MegaStar Aries

 

Also acquired in 1994 were the small cruise ships (2900 grt) Aurora I and Aurora II, which became MegaStar Aries and MegaStar Taurus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MegaStar Taurus

 

The MegaStar Taurus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MegaStar Sagittarius

 

 

 

 

 

 

SuperStar Capricorn

 

Superstar Capricorn was built by Oy Wärtsilä Ab, Helsinki, in June 1973 for Kloster Cruise Line, Bergen. She entered service as the Royal Viking Sky for Royal Viking Lines, which was originally owned by a consortium of owners including Kloster. Royal Viking Sky was the third of three sisterships, the others being Royal Viking Star (1972) and Royal Viking Sea (November 1973). In 1987, Royal Viking Sky was transferred fully to Kloster Group ownership, and in 1991 was assigned to Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) as the Sunward.

 

In 1992 Sunward was sold to Birka Line Ab and renamed Birka Queen (2), replacing Birka Queen (1) which was sold to Majesty Cruise Line before delivery as the Royal Majesty. Birka Queen (2), was introduced on cruise services from Stockholm to Riga and St Petersburg during the summer of 1992. However, in October 1992 she was chartered back to Kloster, resuming the identity of Sunward for NCL. In 1993 she was chartered to Princess Cruises as the Golden Princess (1). This charter continued until new Princess tonnage was delivered in 1996, when Birka Line sold her to Star Cruises as the Superstar Capricorn. In 1998 she was chartered to Hyundai Merchant Marine Co Ltd, as the Hyundai Keumgang, for use on pilgrim traffic between South and North Korea. She returned to Star Cruises as Superstar Capricorn in 2001. Superstar Capricorn became the Grand Latino of new Spanish operator Iberojet in January 2004 (ship owners were Grand Latino Nav.SA). She is due to maintain Mediterranean itineraries throughout 2005. In January 2005, it was announced that she had been sold to Fred. Olsen Cruises for 2006 delivery, and was to be named Boadicea, later amended to Boudicca.

 

Complete history of Superstar Capricorn

 

 

This is a retouched Golden Princess card with particularly crude funnel logo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SuperStar Europe - SuperStar Aries

 

SuperStar Aries was built as Europa (III) for Hapag-Lloyd in 1981 by Bremer Vulkan. She weighs 37012grt, is 656ft long and has engines of 28900hp. Europa (III) carried 770 passengers, and cruised worldwide for Hapag-Lloyd until 1999, when she passed to Star Cruises on delivery of Europa (IV). In 2000, she is the SuperStar Aries (after being originally renamed SuperStar Europe). In March 2001 it was announced that SuperStar Aries would transfer to the Orient Lines fleet (also owned by Star Cruises) from 2002 as their Ocean Voyager. This transfer did not take place and Orient Lines reverted to a single ship operation with Marko Polo. SuperStar Aries was sold to Pullmantur in 2004 and renamed Holiday Dream.

 

A complete history of this ship is available on this link.

 

 

 

Star Cruises have settled on the name SuperStar Aries for the ex-Europa. Note the Japanese characters under the name and on the hull side. Photos indicate that those on the bow exist on the ship, but not those along the sides.

 

 

Four deck and interior cards of SuperStar Aries are shown below. This is the Lido Pool.

 

 

The Grand Restaurant.

 

 

Club Belvedere.

 

 

The Clipper Bar.

 

 

 

 

 

SuperStar Taurus

 

SuperStar Taurus was built in 1980 as Viking Saga for Rederi Ab Sally, part of the Viking Line consortium, and used on their Helsinki-Stockholm service. Her sistership was Viking Song. She was replaced in 1986 by Olympia, and was modified for cruising out of Helsinki as the Sally Albatross. She was burnt out whilst undergoing a refit in Stockholm in 1990. By this time Rederi Ab Sally had been acquired by Effjohn International, owners of Silja Line. Although declared a total constructive loss, the lower hull was used to create a new ship, also called Sally Albatross, reappearing in 1992. In 1994, she grounded whilst on a cruise, suffering major damage. After repairs, she was chartered to Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) as the Leeward. The Baltic cruise market had been hit badly by the Estonia disaster in September 1994. In 1999 the charter was transferred to NCL's owners, Star Cruises, for service in the Far East as SuperStar Taurus. The charter was terminated by Star Cruises in 2002, and she returned to her owners Silja Line for service as Silja Opera. Silja Opera was not part of the sale of Silja Line to Tallink in 2006, and she remained laid up at Tilbury for much of that year.

 

A complete history of this ship is available on this link.

 

 

Two variations of the latest series cards (with faint image on the reverse) have already been issued.

 

 

 

 

Official postcard of the four Seasons Dining Room on SuperStar Taurus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Norwegian Star

 

Norwegian Star (I) was originally built as the Royal Viking Line cruise ship Royal Viking Sea in 1973. Royal Viking Line were acquired by Kloster (NCL) in 1984, and initially retained their separate identity. Royal Viking Sea was transferred to Royal Cruise Line in 1993 as the Royal Odyssey (II). The Royal Viking Line name was sold to Cunard in 1994. Royal Odyssey was transferred into the main NCL fleet in 1996 as Norwegian Star. She briefly operated for the NCL subsidiary Norwegian Capricorn Line in the Australian market, and in 2001 was part of the Star Cruises fleet as Norwegian Star I. After a period laid up as Crown, she was placed on weekly cruises from Valencia as Crown Mare Nostrum for Spanish Cruise Line, by this time owned by the Dutch Cruise Club. From 2005 she is running as the Albatros (2) for Phoenix Reisen, replacing the Albatros (1) (previously Sylvania, Fairwind, Sitmar Fairwind and Dawn Princess, which was sold for scrap by owners V-Ships).

 

Complete history of Norwegian Star

 

 

Star Cruises postcard of Norwegian Star.

 

 

Star Cruises postcard of Norwegian Star I

Scan: Ken Murayama

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