UPDATES Regal Empress and Seven Seas Voyager

Here is an update to some of our previous articles.

Regal Empress - As per our earlier posts, the Regal Empress, which was withdrawn from cruising for Imperial Majesty Cruise Line, earlier this month, has been sold for scrap. The ship was sold for just over $3.073 Million dollars. She proceeded to the Bahamas, where she will be offloaded of miscellaneous items and prepared for the final voyage to India. She is anticipated to depart Freeport in the Bahamas on March 28th.

The Seven Seas Voyager, which had her propellers entangled in fishing nets, will need to be dry docked to have her pods serviced. The ship, which is on her world cruise, skipped calls at Mumbai and Abu Dhabi, after the inspection in Cochin, India uncovered the extent of the damage. Once arriving in Dubai, the ship will be dry docked and the pods repaired. Regent Cruises is hopeful the ship will be able to resume the next leg of her cruise as scheduled on April 1st.

Maxim Gorki, Oceanic, Regal Empress

This month brought about a number of changes for Vintage Cruise Ships.

Perhaps the saddest of all is the beaching, in Alang India, of the Maxim Gorki, ex Hamburg of German Atlantic Line. The futuristic ship, which enjoyed a long career under Russian ownership, was no longer economical with her fuel hungry steam engines and the slow down of the economy. Looking almost new, it is sad to see the ship grounded on the beach with her bulbous bow almost fully exposed. Within the next few weeks, work will begin to haphazardly dismantle the ship and chop away at her classic profile until she is all but a memory.

On a happier note, the Oceanic of Pullmantur (Formerly the Oceanic of Home Lines / StarShip Oceanic of Premier Cruises), has been sold for use as the Peaceboat for the Peaceboat Organization. The ship will sail worldwide itineraries on Japanese good will missions. It appears that this great ship will have an extended life for years to come.

On March 6th, 2009, the Bahamas Celebration began sailing for Celebration Cruise Line. Celebration Cruise Line is the new name for Imperial Majesty Cruise Line.

With the change of name, came the retirement of the Regal Empress. The Regal Empress, was originally built in 1953 as the Olympia for Greek Line. In 1982, she underwent a major refurbishing and had her engines replaced with modern diesel engines.

Although further plans for the Regal Empress have not been announced, the ship remains laid-up in Fort Lauderdale. There was interest in returning the ship to Greek waters as a national monument and there are rumours circulating that she has been sold to Indian breakers for $3 Million dollars

Both the Maxim Gorki/Hamburg and Regal Empress are covered in additional articles within this blog.

Imperial Majesty's Regal Empress - Future Uncertain

Unconfirmed reports state that Regal Empress will sail her last cruise for Imperial Majesty Cruises in Mid March. Imperial Majesty which purchased a replacement vessel last year, the Bahamas Celebration (ex Prinsesse Ragnhild), has been undergoing a refit in Freeport in the Bahamas.

The Regal Empress has an illustrious career, first entering service in 1953 as the Olympia for Greek Line. Built by Alexander Stephens and Sons on the River Clyde, she was primarily used on transatlantic cruises between New York, Boston, Piraeus and Haifa Israel.

By 1970 the transatlantic trade had become unprofitable, the Olympia spend most of her time cruising. In 1974, expecting to sail Greek Island Cruise from Piraeus, she was laid up due to increasing fuel prices.

Purchased in 1981, by Commodore Cruise Line the Olympia underwent a major refit which replaced her traditional funnel, with uptake pipes, flanked with steel swirls. This was not an attractive addition. The other major enhancement. which definitely extended her life, was the replacement of her steam turbines with diesel engines. Returning to service in 1983 as the Caribe 1 she sailed from Florida to the Caribbean.

Later in her career, her smoke stack was replaced with a more traditional funnel.

In 1993, she was sold to Regal Cruises and renamed Regal Empress. During the winter, she sailed out of Port Manatee, Florida and New York in the summers.

Following the events of September 11th, 2001, the Regal Cruises went bankrupt on April 18, 2003, when U.S. Marshals "arrested" the Regal Empress. An engine repair vendor reportedly owed $750,000, obtained a lien against the ship, resulting in the cancellation of cruises.

The Regal Empress was purchased by Imperial Majesty Cruise Lines, at auction, for just $1.75 M. It was estimated that Imperial Majesty, would save over $1 Million dollars in fuel savings, over their current steam driven ship - the Ocean Breeze annually.

Due to the recession, in September 2008, the Regal Empress was removed from service. She was chartered by the government to serve as a hotel and office space for relief workers (in Galveston, Texas), helping those impacted by Hurricane Ike. This charter only lasted for 2-months before the ship was returned to Imperial Majesty. Imperial Majesty immediately deployed the ship on 2 -day cruises from Fort Lauderdale to Nassau in the Bahamas.

There were discussions about chartering the ship for a week, as a party cruise to celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama. The cruise was to sail from Florida to the Bahamas and Baltimore, but lack of interest cancelled the charter.

The ship is an excellent example of the traditional cruise experience and a historical transatlantic liner. Large Cabin and rich wood paneling adorn this great ship.

Although her future is uncertain, there is still hope that the ship may find further use under charter or use as a stationary hotel. There are even rumours about the ship returning to Greece, as a national monument.

Due to lessened demand for steel and raw materials, some believe the scrappers may not be interested in purchasing the ship at this time. More to come.