MS

Ship prefix

A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship.Prefixes for civilian vessels may either identify the type of propulsion, such as "SS" for steamship, or purpose, such as "RV" for research vessel. Civilian prefixes are often...

 Ocean Life 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 Hellenic Seaways

Hellenic Seaways

Hellenic Seaways is a Greek shipping company operating passenger and freight ferry services in the Aegean and Adriatic Seas. The company is owned by Cyprus based Sea Star Capital Plc.-History:...

. She currently operates for Blue Ocean Cruises, which began operations in late 2010.

Overview

She was built in 1981 as a ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 by Stocnia Szczecinska im A Warskiego

Szczecin Shipyard

Szczecin Shipyard or New Szczecin Shipyard was a shipyard in northwestern city of Szczecin, Poland. Formerly known as Stocznia Szczecińska Porta Holding S.A. or Stocznia im. Adolfa Warskiego. The shipyard specialized in the construction of container ships, chemicals transport ships, multi-purpose...

, Szczecin

Szczecin

Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 as Lev Tolstoy for the Black Sea Shipping Company. She was third in a series of seven near-identical ferries built for various shipping companies of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. She has sailed under the names Natasha, Palmira, The Jasmine and Farah before being sold to EasyCruise in September 2007.

EasyCruise Life was the third ship to be operated under the EasyCruise brand. EasyCruise announced the ship would be launched in April 2008. The announcement came in September just a month after EasyCruise announced the cancellation of one of its ships, the EasyCruiseTwo.

Unlike EasyCruiseTwo, the easyGroup trademark color - bright orange was kept to a minimum on EasyCruise Life. Instead walls were off white and mounted with large frames filled with photos of marbles, while the doors were black, white or a warm wooden brown.

EasyCruise Life became Ocean Life with Blue Open Cruise Lines, who are to operate her on a series of Indian coastal voyages.

Onboard services (with EasyCruise)

The amenities on and services on board the ship and like the rest of the fleet is designed to be "no frills". Most of the services and amenities provided on board the ship are not included in the fare and provided for a reasonable cost. Things like food and maid service cost extra.

For 2009, daily maid service is included in all rates. Prices also now include half board, with breakfast and either lunch or dinner available to guests.

Incidents

• On her maiden voyage
  Maiden voyage
  The maiden voyage of a ship, aircraft or other craft is the first journey made by the craft after shakedown. A number of traditions and superstitions are associated with it....
  
   with Blue Open on November 18, 2010, with over 400 passengers and 134 crew on board the Ocean Life developed a crack on her port side 17 nmi (31.5 km) off of Goa
  Goa
  Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
  
   and began to list five degrees. The vessel was moved to Western India Shipyard for repairs.

See also

• EasyCruiseOne
  EasyCruiseOne
  The EasyCruise One was owned and operated by EasyCruise. It was originally built for Renaissance Cruises as the Renaissance II in 1990. In 1998 it was renamed as the gambling ship Neptune II for operations in Singapore...
  
  
• EasyCruise Life Reviewed