Renaissance Cruises

Renaissance Cruises was a cruise ship operating company that was founded in 1989 and owned by Fearnley & Eger Rederi in Oslo, Norway. It was purchased by Edward Rudner (founder of Alamo Car Rental) as the company faltered during the Gulf War. It operated year-round cruise itineraries to the Mediterranean Sea, the Greek Isles, Tahiti and the South Pacific, northern Europe and Scandinavia. The company ceased operations on 25 September 2001,[1] having accommodated up to 220,000 guests in 2000. While the company had been in poor financial health for quite some time, the economic decline resulting from the September 11 attacks in 2001 is credited with the demise of this cruise line.[1] It was headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.[2]

Classes

R class

The pride of the fleet were the line's eight brand new 684-passenger R-class ships named R One, R Two, R Three, R Four, R Five, R Six, R Seven and R Eight. The ships in this class were all built between 1998 and 2001. They were all built at the shipyard of Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire France and were designed, internally and externally, by British Designer John McNeece. Following the bankruptcy of Renaissance Cruises, all of the vessels were chartered or sold to other cruise lines and continue to operate to this day.

ShipBuiltIn service
for Renaissance Cruises		Gross TonnageFlagNotesImage
R One19981998-200130,277 LiberiaEntered service for Renaissance Cruises in 1998. After the bankruptcy of the company, she was sold to Cruiseinvest, but was laid up until 2003, when she was chartered to Oceania Cruises and renamed MS Insignia.[3][4] In 2006, Oceania Cruises purchased the vessel.[5] In April 2012, she was renamed to Columbus 2 and sailing for Hapag-Lloyd. In 2014, she reverted to Oceania Cruises after the launch of Hapag-Lloyd's Europa 2, and currently sails as Insignia.
R Two19981998-200130,277 LiberiaEntered service for Renaissance Cruises in 1998. After the bankruptcy of the company, she was sold to Cruiseinvest, but was laid up until 2002, when she was chartered to the newly established Oceania Cruises and renamed Insignia. She was renamed Regatta the following year.[3][6] In 2006, Oceania Cruises purchased the vessel.[5]
R Three19991999–200130,277 LiberiaEntered service for Renaissance Cruises in 1999. After the bankruptcy of the company, she was laid up until late 2002, when she was sold to Princess Cruises and renamed Pacific Princess.[7] In 2021, Azamara Club Cruises purchased the vessel joining the Journey, Quest and Pursuit.
R Four19991999–200130,277 LiberiaEntered service for Renaissance Cruises in 1999. After the bankruptcy of the company, she was laid up until late 2002, when she was sold to Princess Cruises and renamed Tahitian Princess.[8] The ship was renamed again to Ocean Princess in November 2009.[8] It was announced on November 25, 2014, that the ship was to be sold to Oceania Cruises under a definitive agreement. She departed the Princess fleet in March 2016 and underwent a 35-day, $40 million refurbishment in Marseille, France to become Sirena for Oceania Cruises.[9][10]
R Five20002000-200130,277 LiberiaEntered service for Renaissance Cruises in 2000. After the bankruptcy of the company, she was sold to Cruiseinvest, but was laid up until 2002, when she was chartered to Pullmantur Cruises under the marketing name Blue Dream. In 2005, the vessel was renamed Nautica, and Oceania's purchase was finalized in 2006.[3][11][5]
R Six20002000-200130,277 LiberiaEntered service for Renaissance Cruises in 2000. After the bankruptcy of the company, she was sold to Cruiseinvest, but was laid up until 2003, when she was chartered to Pullmantur Cruises under the marketing name Blue Star. In 2005 she was renamed Blue Dream, and was sold to Pullmantur the following year. In 2007, she was transferred to Azamara Club Cruises and was renamed Azamara Journey.[12]
R Seven20002000-200130,277 LiberiaEntered service for Renaissance Cruises in 2001. After the bankruptcy of the company, she was sold to Cruiseinvest, but was laid up until 2003, when she was chartered to Delphin Seereisen under the name Delphin Renaissance. In 2006, she was sold to Pullmantur Cruises and was renamed Blue Moon. In 2007, she was transferred to Azamara Club Cruises and was renamed Azamara Quest.[13]
R Eight20012001-200130,277 LiberiaEntered service for Renaissance Cruises in 2001. After the bankruptcy of the company, she was sold to Cruiseinvest but was laid up until 2003, when she was chartered to Swan Hellenic Cruises and renamed Minerva II. In March 2006, Princess Cruises announced that they were acquiring Minerva II and the ship debuted in the Princess fleet in April 2007, upon which she was renamed Royal Princess.[14] At the end of April 2011,[15] Royal Princess was transferred to P&O Cruises and was renamed Adonia. In 2015, Carnival Corporation & plc announced the founding of a new brand oriented at social impact, called Fathom, with the Adonia being the lead vessel for the brand.[16] When Fathom ended operations in 2017, she was returned to P&O Cruises, but she was retired a year later, in 2018, having been sold to Azamara Club Cruises.[17] After an extensive refit, she officially began sailing for Azamara as Azamara Pursuit in August 2018.[18]

