Louis Cruise Line Postcards - Page 1: 1987-2000

These pages are devoted to postcards and photographs of the Louis Cruise Lines fleet. This page covers ships acquired up to and including 2000. Louis Page 2 covers ships after 2000.

Louis have operated short cruises out of Cyprus for many years, and more recently have operated ships under charter for other companies such as Thomson. In 2004 they acquired the four of Airtours/MyTravel, of which one has been chartered to Thomson.

The table below gives links to complete postcard career histories of the various ships. Below the table I have added the cards that I have collected so far in Louis Cruise Lines colours. Louis Cruise Lines acquired a controlling interest in Royal Olympia Cruises, although this interest had been disposed of before the collapse of Royal Olympic.

In April 2004, the ships of the Airtours/MyTravel/Sun Cruises fleet were taken over, 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. Also in 2005, the Holland America cruise ship Noordam was acquired, and chartered to Thomson as the Thomson Celebration. Following the withdrawal of Airtours/MyTravel and collapse of Royal Olympic, Louis created Louis Hellenic Cruises to fill the gap in the market left behind. the ships of both fleets are included here since frequent interchange is possible. Sea Diamond was lsot of Santorini Island, Greece, on 6th April 2007. Reports have suggested that she will be replaced by the Opera, ex-Silja Opera, which has been laid up at Tilbury for some time.

Louis have a good website with full fleet details, including their chartered out ships: http://www.louiscruises.com/


Ships on this Page 1:-
Aegean Two - Louis Cruise Lines: 2007-2010 - ex-Ivory, The Ausonia, Ausonia
Ausonia - Louis Cruise Lines: 1998-2006 - later: The Ausonia, Ivory, Aegean Two
Calypso - Louis Cruise Lines: 2000-
Emerald - Louis Cruise Lines: 1996-
Ivory - Louis Cruise Lines: 2006-2007 - ex-The Ausonia, Ausonia - later: Aegean Two
La Palma
Princesa Amorosa - Louis Cruise Lines: 1994-2003
Princesa Cypria - Louis Cruise Lines: 1988-
Princesa Marissa - Louis Cruise Lines: 1987-2008
Princesa Victoria - Louis Cruise Lines: 1994-
Sapphire - Louis Cruise Lines: 1996-
Serenade - Louis Cruise Lines: 2000-2008
The Ausonia - Louis Cruise Lines: 2006 - ex-Ausonia - later: Ivory, Aegean Two

Ships on Page 2:-
Aegean I - Louis Hellenic Cruises: 2005-
Aquamarine - Louis Cruise Lines: 2004-
Arielle - Louis Cruise Lines (Transocean Tours charter): 2005-
Coral - Louis Hellenic Cruises: 2004-
Cristal - Louis Cruise Lines: 2007-2011
Louis Cristal - Louis Cruise Lines: 2011-
Orient Queen - Louis Cruise Lines: 2006-
Perla - Louis Cruise Lines: 2004-
Ruby - Louis Hellenic Cruises: 2007 (charter)
Sea Diamond - Louis Cruise Lines: 2006-2007
Thomson Celebration - Louis Cruise Lines: 2005-
Thomson Destiny - Louis Cruise Lines: 2005-

Louis Pages:-
Louis Cruise Line Postcards - Page 1: 1987-2000
Louis Cruise Line Postcards - Page 2: 2001-

Louis Brochure Archive:-
2008 Louis Preview Brochure (5Mb Adobe PDF File)
2007 Louis Brochure (9Mb Adobe PDF File)
1994 Louis Brochure (1Mb Adobe PDF File) - Scan: Odd Tom Høgstøl

Associated Pages:-
Airtours/MyTravel
Coast Lines
Costa Line - Linea "C"
Finnlines
Princess Cruises
Regency Cruises
Royal Olympic Cruises
Thomson Cruises
Louis Cruise Lines - Official Louis Home Page
Cruise Ship Postcards
Ocean Liner Postcards
Simplon Postcards Home Page

