An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes. Only one ocean liner remains in service today.
MS Marco Polo was a cruise ship originally built as ocean liner Aleksandr Pushkin in 1965 by Mathias-Thesen-Werft, East Germany for the Soviet Union's Baltic Shipping Company. After major alterations and additions, the ship operated as Marco Polo for the Orient Lines from 1993 to 2008. It last sailed for UK-based Cruise & Maritime Voyages and its German subsidiary Transocean Tours. After Cruise & Maritime Voyages entered administration in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was sold at auction by CW Kellock & Co. Ltd. for US$2,770,000 on 22 October 2020; it was subsequently resold and in January 2021 was beached at Alang, India and scrapped.
Vasco da Gama is a cruise ship operated by German cruise line Nicko Cruises. Completed in 1993, she previously sailed for Holland America Line as MS Statendam, for P&O Cruises Australia as Pacific Eden and for Cruise & Maritime Voyages as Vasco da Gama. In 2020, following CMV's filing for administration, she was sold by CW Kellock & Co Ltd. at auction to Mystic Cruises' parent company, Mystic Invest for US$10,187,000.
Safmarine, short for South African Marine Corporation, and latterly South African Marine Container Lines, was a South African shipping line, established in 1946, which offered freight transport services with cargo liners and container ships. It was bought by Maersk Line in 1999, and was fully integrated into that company in 2020. It also operated passenger vessels and specialised cargo ships.
MS Song of Norway was one of the first ships purpose-built as a cruise ship. She was the first ship of Royal Caribbean International when she entered operation in 1970. She was sold for scrap in 2013 and broken up in 2014, after serving her last years as a gambling ship.
Celestyal Journey is a cruise ship completed in 1994 and initially sailed for Holland America Line as Ryndam. After nine years she was transferred within the Carnival group to P&O Cruises Australia and renamed Pacific Aria. Plans that she would sail for Cruise & Maritime Voyages as Ida Pfeiffer from 2021 were abandoned, and P&O sold her instead in 2020 to Seajets, who laid her up as Aegean Goddess. In 2023 she was resold to Celestyal Cruises and renamed Celestyal Journey.In December 2023, the Celestyal Journey was chartered by German-based cruise line, Phoenix Reisen. The ship was then used for the first section of the company's world voyage, which was originally intended for MS Amera, one of Phoenix Reisen's other ships, who was held up at the shipyard.
MS Holiday was a Holiday-class cruise ship, which was formerly owned by Carnival Cruise Line as the Holiday and Ibero Cruises as the Grand Holiday. She last sailed for Cruise & Maritime Voyages from Spring 2015 to 2020 as the Magellan until Cruise & Maritime Voyages ceased operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was then sold at auction and was scrapped at Alang, India in early 2021.
MV Gemini is a cruise ship operated by Miray Cruises since 2019. She was built in 1992 by Union Navale de Levante, Valencia, Spain for Crown Cruise Line as Crown Jewel. She has also sailed under the name Cunard Crown Jewel. She also operated as SuperStar Gemini for Star Cruises from 1995 to 2008.
P&O Cruises Australia is a British-American owned cruise line with operational headquarters as part of Carnival Australia, based in Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia.
Club Cruise was a Netherlands-based cruise ship company, that chartered vessels to other operators, including Transocean Tours and Phoenix Reisen. The company had also operated ships under its own brands, first in 1999 on short cruises from the Netherlands and during 2008 in the United Kingdom cruise market under the banner of Van Gogh Cruises.
MV Astoria is a ship that was constructed as the transatlantic ocean liner Stockholm for Swedish American Line, and rebuilt as a cruise ship in 1993. Ordered in 1944, and commenced service in 1948, at 76 years old, she is the oldest deep water passenger liner still around in a non retired status. As Stockholm, she was best known for an accidental collision with Andrea Doria in July 1956, resulting in the sinking of the latter ship and 46 fatalities off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, United States.
MS Sagafjord was an ocean liner built in 1965 by Société Nouvelle des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée for Norwegian America Line as a combined ocean liner/cruise ship. Between 1983 and 1996 the Sagafjord was operated by Cunard Line. In 1996–1997 she was briefly operated by Transocean Tours as MS Gripsholm prior to being sold to Saga. She was last owned and operated by Saga Cruises on worldwide cruises targeted at the senior market out of the United Kingdom, known as the MS Saga Rose. She was retired in 2009 and scrapped in 2010.
MV Kungsholm was built in 1966 by the John Brown & Company shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland as a combined ocean liner / cruise ship for the Swedish American Line. She was later rebuilt as a full-time cruise ship sailing under the names MVSea Princess, MVVictoria, MV Oceanic II. and MV Mona Lisa. In September 2010 she was retired from service as she did not fulfill requirements to SOLAS 2010, becoming the floating hotel Veronica, before being scrapped in 2016.
MS Astor was a cruise ship that most recently sailed for Cruise & Maritime Voyages' Transocean Cruises subsidiary, under which she operated voyages to Europe, South Africa, and Australia.
Heritage Adventurer is an ice-strengthened expedition cruise ship built in 1991 by Rauma shipyard in Finland. She was originally named Society Adventurer, but after Discoverer Reederei was unable to take delivery of the vessel due to financial troubles, the completed ship was laid up at the shipyard for almost two years. In 1993, she was acquired by Hanseatic Tours and renamed Hanseatic. In 2018, she was chartered to One Ocean Expeditions and renamed RCGS Resolute through a partnership with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. In 2021, she was acquired by Heritage Expeditions and, following an extensive refit, entered service in 2022 with her current name.
Saga Shipping, also known as Saga Cruises, a division of the Saga plc, is a cruise line headquartered in Folkestone, England. Saga Cruises exclusively markets to and operates for people aged 50 and over.
Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) was a British passenger shipping company headquartered in Purfleet, Essex, United Kingdom. The company ceased operations in 2020 and entered administration.
Portuscale Cruises was a Portuguese shipping company. It was the first Portuguese company specifically dedicated to maritime cruises.
Spirit of Adventure is a cruise ship operated by Saga Cruises and constructed by Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany. As Saga's second new-build vessel, she was originally considered as an option in the cruise line's pursuit to renew its fleet, but the company finalised the order in 2017 after seeing rising profits in its travel business following the announcement of her sister ship, Spirit of Discovery. Her keel was laid on 3 June 2019 and she was delivered on 29 September 2020, but in response to travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the inaugural cruise was continuously postponed until she officially debuted on 26 July 2021.
MS Saga Pearl II was a cruise ship of about 18,700 GT that was built in Germany by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft as the Astor in 1981. After short unsuccessful operations with two owners, she was bought by the East German government in 1985 and renamed Arkona. After 1990 the ship was operated by Seetours, which was acquired by P&O Princess Cruises in 1999, and then chartered to Transocean Tours as Astoria in 2002. From 2009 until 2019 she was owned by Saga Cruises as Saga Pearl II, then withdrawn from service, laid up as Pearl II, and scrapped in 2022.
