Cunard Countess
Encyclopedia
Ocean Countess is a cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
owned by Majestic International Cruises of Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, on long-term charter to the UK-based Cruise & Maritime Voyages
Cruise & Maritime Voyages
Cruise & Maritime Voyages is a passenger shipping company headquartered in Dartford, United Kingdom.-History:Cruise & Maritime Voyages was formed in 2009, by parent organisation Cruise & Maritime Services International, after German based Transocean Tours filed for bankruptcy.Cruise & Maritime...
. She was completed in 1976 as the '4-star - Premium' style Cunard Countess for Cunard Line
Cunard Line
Cunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century...
. Cunard Countess had an almost identical sister ship Cunard Princess, introduced in 1977. The new ships soon became popular with the North American and British/European cruise market, particularly for their contemporary facilities and variety entertainment. The pair are the only non 'Queen' purpose-built Cunarders still in existence, along with Louis Cruise Lines' Coral (formerly Cunard Adventurer).
History
Cunard Countess was built in DenmarkDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
in 1974-75 and initially registered in Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The vessel was fitted-out at the INMA shipyard at La Spezia
La Spezia
La Spezia , at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the Liguria region of northern Italy, is the capital city of the province of La Spezia. Located between Genoa and Pisa on the Ligurian Sea, it is one of the main Italian military and commercial harbours and hosts one of Italy's biggest military...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, from where trials were conducted and the vessel completed in July 1976. The ship proceeded to her Caribbean sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
base port of San Juan
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, via Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Antigua
Antigua
Antigua , also known as Waladli, is an island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region, the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua means "ancient" in Spanish and was named by Christopher Columbus after an icon in Seville Cathedral, Santa Maria de la...
. A part-ship charter group of passengers were carried on this maiden voyage, between Barcelona and Antigua. On the eve of entering full commercial service in August 1976, Cunard Countess was christened at San Juan by Janet Armstrong, then wife of Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong is an American former astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor, United States Naval Aviator, and the first person to set foot upon the Moon....
, the first man to walk on the moon.
Cunard Countess became one of the better-known cruise ships to ply the Caribbean and middle Atlantic ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, becoming a staple at the San Juan ship dock and later at Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, Santo Domingo and many other places around the area. Cunard Countess was notably one of the few ships to regularly visit the Caribbean island of Grenada during the revolutionary period of that island (1979–1983) and thus played a major role in supporting the local tourist industry during those years.
Two of Cunard Countesss competitors in the Caribbean during the late 1970s-1980s were the much earlier but also very popular SS Amerikanis
SS Amerikanis
SS Amerikanis, formerly the SS Kenya Castle was a Greek owned cruise ship.-Building:Kenya Castle was completed in 1952 as a British passenger liner, also fitted with considerable refrigerated and general cargo capacity...
and Carla C, all three being of similar dimensions and capacity (recently built cruise ships are invariably far larger). Other contemporary ships in this market were the P&O
P&O
P&O may refer to:* Pickling and oiling raw steel.* Phosphate conversion coating and oiling aluminium, zinc, cadmium, silver, or tin.-Shipping:* Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, a former British shipping and logistics company....
/Princess Cruises
Princess Cruises
Princess Cruises is a British-American owned cruise line, based in Santa Clarita, California in the United States. Previously a subsidiary of P&O Princess Cruises PLC, the company is now one of ten cruise ship brands operated by Carnival Corporation & PLC and accounts for approximately 19% share...
' MS Sun Princess (1972) and MS Island Princess (1971), both also having similar dimensions and capacity to that of Cunard Countess.
In October 1982, after the conclusion of the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
, the ship was chartered for 6 months by the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
, to support troop movements between Ascension Island
Ascension Island
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, around from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America, which is roughly midway between the horn of South America and Africa...
and Port Stanley whilst the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
airfield was being reinstated. Families and friends of British personnel lost in the conflict were also carried on one round voyage, to enable commemorations both at sea and ashore. At the end of the charter, Cunard controversially awarded the contract for the refurbishment of the vessel to Malta Shipyards, at a reported cost of 2 million UK Pounds. Cunard Countess returned to Caribbean cruising in July 1983.
In 1990 the ship's port of registry was changed to that of Nassau
Nassau, Bahamas
Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...
, The Bahamas
The Bahamas
The Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets . It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola , northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States...
.
In 1996 - before Carnival
Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Lines is a British-American owned cruise line, based in Doral, Florida, a suburb of Miami in the United States. Originally an independent company founded in 1972 by Ted Arison, the company is now one of eleven cruise ship brands owned and operated by Carnival Corporation & plc...
