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Empress of Britain
 
Page 3: Career as Olympic and The Topaz
 
 
This is the third of three pages devoted to the Canadian Pacific Liner Empress of Britain
Page 1 covers her Canadian Pacific career between 1956-63
Page 2 covers her career with Greek Line and Carnival Cruises 1963-94
This page covers her subsequent career with Royal Olympic and Thomson Cruises from 1995-
 
 
The Empress of Britain was built in 1956 by Fairfields of Glasgow, preceding sister Empress of England into service by one year. She was Britain's first fully air-conditioned liner. Initially running on the North Atlantic from Liverpool, she ran her first winter Caribbean cruise from New York in January 1960. As time passed, more of her time was spent cruising as air travel hit the Atlantic market, and her final Atlantic voyage was number 123, completed in October 1963, only seven years after her maiden voyage.
 
She was sold to the Greek Line, and re-entered service for them as Queen Anna Maria in 1965, running a fortnightly service to New York calling at Naples and Lisbon. Following the collapse of the Greek Line, she was sold to Carnival, joining the Mardi Gras (ex-Empress of Canada) in 1975 as the Carnivale. Following the numerous new deliveries to Carnival, she was transferred to subsidiary Fiesta Marine Cruises as Fiesta Marina. She was sold again in 1994 to Epirotiki as Olympic, and has recently been on charter to British tour company Thomson as The Topaz, having been bought by Topaz International. In 2002, The Topaz received a new colour scheme. She is replaced in the Thomson fleet in the spring of 2003, followed by a charter to Peace Boat, still under the name The Topaz. As in Thomson service, the actual name carried is The Topaz. The Topaz is due to be replaced at Peace Boat by the Dream (ex-Song of Norway) in 2008
 
 
Empress of Britain details: 25500 Gross Tons, Length: 640ft, 160 first class, 894 tourist passengers (650 on cruising), Speed 20 knots, Engines: Steam turbines, twin screw.
 
Carnivale details: 21716 Gross Tons, 950 Cruise Passengers (1350 maximum berths)
 
 
Ship Names Carried:-
Empress of Britain - Canadian Pacific Line 1956-63
Queen Anna Maria - Greek Line 1963-75
Carnivale - Carnival Cruise Line 1975-94
Fiesta Marina
Olympic - Epirotiki Line/Royal Olympic Cruises 1995-
The Topaz - Thomson Cruises 1998-2002
The Topaz - Thomson Cruises - New Livery 2002-2003
The Topaz - Thomson Cruises - New Livery 2002-2003 (Photographs)
The Topaz - Peace Boat 2003-2008
 
Empress of Britain Pages:-
Empress of Britain - Page 1 - Canadian Pacific Line 1956-63
Empress of Britain - Page 2 - Career following sale by Canadian Pacific 1963
Empress of Britain - Page 3 - Royal Olympic, Thomson Cruises and PeaceBoat - this page
 
Canadian Pacific Pages:-
CP Header Page
CP - Page 1 - Ocean Liners up to 1914
CP - Page 2 - Ocean Liners taken over from Beaver Line (1903) and Allan Line (1917)
CP - Page 3 - Ocean Liners 1915-1939
CP - Page 4 - Ocean Liners 1940-1970
CP - Page 5 - West Coast Local Services
CP - Page 6 - East Coast Local Services
 
Associated Pages:-
Carnival Postcards
Epirotiki Line
Royal Olympic Cruises
Thomson Cruises
Simplon Postcards Home Page
 
References:-
Click on images for details
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Empress of Britain
Page 3: Career as Olympic and The Topaz
 
 
Olympic
(Epirotiki Lines: 1995- )
 
 
CT Publishing card No.71 of Epirotiki Lines Olympic at Patmos, 1995, photo Richard Weiss.
 
 
 
A retouched official card of Royal Olympic Cruises Olympic.
She appeared in these colours very briefly before charter to Thomson as The Topaz. The ship has since been sold to The Topaz International, who continue to charter to Thomson.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Topaz
(Thomson Cruises charter: 1998-2002)
 
 
Thomson official card of The Topaz.
The additional cabins forward of the bridge are clearly visible, along with the final removal of the remaining derricks.
These changes, plus the cheap and nasty Thomson colours make this fine ship look worse than at any other point in her long career.
 
 
 
Scan of postcard supplied by Dimas Almada.
 
 
 
Simplon Postcards sc2129, released July 1998, of The Topaz at Funchal, Madeira.
Photo by Rui Manuel Gouveia Sa.
 
 
 
Chantry Classics CC/S289, released October 2001, of The Topaz at Ajaccio, Corsica.
Photo by Clive Harvey.
 
