The First Ships '', first ship of the line in original configuration Each of the line's initial three vessels was owned by one of its initial investing partners. The first, , was completed in July, 1972. Its owner was
Bergenske Dampskibsselskab (Bergen Line). The second, , was owned by
Nordenfjeldske Dampskibsselskab of Trondheim. She was completed in July 1973. The third ship, , was ready in December of the same year. Her owner was
A. F. Klaveness & Co, Oslo. Warren S. Titus became the first president of Royal Viking Line, which established its United States head office in San Francisco. The ships were all built by
Wärtsilä Helsinki New Shipyard, Finland, and were each approximately and nearly identical in appearance, with a tall
superstructure and a single, scooped -esque
funnel. However, the
Royal Viking Star was shorter (), and her interior arrangement differed slightly from her two fleet-mates. Each ship featured a double-height theatre occupying an interior space on the two lowest passenger decks; however, on
Royal Viking Star the space just forward of the theatre on the higher of these decks was occupied by a
chapel, a feature not found on either of her fleet-mates nor any of the Scandinavian-built cruise ships of that generation. Other differences included the placement of small lounges and facilities such as the library. These vessels were intended for longer voyages to exotic destinations, and a significant percentage of the line's passengers were wealthy retirees. As such, they featured numerous single staterooms and suites, and thus their capacity was only about 550 compared to 750–850 on similarly-sized ships of other lines. Royal Viking Line prided itself on single-seating dining, and the restaurant was situated unusually high in the ship, with large windows. Another popular feature was a glass-enclosed lounge high atop the bridge, which afforded excellent views. On May 1, 1976,
Royal Viking Sky and
Royal Viking Star became the first
sister ships to transit the
Panama Canal simultaneously in different directions, with
Royal Viking Sky sailing westbound and
Royal Viking Star eastbound.
Stretching and adding to the fleet Beginning in 1980, under the leadership of then CEO
Torstein Hagen, each of the three ships was
stretched to by adding a prefabricated midships section at the
AG Weser shipyard in
Bremerhaven. This increased each ship's capacity by 200 passengers and mainly included the addition of cabins. The size of the main restaurant was also doubled and now occupied nearly half of one deck in order to maintain single-seating dining.
Royal Viking Star was stretched in 1981, followed by
Royal Viking Sky in 1982 and
Royal Viking Sea in 1983. The lengthening of the ships improved both their profiles and their economics. In 1984, Hagen arranged a $240 million management buyout of the company, with the assistance of venture capital firm
JH Whitney. After the buyout had been announced, but before it closed, the two companies owning Royal Viking decided to sell the company instead to
Norwegian Caribbean Line, then part of the
Kloster group.
Sale to Kloster Group The offices were moved to
Coral Gables, Florida, and Warren Titus departed in 1987. While under Kloster ownership, Royal Viking built a fourth ship, . Constructed by Wärtsilä in
Turku, Finland, she was and carried 850 passengers. The final ship built for Royal Viking was completed in 1992. She was just , carrying only 212 passengers and sharing a general arrangement with and of
Seabourn Cruise Line; the new home of Warren Titus. In 1990 and 1991, Kloster moved
Royal Viking Star and
Royal Viking Sky to its
Norwegian Cruise Line brand, where they became
Westward and
Sunward and
Royal Viking Sea to its
Royal Cruise Line brand, where she took the name
Royal Odyssey. In 1993,
Westward became
Star Odyssey for Royal Cruise Line. The passenger capacity on each of the original three ships had been increased to 850, mainly with the addition of staterooms amidships on the Bridge Deck, in what used to be officers' quarters. A buffet was also added in the lounge on the top deck, since the ships did not have the casual indoor/outdoor dining area (often called a Lido) that was becoming
de rigueur. That same year, the
Sunward was
chartered to
Princess Cruises which operated her for one year as
Golden Princess.
End of Royal Viking In 1994, when Kloster Cruise was in financial difficulties, the Royal Viking Line was dissolved.
Royal Viking Queen was transferred to Royal Cruise Line as
Queen Odyssey, while
Royal Viking Sun and the Royal Viking brand were sold to
Cunard Line Ltd. Cunard continued to operate the ship under the Royal Viking brand as a special segment of the Cunard fleet. Following acquisition by
Carnival Corp and a merger with Seabourn Cruise Line, Cunard's Royal Viking and Sea Goddess fleets were consolidated with Seabourn, officially ending the use of the brand in 1999.
Status of the Royal Viking fleet After several more changes of name and ownership, the former
Royal Viking Star and
Royal Viking Sky sailed with
Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines,
Royal Viking Star as and
Royal Viking Sky as . Aboard both ships, the lounge/buffet on the top deck was replaced with additional passenger cabins, while the observation lounge above the bridge remained. The length of the Bridge Deck was occupied by passenger cabins (with the ship's officers scattered around the ship). Aboard
Black Watch, the aft portion of the formerly vast main dining-room was converted to two smaller restaurants and an additional lounge. A spacious, glass-lined space on the top deck hosted the fitness center and spa. The former chapel was divided into three additional staterooms. The changes on
Boudicca were even more radical, where the dining-room space was broken up into no fewer than four separate restaurants and the space formerly occupied by the theater converted into additional staterooms and a fitness center. In August 2020, Fred. Olsen retired
Black Watch and
Boudicca after 24 and 15 years respectively due to the
COVID-19 pandemic and sold them as
accommodation ships for workers in
Tuzla, Istanbul. In May 2021
Boudicca was beached for scrapping in
Aliağa, Turkey.
Black Watch followed a year later in June 2022. The former
Royal Viking Sea sailed for the German company
Phoenix Reisen as
Albatros. Layout-wise, she changed the least, with the majority of public rooms remaining in their original configuration after the 1983 refit. In October 2020
Albatros was sold as a hotel vessel for the
Pick Albatros Group in the Middle East, which operates some 15 hotels and resorts in
Hurghada region. However, the project was never initiated, and the ship stayed at Hurghada until sold in 2021 for scrap, after a stop in
Jeddah. She was beached at
Alang, India on July 27, 2021.
Royal Viking Sun operated for Cunard Line with her original name until 1999, then she was renamed
Seabourn Sun, as by this time, Seabourn had been acquired by Cunard's parent, Carnival, and merged into Cunard Line Ltd. This phase lasted until 2002, when she was transferred again to
Holland America Line Inc. (another Carnival subsidiary), becoming the second , where she remained until 2019. In July 2018
Prinsendam was also bought by Phoenix Reisen. The ship was charted back to Holland America for one final year before transferring to Phoenix Reisen and being renamed .
Royal Viking Queen operated briefly as
Queen Odyssey for Royal Cruise Line, then joined her sister ships at Seabourn Cruise Line in 1996 as
Seabourn Legend, after Kloster liquidated Royal Cruise Line. In 2015,
Seabourn Legend was sold to
Windstar Cruises and renamed
Star Legend. == Legacy ==