Welcome to Cruise Talk the Internet's most popular discussion forum dedicated to cruising. Stop by Cruise Talk anytime to post a message or find out what your fellow passengers and industry insiders are saying about a particular ship, cruise line or destination.
>>> Reader Reviews >>> CruisePage.com Photo Gallery >>> Join Our Cruise Club.
Latest News...Norwegian Cruise Line celebrated the debut of the all-new Norwegian Aqua to Port Canaveral, Fla. on Saturday, April 26, 2025, where she commenced her inaugural season of round-trip Caribbean cruises as the newest ship in port. This past weekend, approximately 3,700 guests embarked on Norwegian Aqua's first week-long voyage to the Caribbean from Port Canaveral, Fla., her initial homeport ...
Latest News...Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL) today reported first quarter Earnings per Share ("EPS") of $2.70 and Adjusted EPS of $2.71. These results were better than the company's guidance due to stronger than expected pricing on close-in demand and lower costs mainly due to timing. Royal Caribbean said that it is increasing its full year 2025 Adjusted EPS guidance to $14.55 to $15.55...
Latest News...Holland America Line announced itineraries for its two Grand Voyages sailing in 2027, offering guests the choice to embark on an ambitious 129-day circumnavigation of the globe on the 2027 Grand World Voyage or a 70-day, region-specific in-depth exploration on the Grand South America & Antarctica Voyage. As revealed today by the cruise line's president Beth Bodensteiner to guests on board...
ALBATROS (Phoenix Reisen/V.Ships)MAXIM GORKIY (Phoenix Reisen/Sovcomflot)MONTEREY (MSC Italian Cruises)OCEANBREEZE (Imperial Majesty)OCEANIC (Pullmantur)PACIFIC SKY (P&O Cruises Australia)THE TOPAZ (Peace Boat)UNIVERSE EXPLORER (Semester-at-Sea)
While there are several candidates for return to service (including AUSONIA, CHINA SEA DISCOVERY, NORWAY, and STELLA SOLARIS, which have all just either been removed, ostensibly temporarily, from service or had their programs cancelled in recent days, weeks and months), it is quite possible that we could soon see this list diminished to five with the departur of OCEANBREEZE. The only steamer out of service that is probably going to return is NORWAY, but her future is still of course in doubt and undecided, and the chances of her steam engines suriviving are even more uncertain than that of the ship herself.
Every one of these ships - even the rather young PACIFIC SKY - could well be gone (or in a couple of cases converted to other modes of propulsion) within a few years.
It would seem as the era of steam (at least in large, oceangoing passenger ships) is on the verge of ending, with little fanfare or nostalgia.
[ 05-28-2003: Message edited by: cruiseny ]
CGT
You forgot the Topaz [Empress of Britain] and the Apollon [Empress of Canada]
Nothing like the vibration free turbine propulsion. No diesel can quite match it.
quote:Originally posted by CANBERRA1961:You forgot the Topaz [Empress of Britain] and the Apollon [Empress of Canada]
True, THE TOPAZ. And now that I think of it, similarly, UNIVERSE EXPLORER. I suppose now that these ships are no longer in the cruise business I have forgotten them .
But not APOLLON. There are a lot of steam ships that exist... But are not in active service. This is the same reason that you will not find CHINA SEA DISCOVERY on this list, or AUSONIA, or STELLA SOLARIS, or THE BIG RED BOAT II, and so on.
And the Universe Explorer, though not available to the general public is still doing cruises, albeit of the "educational" type. She'll also be in Vancouver, June 17.
Regards, Kaiser
P.S. CruiseNY, even though you've been back for a while, welcome back!
[ 05-28-2003: Message edited by: kaiser ]
Just read your post, cruiseny, more carefully, and you were already aware that The Topaz and the Universe Explorer are both still in service. Sorry, about that!!
quote:Originally posted by norman warren:Marco Polo is a steamship i think
Sorry to say, but she's a motorship, which is a Good Thing as far as her future is concerned.
By the time she was built, few of the newly built passenger ships her size were steamers. The really big ships were still almost all steamers, but below 25,000 GRT, it was almost exclusively diesel territory.
Somehow ships do not "motor" to the rescue, or even, Godhelpus,"turb" to the rescue.
And in the press, diesel and electric trains still "chuff" into the station.
Old memories die hard....and that's a good thing!
I *think* that's it!
quote:Originally posted by Keitaro:Is CARIBE a steam ship?
No. She was built with diesels all the way back in 1948 but is on her second set which were installed in 1994.
SAL never built a single steamship IIRC, quite something. GRIPSHOLM of 1925 was the first really large motorship and they certainly didn't look back since then.
In fact I don't think there has been a large Scandinavian passenger steamer (newly built that is) since probably before World War I!
[ 05-31-2003: Message edited by: cruiseny ]
What's up with CHINA SEA DISCOVERY at the moment?
quote:Originally posted by rd77:What's up with CHINA SEA DISCOVERY at the moment?
Out of service for no apparent reason... Maybe "mechanical problems" but it sounds fishy to me.
Mike posted this a few days back, here.
I hope she has a future but I get the feeling she may well go for scrap, being cannibalized beforehand for parts for ALBATROS (same was done, I am told, with LEONID SOBINOV, and eventually may be with FEDOR SHALYAPIN too).
Ultimate Bulletin BoardTM 6.1.0.3
More Vacation & Cruise Specials...