Many historic cruise ships bid final bon voyage in 2008

mercedes · December 29, 2008

The Queen Elizabeth 2 famously made its final journey this year, to Dubai, where the 40-year-old Cunard liner will spends its retirement as a grand floating hotel at the Palm Jumeirah.

The QE2 is the most famous ship to leave the world’s cruise ship fleet, but it is not the only one. Every year the industry says goodbye to some of its most regal and historic vessels, and most do not enjoy such a dignified retirement.

Peter Knego, a maritime and cruise journalist with maritimematters.com, keeps a tab on all the ships at sea, and travels to Alang, India, where many of the vessels end their life marooned on a beach, dismantled for their parts. He also sells some of their treasures at midshipcentury.com.

In 2008, Knego said, among the most well known ships to leave the seas was the Topaz. Built in 1956 as the Empress of Britain, the vessel is best known in cruise history, Knego said, for becoming Carnival Cruise Line’s second ship, the Carnivale, in 1975.

“By having two large ships, at the time, the company became a big player in the Caribbean market,” Knego said. “These first ships, all ex-British ocean liners, led Carnival into newbuilds and its huge expansion to what it is today.”

Also scrapped this year was the Madagascar, formerly the Stella Maris II, the last Sun Line ship. Sun Line was one of the originally Greek luxury lines, Knego said, and while the ship was torn apart in Alang, he was able to save the Italian artwork onboard.

The Norway, built in 1962 as the France, last sailed for Norwegian Cruise Line several years ago, but was only finally scrapped last year. Knego said when NCL rebuilt the Norway in 1980, it became the first megaship in the cruise industry, holding 2,400 passengers, and was the first vessel to become a destination itself.

Knego also indentified some ships that will bid farewell in 2009.

The Saga Rose, built in 1965 and operated by the UK’s Saga Holidays; Fred. Olsen Cruise Line’s Black Prince, a former ferry built in 1966; and the Regal Empress, built in 1953, but which has made headlines lately as the ship hosting a cruise to the presidential inauguration in January, the ship normally operates round trip cruises from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas. Knego calls the ship, “the last truly classic passenger ship based in U.S. waters and one of the most successful cruise ships of all time.”

The Queen Elizabeth 2 famously made its final journey this year, to Dubai, where the 40-year-old Cunard liner will spends its retirement as a grand floating hotel at the Palm Jumeirah.