Tuzla Shipyard. She was built in 1973 by Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard, Finland as Royal Viking Sky for Nordenfjeldske Dampskibsselskap, Trondheim, which placed the ship in Royal Viking Line service. In May 2021 the ship was beached in Aliağa, Turkey, for scrapping.

<i>Quantum</i>-class cruise ship Cruise ship class

The Quantum class is a class of cruise ships from Royal Caribbean International, previously known by the code name Project Sunshine.

<i>MV Doulos Hope</i> Former cruise ship and future floating bookshop / missionary ship

MV Doulos Hope is a former cruise ship and future floating library owned by the faith-based organisation, which as of late 2022 is being prepared for operation by the German charity Gute Bücher für Alle.

<i>Seabourn Venture</i> Cruise ship

Seabourn Venture is an ultra-luxury expedition cruise ship operated by Seabourn Cruise Line. The ship's hull was built built by the CIMAR Shipyard in San Giorgio di Nogaro and outfitted at T. Mariotti in Genoa. Its keel was laid in December 2019 and in March 2021 the hull was towed to Genoa to be completed. Sea trials began in April 2022 and the ship was delivered to Seabourn Cruise Line on 28 June 2022 in Genoa. It is Carnival Corporation's first expedition cruise ship.

References

  1. "Concept design of cruise vessel 'Golden Odyssey'". KNUD E. HANSEN. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  2. 1 2 3 "Greek Shipping Miracle - Founding Supporters - MAGNA MARINE INC". Greek Shipping Miracle. 2022-02-20. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  3. "Crown Odyssey | Built by MEYER WERFT in 1988". MEYER WERFT. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  4. Peter, Bruce (2012). Knud E. Hansen A/S : 75 years of ship design. Isle of man: Ferry Publications. ISBN   978-1-906608-66-8. OCLC   841016017.
  5. Staff, C. I. N. (1989-12-01). "Kloster Acquiring Royal Cruise Line". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  6. Staff, C. I. N. (1993-06-30). "Fleet Changes". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  7. Staff, C. I. N. (2020-09-05). "A Cruise Ship History: Black Watch". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  8. Staff, C. I. N. (1995-01-17). "Battle for Kloster Cruise". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. Retrieved 2022-06-12.
  9. Boonzaier (j_boonzaier), Jonathan (2022-06-10). "Fred Olsen arrests cruise ship ahead of beaching at Alang | TradeWinds". TradeWinds | Latest shipping and maritime news. Retrieved 2022-06-12.