MS Thomson Majesty

"MS Birka Queen" redirects here. For the other cruise ship with the same name, see MS Birka Queen (1992).
Thomson Majesty, docked in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, on March 1, 2013.
History
Name:
  • Royal Majesty (1992–1997)
  • Norwegian Majesty (1997–2009)
  • Louis Majesty (2009–2012)
  • Thomson Majesty (2012–present)
Owner:
Operator:
  • Majesty Cruise Line (1992–1997)
  • Norwegian Cruise Line (1997–2009)
  • Louis Cruise Line (2009–2012)
  • Thomson Cruises (2012–present)
Port of registry:
Builder: Wärtsilä Marine/Kvaerner Masa-Yards, Turku, Finland
Cost: $229 million[4]
Yard number: 1312[1]
Launched: 15 November 1991[1]
Christened: 29 July 1992[1]
Completed: 1992
Acquired: 2 July 1992[1]
Maiden voyage: 7 July 1992[1]
Identification:
Status: In service
General characteristics (as built[1]
Type: Cruise ship
Tonnage:
Length: 173.50 m (569 ft 3 in)
Beam: 27.60 m (90 ft 7 in)
Draft: 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in)
Ice class: 1A Super
Installed power:
Propulsion: Two controllable pitch propellers[5]
Speed: 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph)
Capacity: 1,056 passengers (1,256 maximum[6]
General characteristics (after 1999 refit))[5]
Tonnage:
Length: 207.1 m (679 ft)
Beam:
  • 27.60 m (90 ft 7 in) (moulded)
  • 32.3 m (106 ft 0 in) (max)
Draft: 6.20 m (20 ft 4 in)
Depth: 14 m (45 ft 11 in)
Decks: 9 (passenger accessible)[4]
Speed: 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Capacity: 1,460 passengers (1,970 maximum)[4]
Crew: 620[4]
Notes: Otherwise the same as built

MS Thomson Majesty (formerly MS Norwegian Majesty) is a cruise ship owned by Louis Cruises and is chartered/operated by Thomson Cruises. She was originally ordered by Birka Line as MS Birka Queen from the Wärtsilä Marine Turku Shipyard in Finland, but completed by Kvaerner Masa-Yards as MS Royal Majesty for Majesty Cruise Line. In 1997 she was sold to Norwegian Cruise Line and lengthened by 33.76 m (110 ft 9 in) at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany.[1]

Concept and construction

Birka Queen was ordered by Birka Line for short cruises out of Stockholm as a running mate to MS Birka Princess. The ship was ordered from Wärtsilä Marine,[1] but the shipyard went bankrupt in 1989. Operations were soon reorganized under the name of Masa-Yards,[7] but the price of the ship was increased in the process, and Birka therefore refused to take delivery. Instead, the build contact was sold to Majesty Cruise Line, who took delivery of the ship on July 2, 1992, renaming her Royal Majesty.[1] Due to her past, the ship has some features uncommon for cruise ships, such as the highest Finnish-Swedish ice class.[5]

Service history

Norwegian Majesty, docked in St. George's, Bermuda in 2004, while being operated by Norwegian Cruise Line

Following delivery, Royal Majesty set on her maiden voyage, a transatlantic crossing from Southampton to New York City, on July 7, 1992. She was officially christened in New York City on July 21, 1992.[1] She was christened by Liza Minnelli. Following this, she was used on three- and four-night cruises out of Florida. In 1994 she initiated a new northern hemisphere summer season itinerary with cruises from Boston to St. George's, Bermuda, returning to Florida for the winter season. In September 1995 she participated in an expedition to the sinking site of RMS Titanic, spending five days at the site with many survivors from the famous ship on board, while parts of Titanic were being salvaged.[8]

Norwegian Majesty, photographed in 2007, while being operated by Norwegian Cruise Line

On June 10, 1995, Royal Majesty grounded on Rose and Crown Shoal about 10 miles east of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, and about 17 miles from where the watch officers thought the vessel was. Investigators found that the officers failed to act on visual cues about the vessel's location, over-relying on the automated bridge system.[9] The vessel, with 1,509 persons on board, was en route from St.George’s, Bermuda, to Boston, Massachusetts. There were no deaths or injuries as a result of this accident. Damage to the vessel and lost revenue, however, were estimated at about $7 million.[10][11]

Louis Majesty, in the harbour of Rhodes, Greece.

