Saga Ruby (ex-Caronia and ex-Vistafjord)

[Stowaway2k]

Hi Rosie,

Thanks, but that shipyard link isn't working for me.

Unfortunately, the passenger ship terminal doesn't publish a calendar, so it's difficult to determine what ships are coming in.  I do a Google search, such as "Shanghai cruise" and then browse through the travel agent sites.  Very tedious, but it paid off this time.  Plus, I cannot determine which ships will be docked in the city at the passenger ship terminal or out of town at the container terminal.  A few years ago a bridge was built across the river, downstream from the terminal, that limits what ships can come this far upriver. 

[Twynkle]

Hi Kyle
Many apologies for a misleading link.
I'll have another look later, and will post on the Saga Rose site when / if I find the yard.

(Off topic!)
Then - maybe this link will help for when you are looking up ships in port - I notice Xingang (for Beijing) is mentioned. Hopefully they may list Shanghai when it's appropriate.
http://www.cruisecal.com/portal/
QM2 will be alongside in the container terminal (Shanghai) on the 23rd March - Soon!!
It was quite difficult to both 'see out / see any view' from deck 11, or indeed, to spot her over the top of all those high walls of containers last year.
And for obvious reasons (development etc), of all the calls she made, Shanghai was by far the most impressive.
http://www.worldportsource.com/ports/CHN_Port_of_Shanghai_411.php
All the best
Rosie

[Rob Lightbody]

Saga Ruby in Shanghai
March 18, 2012

She looks beautiful!  Thanks for posting.  I hope she continues to sail the seas for many years more, reminding people how ships used to look.

[Stowaway2k]

Thanks, Rosie for all the info.
I remember when CruiseCal was a free service.  I see that Crystal is in today.

Thanks, Rob for the complement.   

[Twynkle]

A brochure amongst others from Saga that arrived yesterday announced details of Saga Ruby's 'Final World Cruise'
leaving her home port of Dover on 7th January.
What sad news this is.

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

According to information gleaned from Liners' List, she will be concentrating on the shorter cruises in the future, leaving the world cruises to the newer ship(s).

I agree with you, Rosie -- probably the time has come to enjoy her again, very consciously, as we don't know how much longer she will last...

[Twynkle]

Off Pendennis Point, Cornwall. taken 26.7.2012
Thanks to John Durrant

https://www.flickr.com/photos/33847785@N00/7651410344/

For Bob C - do you think this illustrates a tumblehome?


Saga Ruby anchored off Pendennis Point. by john durrant, on Flickr

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Here is Cunard's Vistafjord in Honolulu in her mid-1990s livery :

https://www.flickr.com/photos/macprohawaii/8057428235/

QE2 was in Honolulu on the same day, so we might even be able to pinpoint exactly when it was!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/macprohawaii/8057428682/

[Peter Mugridge]

As QE2 has the speed stripe on in those pictures we can already narrow the window down a bit can't we?

Now, Honolulu... that would imply a World cruise so we can narrow the window down even more can't we?

[Twynkle]

It was an unexpected extra treat yesterday morning - looked through the porthole to see the lovely stern of Saga Ruby as she was steaming past QM2 on her way to Mayflower Terminal.

[Michael Gallagher]

The Vistafjord and QE2 meeting was in either 1997, 1998 or 1999 given the paint scheme of both vessels. Vistafjord wore this scheme from 1995 to 1999 and QE2 does not have the lion above the Cunard name so that narrows it further. QE2 was in Honolulu on the following dates:

23 January 1997
25 January 1998
24 January 1999

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Thank you so much, Michael, for those dates! They were a beautiful pair...

[Twynkle]

Thank you so much, Michael, for those dates! They were a beautiful pair...

Isabelle - they were known by some of the Deck Officers as Pig and Piglet, I believe!

[Peter Mugridge]

The Vistafjord and QE2 meeting was in either 1997, 1998 or 1999 given the paint scheme of both vessels. Vistafjord wore this scheme from 1995 to 1999 and QE2 does not have the lion above the Cunard name so that narrows it further. QE2 was in Honolulu on the following dates:

23 January 1997
25 January 1998
24 January 1999

That's good; is there any chance that Vistafjord's schedule for those three dates is easily located?

[Michael Gallagher]

The date of the meeting was Sunday 24 January 1999.

While I have only kept QE2 brochures I remembered that in 1997, 1998 and 1999 Cunard produced 'The Art of Cruising' brochures which were very deluxe (especially the American ones) so a quick look revealed that Vistafjord was in Honolulu on that date - the same as QE2.

When they would meet again in December 1999 Vistafjord would be known as Caronia and both ships would form the 'new' Cunard and had just undergone major refitting and would be sporting the same colour scheme...

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Thank you so much, Michael!

Once again, your astounding memory and collection have made it possible to find one specific day in the long service life of QE2. I am full of admiration and very grateful.

Wonderful to have the picture of their later meeting too...

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

My Flickr friend Mel (macprohawaii) has meanwhile confirmed this date with his own sources. He writes below the photo :

https://www.flickr.com/photos/macprohawaii/8057428682/

I found the date. It is January 24, 1999.

There were 4 cruise ships in Honolulu Harbor that day - QE 2, Vistafjord, Maxim Gorky and Crystal Symphony. Found that out in this article of our local newspaper:

Cruise ships preparing to strike up the band

Link: archives.starbulletin.com/1999/01/22/business /story3.html

At the bottom of the article which is about "Boat Days" that have since been discontinued (thanks to 9-11 I presume).... is this paragraph:

"On Sunday, the festivities are scheduled to start at 7:30 a.m. at Pier 2-B, when the band will welcome in the Queen Elizabeth 2 liner, which can carry 1,850 passengers. The band moves to Pier 9 at 8 a.m. to greet the Vistafjord; and at 2 p.m. plays music at Piers 10-11 for passengers on the Maxim Gorky ship. At 6 p.m., the band will be at Piers 19-20 to say aloha to the Crystal Symphony as the ship leaves Honolulu."

Which probably revises the camera that i used which would put me up at the Minolta X700 which I bought new only weeks before.

I'll do a little more verification of this because the paper used to publish the cruise ship schedule in the paper edition only, which is available in our public library on microfilm.

MEL

I love the local news angle -- and didn't they have a beautiful ship meeting in Honolulu that day?

[Peter Mugridge]

Fantastic result; another piece of QE2 history confirmed by forum detective work.

[pete cain]

 she looks magnificent here catching the sunlight, I downloaded it to my computer & the band logo has gone so it's full screen , beautiful.

       

             

[Tyne Turbine]

Another occasion when both QE2 & Caronia/Vistafjord were in close company was on the 5th. June, 1994 when both ships were present at the D Day Fiftieth Anniversary Review by the Queen at Spithead.

Attached are two low res shots taken on the day, one also shows the USS George Washington & USS Guam. The other shows the vessels as they departed in a mini convoy to France, out of sight is the third vessel in this elite group, the Canberra.