MS ''Cunard Princess'' was a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...

, previously owned an operated by the

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

-based

Mano Maritime Mano Maritime (Hebrew: מנו ספנות, ''Mano Sapanut'') is a shipping company founded by Moshe Mano and is a subsidiary of the Mano Holdings Group. It operates cargo ships, passenger ships and undertakes other maritime services. The company ...

. She was built 1975 by the

Burmeister & Wain Burmeister & Wain was a large established Danish shipyard and leading diesel engine producer headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded by two Danes and an Englishman, its earliest roots stretch back to 1846. Over its 150-year history, it ...

shipyard in

Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

for Cunard Line as MS ''Cunard Conquest'', but her interior fittings were subsequently installed at the Navali Mechaniche Affini in La Spezia, Italy. Following re-delivery from Navali Mechaniche Affini in 1977 the ship was renamed MS ''Cunard Princess''. In 1995, the ship entered service with StarLauro Cruises (later rebranded MSC Cruises), briefly retaining her previous name before being renamed MS ''Rhapsody''. In 2009 she was sold to Mano Maritime and sailed as ''Golden Iris'' until 2018. After being laid up for four years at Chalkis Shipyard, Greece. In 2021 was she renamed ''Gold Club.'' She was beached at

Aliağa Aliağa is a town and a district of Izmir Province in the Aegean Region of Turkey. The town is situated at about north of Izmir. Aliağa has a large port, mainly for oil and bulk cargo. Its economic activity is based on tourism, shipbreaking ...

, Turkey, for recycling.

Concept and construction

The ship that eventually became known as the ''Cunard Princess'' was originally one of two ships ordered by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

-based Overseas National Airways. Unusually Hugh Hefner, the founder of

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

, was involved in the design process of the ships, envisioning them as "floating

Playboy Club The Playboy Club was initially a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The first Playboy Club opened in Chicago in 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room, and a Club ...

s". Order for the two ships was placed with the

shipyard in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark. However, during construction the ships were sold to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

-based Cunard Line, In which Cunard previously operated the and . Although better known as luxury cruise operators, Cunard decided to maintain the original informal cruise concept developed for the ships by Overseas National Airways. ''Cunard Conquest'', the second of the two sisters, was launched from drydock in December 1974. Instead of having the ships completed at Burmeister & Wain, Cunard decided that once the hulls of the ships were complete they would sail to the Navali Mechaniche Affini in La Spezia, Italy, where interior fittings would be installed. Therefore, following delivery to Cunard on 30 October 1975 the ''Cunard Conquest'' sailed to La Spezia, where she arrived on 6 November 1975. While the ship was being fitted out Cunard decided to change her name to ''Cunard Princess''. Following delivery to Cunard in early 1977 the ship sailed to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, where she was renamed and christened by

Princess Grace of Monaco Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kelly ...

Service history

1977–1995: ''Cunard Princess''

''Cunard Princess'' set on her first cruise from

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in April 1977, joining her elder sister in the Caribbean cruise service after the Bermuda run. Cunard Princess sailed out of Ft Lauderdale, then after a charter to Lauro Line in 1979 she sailed a Caribbean run out of San Juan, in the summer of 1981, she did Alaska cruises. At the time the ''Cunard Princess'' was registered in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, but in 1980 she was moved to the Bahamian registry, with

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

as her homeport. Later during her career with Cunard, the ship started cruising around

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, while the ''Cunard Countess'' remained in Caribbean service. During the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

the ''Cunard Princess'' was chartered to the United States

Armed Forces Recreation Center Armed Forces Recreation Centers (AFRCs) are a chain of Joint Service Facility resorts hotels owned by the United States Department of Defense to provide rest and relaxation in the form of lodging and outdoor recreation for United States military s ...

as a recreational facility for troops involved in the conflict. The ship arrived in

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

on 24 December 1990. Initially the plan was to operate the ship on three-day cruises around the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

, but for economic reasons she was permanently moored in Bahrain instead. Following the end of her service in the Gulf War, the ship was docked at

Valletta, Malta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 wa ...

on 23 September 1991. She re-entered normal service with Cunard on 19 October 1991. In 1993 the ''Cunard Princess'' was moved to the fleet of Cunard's newly created mid-market subsidiary Cunard Crown Cruises, joining her sister ''Cunard Countess'' and three ships chartered from EffJohn. Cunard Crown Cruises proved to be short-lived, and in 1995 the ''Cunard Princess'' was chartered to StarLauro Cruises, who were in need of a replacement for their that had sunk following a fire in 1994. Initially the ''Cunard Princess'' kept her older name in StarLauro service.

1995–2009: ''Rhapsody''

After a short time under charter to StarLauro, the company acquired the ''Cunard Princess''. Initially the ship was planned to be renamed ''Harmony'', but in the end she was renamed ''Rhapsody''. Coinciding with the change of ownership the ship was re-registered in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

. Initially she was used for cruising around the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

out of Italy. Shortly after acquisition of the ''Rhapsody'' StarLauro was rebranded as Mediterranean Shipping Cruises on 1 October 1995. Subsequently the company further rebranded themselves into MSC Cruises. In 2001 the ''Rhapsody'' was re-registered to

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. On 9 April 2009 MSC Cruises sold the ''Rhapsody'' to the Israel-based cruise operator

2009–2021: ''Golden Iris'' - 2021–2022: ''Gold Club'' - 2022: ''Old Club''

Following the sale to

, ''Rhapsody'' was renamed ''Golden Iris''. She entered service with Mano Maritime on

cruises from

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

on 31 May 2009, following the completion of a refit. She operated from her home port of Haifa to

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

, the

Greek Islands Greece has many islands, with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200 to 6,000, depending on the minimum size to take into account. The number of inhabited islands is variously cited as between 166 and 227. The largest Greek island by a ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. After the 2018 season she was withdrawn from service, laid up at

Chalkis Chalcis ( ; Ancient Greek & Katharevousa: , ) or Chalkida, also spelled Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief town of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...

, and replaced by the ''Crown Iris''. In November 2021 she was renamed ''Gold Club'', and in 2022 sold for demolition in Turkey, arriving at a scrapping yard at

, on 11 July.

Design

''Cunard Conquest'' was designed with a heavily raked bow and a tapering stern. She had a low superstructure that extends slightly outward from the sides of the hull. The open-winged

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

was located two decks above the top deck of the hull. Like her sister ship ''Cunard Countess'', at delivery ''Cunard Princess'' appeared in the traditional red/black Cunard funnel colours, complementing a white hull and superstructure. In addition, a red decorative stripe was painted between the hull and the superstructure. In StarLauro service her funnel was repainted in that company's livery of blue with a black top and a white five-pointed star in the centre. Following the eventual new owners' rebranding into Mediterranean Shipping Cruises, her funnel was repainted white with a dark blue top and gilded MSC logo centrally, while the blue decorative stripe was divided so that top half of the stripe was navy blue and the bottom half grey. Subsequently the funnel colours were altered into dark blue with MSC Cruises' blue/white "compass" logo replacing the earlier MSC logo.

References

External links

Cunard Princess on Chris' Cunard Page

photographs from shipspotting.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunard Princess Ships built in Copenhagen Ships of the Cunard Line 1974 ships Armed Forces Recreation Centers