Majesty Cruise Line ceased operations at the end of the 1997 summer season, and Royal Majesty was sold to Norwegian Cruise Line.[12] She was renamed Norwegian Majesty, and in 1999 she received a 33.76 m (110 ft 9 in) lengthening at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany.[1] Similar lengthenings had been carried out on NCL's Dreamward and Windward the previous year.[8] The lengthening of the Norwegian Majesty however was more technically complicated than those of the other ships, as she had not been designed for such an operation.[4]

Thomson Majesty, docked in Split, Croatia, on May 7th, 2013.

In 2004 the ownership of Norwegian Majesty was transferred to NCL's parent company Star Cruises in preparation for potential transfer to the Star Cruises fleet or sale at a later date. She remained in NCL service without other changes.[2] On April 23, 2008 Norwegian Majesty, was sold to the Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines. Louis Cruise Lines had reportedly outbid International Shipping Partners with their offer of $162 million.[3][13] The deal was completed on July 29, 2008, but Norwegian Majesty was chartered back to Norwegian Cruise Line until October 2009.[3][14]

Thomson Majesty, docked in Venice, Italy, on August 12th, 2013.

On June 24, 2009, Louis revealed that Norwegian Majesty would be renamed Louis Majesty.[15] On March 3, 2010, three rogue waves hit Louis Majesty, killing two passengers, and injuring a number of others, while on a 12-day cruise around the Mediterranean. The waves, which were reportedly in excess of 26 feet (8 m) high, collided with the side of the vessel, smashing several windows in the saloon area. Water was taken on in the saloon area, which then drained down the decks below. The ship returned to port at Barcelona to receive repairs.[16]

Louis Majesty was chartered to Thomson Cruises from May 2012 and renamed Thomson Majesty. It sailed from Corfu in the summer and the Canary Islands in the winter.[17]

On February 10, 2013, while the ship was docked in Santa Cruz de la Palma in the Canary Islands, five crew members were killed and three others injured during a safety drill when the lifeboat they were in fell into the sea, trapping the occupants. Julian Bray, Marine Analyst in the UK, writing in the Cduck media news blog, confirms that crew were taking part in a training exercise to load, launch, and recover lifeboats, complete a regular risk/ safety programme and to ensure crew members have had recent practical training. Malta’s Maritime Safety Investigation Unit subsequently issued a safety alert following the discovery of significant corrosion on the inner strands of the fall wire involved. The wire rope had parted approximately where it rested over the topmost sheave, when the davit was in its stowed position. The fore and aft davit’s fall wires had been replaced on 22 August 2010 and the next scheduled replacement was due in August 2014. [18]

Decks and facilities

Norwegian Majesty

Only decks accessible to passengers are included:

  1. Caribbean Deck - Outside and inside cabins
  2. Biscayne Deck - Hospital, outside and inside cabins
  3. Atlantic Deck - Nightclub, bars, shops, games arcade, library, card room, internet café, dining rooms, bistro, cafeteria, sundeck
  4. Majesty Deck - Casino, bar, showroom, suites, outside and inside cabins
  5. Promenade Deck - Sauna, gym, discothèque, outside and inside cabins, sundeck
  6. Viking Deck - Bridge, outside cabins, sundeck
  7. Norway Deck - Observation lounge, children's playroom, suites, outside cabins, sundeck, swimming pool
  8. Sun Deck - Buffet restaurant, outdoors cafeteria, bar, sundeck, swimming pools
  9. Sky Deck - Sundeck[19]

Ports of call

As Norwegian Majesty she was based in Charleston, South Carolina during the winter months 7-Day cruises to Bermuda calling at St. George's and also sailed a variety of Caribbean itineraries. 7-Day Western Caribbean cruises included stops at Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands - Cozumel, Mexico and Key West, Florida. Longer exotic reposition cruise in April out of Charleston included stops at San Juan, Puerto Rico - St. Thomas - St. Kitts - Barbados - Aruba - Curaçao and NCL's private islands Great Stirrup Cay and ending in Boston. Fall exotic reposition cruise from Boston included an overnight stay at St. George's, Bermuda - St. Thomas - St. John's, Antigua - Curaçao - Aruba and finally Port Canaveral before ending in Charleston. During the spring and summer months, she was based in Baltimore, Maryland and formerly Boston, Massachusetts and sailed 7-day cruises to Bermuda also calling at St. George's. At one time she sailed out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[20][21]