References:-
Click on images for details


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Table of Ship Histories
Name Other Names Built Acquired Aegean I Aegean Dolphin 1973 2005 Aquamarine Nordic Prince, Carousel, Arielle 1971 2004 Arielle Nordic Prince, Carousel, Aquamarine 1971 2004 Ausonia Ausonia, Ivory 1966 1998 Calypso Canguro Verde, Regent Jewel 1967 2000 Coral Cunard Adventurer, Sunward II, Triton 1971 2004 Cristal Viking Saga, Sally Albatross, Leeward, SuperStar Taurus, Silja Opera, Cristal, Louis Cristal 1980 2007 Emerald Santa Rosa, Regent Rainbow 1966 1995 Louis Cristal Viking Saga, Sally Albatross, Leeward, SuperStar Taurus, Silja Opera, Cristal 1980 2011 Orient Queen Starward - Bolero 1968 2006 Perla Southward, Seawing 1971 2004 Princesa Amorosa Scottish Coast 1953 1993 Princesa Marissa Finnhansa, Princessan 1966 1987 Princesa Victoria Dunnottar Castle 1936 1993 Ruby (charter) Cunard Countess, Olympic Countess, Ocean Countess, Lili Marleen 1974 2007 Sapphire Italia, Ocean Princess 1967 1994 Thomson Destiny Song of America, Sunbird 1982 2004 Louis Cruises Lines Fleet

This Louis Cruise Lines official card shows the fleet in 1998/1999.
It includes La Palma briefly owned, but never used by Louis.
La Palma
The Louis Fleet postcard above shows the La Palma. La Palma was originally built in 1952 for Messageries Maritimes. In 1969 she was sold to C.G. Efthymiades, Piraeus, as the Delphi. In 1977 she passed to Perlus Cruises of Limassol and renamed La Perla. Ownership passed to Intercruise in 1980, after she was arrested in Liverpool. In 1992, ownership passed to Navicruises Shipping Co, Piraeus, but she was laid up in 1996, and arrested the following year. She was briefly owned by Louis, but never used by them. In 2003 she was broken up in India, using the name Sagar for the final voyage.

This is an official Intercruise postcard. CT Publishing 037 of La Palma, off Patmos, in Intercruise colours.The promenade deck had been plated in by this time. Photo by Richard Weiss. Princesa Marissa (Louis Cruise Lines: 1987-2008)

Princesa Marissa was completed in 1966 by Oy Wärtsilä Ab, Helsinki, as the Finnhansa for the Finnlines route Helsinki-Slite/Nynäshamn-Karlskrona-Lübeck. Her sister ship Finnpartner (1) was delivered later the same year. In 1972 Finnhansa was rebuilt with increased cabin capacity. In 1978 Finnhansa was sold to Birka Line and renamed Prinsessan. She was again given increased cabin accommodation. Prinsessan was sold in 1987 to Louis Cruise Lines of Cyprus, and renamed Princesa Marissa for their cruise ferry service Piraeus-Rodos-Limassol-Alexandria. Her final seasons were 2006/2007, running from Cyprus to Egypt, and in 2008 she was sold for scrap under the name Prince.
Complete history of Princesa Marissa Louis Cruise Lines official card of Princesa Marissa. Louis Cruise Lines official card of Princesa Marissa. Louis Cruise Lines official card of Princesa Marissa, issued 2000 from the fleet list on the back. Louis Cruise 1994 brochure pages for Princesa Marissa Scan: Odd Tom Høgstøl Click to open larger image in new window Princesa Marissa at Rodos in 2007 Photo: © Kos Rusman Click to open larger image in new window Princesa Cypria (Louis Cruise Lines: 1988- ) Louis Cruise Lines official card of Princesa Cypria. Princesa Amorosa (Louis Cruise Lines: 1994-2003) Complete history of Princesa Amorosa Louis Cruise Lines official card of Princesa Amorosa (ex-Scottish Coast of Burns and Laird Line). Photograph of Princesa Amorosa. Photo: © Panteleimon Lelekis - Scan: www.faktaomfartyg.se Princesa Victoria (Louis Cruise Lines: 1994-2004)

Princesa Victoria was built in 1936 by Harland & Wolff, Belfast, for Union-Castle Line as the Dunnottar Castle. She was used on the London (Tilbury) - round Africa service until the outbreak of WW2, when she was converted to an armed merchant cruiser, and then later used a troop transport. In 1949 she resumed her London - round Africa service.

