Swan
Hellenic Cruises
(P&O
- Trust House Forte - All Leisure Group)
Swan Hellenic (previously
Swan's Hellenic) have been operating highly-regarded cultural
cruises in Greek and other Mediterranean waters since the 1950s.
Their best known ship was the Orpheus, chartered from
Epirotiki Lines from 1974 to 1996. This ship was originally built
in 1948 as the Liverpool-Dublin night boat
Munster. Prior to the Orpheus,
Swan's Hellenic had chartered the Turkish ship Ankara.
Trust House Forte acquired the company in 1968. The company was acquired by P&O
in 1983 during the long service of Orpheus, and cards with the P&O logo were issued.
When her replacement became necessary, P&O teamed with V-Ships
and the Mariotti shipyard in Genoa to convert the incomplete
hull of a Soviet research vessel into the luxurious small cruise
ship Minerva.
Minerva is owned by V-Ships (previous
owners of Sitmar) and is their first new cruise ship since Sitmar
were sold to P&O in 1988. Occasional expedition cruises are
also operated (three in 2000) using the vessel
Clipper Adventurer.
One of the bankrupt
Renaissance
Cruises fleet was chartered by Swan Hellenic/P&O as the
Minerva II. The company passed to carnival Corporation when they acquired
P&O/Princess. They soon transferred the
Minerva II to Princess Cruises as
Royal Princess (2) and later to P&O as Adonia. Swan
Hellenic restarted operations in 2008 by re-chartering the original
Minerva.
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-
-
- Ships on This Page:-
- Ankara
- Clipper
Adventurer
- Minerva
- Minerva
II
- Nile
Monarch
- Orpheus - ex-Munster
- Tarsus
-
- Associated Pages:-
- Epirotiki
Lines
- P&O Liners - Page 1 - 1837-1899
- P&O Liners - Page 2 - 1900-1914
- P&O Liners - Page 3 - 1915-1939
- P&O Liners - Page 4 - 1940-1961
- P&O
Princess Cruises - Page 1 - Early P&O Princess Cruise Ships
- P&O
Princess Cruises
- Page 2 - Later P&O Princess
Cruise Ships
- P&O
Princess Cruises Photographs
- Cruise
Ship Postcards
- Ocean
Liner Postcards
- Simplon Postcards
Home Page
- www.swan-hellenic.co.uk
Swan
Hellenic Fleet List
Ankara
Turkish
liner Ankara on charter to Swan Hellenic.
Tarsus
Turkish
liner Tarsus on charter to Swan Hellenic.
Orpheus (1974-1996)
-
- Orpheus was built in 1948 as the
Munster
(4) for
B&I Line. She replaced the similar
Munster
(3) of 1938
which was lost in the war. The
Munster (4) was sold in 1969. After a spell
as Theseus, she operated as Orpheus for Epirotiki Lines, with lengthy charters to
Swan Hellenic (then part of
P&O Cruises).
-
Complete history of Munster (4)
This
Epirotiki
Lines
card also has the logos of Swan Hellenic and P&O on the reverse,
as shown.
-
Minerva (1996-2003 & 2007- )
- Minerva was built in 1996 using the partially
completed hull of a Soviet-ordered research ship. She is owned
by V-Ships, and is chartered to Swan Hellenic. Minerva
offered cruises throughout the world. She was replaced by Minerva II in 2003 and was chartered by Saga Cruises as the Saga Pearl during
the summer. In winter she is chartered elsewhere as Explorer
II (for example Noble Caledonia are marketing cruises in
Antarctica during winter 2004/5). She also had charters to Saga as the Saga
Pearl and as the Alexander von Humboldt for Phoenix Reisen. In
2007 she was taken on long term charter by Voyages of Discovery, reverting to
her former name Minerva when Swan Hellenic was acquired.
-
-
Official
Swan Hellenic postcards of Minerva.
Photograph
of Minerva in the North Sea Canal.
Photo:
© Wil Moojen, 23rd June 1998.
Minerva arriving early in the morning at
DoverPhoto: © Ian Boyle 29th June 2010
Minerva at Dover
Photo: © Ian Boyle 29th June 2010
Minerva at Stockholm
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 31st May 2013
Minerva II (2003- )
- R Eight has being used by Swan Hellenic
(P&O) as the Minerva II from 2003. Minerva II
visited the Pool of London on July 4th 2003. She turned upriver
and was pulled by tugs for the final section of the journey.
She was moored at buoys in the river, near Tower Bridge (being
too large to pass through it). She left on a Baltic cruise at
17:00hrs on 5th July, with passengers having been tendered out
on local Thames excursion boats. Additional photos are shown
on this link.
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-
Advertising
postcard for Minerva II.
Minerva
II in
the Pool of London.
Photos:
© Ian Boyle, 5th July 2003.
Minerva
II leaving
the Pool of London, with tugs Sun Thames and Sun Sussex.
- Photo:
© Ian Boyle, 5th July 2003.
-
Minerva II arriving at San Francisco
on inaugural call.
Clipper Adventurer
-
- Clipper Adventurer was chartered once from owners
Clipper Cruise Line in 1999, for a cruise to Brazil. Three expedition
cruises are offered on her in 2000, to Greenland, the 'Hidden'
Caribbean and the Amazon.
-
Clipper Cruise Line
official cards
This
is an oversized advertising card of Clipper Adventurer.
The
card was issued during the rebuilding, and
the card back gives full details of the rebuilding
from the 1975 Soviet Alla Tarasova in 1997/98.
Photograph
of Clipper Adventurer in the North Sea Canal.
Photo:
© Wil Moojen, 23rd June 1998.
Nile Monarch
This
is an official Swan Hellenic/P&O card of the Nile Monarch,
operated under charter. No Nile trips are offered in 2000, but
cruises on the Rhine, Danube and Rhone are available. Swiss
Crystal is used on the Rhine/Danube, and the Cezanne
on the Rhone. I do not have cards of either of these vessels.
P&O
Princess Cruises-Page 1 -
P&O
Princess Cruises-Page 2 -
P&O
Princess Cruises Photographs
Cruise
Ship Postcards -
Ocean Liner
Postcards
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