Renaissance Cruises

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Renaissance Cruises, originally founded in 1989 owned by Fearnley & Eger Rederi in Oslo - Norway, later purchased by Edward Rudner (founder of Alamo Car Rental) as the company faltered during the Gulf War. They operated year-round cruise itineraries to the Mediterranean, the Greek Isles, Tahiti and the South Pacific, Northern Europe and Scandinavia. The company ceased operations on 25 September 2001 and accommodated up to 220,000 guests in 2000. While the company had been in poor financial health for quite some time, the economic decline resulting from the September 11th terrorist attacks is credited with the demise of this cruise line. The fleet is listed under List of cruise ships. It was headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.[1]

The Fleet

R Class

The pride of the fleet were the line's eight brand new 684-passenger R-Class ships named R One, R Two, R Three, R Four, R Five, R Six, R Seven and R Eight. The ships in this class were built between 1998 and 2001. They were built at the shipyard of Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire France and were designed, internally and externally, by British Designer John McNeece. Following the bankruptcy of Renaissance Cruises, all of the vessels were chartered or sold to other cruise lines and continue to operate to this day.

Ships

Insignia (later renamed Columbus 2)
  • R One - Entered service for Renaissance Cruises in 1998. After the bankruptcy of the company she was sold to Cruiseinvest but laid up until 2003, when she was chartered to Oceania Cruises and renamed MS Insignia.[2][3] In 2006 Oceania Cruises purchased the vessel.[citation needed] In April 2012 she was renamed to Columbus 2 sailing for Hapag-Lloyd.
Regatta
  • R Two - Entered service for Renaissance Cruises in 1998. After the bankruptcy of the company she was sold to Cruiseinvest but laid up until 2002, when she was chartered to the newly established Oceania Cruises and renamed Insignia. She was renamed Regatta the following year.[2][4] In 2006 Oceania Cruises purchased the vessel.[citation needed]
Pacific Princess
  • R Three - Entered service for Renaissance Cruises in 1999. After the bankruptcy of the company she was laid up until late 2002, when she was sold to Princess Cruises and renamed Pacific Princess.[5]
Tahitian Princess (later renamed Ocean Princess)
  • R Four - Entered service for Renaissance Cruises in 1999. After the bankruptcy of the company she was laid up until late 2002, when she was sold to Princess Cruises and renamed Tahitian Princess.[6] The ship was renamed again to Ocean Princess in November 2009.[6]
Nautica
  • R Five - Entered service for Renaissance Cruises in 2000. After the bankruptcy of the company she was sold to Cruiseinvest but laid up until 2002, when she was chartered to Pullmantur Cruises under the marketing name Blue Dream. In 2005 the vessel was bought[citation needed] by Oceania Cruises and renamed Nautica.[2][7]
Azamara Journey
  • R Six - Entered service for Renaissance Cruises in 2000. After the bankruptcy of the company she was sold to Cruiseinvest but laid up until 2003, when she was chartered to Pullmantur Cruises under the marketing name Blue Star. In 2005 she was renamed Blue Dream, and was sold to Pullmantur the following year. In 2007 she was transferred to the fleet of Azamara Cruises and renamed Azamara Journey.[8]
Azamara Quest
  • R Seven - Entered service for Renaissance Cruises in 2001. After the bankruptcy of the company she was sold to Cruiseinvest but laid up until 2003, when she was chartered to Delphin Seereisen under the name Delphin Renaissance. In 2006 she was sold to Pullmantur Cruises and was renamed Blue Moon. In 2007 she was transferred to the fleet of Azamara Cruises and renamed Azamara Quest.[9]
Adonia
  • R Eight - Entered service for Renaissance Cruises in 2001. After the bankruptcy of the company she was sold to Cruiseinvest but laid up until 2003, when she was chartered to Swan Hellenic Cruises and renamed Minerva II. In 2006 she was sold to Princess Cruises but remained in Swan Hellenic service until April 2007, when she was transferred to Princess and renamed Royal Princess. In May 2011 she transferred to P&O Cruises and has been renamed Adonia.[10]

Renaissance-class

The company also owned and operated eight "Renaissance" class ships. The first four of them were built in Cantiere Navale Ferrari-Signani shipyards in La Spezia, Italy, from 1989 to 1991. The other four were built in Nuovi Cantieri Apuania shipyards in Carrara, Italy, in the same period.No longer than 300 feet in length and weighing no more than 4,000 gross registered tons, these yacht-like vessels accommodated 114 passengers. The small, intimately sized vessels used Roman numeral designations as part of their names: Renaissance I through Renaissance VIII. Renaissance ships I through VI were chartered and sold off so the line could concentrate on the larger, newer "R-Class". After the line folded, Renaissance VII and VIII were sold to other interests. Current operators of these vessels include Noble-Caledonia, Silversea, Travel Dynamics International and Quark Expeditions.

These are the current names, former names and registries of the Renaissance Class ships:

I. DUBAWI a) Renaissance One b) The Mercury c) Leisure World d) Dubawi. Now sailing as a yacht.

II. CRUISE ONE a) Renaissance Two b) Neptune II c) EasyCruiseOne. Sold in 2008 as Cruise One, currently inoperative.

III. SILVER GALAPAGOS a) Renaissance Three b) Galapagos Explorer II (1990) Galapagos Inc., Ecuador c) Silver Galapagos from 2013, Silversea Expeditions.

IV. CORINTHIAN a) Renaissance Four b) Clelia II c) Orion II d) Corinthian from 2013, Travel Dynamics Int.

V. SEA SPIRIT a) Renaissance Five b) Sun Viva c) MegaStar Sagittarius d) Spirit of Oceanus e) Sea Spirit (2010), Quark Expeditions.

VI. CALEDONIAN SKY a) Renaissance Six b) Sun Viva 2 c) MegaStar Capricorn d) Hebridean Spirit e) Caledonian Sky (2012), Noble-Caledonia.

VII. SEA EXPLORER a) Renaissance Seven b) Island Sun c) Corinthian II (1991) d) Sea Explorer from March 2013, Polar Latitudes and Poseidon Expeditions

VIII. ISLAND SKY a) Renaissance Eight b) Island Sky (1992) Noble Caledonia, Liberia.

"Ontario Marine Transportation Study – Phase I Final Report: Industry Profile and Economic Impact". Ontario Ministry of Transport. April 2009. Retrieved 2012-04-23.  mirror </ref>

References

  1. ↑ "About Us." Renaissance Cruises. March 7, 2000. Retrieved on January 20, 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Boyle, Ian. "Renaissance". Simplon Postcards. Retrieved 2008-03-22. 
  3. ↑ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R One (1998)". Fakta om Fartyg (in in Swedish). Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-22. 
  4. ↑ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Two (1998)". Fakta om Fartyg (in in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-22. 
  5. ↑ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Three (1999)". Fakta om Fartyg (in in Swedish). Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-22. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Four (1999)". Fakta om Fartyg (in in Swedish). Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-22. 
  7. ↑ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Five (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in in Swedish). Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-22. 
  8. ↑ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Six (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in in Swedish). Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-22. 
  9. ↑ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Seven (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in in Swedish). Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-22. 
  10. ↑ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Eight (2001)". Fakta om Fartyg (in in Swedish). Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-22. 

External links

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