In 1958, Dunnottar Castle was sold to Incres SS Co, who renamed her as Victoria and substantially rebuilt her in Rotterdam. Victoria entered service in 1960 on New York-West Indies cruises. In 1964, Victoria was sold to Victoria SS Co, a subsidiary of the Swedish company Clipper A/B, but retained her name, service and Incres Line as her agents.

Victoria was bought by Chandris in 1975, resuming sailings as The Victoria in June 1976. She cruised in Europe and the Caribbean until 1993, when she was sold to Louis Cruise Lines who used her on cruises from Cyprus as Princesa Victoria. She was then the oldest large cruise ship (over 10000grt) then still in passenger service. She was sold for breaking up in 2004. Complete history of Princesa Victoria Louis Cruise Lines official card of Princesa Victoria. Louis Cruise 1994 brochure pages for Princesa Victoria Scan: Odd Tom Høgstøl Click to open larger image in new window Princesa Oceanica - Sapphire (Louis Cruise Lines: 1994- )

Italia was ordered by Sunsarda SpA in 1963, from the Felszegi yard in Muggia, near Trieste. Both the builders and ordering company were owned by the Giacomell group. Italia was one of the earliest purpose-built cruise ships, and was of an advanced design with rear engines and lifeboats mounted on lower decks, giving a very spacious open top deck. Her interiors were designed by Gustavo Finali and Romano Boico, who designed many other fine Italian liners such as the Augustus, Guglielmo Marconi, Homeric, Raffaello and Oceanic.

Construction proceeded slowly, and Italia was not launched until April 1965. During fitting out, both the owners and builders were declared bankrupt, and ownership passed to the creditor bank BNL. BNL formed a new company Crociere d'Oltremare, based in Cagliari, Sardinia, to charter or sell the ship. Italia was delivered in 1967, with a logo of red and yellow triangles on her white funnel. A bareboat charter with Fratelli Cosulich (Genova) had been arranged, and Italia ran three Mediterranean cruises for them. Crociere d'Oltremare then chartered her to Princess Cruises, who used her to inaugurate their Mexican cruises out of Los Angeles. Italia was marketed as Princess Italia during her time with, although her name was not officially changed. At this stage she retained her original funnel logo, not receiving the famous Princess logo until the following year. In 1969, Princess Italia moved to Alaskan cruises out of San Francisco. The charter to Princess Cruises was cancelled in 1973, and Italia was returned to Crociere d'Oltremare. After a partial modernisation, Italia was then chartered to Costa in February 1974, although she was not purchased by them until 1977. She cruised around the world with Costa, plus served on further charters, until sold in September 1983 to Ocean Cruise Lines.

Under the name Ocean Princess, she spent summers in the Mediterranean, and winters on Latin America/Caribbean itineraries. In 1990, Ocean Cruise Lines was bought by Accor SA and Chargeurs SA, who also owned Paquet Cruises. Her career with them came to an abrupt end in March 1993, when she hit a sunken wreck in the Amazon, and she settled on the bottom, flooding the engine room and lower decks. All passengers and crew were removed without injury. Ocean Princess was declared a Constructive Total Loss. She was sold by the insurers to a Greek company and she was renamed Sea Prince. She was due to re-enter service with Sunshine Cruise Line, but suffered a fire in May 1995 and was offered for sale again. She was bought by Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines and briefly renamed Princesa Oceanica. Following a further major refit, she was chartered to Thomson Cruises as the Sapphire. She remained in the Louis fleet after the Thomson charter.

