MS Cunard Princess

The ship that eventually became known as the Cunard Princess was originally one of two ships ordered by Overseas National Airways. Unusually Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy, was involved in the design process of the ships, envisioning them as "floating Playboy Clubs". ==Service history==

1977–1995: Cunard Princess in 1986. Cunard Princess set on her first cruise from New York City to Bermuda in April 1977, joining her elder sister in the Caribbean cruise service after the Bermuda run. Cunard Princess sailed out of Ft Lauderdale, then after a charter to Lauro Line in 1979 she sailed a Caribbean run out of San Juan, in the summer of 1981, she did Alaska cruises. At the time the Cunard Princess was registered in Southampton, but in 1980 she was moved to the Bahamian registry, with Nassau as her homeport. The ship arrived in Bahrain on 24 December 1990. 2009–2021: Golden Iris – 2021–2022: Gold Club – 2022: Old Club Following the sale to Mano Maritime, Rhapsody was renamed Golden Iris. She entered service with Mano Maritime on Mediterranean cruises from Haifa on 31 May 2009, following the completion of a refit. After the 2018 season she was withdrawn from service, laid up at Chalkis, and replaced by the Crown Iris. In November 2021 she was renamed Gold Club, and in 2022 sold for demolition in Turkey, arriving at a scrapping yard at Aliağa, on 11 July. ==Design==

Cunard Conquest was designed with a heavily raked bow and a tapering stern. She had a low superstructure that extends slightly outward from the sides of the hull. The open-winged bridge was located two decks above the top deck of the hull. Like her sister ship Cunard Countess, at delivery Cunard Princess appeared in the traditional red/black Cunard funnel colours, complementing a white hull and superstructure. In addition, a red decorative stripe was painted between the hull and the superstructure. In StarLauro service her funnel was repainted in that company's livery of blue with a black top and a white five-pointed star in the centre. Following the eventual new owners' rebranding into Mediterranean Shipping Cruises, her funnel was repainted white with a dark blue top and gilded MSC logo centrally, while the blue decorative stripe was divided so that top half of the stripe was navy blue and the bottom half grey. Subsequently the funnel colours were altered into dark blue with MSC Cruises' blue/white "compass" logo replacing the earlier MSC logo. == References ==