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I also always wondered why Paquet chose the MERMOZ to convert into a cruise ship in the early 70s. I guess the WORLD RENAISSANCE was sed more of a cruise ship in the Caribbean and Europe ,ande even Alaska. Was she sold or chartered tot he Costa Lines in the early 80s? Then ther was the Paquet Cruise in the Caribbean. They ran the CALYPSO(SOUTHERN CROSS) adn the DOLPHIN-IV an ex Zim Lines ship. Then they sold the CALYPSO to the EASTERN/WESTERN cruises in 1980. I guess it was 82 they bought the old STATENDAM and renamed her the RHAPSODY. Then later she was sold to Regency Cruises. So Paquet seemed to have only the MERMOZ in the early 90s. Their management seems kind of eratic to me. Did they own the DOLPHIN-IV and market her under other names in the 1990s?TCS
Paquet never owned CALYPSO or DOLPHIN IV. Paquet only marketed them under a joint venture with their owners, Ulysses Cruises. Ulysses sold CALYPSO in 1980 and the joint venture ended in 1984 and Ulysses Cruises became Dolphin Cruise Line with one ship, DOLPHIN IV.
Paquet did buy Ocean Cruise Lines and Pearl Cruises in 1990 thus acquiring OCEAN PRINCESS and OCEAN PEARL. OCEAN PRINCESS was sold after she was declared a constructive total loss in 1993, thus ending Ocean Cruise Lines. In 1994 Paquet was bought by Costa and Pearl Cruises was wound down, OCEAN PEARL becoming just PEARL and the second ship sailing under the Paquet name. That only lasted until 1995 when she became COSTA PLAYA, making MERMOZ the only Paquet ship until she was sold in 1998.
Next year Costa is going to revive the Paquet name for a series of cruises on COSTA ALLEGRA operated in conjunction with the French tour operator TMR.
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