A complete history of this ship is shown on this link
Official Thomson postcard of Sapphire. Official Thomson postcard of Sapphire. Official Thomson postcard of Sapphire. Official Thomson postcard of Sapphire. Official Louis postcard of Sapphire. Scan: Rogerio Gouveia Click to open larger image in new window Emerald (Louis Cruise Lines: 1996- )
The Emerald is also part of Louis Cruise Lines fleet, and has been retained on charter by Thomson in 2000. Guide 00 records that Emerald has been renamed The Emerald. Official Thomson postcard of Emerald. Official Thomson postcard of Emerald. Simplon Postcards sc2149, released May 2000, of Emerald at Guadaloupe. Follow this link to see a list of all Simplon cruise ship postcards. Photo by Tony Davies. Photograph of Emerald in simplified Thomson colour scheme. Photo: © Ton Grootenboer Scan: www.faktaomfartyg.se Photograph of Emerald in simplified Thomson colour scheme. Photo: © Ton Grootenboer. Scan: www.faktaomfartyg.se Photograph of Emerald in Louis colours. Photo: © Nikos Thrylos www.shipfriends.gr. Scan: www.faktaomfartyg.se Ausonia (Louis Cruise Lines: 1998-2006) The Ausonia (Louis Cruise Lines: 2006) Ivory (Louis Cruise Lines: 2006-2007) Aegean Two (Golden Sun Cruises: 2007-2010)

Louis Cruise Lines official card of Ausonia. Ausonia was chartered to First Choice in 2000, to be replaced in Louis service by the newly acquired Serenade, ex-Mermoz. It was reported that Ausonia would be renamed Ithaca from 2005, although this did not take place. In 2006 Ausonia was re-registered as The Ausonia, and then the Ivory within a few weeks. In 2007 she was renamed Aegean Two and operated for Golden Sun Cruises. She was laid up in 2008 and sold for scrap in 2010, carrying the name Winner 5 for the final journey..

Photographs in Louis colours are shown on this link.
Complete history of Ausonia/Ivory
Louis Cruise Lines official card of Ausonia. Ausonia when chartered to First Choice. Scan: Dimas Almada. Ausonia when chartered to First Choice. Scan: Dimas Almada. Click to open larger image in new window Chantry Classics postcard CC/S298 of Ausonia, when chartered to First Choice. Photographed by Clive Harvey in 2000. Ausonia at Skiathos, October 1999 Photo: © Mike Tedstone Ausonia at Volos, October 1999 Photo: © Mike Tedstone Ivory at Piraeus 20th May 2006 Photo: © Panteleimon Lelekis - Scan: www.faktaomfartyg.se Click to open larger image in new window Ivory at Piraeus 30th December 2006 Photo: © George Koutsoukis - Scan: www.faktaomfartyg.se Click to open larger image in new window Ivory at Piraeus Photo: © Tien-Lun Yao, 10th January 2007 Click to open larger image in new window Ivory at Piraeus Photo: © Tien-Lun Yao, 10th January 2007 Click to open larger image in new window Aegean Two at Piraeus, 23rd March 2007 Photo: © Nikos Thrylos - Scan: www.faktaomfartyg.se Click to open larger image in new window Aegean Two at Piraeus, 27th April 2007 Photo: © George Koutsoukis - Scan: www.faktaomfartyg.se Click to open larger image in new window Aegean Two at Piraeus, 22nd June 2007 Photo: © George Koutsoukis - Scan: www.faktaomfartyg.se Click to open larger image in new window Aegean Two at Piraeus, 22nd October 2007 Photo: © Gunnar Friberg - Scan: www.faktaomfartyg.se Click to open larger image in new window Calypso (Louis Cruise Lines: 2000-2005 ) (Louis Hellenic Cruises: 2005- )

A year 2000 addition to the Louis Cruise Lines fleet was the cruise ship Calypso. Calypso was a conversion of the Italian car ferry Canguro Verde, carried out by Regency Cruises. She was due to be named Regent Jewel, but was immediately chartered to the German Transocean Tours, who named her Calypso, which has been retained by Louis. I do not have a postcard of her in Louis colours yet.
Complete history of Calypso Louis postcards not available yet. If you can help, please email: simplon@simplon.co.uk Photograph of Calypso in Louis colours. Photo: © Neven Jerkovic. Photograph of Calypso in Louis colours. Photo: © Apostolos Kak Scan: www.faktaomfartyg.se. Calypso at Tilbury on 5th May 2006. At 04:00hrs the following morning off the south coast of England near Beachy Head, she reported a fire in the engine room. 18 firefighters were sent out by helicopter and lifeboat, and the fire was soon extinguished. Boats were swung out, but nobody was evacuated. Photo: © Ian Boyle. Click to open larger image in new window Serenade(Louis Cruise Lines: 2000-2008)

