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Oceania Christens Third Ship, Plans Fourth
Published on: November 23, 2005


Oceania Cruises named its third ship the Nautica in a ceremony in Istanbul, Turkey, and also announced a name for a fourth ship. In a press release, Oceania President and CEO Frank Del Rio announced the planned debut of the line's fourth ship, Marina, which is expected to be named in Hong Kong on July 7, 2007. But the release contained no more details on the fourth ship. Oceania operates three identical ships, formerly known as R-class ships built by the defunct Renaissance Cruises. Several of those ships operate in other parts of the world, but it was not immediately clear if Oceania was acquiring one of those. The Nautica's godmother, Miami philanthropist and civic leader Fana Holtz, released the traditional magnum of champagne against the ship's hull. Holtz is a former member of the board of the National Foundation for Chrones and Colitis, an ambassador of The National Parkinson Foundation, a society member of Mount Sinai Hospital, a grand tru stee for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, the founder of the Sylvester Cancer Center, and the founder of the Holtz Children's Hospital at Jackson Memorial Hospital. On behalf of Holtz and the Holtz Children's Hospital, Oceania presented a $25,000 check to Dr. Aysenur Celayir, chief physician for the Newborn and Newborn Intensive Care Unit of Zeynep Kamil Hospital in Istanbul. The mid-sized Nautica holds 684 guests, as do Regatta and Insignia, the first two ships in Oceania's fleet. Soon after the naming ceremony, Nautica was scheduled to depart on its "Magical Maiden Voyage," a 24-day cruise from Athens to Singapore.

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Claudia,
Love the clapping hands. It will be good to have another ship because the other three are always selling out.

The fourth ship will be identical to the other three..and also one of the former Ren ships
Jan

So, Princess is finally disposing of the TP.

Jan, how many Ren ships are there out there that can be transformed into Oceania? Amazing that a company that went belly-up is now so successful after spending millions to refit the ahips. Those guys who started it must really feel the pulse of the cruise industry and a whole lot more than that.

Thanks for the very informative article, Susan.

Oceania certainly is a growing major player in the cruise industry!

Olivia, FYI..The company that went belly up was Renaissance ..which has absolutely nothing to do with Oceania.. other than the fact that one of their owners Frank del Rio, was a part of "R" but left before they went bankrupt

Claudia, I knew that it was Ren that went belly up. It is a testament to the guys at Oceania that they were able to take the same product, dress it up a bit, and meet success in such a big way. Hats off to them!

So Jan, is Marc right, is the TP toast and being sold to Oceania??

I am not at liberty to say which ship yet..all I can tell you is there are three former Ren ships for sale, the TP among them..
Jan

A couple of years ago we saw two of the ships that finally became the Oceania ships in the harbor of La Spezia. It seemed like there were two ships of the R class there and at that time Oceania had two in service so that accounts for the 4 ships.

I wonder if Princess is also divesting the Pacific Princess as well? (another former Ren ship) Or has that one been more profitable for Princess?

Masaki

Oh right, I forgot about the Pacific Princess!

Sorry, I meant to say the Pacific Princess not Tahitian..
Jan

I was in the harbor at La Spezia and I have some photos, which, I did not pay particular attention to. Now I will have to go back and look more closely.

I heard today, Princess just signed the contract to keep Tahitian Princess in Tahiti through 2007..
Jan

Interesting.

We were on the R4 in Tahiti, in an A balcony cabin. It was absolutely gorgeous. Not the same gorgeous as the Navigator, but it had it's own beauty.

Our biggest beef was the bathrooms. Very tiny, almost like on an RV.

But the ships were lovely. Would do it again.

Frances

Frances,
I agree that the bathroom is small, but I do think the room layout is comfortable. I also like the large common rooms and many of the itineraries are very interesting.

If I recall the biggest problem Ren had was that they were not TA friendly and thought they could do most of their business by clients calling direct.
Is that true?

Maybe that's why Ren no longer exists! On this board, Oceania is certainly TA friendly. I think any cruise line who wants to cut out TA's is entirely self-serving and monopolistic.

Ren was just a badly managed company. They had too much "tail" compared to the "tooth." I don't understand how people our separating Ren's disaster from FDR; should we call him a "teflon" CEO?

