MV ''Queen of the Oceans'' is a owned by

Seajets Seajets is a Greek/ Cypriot ferry company operating passenger and freight ferry services in the Aegean Sea. History Seajets was established in 1989. Today, it operates a fleet of 14 high speed vessels, and 3 conventional Ro-Ro ferries which serv ...

, a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

ferry company. She was built by

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

Monfalcone Monfalcone (; Bisiacco: ; fur, Monfalcon; sl, Tržič; archaic german: Falkenberg) is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Gorizia in Friuli Venezia Giulia, northern Italy, located on the Gulf of Trieste. Monfalcone means 'falcon mountain ...

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 measures . She entered service in February 2000 as ''Ocean Princess'' for

Princess Cruises Princess Cruises is an American cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. The company is incorporated in Bermuda and its headquarters are in Santa Clarita, California. As of 2021, it is the second largest cruise line by net revenue. It w ...

before being transferred to

P&O Cruises P&O Cruises is a British cruise line based at Carnival House in Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. It was originally a subsidiary of the shipping company P&O and was founded in 1977. Along ...

in 2002, operating as ''Oceana'' until 2020. ''Queen of the Ocean'' is a sister ship to other ''Sun-''class ships, , , and .

History

2000–2002: ''Ocean Princess''

''Oceana'' was originally ordered by P&O to serve in the

fleet. She was named by

Ali MacGraw Elizabeth Alice MacGraw (born April 1, 1939) is an American actress and activist. She gained attention with her role in the film ''Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. She gained an ...

and

Ryan O'Neal Ryan O'Neal (born April 20, 1941) is an American actor and former boxer. He trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera '' Peyton Pla ...

and entered service as ''Ocean Princess'' on 16 February 2000. During the winter season, ''Ocean Princess'' was positioned in the southern Caribbean, while in summer she operated in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

n waters. Shortly after her launch, P&O demerged its cruise ship operations and ''Ocean Princess'' came under the ownership of P&O Princess Cruises, whilst continuing to serve in the Princess Cruises fleet.

2002–2020: ''Oceana''

In November 2002, ''Ocean Princess'' entered service with

, operating from

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Her official naming ceremony took place 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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 21 May 2003. She was christened by

Anne, Princess Royal Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of ...

. In 2003, P&O Princess Cruises merged with Carnival Corporation to become

Carnival Corporation & plc Carnival Corporation & plc is a British-American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over 100 vessels across 10 cruise line brands. A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of two companies – Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carniv ...

. As a result, ''Oceana'' came under the ownership of

Carnival UK Carnival Corporation & plc is a British-American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over 100 vessels across 10 cruise line brands. A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of two companies – Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carniv ...

, but continued to operate with the P&O Cruises fleet. ''Oceana'' was last renovated from 29 November and 17 December 2017 after she underwent a £31 million refit at the

Blohm+Voss Blohm is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Hans Blohm C.M. (born 1927), photographer and author * Hermann Blohm (1848–1930), German businessman and co-founder of German company Blohm+Voss * Linn Blohm (born 1992), Swedish hand ...

shipyard in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. Technical work and public area refurbishment were undertaken. On 7 July 2020, amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, P&O announced that it had sold ''Oceana'' to an undisclosed buyer.

2020–present: ''Queen of the Oceans''

On 8 July 2020, Greek newspaper

Naftemporiki ''Naftemporiki'' was founded in 1924 by brothers Panos and Giorgos Athanasiadis and it is the first financial newspaper in Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situa ...

reported that the Iliopoulos family, who leads Seajets, was considering purchasing ''Oceana'' to begin cruise operations. The reports were later confirmed after ''Oceana'' was delivered to Seajets on 21 July 2020 in Patras. The former ''Oceana'' was later spotted with the Union flag on her bow painted over and bearing a new name, ''Queen of the Oceans'', while docked in Patras.

Design

As ''Oceana'', the vessel had 10 passenger decks. Passenger facilities included 12 bars and four restaurants, including an open-air restaurant. Other facilities included a gym, sports court, casino, golf simulator, a spa, four swimming pools, and the main entertainment venue, a 530-seat theatre. File:Oceana’s Atrium.jpg, Atrium on ''Oceana'' File:Oceana’s Lido Deck.jpg, Pool deck on ''Oceana''

References

External links

Official Web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Queen of the Oceans Ships of Seajets Ships of P&O Cruises Ships built in Monfalcone Ships built by Fincantieri 1999 ships Ships of Princess Cruises Passenger ships of Bermuda