Louis Cruises Lines' Serenade is better known as the cruise ship Mermoz of Croisieres Paquet. She was acquired by Louis to operate the itinerary of Ausonia, which had been chartered to First Choice in 2000. In turn, Louis chartered the Sapphire (released by Thomson) back to Paquet. She operated short cruises for Louis out Limassol until 2008 when she was sold for breaking up at Alang, travelling as Serena. Louis postcards not available yet. If you can help, please email: simplon@simplon.co.uk
Simplon Postcards sc2144 of Mermoz at Grand Cayman, released in June 1999. Follow this link to see a list of all Simplon cruise ship postcards. Serenade arriving at Rhodes, 23rd August 2003.Photo: © Ian Boyle Images link to larger copies Serenade at Rhodes, 23rd August 2003. Photo: © Ian Boyle Click to open larger image in new window Serenade at Dubrovnik. Photo: © Neven Jerkovic Click to open larger image in new window Serenade at Dubrovnik. Photo: © Neven Jerkovic Click to open larger image in new window Serenade at Rhodes, 2007 Photo: © Ernst Galutschek - ships.galutschek.at Click to open larger image in new window Serenade at Rhodes, 2007 Photo: © Ernst Galutschek - ships.galutschek.at Click to open larger image in new window Serenade at Rhodes, 2007 Photo: © Ernst Galutschek - ships.galutschek.at Click to open larger image in new window Serenade at Rhodes, 2007 Photo: © Ernst Galutschek - ships.galutschek.at Click to open larger image in new window Serenade at Rhodes, October 2007 Photo: © Txema Salazar Ureta Click to open larger image in new window Serenade at Rhodes, October 2007 Photo: © Txema Salazar Ureta Click to open larger image in new window Louis Cruise Line Postcards Page 1 - Louis Cruise Line Postcards Page 2 Coast Lines - Costa Line - Linea "C" - Finnlines - Princess Cruises - Regency Cruises - Royal Olympic Cruises - Thomson Cruises Cruise Ship Postcards - Ocean Liner Postcards - Ferry Postcards Top of Page - Simplon Postcards -Recent Updates - Simplon Postcards Home Page �1999-2010 Copyright Ian Boyle/Simplon Postcards (all pages on web site) All Rights Reserved Free Web Counter Times viewed since 12/05/2007:

Name	Other Names	Built	Acquired
Aegean I	Aegean Dolphin	1973	2005
Aquamarine	Nordic Prince, Carousel, Arielle	1971	2004
Arielle	Nordic Prince, Carousel, Aquamarine	1971	2004
Ausonia	Ausonia, Ivory	1966	1998
Calypso	Canguro Verde, Regent Jewel	1967	2000
Coral	Cunard Adventurer, Sunward II, Triton	1971	2004
Cristal	Viking Saga, Sally Albatross, Leeward, SuperStar Taurus, Silja Opera, Cristal, Louis Cristal	1980	2007
Emerald	Santa Rosa, Regent Rainbow	1966	1995
Louis Cristal	Viking Saga, Sally Albatross, Leeward, SuperStar Taurus, Silja Opera, Cristal	1980	2011
Orient Queen	Starward - Bolero	1968	2006
Perla	Southward, Seawing	1971	2004
Princesa Amorosa	Scottish Coast	1953	1993
Princesa Marissa	Finnhansa, Princessan	1966	1987
Princesa Victoria	Dunnottar Castle	1936	1993
Ruby (charter)	Cunard Countess, Olympic Countess, Ocean Countess, Lili Marleen	1974	2007
Sapphire	Italia, Ocean Princess	1967	1994
Thomson Destiny	Song of America, Sunbird	1982	2004