Song of America has likely sailed her last cruise

[Jill]

She was our first Royal ship back in 1991. Saw her last year in Santorini and Turkey. 
 

Just read this on Facebook: 

CELESTYAL OLYMPIA; THE END?

Celestyal Cruises has finally confirmed the rumour that first broke surface roughly a week back; the Greek niche operator has purchased the 2003 built, 42,000 ton Aidaaura to replace the 1982 built, 38,000 ton Celestyal Olympia on the line's short, port intensive programme of three and four day cruises out of Piraeus.

In terms of a hardware upgrade, there's no denying that this is a pretty astute move. The 'new' ship- to be renamed as the Celestyal Discovery- is an ideal complement to the recently acquired, 55,000 ton Celestyal Journey. That ship will continue to operate the schedule of longer, seven night cruises in the Aegean theatre.

The soon to be Celestyal Discovery brings a whole raft of 'firsts' to the table. As well as the mainstream, conventional dining options, the ship will also showcase a Grillseekers' speciality restaurant, together with a bespoke Sozo Health and Wellness centre. Complementing this will be a Greek Deli and Fig and Honey Gelato juice bar.

Celestyal cites that the ship will also offer a 'few surprises' when she enters service in March 2024, after a multi million dollar refit that will also enhance some elements of the Celestyal Journey, a ship originally built in 1994 as Holland America Line's Ryndam.

In terms of the 633 cabins on board the Celestyal Discovery, a total of 62- around ten per cent- have private balconies. The average inside rooms come in at around 135 square feet. While not big, these are perfectly adequate for the short, port intensive cruise schedule that the remodelled ship will be offering.

Whether or not some current cabins might be 'opened up' with the addition of new, external balconies- such as was done with the now retired Celestyal Crystal- remains to be seen.

Passengers on the new ship are also gaining quite a bit of elbow room. The 42,000 ton Celestyal Discovery can accommodate a maximum of 1, 266 passengers. Her 38,000 ton predecessor could cater for 1, 660, though technically she tended to 'max out' at around 1, 400 as a rule.

If the 'new' ship simply inherits the exact sailing pattern of the Celestyal Olympia, then the typical schedule will run as follows;

Three night sailings depart from Piraeus on Friday mornings. These call into Mykonos for a few hours that same evening.

On Saturday, the ship calls into the Turkish port of Kusadasi until around noon, then makes a roughly five hour call into Patmos, leaving the island at around nine in the evening.

Sunday morning has the ship in the Cretan port of Heraklion until around noon, before a final, show stopping call into Santorini in early afternoon. Again, this call occupies roughly five hours. The ship returns to Piraeus early Monday morning.

Four night sailings depart on Monday morning, and follow more or less exactly the same schedule as the three day trips. The major difference is a full, eight hour call into Rhodes each Wednesday, on day three of each circuit.

While the Celestyal Discovery is an exciting new step forward for the Celestyal brand, there will be more than a bit of sadness at the departure of the Celestyal Olympia from the scene. The ship, built for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line as the Song of America back in 1982, will be 42 years old next year. Most likely, she has sailed her last, commercial passenger voyage. A new buyer for such an old, amenity and balcony cabin lite ship seems sadly unlikely.

As new, the Song of America was the first RCCL ship to feature a full, wrap around 'Viking Crown' lounge, cantilevered around her funnel. Her 'cabins forward, public rooms aft' layout- and, indeed, her entire external appearance- made her a bit of a 'mini me' prototype for the subsequent, wildly successful 'Sovereign' class trio. Ironically, the only surviving member of that three ship class is now laid up at Perama, just outside of Piraeus.

The Celestyal Olympia was a delight to sail on, and I was lucky enough to do so more than once. None the less, Celestyal- like any other exemplar of contemporary hospitality- has to look forwards, and not back. Modern comfort and environmental concerns anticipate nothing less in this day and age.

The Celestyal product overall is consistent, solid, and warmly welcoming. There is just so much that seems inherently sensible in savouring the Greek Islands on a Greek ship, suffused with the sense of hospitality and style that is so intrinsically Greek.

Here's wishing the new Celestyal Discovery all the very best, as she becomes the proud new bearer of the mantle gifted to her by her beloved forebear

Photo of the Celestyal Olympia is the copyright of Anthony Nicholas

[HeWhoWaits]

Our first cruise was on Song of America. This is sad in a nostalgic way.

[smokeybandit]

Actually kind of impressive she's lasted this long

[Rooty]

Gosh so many memories on Song of America , i loved that ship back in the 90's , song of America and Viking Serenade was my go to ships , she will be missed  ,,

My son met his first girlfriend on that ship, just one of my first thoughts,

anyways she will always be in my memories 

 

[Doug_Texas]

I'm glad Celestyal put her to use.  We sailed the Greek Islands in July on Celestyal after Royal Caribbean converted our Greek Island sailing to a charter leaving us high and dry.  Celestyal maximizes time in ports and did a nice job as a mass market Greek owned cruise line.

[Jamesszy94]

I mean all good things must come to an end. At least she was put to good use under Celestyal! This is probably the beginning of the end for all the small ships. I wouldn't be surprised if Royal decided to scrap Grandeur soon.