As Louis Majesty she was formerly sailing out of Piraeus, Greece sailing 3/4/5-Day cruises around the Greek Isles. Louis Cruises recently cancelled Louis Majesty's 2011/2012 Mediterranean season in favour of sailing around Greece instead.[22][23] However, the ship was instead to be transferred to Thomson Cruises and renamed Thomson Majesty, being scheduled for Aegean cruising operating out of Corfu.

As Thomson Majesty she is based out of Corfu, Greece sailing three different 7-Day cruises, from June–October, and during the winter she sails to Canary Islands & Morocco.

The upper deck of Norwegian Majesty 
The Viking deck of Norwegian Majesty 
Royal Observatory Bar of Thomson Majesty 
The Corridor of Thomson Majesty 

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Asklander, Micke. "M/S Royal Majesty (1992)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  2. 1 2 Newman, Doug (2008-04-15). "Lloyd's List: Three NCL Ships Nearly Sold". At Sea with Doug Newman. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Louis acquires Norwegian Dream and Majesty". Cruise Business Review. Cruise Media Oy Ltd. 2008-04-23. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Ward, Douglas (2006). Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships. Singapore: Berlitz. pp. 440–441. ISBN 981-246-739-4.
  5. 1 2 3 "Thomson Majesty (16244)". DNV GL Vessel Register. Det Norske Veritas. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
  6. ↑ Miller, William H. Jr. (1995). The Pictorial Encycpedia of Ocean Liners, 1860-1994. Mineola: Dover Publications. p. 110. ISBN 0-486-28137-X.
  7. ↑ Malmberg, Thure; Stampehl, Marko (2007). Siljan viisi vuosikymmentä (in Finnish and English). Espoo: Frenckellin Kirjapaino Oy. pp. 153–154. ISBN 978-951-98405-7-4.
  8. 1 2 Boyle, Ian. "Royal Majesty". Simplon Postcards. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  9. ↑ "GROUNDING OF THE PANAMANIAN PASSENGER SHIP ROYAL MAJESTY ON ROSE AND CROWN SHOAL NEAR NANTUCKET, MASSACHUSETTS JUNE 10, 1995" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  10. ↑ "NTSB Marine Accident Report" (PDF).
  11. ↑ "Cruise Ship Carrying 1,500 Runs Aground -NY Times". The New York Times. 1995-06-12. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
  12. ↑ Boyle, Ian. "Majesty Cruise Line". Simplon Postcards. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  13. ↑ Newman, Doug (2008-04-18). "Seatrade: Pride of America Not Sold". At Sea with Doug Newman. Retrieved 2008-04-19.
  14. ↑ Hand, Marcus (2008-09-30). "Star Cruises $218m Norwegian Dream sale fails". Lloyd's List. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
  15. ↑ "Louis Majesty | Cruise Ind". Cruiseind.wordpress.com. 2009-06-24. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  16. ↑ "Two killed as giant waves hit Mediterranean cruise ship". BBC News Online. 2010-03-03. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
  17. ↑ "JavaScript is disabled in your browser.". Travelweekly.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  18. ↑ "Five dead on Canary Islands cruise ship". BBC News. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  19. ↑ "Norwegian Majesty - deck plans". Norwegian Cruise Line. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  20. ↑ "Norwegian Majesty Cruise Ship from Charleston south carolina Boston Massachusetts". Cruisenetwork.com. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  21. ↑ "Norwegian Majesty Cruise Ship". Baltimorecruiseguide.com. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  22. ↑ "Louis Majesty Winter Season Canceled? - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News". Cruise Industry News. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
  23. ↑ "Louis Majesty to Drydock This Winter - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News". Cruise Industry News. 2011-08-02. Retrieved 2016-01-11.
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