Marc, FDR was only co-CEO for 6 months after Ed Rudner was forced out the end of November 2000..and then did try to change the policies of Ren..the line was sold in April and Frank left the company, which went under as we all know, 9/25 after the 9/11 disaster..who knows if the new owners could have turned it around under normal circumstances..
Jan

Great to know that there will be a 4th ship soon!

Where are the 114 passenger "baby" ships that Ren had? Who's using them now? Any chance Oceania would add one of those? Our first cruise was on one of them and we really loved it!

CJ

There were actually two series of RENAISSANCE-class ships. The first series, ONE through FOUR, were built in 1989 and 1990 at Cantieri Navale Ferrari at La Spezia. The second series, FIVE through EIGHT, of an improved design, were built in 1991 and 1992 at Nuovi Cantieri Apuania at Carrara. The second series of ships were slightly larger and carried 14 more passengers (114 as opposed to 100 on the earlier ships).

Now, as to where they are now.

RENAISSANCE ONE and TWO were chartered in the mid 1990s to a Singaporean firm who licensed the Renaissance name and logo. In 1998, a Malaysian company, Universal Cruises, bought the ships and renamed them THE MERCURY and THE NEPTUNE respectively. Universal later went under and both ships spent several years laid-up.

Eventually, RENAISSANCE ONE was sold to New Century Cruise Line and is now a floating casino in international waters off Singapore called LEISURE WORLD 1.

RENAISSANCE TWO was sold to EasyCruise and is now EASYCRUISE ONE.

RENAISSANCE THREE was sold in 1997 and renamed GALAPAGOS EXPLORER II. She has been running cruises in the Galapagos ever since.

RENAISSANCE FOUR was also sold in 1997, to the Haji-Ioannou family, who renamed her CLELIA II and use her as a yacht and also charter her as a cruise ship. (Stelios Haji-Ioannou is the owner of EasyGroup, though I think it is a coincidence that his first cruise ship is a sister of his family's yacht.)

RENAISSANCE FIVE and SIX were sold in 1997 to Sun Cruises, then a new company in Singapore started by former Star Cruises executives. They were renamed SUN VIVA and SUN VIVA II respectively. In 2000 Star Cruises bought Sun Cruises and renamed the ships MEGASTAR SAGITTARIUS and MEGASTAR CAPRICORN respectively.

In 2000, MEGASTAR CAPRICORN (RENAISSANCE SIX) was sold to Hebridean Island Cruises. She is now their HEBRIDEAN SPIRIT.

In 2001, MEGASTAR SAGITTARIUS was sold to Cruise West. She is now their SPIRIT OF OCEANUS.

Renaissance retained RENAISSANCE SEVEN and EIGHT through to the end, having disposed of the other six ships in 1997 as they prepared to take on the new R-class ships.

After they went under in 2001, the two ships were laid up at Marseille and renamed RENAI I and RENAI II respectively. They were sold in 2003 to Mauritius Island Cruises and renamed SUN and SKY respectively, becoming ISLAND SUN and ISLAND SKY in 2004. While both ships were initially to operate cruises in Mauritius, in 2004 they were both chartered to various travel agencies etc. instead. ISLAND SKY (RENAISSANCE EIGHT) is now chartered to Noble Caledonia while ISLAND SUN (RENAISSANCE SEVEN) has been chartered to Travel Dynamics International and renamed CORINITHIAN II.

So, to recap:
RENAISSANCE ONE -> LEISURE WORLD 1 (New Century Cruise Line)
RENAISSANCE TWO -> EASYCRUISE ONE (EasyCruise)
RENAISSANCE THREE -> GALAPAGOS EXPLORER II (Canodros)
RENAISSANCE FOUR -> CLELIA II (Haji-Ioannou Family)
RENAISSANCE FIVE -> SPIRIT OF OCEANUS (Cruise West)
RENAISSANCE SIX -> HEBRIDEAN SPIRIT (Hebridean Cruises)
RENAISSANCE SEVEN -> CORINTHIAN II (Travel Dynamics International)
RENAISSANCE EIGHT -> ISLAND SKY (Mauritius Island Cruises/Noble Caledonia)

Hope that helps.