Renaissance class
Renaissance II as EasyCruiseOne

The company also owned and operated eight "Renaissance" class yacht-like ships between 1989 and 1998. The first four of them were built in Cantieri Navale Ferrari-Signani shipyards in La Spezia, Italy, from 1989 to 1991. They were 88.3m long, and 4077gt in size, and they carried 100 passengers in 50 cabins, with 72 crew. The other four were built in Nuovi Cantieri Apuania shipyards in Carrara, Italy, in the same period. They were 90.6m long and 4200gt in size, and they carried 114 passengers in 57 cabins with 72 crew. The small, intimately sized vessels used Roman numeral designations as part of their names: Renaissance I through Renaissance VIII.

Renaissance IV as Corinthian
Renaissance V as Spirit of Oceanus

These are the current names, former names and registries of the "Renaissance" Class ships Renaissance I, Renaissance III, Renaissance IV, and Renaissance VIII were all chartered and sold in 1998 so the line could concentrate on the larger, newer "R-Class". Before the line folded for the R-Class, Renaissance V, Renaissance VI, and Renaissance VII were sold to other interests. Renaissance II was renamed Neptune II In 1998 for operations in Singapore before EasyCruise was formed. Current operators of these vessels include Noble-Caledonia, Silversea, and Antarctica XXI.

Renaissance VII as Corinthian II
Renaissance VIII as Island Sky

These are the current names, former names and registries of the "Renaissance" Class ships:

  • Dubawi: (a) Renaissance I (b) The Mercury (c) Leisure World (d) Dubawi. Now sailing as a yacht.
  • Cruise One: (a) Renaissance II (b) Neptune II (c) EasyCruiseOne. Sold in 2008 as Cruise One, currently inoperative - owned by the same owner as Dubawi and used exclusively for spare parts.
  • Silver Galapagos: (a) Renaissance III (b) Galapagos Explorer II, (1990) Galapagos Inc., Ecuador (c) Silver Galapagos; from 2013, Silversea Expeditions.
  • Corinthian: (a) Renaissance IV (b) Clelia II (1998), Troodos (c) Orion II (d) Corinthian from 2013, Travel Dynamics Int.
  • Sea Spirit: (a) Renaissance V (b) Sun Viva (1997), Sun Cruise (c) MegaStar Sagittarius (2000), Star Cruises (d) Spirit of Oceanus (2000), Cruise West (e) Sea Spirit (2010), Quark Expeditions, AdventureSmith Explorations.
  • Caledonian Sky: (a) Renaissance VI (b) Sun Viva 2 (1997), Sun cruise (c) MegaStar Capricorn (2000), Star Cruises (d) Hebridean Spirit (2000) (e) Caledonian Sky (2012), Noble-Caledonia.
  • Hebridean Sky: (a) Renaissance VII (b) Renai I (c) Island Sun (d) Corinthian II (1991) (e) Sea Explorer (f) Hebridean Sky (2016), Noble-Caledonia
  • Island Sky: (a) Renaissance VIII (b) Renai II (c) Island Sky (1992), Noble-Caledonia, Bahamas.

References
  1. Reynolds, Christopher (2001-09-26). "Renaissance Cruise Line Halts Ships, Operations". Los Angeles Times.
  2. "About Us." Renaissance Cruises. March 7, 2000. Retrieved on January 20, 2010.
  3. Boyle, Ian. "Renaissance". Simplon Postcards. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  4. Asklander, Micke. "M/S R One (1998)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  5. Jainchill, Johanna (2007-03-04). "Private equity firm to acquire Oceania Cruises for $850M: Travel Weekly". www.travelweekly.com.
  6. Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Two (1998)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2 August 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  7. Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Three (1999)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  8. Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Four (1999)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  9. http://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/norwegian-cruise-line-holdings-ltd-announces-fleet-expansion-for-oceania-cruises-in-2016-20141125-00730
  10. http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/11912-ocean-princess-sold-to-oceania.html
  11. Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Five (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  12. Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Six (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  13. Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Seven (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 2008-03-22.
  14. "Princess Acquires Swan Hellenic's Minerva II". www.cruisecritic.com. 2006-03-09.
  15. Jainchill, Johanna (2011-02-24). "Shirley Bassey tapped as godmother to Adonia". travelweekly.com.
  16. Sampson, Hannah (June 4, 2015). "Carnival launches fathom, a new "social impact travel" brand". Miami Herald. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  17. Staff, C. I. N. (2018-03-14). "Azamara Signs for Ownership of Pursuit". www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
  18. Bond, Mary (2018-01-08). "Azamara announces UK refit and maiden voyage for third ship, Pursuit". Seatrade Cruise News.
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