Why that shiny ‘new’ ship looks so familiar
NEXT summer there will be a new ship in the Thomson fleet – but it will be familiar to seasoned cruisers who have sailed on Royal Caribbean’s Splendour of the Seas.
The mid-size ship, with an on-board climbing wall, is sailing away from RCI to Thomson and will get a new name, yet to be announced.
So many newly constructed floating resorts come out of shipyards these days – Britannia, Anthem of the Seas and Norwegian Escape all this year – and it is good news that tried and tested, smaller ships built on classic lines do not just sail off into the sunset or to the breaker’s yard, but are reinvented and relaunched, sometimes several times over.
Take Magellan, ‘new flagship’ of the Cruise & Maritime fleet (cruiseandmaritime.com), recently christened in Tilbury. Magellan started life as the Holiday, built in 1985 for Carnival Cruise Lines. It has had a colourful life, including providing a haven for victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and acting as a hotel for the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014.
It is hard to believe that luxurious little Hebridean Princess (hebridean.co.uk), chartered by the Queen for her 80th birthday family cruise around Scotland in 2006, was the busy car ferry and Royal Mail ship MV Columba for 25 years from its launch in 1964 until transformed in 1989 into the country-house hotel-style cruise ship she is today. Her former sister ship, the 98-passenger Hebridean Spirit, was sold off in 2009, amid rumours she was to become a private yacht. Three
years later she reappeared, refitted for 114 passengers as Caledonian Sky for Noble Caledonia (noblecaledonia.co.uk).
Then there’s P&O’s smallest ship, the 700-passenger Adonia (pocruises.co.uk). She was built in 2001 as ‘R8’ – the last of eight ‘Renaissance Class’ ships.
The ship became Minerva II for Swan Hellenic, serving the company for four years, then she was Royal Princess for Princess Cruises. She became Adonia in 2011, named by Shirley Bassey in Southampton. Some of Adonia’s similar sisters are now Azamara Journey, Azamara Quest, Pacific Princess and Ocean Princess.
Meanwhile, Swan Hellenic (swan hellenic.com) has operated the same ship twice.
The first Minerva, built in 1989, was originally intended as a Soviet spy vessel. She sailed for the one-ship cultural cruises company, accommodating 350 passengers, from 1996 until 2003, when, to the dismay of her loyal passengers (known as the Swans), she was replaced by Minerva II, with her 650 berths.
To the Swans’ joy, the more intimate Minerva returned to Swan Hellenic in 2008 and was given a multi-million-pound makeover during 2011.
Quintessentially British line Fred. Olsen (fredolsencruises.com) has just four ships, Balmoral, Black Watch, Boudicca and Braemar. They are all pre-loved and characterful and have been refurbished and even ‘stretched’ in the case of Balmoral.
The ship, built in 1988 and previously owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines as Norwegian Crown, grew by 100ft, with 93 cabins added when she was added to the Fred. Olsen fleet in 2007.