I'm confused. We sailed on the R7, which was a 684 passenger ship - like the Oceania ships. Are they another class, and can anybody tell us what happened to each of them. I know that 3 are now Oceania and 2 are now Princess. What of the other two?

David

I was driving past the port in Honolulu the other day and saw a ship with those distinctive Renaissance lines. I figured it was the Pacific Princess which often visits Hawaii but when I passed the stern of the ship, I saw the name "Delphin Renaissance". Never having heard of this line, I resolved to look it up at some point - which I promptly forgot about until tonight when I read this thread.

A little Googling and voila! The former R7 is apparently the current Delphin Renaissance.

http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/Renaissance.html

(look at the very end of the page)

Masaki

Thanks for the research - nice to know somebody's keeping track.

David

RENAISSANCE CRUISES (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) (Out of business - Eight Renaissance ships have been sold to the venture company Cruise Invest Management)
R1 (RClass ship), 684 pax (Chartered to Oceana Cruises and renamed Insignia)
R2 (RClass ship), 684 pax (Chartered to Oceana Cruises and renamed Regatta)
R3 (RClass ship), 684 pax (Chartered to P&O Princess and renamed Pacific Princess)
R4 (RClass ship), 684 pax (Chartered to P&O Princess and renamed Tahitian Princess)
R5 (RClass ship), 684 pax (Sold to Oceania Cruises and renamed Nautica)
R6 (RClass ship), 684 pax (Chartered to Spanish operator Pullmantur)
R7 (RClass ship), 684 pax ..She went to Delphin Kreuzfahrten to become Delphin Renaissance. R8 (RClass ship), 684 pax (Leased for seven years to Swan Hellenic. She will be renamed Minerva II)

Here are all of the ships..
Jan

Oceania will be building a 4th ship..It will be the most beautiful ship at sea..!!! (Of course I am prejudiced)LOL
Jan

There were 8 "baby ships" which carried 112 passengers..they were more like being on a private yacht, under the Renaissance flag prior to the eight 680ish passenger new R ships.
That could be what is confusing you.
I really miss those ship

Jan,
Do you have any idea what size the new ship will be? I hope they're not planning on building a large ship. I love the small size.
Joan

Joan, it will be larger but not a mega ship.. some of the amenities they plan you cannot get on a small ship !!
The news wont be out for a while..so keep tuned!!
Jan

With R8 being transferred from Swan Hellenic to her sister line, Princess cruises, I decided to update the above research.

All EIGHT (R1 through R8) are actually owned by a company known as Cruise Invest Managaement. R1, R2, and R5 are chartered to Oceania. R3 and R4 are chartered by Princess. R8 will be moving to Princess. R6 (now known as Blue Dream) and R7 (now known as Blue Moon) are operated by Pullmantur.

Anyone know which ship will become Marina?

By the way, Carnival has started canibalising their lines. When they move the Minerva II (R8) from Swan Hellenic, that line will have no ships. Who knows whats next; maybe they will move the triplets to Princess, too.

I heard it through the grapevine that Marina will be as a new build..and carry about 1200 people

Claudia, has a contract been signed with a shipyard yet? Here is a list of ships under construction and I don't see Marina on the list. If the naming is going to be next year, construction should already have started or at least be on contract.

edited to add:

I found this on Cruisemates site:

The R4 is the Tahitian Princess. Doesn't make sense that they would transfer R8 to Princess and R4 from Princess.

The new build will not be ready until 2009..look for an announcement shortly..Oceania will not have a new ship until then..but it will be incredible!!
Jan

Thanks Jan!!!

If around 1200 pax, then should be about a 70,000 GRT ship. They could have lots of flexibility but will probably still have inside staterooms. Will be interesting to see what they come up with.

They will have inside staterooms and 2 story suites!!It is going to one of the most beautiful and easy to get around ships at sea..a theater etc.
Jan

Marc - kind of an aside, but do you have any information on that Four Seasons ship that's listed in your list? Is the Four Seasons hotel chain getting into cruising?

(edit: nevermind - did a Google search and answered my own question)

Masaki