Premier Cruise Line, a subsidiary of

Premier Cruises Premier Cruises was a cruise line holding company formed in the early 1990s that focused on the family cruise market as well as on developing cruise operations in new geographic markets. The company's business focus was to acquire older cruise ves ...

, was a

cruise line A cruise line is a company that operates cruise ships that operate on ocean or rivers and which markets cruises to the public. Cruise lines are distinct from passenger lines which are primarily concerned with transportation of passengers. Though ...

that was headquartered in

Cape Canaveral , image = cape canaveral.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991 , map = Florida#USA , map_width = 300 , type = Cape , map_caption = Location in Florida , location ...

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 ...

. From 1985 to 1993, it was licensed as the official cruise line of

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, ...

and used the trademark "The Big Red Boat" based on the color scheme of some of its ships. Dolphin Cruise Line, a company that became a part of Premier, was headquartered on Dodge Island in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Company history

Premier Cruise Line was formed in 1983 by A.E. "Ed" Merhige (Florida Export Warehouse/International Cruise Shops) and Bruce Nierenberg (NCL), two cruise veterans and later bought by

Dial Corporation Henkel Corporation, doing business as Henkel North American Consumer Goods, and formerly The Dial Corporation, is an American company based in Stamford, Connecticut. It is a manufacturer of personal care and household cleaning products, and is a ...

(of Dial soap fame), which then also owned the Greyhound Bus Company. The ships typically operated three- and four-day

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...

trips out of

Port Canaveral, Florida Port Canaveral is a cruise, cargo, and naval port in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is one of the busiest cruise ports in the world with 4.5 million cruise passengers passing through during 2016. Over 5.4 million tonnes of bulk car ...

. The company earned over $20 million annually on a gross revenue of $100 million during the 1980s. The successful niche that Premier served was the family cruise line, especially attractive to grandparents sailing with their children and grandchildren. Starting in 1985, Premier partnered with

, providing seven-night land and sea vacations on The Big Red Boat. Premier was licensed to provide Disney characters on its ships, until the relationship ended in 1993. Disney then proceeded to start its own cruise ship line in 1995. After the Disney contract ended, Premier then affiliated itself with Warner Bros.'

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series '' Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. ...

characters to maintain its family-friendly image, and was returned to profitability under the direction of 20-year cruise veteran Jim Naik. The company had an aging fleet of Italian-designed ships competing with newer and larger liners. Mr. Naik brought Premier to profitability in his first quarter with the company. Premier's parent company, Dial, sold the company after posting profits for 1995, 1996, and 1997. New owners and new leadership followed, with Larry Magnan as president in 1998. However, the company would file for bankruptcy and cease all operations on September 14, 2000, with passengers on the still-running cruises being docked and given flights home on a first-come, first-served basis; the company's primary lender had seized its existing fleet, which had been put up for collateral. The older ships were designed before the current disability acts coming into effect, requiring reasonable access for persons with physical disabilities, were even envisioned, let alone enacted into law. Much later, after 1997, Premier was sued under the

Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ...

(passed in 1990) for not making accommodations for people with disabilities. Premier ships included the ''Majestic'' (the former '' Sun Princess'' of

Princess Cruise Lines 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 ...

), the former

Home Lines Home Lines was an Italian passenger shipping company that operated both ocean liners and cruise ships. The company was founded in 1946, and it ceased operations in 1988 when merged into Holland America Line. Although based in Genoa, Home Lines was ...

flagship ''Oceanic'', the ''Atlantic'' (another former Home Lines ship), and the ''Royale'', a former

Costa Cruises S.p.A. (), operating as Costa Cruises, is an Italian cruise line founded in 1854 and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc since 2000. Based in Genoa, Italy, the cruise line primarily caters to the Italian crui ...

liner known then as the ''

Frederico C SS ''Federico C.'' was a cruise ship that made headlines when its passengers were unloaded mid-way through their cruise and the vessel was put under arrest in Halifax Harbour. The ship then sank in international waters three months later. At the t ...

''. The original four ships had the prefix "Star/Ship" before their names. During Premier's reorganization in the mid 1990s all but the ''Oceanic'' (''Big Red Boat I'') were sold off. Premier then became an amalgamation of Dolphin and Seawind Cruises. Later, the ''Rembrandt'', formerly the ''Rotterdam'' of

Holland America Lines Holland America Line is an American-owned cruise line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. Holland America Line was founded in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and from 1873 to 1989, it operated ...

, was added to the line. The SS ''Oceanic'' (''Big Red Boat I'') was still sailing until 2012 when she was sailed to Yokohama for scrapping. The '' Big Red Boat II'', formerly '' Eugenio Costa'', was put up for sale and was laid up in Freeport, Bahamas. She had no potential buyers and remained there until 2005, eventually being sold to the breakers and was scrapped in

Alang, India Alang is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Because it is home to the Alang Ship Breaking Yard, Alang beaches are considered the world's largest ship graveyard. Demographics As of the 2001 Indian census, Ala ...

in late 2005.Eugenio C / Big Red Boat II
/ref> The '' Big Red Boat III'', formerly

Carnival Cruise Line Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue color scheme. This ...

's ''Festivale'', was also sold for scrap. The former ''Frederico C'' (called the '' Seabreeze I'') was to be scrapped at India but instead sank in a storm off the Virginia coast. Lastly, the ''Rembrandt'', formerly the ''Rotterdam'', was purchased by the city of Rotterdam, The Netherlands to be restored and kept as a historic landmark.

Former fleet

Timeline

References

External links

{{Commons category, Premier Cruise Line
Archive of Premiercruises.com
Transport companies established in 1983 Transport companies disestablished in 2000 Defunct companies based in Florida Defunct cruise lines Defunct shipping companies of the United States 1983 establishments in Florida 2000 disestablishments in Florida