’s buy-out of Cunard Line
Cunard Line
Cunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century...
in 1998 - Cunard Countess was sold to Awani Cruises and renamed Awani Dream II, to cruise along with the original Awani Dream
MS Renaissance
MS Renaissance was a 1966 built cruise liner. She was built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique for Compagnie Francaise de Navigation, a subsidiary of Paquet Cruises...
. The Awani cruise company ran into financial trouble and, in 1998, the ship moved to Royal Olympic Cruises, as Olympic Countess.
Louis Cruise Lines
Louis Cruises is a Cyprus-based cruise line that operates cruises from Cyprus, France, Italy, India and Greece . The company also charters several ships to Thomson Cruises...
in May 2007, resuming the name Ocean Countess in December of that year. During this employment, cruises usually departed from Piraeus
Piraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
, visiting destinations like Mykonos
Mykonos
Mykonos is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island spans an area of and rises to an elevation of at its highest point. There are 9,320 inhabitants most of whom live in the largest town, Mykonos, which lies on the west coast. The town is also...
, Patmos
Patmos
Patmos is a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea. One of the northernmost islands of the Dodecanese complex, it has a population of 2,984 and an area of . The highest point is Profitis Ilias, 269 meters above sea level. The Municipality of Patmos, which includes the offshore islands of Arkoi ,...
, Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
and Santorini
Santorini
Santorini , officially Thira , is an island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from Greece's mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago which bears the same name and is the remnant of a volcanic caldera...
in Greece as well as Kusadasi
Kusadasi
Kuşadası is a resort town on Turkey's Aegean coast and the center of the seaside district of the same name in Aydın Province. Kuşadası lies at a distance of to the south from the region's largest metropolitan center of İzmir, and from the provincial seat of Aydın situated inland. Its primary...
in Turkey. During 2009 the ship was leased by the Spanish operator Quail Cruises, for a series of Mediterranean cruises from Valencia.
The Ocean Countess is registered at Funchal
Funchal
Funchal is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira. The city has a population of 112,015 and has been the capital of Madeira for more than five centuries.-Etymology:...
on the Portuguese island of Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
.
In April 2010, the refitted Ocean Countess joined MS Marco Polo
MS Marco Polo
MS Marco Polo is a cruise ship owned by Global Maritime, under charter to UK-based Cruise & Maritime Voyages, having been previously operated by Transocean Tours, Germany. She was built in 1965 by Mathias-Thesen Werft, East Germany as MS Alexandr Pushkin for the Soviet Union's Baltic Shipping Company...
in an extensive cruise programme from British ports for the recently formed company, Cruise & Maritime Voyages
Cruise & Maritime Voyages
Cruise & Maritime Voyages is a passenger shipping company headquartered in Dartford, United Kingdom.-History:Cruise & Maritime Voyages was formed in 2009, by parent organisation Cruise & Maritime Services International, after German based Transocean Tours filed for bankruptcy.Cruise & Maritime...
.
Facilities
The fully air-conditioned Ocean Countess has 7 passenger decks (passenger decks 3 to 7, 9 and sun terrace deck 10) plus three further crew-only decks (decks 1, 2 and bridge deck 8). There are deluxe cabins and suites as well as inner and outer standard cabins. All cabins feature private facilities. Passenger capacity is approximately 800 in 400 cabins with a crew of 350. A small number of cabins can be adjusted for guests with special requirements.The ship's extensive facilities and amenities include:
- Kensington Restaurant with traditional formal two-sitting dining
- Boat House informal buffet restaurant
- Holyrood Show Lounge with live music, entertainment and lectures
- Hamptons bar, lounge and casino with live music and entertainment
- Tower Piano Bar with live music incorporating the library and card tables
- Majestic Cinema as a multi-purpose cinema, lecture theatre and exercise room
- Net Centre internet facility
- Jade Beauty Centre hairdressing, beauty therapy, massage and spa
- Twenty Twelves gymnasium and sauna
- heated outdoor swimming pool, lido and two whirlpools
- poolside bar and buffet
- ample deck areas, sun deck and outdoor deck games
- shopping arcade
- photo gallery
- reception, shore excursion and cruise services area, and
- medical centre
The sun terrace (top deck), exterior boat deck and aft lido deck are sheathed in traditional teak
Teak
Teak is the common name for the tropical hardwood tree species Tectona grandis and its wood products. Tectona grandis is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma, but is naturalized and cultivated in many countries, including those in Africa and the...
. The accommodation, public rooms and decks were refurbished and re-named with British themes in early 2010, in preparation for Ocean Countess charter to Cruise & Maritime Voyages. New flat screen televisions with satellite channels were also installed in all cabins as part of the refurbishment.