2007-01-03 20:48:10 · 1 answers · asked by Anonymous in Travel ➔ Cruise Travel
I was actually on that ship - it was my first cruise!
She started her life in 1981 as the "Atlantic" and sailed for Home Lines. I sailed on her in about 1985 - it was a 7-night cruise from NYC to Bermuda. I thought she was beautiful - just the biggest, fastest, greatest ship I had ever seen. That was many years and many, many cruises ago!
Her specs list her at just over 35,000 tons and carring 1000+ passengers - very small by today's standards, when you consider that the Freedom of the Seas weighs in at about 160,000 tons, and carries over 3600 passengers!
Home Lines went out of business in 1988 and the ship was sold to Premier Cruise Line, (owned by the Greyhound bus Company and the originator or "The Big Red Boat") who painted her hull red and renaimed her "Star/Ship Atlantic", doing sailings to the Bahamas.
In 1996, Premier folded, and the ship was sold to MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Corp.) who put her in drydock and invested millions of dollars in refurbishing her, re-naming her the "Melody". She has had a very successful life with MSC, and is currently deployed in the Mediterranean.
MSC is the largest cruise company in Italy and currently has 9 ships with three more on order.
I've pasted the link to the Melody below. I've also pasted links to pictures of her in all three phases of her life. I hope this info is helpful.
2007-01-03 23:38:47 · answer #1 · answered by travel guy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