Viking Serenade History/ Tribute

This is a short but sweet tribute to what was considered as the ugly duckling of the past Royal Caribbean Fleet, the "Viking Serenade".She was built in 1982 by Dubigeon-Normandie S.A., Nantes, France for Scandinavian World Cruises (a daughter company of DFDS) as the cruiseferry MS Scandinavia. At the time of her construction she was the largest cruiseferry in the world. After being withdrawn from Scandinavian World Cruises she briefly sailed for DFDS Seaways. Between 1985 and 1990 she sailed for Sundance Cruises and Admiral Cruises as MS Stardancer. In 1990 the ship was sold to Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and renamed MS Viking Serenade. The following year she was coverted into a genuine cruise ship. In 2002 she was transferred to the fleet of Royal Caribbean's new subsidiary Island Cruises. Island Escape joined the fleet of Thomson Cruises in April 2009, but retained her name and continued with her more informal style of buffet restaurants and relaxed dress code.
The Island Escape operates in the Canary Islands and the Western Mediterranean under Thomson Cruises. In November 2010, Thomson will spend a further £4 million in refurbishing the Island Escape

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• viking
• serenade
• island
• escape
• cruises
• royal
• caribbean
• thomson

[digitalrick1971]

My first RCCL cruise was on the Viking Serenade. Although old by comparison to my previous cruises on Carnival, the intimacy and customer service made us feel so much more comfortable than the mega-liners on Carnival. I miss the Viking.

[cozanu]

@nickisick1

me too 98-99 in spite of being the ugliest and smallest ship in the fleet it had the best ratings on service

I can't believe I'm saying this but I miss it

[Joisu121]

I went on Viking Serenade in 1996! Haha I didn't know it was considered the ugly duckling. I thought it was just fine. :)

[SJSharkWannabe]

I took 2 cruises on this ship - one to Ensenada in 1998 & Catalina Island in 2001; had an absolutely wonderful time & the Royal Caribbean staff was amazing.

[Lilyankee2424]

I would love to sail on her now

[nickisick1]

i worked on this ship back in 1999...

[WamsWarrior]

Nice. I always found it funny that royal caribbean took in a ship that they didn't build. they made her great though and i'm sure she made all her guest happy. i love the magic of royal caribbean!! =]