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Paquet
Cie. Navigation de Paquet
Nouvelle Cie. de Paquebots
Croisieres Paquet
This page is devoted to postcards of Paquet.
An alphabetical list of ships
shown on this page is shown below.
The Table
beneath gives links to complete postcard history pages on selected individual ships. Below the table are official
postcards of the fleet
in chronological order.
Ships on This Page:-
Ancerville
(1962-1973)
Azur
(1975-1987)
Massalia
(1971-1983)
Mermoz
(1965-1998)
Pearl
(1994-1995)
Renaissance
(1966-1977)
Rhapsody
(1982-1986)
Associated Pages:-
Ferry Postcards
Cruise Ship Postcards
Ocean Liner Postcards
Simplon Postcards Home Page
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Table of Ship Histories
Name
Other names
Built
Azur
Eagle, The Azur
1971
Mermoz
Jean Mermoz, Serenade
1958
Renaissance
Renaissance, Awani Dream, Grand Victoria
1966
Rhapsody
Statendam (4), Regent Star
1956
Paquet Fleet List
Ancerville
(Paquet: 1962-1973)
Ancerville
was built in 1962 for the Marseille-Dakar service of Cie. Navigation de Paquet, and passed to Nouvelle Cie. de Paquebots in 1970. She was sold to the People's Republic of China in 1973 and
Minghua
.
Official postcard of
Ancerville
.
Official postcard of
Ancerville
.
Official postcard of
Ancerville
.
Artistic postcard of
Ancerville
.
Click to open larger image in new window
Renaissance
(Paquet: 1966-1977)
Renaissance
was built for the Paquet's subsidiary Cie. Francaise de Navigation, who used her on routes from Marseille to the Eastern Mediterranean. Ownership passed to Nouvelle Cie. de Paquebots in 1970. She was sold in 1977 to
Epirotiki Lines
, and was renamed
Homeric Renaissance
.
Costa Lines
took her on charter and renamed her
World Renaissance
. She later operated for Epirotiki themselves, and also for a charter with Club Awani as
Awani Dream
. She returned to
Epirotiki Lines
and passed to
Royal Olympic Cruises
. Following their collapse in 2004, she was sold at auction, becoming the
Grand Victoria
.
Complete history of
Renaissance
Postcard of
Renaissance
at Toulon.
Official postcard of
Renaissance
.
Click to open larger image in new window
Mermoz
(Paquet: 1965-1998)
Mermoz
was built as the
Jean Mermoz
of Cie. Fraissinet of Marseille in 1958, sailing to West Africa. She was sold to the Nouvelle Cie. de Paquebots in 1965, initially retaining her name. She was later converted to be more suitable for cruising and renamed
Mermoz
.
Mermoz
was sold in 1998 but soon passed to
Louis Cruise Lines
as the
Serenade
.
Crosieres Paquet postcard of
Mermoz,
with original white funnel.
Click to open larger image in new window
Photograph of
Mermoz
at Zeebrugge.
Photo: © Ian Boyle
Click to open larger image in new window
Photograph of
Mermoz
at Malta.
Photo: © Ian Boyle
Click to open larger image in new window
Crosieres Paquet postcard of
Mermoz,
with funnel logo.
Crosieres Paquet postcard of
Mermoz.
Scan: Ken Murayama.
Crosieres Paquet postcard of
Mermoz.
Click to open larger image in new window
Crosieres Paquet postcard of
Mermoz.
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Crosieres Paquet postcard of
Mermoz.
Click to open larger image in new window
Postcard of
Mermoz
at Aalesund.
Click to open larger image in new window
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.
Mermoz
off Cyprus, following acquisition by
Louis Cruises
in October 1999.
Photo: © Mike Tedstone
Massalia
(Paquet: 1971-1983)
Massalia
was built in 1971 by Dubegion Normandie S.A., Nantes, for Nouvelle Compagnie de Paquebots (Paquet). She was one of three similar ferries, the others being the
Eagle
of
Southern Ferries
and the
Bolero
of
Fred Olsen Line
.
Massalia
operated on a cruiseferry service between Marseille-Malaga-Casablanca until 1974, when the route was changed to Marseille-Dakar. In 1976 she moved to Marseille-Sète-Alicante-Casablanca.
In 1981
Massalia
was rebuilt as a cruise ship, and started a circuit out of Toulon to various African and Atlantic Isles destinations. This was not a success, and she was laid up in Toulon in 1983, followed by sale to Stena Cargo Line, and renaming to
Stena Baltica
. After briefly becoming Island Fiesta, she was chartered to SeaEscape as the
Scandinavian Star
. She cruised between Tampa-Cozumel.