 
 
An Images of Mexico card showing The Topaz at Cozumel. Printed in Canada (s/n COZ34)
 
 
 
An enlargement of part of the previous view.
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Topaz - Postcards in New Livery
(Thomson Cruises charter: 2002-2003)
 
 
The Topaz received a new livery for 2002, as shown in this official postcard.
An enlarged view of the ship is shown below.
 
 
 
 
Ribeiro postcard of The Topaz in final colours.
 
 
 
Ramsey postcard 148 of The Topaz in final colours.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Topaz - Photographs in New Livery
 
 
The Topaz received a new livery for 2002, as shown in this photograph taken by Rui Manuel Gouveia Sa at Madeira on 8th January 2002.
 
 
 
Photo: © S.J.Hallahan, La Palma (Canary Islands) on 3rd April 2002
 
 
 
Photo: © Mike Ferenczi, Villefranche-sur-Mer on 11 August 2002
 
 
 
Photo:© Mike Tedstone, January 2003.
 
 
 
Photo:© Mike Tedstone, January 2003.
 
 
 
Photo:© Mike Tedstone, January 2003.
 
 
 
Photo:© Mike Tedstone, January 2003.
 
 
 
Photo:© Mike Tedstone, January 2003.
 
 
 
Photos: © Mike Tedstone, January 2003.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Topaz
(Peace Boat: 2003-2008)
 
The Topaz is due to be replaced by the Dream (ex-Song of Norway), which will be renamed Clipper Pacific, in 2008. The Topaz arrived at the Oosanbashi pier, Yokohama for the last time at 11:30hrs on 28th April, and the PeaceBoat logos were quickly removed. She moved to the Daikoku pier the following morning, and left Yokohama for the breakers at 20:00hrs on 30th April.
 
 
Official Peace Boat postcard of The Topaz.
 
 
 
A later official Peace Boat postcard of The Topaz.
Scan: Ken Murayama
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A later official Peace Boat postcard of The Topaz.
Scan: Ken Murayama
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The following photographs of the "Peace Boat" were taken by ©Ken Murayama at Tokyo on 14th June 2003.
Registered name is The Topaz.
 
 
 
The Topaz at Tokyo, 14th June 2003.
Photo: © Ken Murayama
 
 
 
The Topaz at Tokyo, 14th June 2003.
Photo: © Ken Murayama
 
 
 
The Topaz arring Auckland, New Zealand, 12 January 2005, on her maiden call.
Photo: © www.seapixonline.com
 
 
 
The Topaz arring Auckland, New Zealand, 12 January 2005.
Photo: © www.seapixonline.com
 
 
 
The Topaz arring Auckland, New Zealand, 12 January 2005.
Photo: © www.seapixonline.com
 
 
 
The Topaz on an evening departure from Le Havre, July 2005.
Photo: © Philipe Brebant.
 
 
 
The Topaz on an evening departure from Le Havre, July 2005.
Photo: © Philipe Brebant.
 
 
 
The Topaz on an evening departure from Le Havre, July 2005.
Photo: © Philipe Brebant.
 
 
 
The Topaz on an evening departure from Le Havre, July 2005.
Photo: © Philipe Brebant.
 
 
 
The Topaz on an evening departure from Le Havre, July 2005.
Photo: © Philipe Brebant.
 
 
 
The Topaz at Dover, July 2005.
Photo: © John Hendy.
 
 
 
The Topaz leaving Tibury, 20th May 2006
Photo: © Ian Boyle
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, Tilbury 20th May 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, Tilbury 20th May 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, Tilbury 20th May 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, Tilbury 20th May 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, Tilbury 20th May 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, Tilbury 20th May 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, Tilbury 20th May 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, Tilbury 20th May 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, Tilbury 20th May 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, Tilbury 20th May 2006
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The Topaz at Dubrovnik, 7th April 2007
Photo: © Ivo Batricevic
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The Topaz at Dubrovnik, 7th April 2007
Photo: © Neven Jerkovic
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The Topaz at Dubrovnik, 7th April 2007
Photo: © Neven Jerkovic
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The Topaz at Dubrovnik, 7th April 2007
Photo: © Neven Jerkovic
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The Topaz at Dubrovnik, 7th April 2007
Photo: © Neven Jerkovic
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The Topaz at Oosanbashi pier, Yokohama, 28th April 2008.
The Peace Boat funnel logos have been removed - Photo: © Ken Murayama
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The Topaz at Oosanbashi pier, Yokohama, 28th April 2008.
The Peace Boat hull logo has also been removed - Photo: © Ken Murayama
Click to open larger image in new window
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Empress of Britain - Page 1 - Empress of Britain - Page 2 - Empress of Britain - Page 3
Canadian Pacific Line - Greek Line - Carnival Cruise Line
Epirotiki Line - Royal Olympic Cruises - Thomson Cruises
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