American Canadian Caribbean Cruise Line has launched its new 99-passenger Mayan Prince. Designed for shallow draft cruising, she will join the Caribbean Prince and the New Shoreham II.
The Mayan Prince was built at the Blount Shipyard in Rhode Island at a cost of more than $7 million. Both the shipyard and the cruise line are owned by Blount Marine Corporation headed up by veteran Luther Blount. Since its founding in 1949, the yard claims to have built more than 280 vessels, including dinner boats, ferries and trawlers.
The Mayan Prince is scheduled for sea trials later this month.
Dolphin Cruise Line has started sailing seven-day cruises out of Aruba aboard its new the 768-passenger Oceanbreeze after spending $3 million on outfitting and refurbishment. The Oceanbreeze is the former Azure Seas, which Dolphin acquired from Admiral Cruises. The ship was drydocked at Betship in Baltimore.
Majesty Cruises, a sister company of Dolphin, has reported that its new 1,056-passenger ship, the Royal Majesty, has successfully completed her sea trials. The 32,400-ton ship is being built by Kvaerner Masa Yards.
Princess Cruises is considering selling the Dawn Princess. Brokers have valued the vessel, which was built in 1957, between $35 and $45 million.
The Dawn Princess is the former Fairwind when she was operated by Sitmar Cruises prior to that cruise line being acquired by Princess in 1988.
The $125 million, 356-passenger Radisson Diamond was christening in London last week.
The Radisson Diamond, which received wide media coverage on her initial sailings in Northern Europe, will be spending the summer sailing from Nice and Civitavecchia (Rome). An Olympic charter agreement was cancelled when the Radisson Diamond lost her central berthing space in Barcelona due to the sinking of an older vessel that has not been removed.
Star Clippers’ second vessel, the Star Clipper is sailing seven-day cruises in the Mediterranean using Nice and Monaco as homeports. The clipper ship survived a stormy delivery run from Belgium in May when she encountered 20 ft. swells in the Bay of Biscayne.
The owners of Sun Line Cruises, the Keusseoglou family, has contracted to purchase Marriott Corporation’s minority share in the 620-passenger Stella Solaris, which gives the family full ownership of the cruise line.
In 1987, the Keusseoglou family purchased the 180-passenger Stella Maris and the 300-passenger Stella Oceanis from Marriott. Sun Line was founded in 1957 by the late Charalambos Keusseoglou.
Sun Line operates three-, four-, seven- and 14-day cruises in the Mediterranean on its three vessels. In the winter months, the Stella Solaris cruises to the Caribbean, Amazon River, and Panama Canal.
The Emerald Seas, formerly of Admiral Cruises, is at Newport News, undergoing a refit that will reintroduce her as the Terrifica, reportedly sailing one-day cruises from Port Canaveral. Originally named Funtastica, the ship is scheduled to leave the yard by mid-June.
According to sources, the Pride of Galveston will become a permanently moored gambling casino at Gulfport. Company executives were unavailable for comment. The ship has been docked at the Port of Galveston since last fall.
Regency Cruises may get a fourth ship in 1993, the Regent Sky, which is presently being built in Greece for the Lelakis Group. Originally intended as a Baltic cruise ferry, construction was started in Poland in 1979 but never completed. The bull was later towed to Greece.
At Crystal Cruises, a new ship order is said to be imminent. Sources said the ship will cost $300 million and that the order would be placed with Mitsubishi which built the Crystal Harmony.
