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Airtours - Sun Cruises - MyTravel

 

 

 

These pages are devoted to postcards and photographs of the Sun Cruises fleet, a subsidiary of the the large UK travel company Airtours (later MyTravel). The table below will link to complete career histories of the individual ships. Below the table, I have added postcards of the Sun Cruises fleet.

 

Sun Cruises initially acquired the Norwegian Cruise Line vessel Southward in 1994, operating her on 7-day cruises from Palma as the Seawing. The three subsequent purchases have all come from Royal Caribbean, their Nordic Prince, Song of Norway and Song of America becoming the Carousel, Sundream and Sunbird respectively. One could argue that Sun Cruises opened up the UK cruise market to a new audience in a similar way to NCL, RCI and Carnival did in the USA. They also filled the gap left by P&O following the withdrawal of Canberra, as P&O moved upmarket with the Oriana. Sun Cruises success was noted by the major players, and Carnival acquired a substantial stake, although this was later sold.

 

Since Sun Cruises' parent company already flew many thousands of holiday makers into Palma, they already had the organisation and infrastructure in place to cater for cruise ships based there. They also paid for the previous owners of their ships to act as ship managers/consultants in the early stages, thereby avoiding many of the pitfalls suffered by some other companies entering into cruising for the first time. Unusually, they did buy the ships, rather than charter them. The success of the venture caused UK rivals Thomson to return to cruising. although they have followed the chartering route.

 

The sale of the ships to Louis Cruise Lines was announced in April 2004, following financial troubles with the My Travel parent company. There was a phased handover of the three ships Sundream, Carousel and Sunbird over the next four weeks, after which Louis took over their operation. Seawing also joined the Louis Cruise Lines fleet, under the name of Perla. In 2005 she operated cruises out of Piraeus to the Greek Islands and Turkey, after a winter in the Far East.

 

Sundream continued operating for MyTravel until 26th September 2004. She was then laid up at Piraeus under the name Dream Princess. No further details available yet, although there are rumours that she will become a casino ship. The MyTravel company website indicated that she would join Louis Cruise Lines along with other ships in the fleet.

 

Carousel also joined the Louis Cruise Lines fleet, under the name Aquamarine. She was initially chartered back to MyTravel, and was due to continue with them until May 2005, the last MyTravel ship to remain in service. From June 2005 Aquamarine cruised out of Genoa on a 7-day Mediterranean itinerary, under the Louis Hellenic Cruises banner. Sunbird operated as Thomson Destiny in the Thomson fleet, also owned and managed by Louis Cruise Lines.

 

Sun/My Travel had offered good quality cruises at attractive prices, introducing lots of new UK passengers to cruise holidays, and many people were disappointed at their demise.

 

 

Ships on this Page:-

Carousel

Seawing

Sunbird

Sundream

 

Associated Pages:-

Norwegian Caribbean Line

Royal Caribbean Line

Thomson

Cruise Ship Postcards

Ocean Liner Postcards

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Table of Ship Histories

Name	Other names	Built	Photos
Seawing	Southward, Perla	1971
Carousel	Nordic Prince, Aquamarine	1971
Sundream	Song of Norway, Dream Princess	1970	Yes
Sunbird	Song of America, Thomson Destiny	1982

 

 

 

 

 

Sun Cruises Fleet List

 

 

Seawing (1994-2004)

 

Seawing was acquired by Sun Cruises in 1994, and was the first ship in their fleet. She had been built as the Southward, and entered service with Norwegian Caribbean Line in 1971. She had operated with them (including service in the Caribbean and from California) until sold to Sun Cruises. From 2004 she joined the Louis Cruise Lines fleet, under the name of Perla. In 2005 she operated cruises out of Piraeus to the Greek Islands and Turkey, after a winter in the Far East.

 

Complete history of Seawing

 

 

Official Sun Cruises card AIR/SC/03 is shown below.

 

 

Official Sun Cruises card AIR/SC/04 is shown below.

 

 

Official Sun Cruises card C16375X of Seawing (at Palma?) is shown below.

