5 Of Today’s Grand Old Dames Of High Seas Cruising

Well, they’re not the Titanic or the Carpathia but when it comes to luxury liners today, these five are some of the Grand Old Dames of the high seas. These ships all came into service between 1990 and 1998 and were some of the largest passenger vessels on our oceans at the time. Now, the term ‘medium-sized’ might not even be used to describe them.

In today’s world of cruise ships like Oasis of the Seas and Norwegian Epic, these five can even be called small. What they do is give cruisers a chance to go back in time a little, even if it’s just a few decades.

Majesty of the Seas – Royal Caribbean

Built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique in St. Nazaire, France, Majesty of the Seas made her maiden voyage on April 4, 1992. She is the youngest of three Sovereign Class cruise ships and the only one left in service with Royal Caribbean. Her older sisters, Sovereign of the Seas and Monarch of the Seas, are still active but now sail for Pullmantur Cruises.

Majesty of the Seas has a gross tonnage of 73,941 and is 268 metres or 880 feet in length. She has 13 decks accessible to the capacity 2,744 passengers with room for 833 crew members.

The ship rotates between three and four night Bahamas cruises out of Miami, Florida. The three night itinerary features port calls at the private island of Coco Cay and at Nassau. The four night cruise also makes those two stops but also hits Key West, Florida.

Carnival Fantasy – Carnival Cruise Lines

Built at Kvaemer Masa-Yards in Helsinki, Finland, Fantasy made her maiden voyage in March, 1990. She is the oldest of eight Fantasy Class ship in the Carnival Cruise Lines fleet, all of which are still active.

Carnival Fantasy has a gross tonnage of 70,367 and is 261 metres or 855 feet in length. The ship has ten decks accessible to passengers. Capacity is for 2,052 guests and 820 crew members.

Currently, Fantasy is based out of Charleston, South Carolina and mostly running five night Bahamas cruises with periodic seven night Eastern Caribbean itineraries mixed in. The five night Bahamas cruises stop at Coco Cay and Nassau. At times, Coco Cay is subbed out for Freeport.

The seven night itinerary makes Grand Turk Island the first port of call, followed by the private Bahamas island of Half Moon Cay. Fantasy finished up in Nassau before the long trek home up the Atlantic coast.

Sun Princess – Princess Cruises

Sun Princess was built by Fincantieri on the northern shores of the Adriatic Sea in Italy. She made her maiden voyage on December 2, 1995 and is the oldest of three Princess Sun Class ships in the fleet. Her younger sisters, Dawn Princess and Sea Princess are still in service with Princess. Sun Princess was refurbed in 2010.

The ship has a gross tonnage of 77,499 and is 261 metres or 857 feet in length. There are ten decks accessible to passengers. Capacity is for 1,990 guest and 900 crew members.

Sun Princess is based in Asia and Australia throughout the year. The ship summers in Asia mostly at the home ports of Kobe and Otaru in Japan. In winter, she moves south to Sydney, Australia.

Norwegian Spirit – Norwegian Cruise Line

Built by Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, Norwegian Spirit has been in service since 1998. Originally, she was SuperStar Leo in the Star Cruises fleet. The ship switched to Norwegian Cruise Line in 2004 and the name was changed to Spirit. She is the lone Leo Class ship in the fleet.

Norwegian Spirit has a gross tonnage of 75,388 and is 268 metres or 879 feet in length. Ten decks are accessible to the capacity 1,996 passengers with 965 crew members typically needed to make everything run smooth.

Spirit spends her time in the Mediterranean Sea and Western Europe. In the summer, she is mostly out of Venice, Italy and Barcelona, Spain. In the winter, she moves a bit further west and is based out of Barcelona and Malaga in Spain. Spirit runs slightly longer itineraries that run from 10 to 12 nights.

Celebrity Century – Celebrity Cruises

Built by Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, Celebrity Century made her maiden voyage on December 20, 1995. She is the only Century Class ship in the Celebrity Cruises fleet. Century has a gross tonnage of 71,545 and is 248 metres or 814 feet in length. There are eleven decks onboard that are accessible to passengers. Capacity is for 1,814 guests and 843 crew members.

Over the next year, Century is fairly mobile. She is currently running Pacific Coastal itineraries out of Los Angeles, California. Century then moves north to Vancouver, British Columbia where she’ll spend the summer months doing round trip cruises to Alaska. From Vancouver, Century moves to Sydney, Australia when the weather turns in the autumn. After a time using Sydney as a home port, Celebrity Century then moves north to Singapore.