In 1990,
Scandinavian Star
was sold to Vognmandsruten and put into service for DA-NO linjen between Oslo-Frederikshavn. On 7th April 1990, a fire broke out between Oslo-Frederikshavn in which 158 people died. She was laid up in Southampton for four years under the name
Candi
. Following rebuilding in Italy, she re-entered service as
Regal Voyager
for Comarit Ferries (chartered), followed by various other charters around the world.
Official Paquet postcard of
Massalia
.
Official Paquet postcard of
Massalia
(at Marseille)
Click to open larger image in new window
Postcard of
Massalia
at Toulon.
Click to open larger image in new window
Official Paquet photo of
Massalia
.
Scan: Ivo Batricevic
Click to open larger image in new window
.
Photographic postcard of
Massalia
.
Click to open larger image in new window
Azur
(Paquet: 1975-1987)
Azur
originally entered service as
Eagle
for a new cruise ferry service from Southampton-Lisbon-Tangier.
Southern Ferries
were part of the General Steam Navigation Co, who became part of P&O. In 1975,
Eagle
was sold to Nouvelle Cie. de Paquebots, Marseille (Paquet) and renamed
Azur
for ferry work and cruising in the Mediterranean. In 1981
Azur
was rebuilt as a full time cruise ship, with cabins added in the car decks. In 1987 she was sold to
Chandris Lines
, and re-named
The Azur
, followed by a further sale to
Festival Cruises
in 1994, with name remaining as
The Azur
. A complete postcard history of this ship is available
on this link
.
Joal Mariaud postcard 39/1982 showing the
Azur
, in initial all-white Nouvelle Cie. de Paquebots (Paquet) colours.
A Turkish card of Kusadasi showing the
Azur
, in initial all-white Paquet colours.
Croisieres Paquet official card of
Azur
. Printed by Editions Leo.
Regent Holidays official card of
Azur
, (chartered from Paquet).
Rhapsody
(Paquet: 1982-1986)
Rhapsody was built as the
Statendam (4)
of
Holland America Line
in 1957. She was bought by the Paquet group in 1982 and renamed
Rhapsody
, but sold again to the Lelakis group in 1986, and named
Regent Star
in the Regency fleet. Her steam turbines were replaced by diesels in 1987. She has been inactive since the
Regency Cruises
bankruptcy.
A complete history of this ship is available
on this link
.
Official Paquet postcard of
Rhapsody
.
Scan: Ken Murayama.
Official Paquet postcard of
Rhapsody
.
Official Paquet postcard of
Rhapsody
.
Scan: Ken Murayama.
Foto Flatau postcard FF-13-095 of
Rhapsody
in the Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal.
CT postcard 051 of
Rhapsody
arriving off St Thomas.
Photo: Jeff Wittbrodt.
Virgin Islands Postcard Company (serial 2US VI 95) of
Festivale
(Carnival),
Rhapsody
(Paquet) and
Song of America
(Royal Caribbean)
(left-to-right).
Pearl
(Paquet: 1994-1995)
Pearl
was delivered as
Finlandia
by Oy Wärtsilä Ab, Helsinki in 1967 to Finska Ångfartygs Ab (FÅA), for the route Helsinki-Copenhagen-Travemünde, which was marketed as Finlandia Line. In 1975 she was sold to
Finnlines
without change in name or route. In 1978
Finlandia
was converted to a cruise ferry and renamed
Finnstar
. She commenced cruising in the Mediterranean, but was laid up in Toulon in 1980. In 1981 she was sold to I.M.Skaugen and converted into a luxury cruise ship by Aarlborg Werft, returning to service in 1982 as the
Pearl of Scandinavia
of Pearl Cruises. In 1987, Pearl Cruises was sold to Ocean Cruise Lines.
Pearl of Scandinavia
was rebuilt again in 1988, receiving a new bow and funnel. and renamed
Ocean Pearl
. In 1990, Ocean Cruise Lines was acquired by Croisieres Paquet. The owners of Paquet also owned
Costa Crociere
, and management passed to
Costa
in 1994. The name was changed to
Pearl
. In 1995
Pearl
was refurbished and reappeared as the
Costa Playa
of
Costa Crociere
. In 1998 she was sold to Mega Wave International Ltd, Hong Kong and renamed
Oriental Pearl
under the Bahamas flag. The following year she was sold back to Costa Crociere and renamed
Joy Wave
. In 2000 she was sold to Eurasia International, Hong Kong and renamed
Golden Princess
for casino cruises out of Hong Kong.
Pearl
in Paquet colours at Tokyo, 5th May 1995.
Photo: © Ken Murayama.
Pearl
in Paquet colours at Tokyo, 5th May 1995.
Photo: © Ken Murayama.
Chandris Lines
-
Festival Cruises
-
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