 

 

Official Sun Cruises card C16789X of Seawing (off Gibraltar) is shown below.

 

 

Official Sun Cruises card C16790X of Seawing (at Villefranche?) is shown below.

 

 

Official Sun Cruises card C16791X of Seawing (off Gibraltar) is shown below.

 

 

Official Sun Cruises multi-view card AC16825X of Seawing is shown below.

An enlargement of the top left image is shown beneath (the other three images have been issued as separate postcards and are all shown above).

 

 

 

Ramsey Postcards issue 115 of Seawing is shown below.

Check the following link for details on Ramsey Postcards releases.

 

 

 

 

 

Carousel (1994-2004)

 

Carousel was built in 1971 as the Nordic Prince, the second of three Royal Caribbean sisterships. She was lengthened in 1978, and bought by Sun Cruises in 1994. Part of the sale agreement with RCI was that the distinctive 'Sky Lounge' around the funnel was removed, improving the ship's appearance in the process. In later years she received a revised MyTravel colour scheme.

 

In April 2004, it was announced that she would join the Louis Cruise Lines fleet, under the name Aquamarine. She was initially chartered back to MyTravel, and was due to continue with them until May 2005, the last MyTravel ship to remain in service. From June 2005 Aquamarine cruised out of Genoa on a 7-day Mediterranean itinerary, under the Louis Hellenic Cruises banner.

 

Complete history of Carousel

 

 

Official Sun Cruises card C16784X of Carousel.

 

 

Official Sun Cruises card C16792X of Carousel.

 

 

An unusual official Sun Cruises card of Carousel, advertising her winter Caribbean circuit.

 

 

Official Sun Cruises multi-view card AIR/SC/01 of Carousel.

 

 

Latest official Sun Cruises card of Carousel.

 

 

Edicions Images (Menorca) card of Carousel at Port de Mao, Menorca.

 

 

Sun Cruises photograph of Carousel.

 

 

Postcard of Carousel in MyTravel colours at Madeira.

 

 

 

 

 

Sundream (1996-2004)

 

Sundream was built in 1971 as the Song of Norway, the second of three Royal Caribbean sisterships. As with sistership Nordic Prince/Carousel, she was lengthened in 1978. She was bought by Sun Cruises in 1996. As with Carousel, part of the sale agreement was that the distinctive RCI 'Sky Lounge' around the funnel was removed, improving the ship's appearance in the process. This did not apply to subsequent RCI sales, the Sun Viking and Song of America. For the summer of 2000 she operated a series of cruises from the UK, and a series of photographs of Sundream at Southampton in August 2000 are shown on this link.

 

Sundream later received MyTravel livery, and continued operating for them until 26th September 2004. She was then laid up at Piraeus under the name Dream Princess. No further details available yet, although there are rumours that she will become a casino ship. The MyTravel company website indicated that she would join Louis Cruise Lines along with other ships in the fleet.

 

Complete history of Sundream

 

 

Official Sun Cruises card of Sundream (no serial number).

 

 

Ramsey postcard (serial 131) of Sundream.

Photo: © Philip Cone.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunbird (1999-2004)

 

Sunbird was built in 1982 as the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Song of America. Unlike the previous two purchases from RCI, the 'Sky Lounge' around the funnel was not removed when acquired in 1999. From 2005, Sunbird operated as Thomson Destiny in the Thomson fleet.

 

Complete history of Sunbird

 

 

Official Sun Cruises card of Sunbird (no serial number).

 

 

An enlargement of the ship from the card above.

 

 

Official Sun Cruises card of Sunbird (no serial number).

 

 

Postcard of Sunbird in MyTravel colours at Madeira.

 

 

 

 

 

Sun Cruises Fleet Pictures

 

This official Sun Cruises card welcomes repeat customers back onto one of their ships.

It shows the four ships in the 2001 fleet.

 

 

 

 

 

Norwegian Caribbean Line - Royal Caribbean Line - Thomson

Cruise Ship Postcards - Ocean Liner Postcards

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