Big Red Boat

[MoSoccerMom]

What was the "Big Red Boat?" I've seen this a lot here. Was it the first boat Disney used for cruises?

 

[birkner]

What was the "Big Red Boat?" I've seen this a lot here. Was it the first boat Disney used for cruises?

The boat belonged to Premier and was then the "official Disney cruise line". We sailed on her in 1992.

From Wikipedia:

Premier Cruise Line was a cruise line that operated from 1983 to 2000. It was at one time the official cruise line of Walt Disney World and used the trademark "The Big Red Boat" based on the color scheme of some of its ships.

Premier Cruise Line was formed in 1983 by the Greyhound Bus Company. The ships typically operated 3-day and 4-day Bahamas trips out of Port Canaveral, Florida. The company was earning in excess of $20 million annually on a gross revenue of $100 million during the 1980s.

Premier became the "official Disney cruise line", and marketed cruises as part of a land/sea vacation package including visits to the Disney theme parks in Florida. Disney decided to start its own cruise line business in 1995 and ended its relationship with Premier. Premier then affiliated itself with the Looney Tunes characters to maintain its family friendly image, but Premier suffered without the Disney connection. The company also had an aging fleet of small ships unable to compete with newer and larger liners. The older ships were not designed for the handicapped and Premier was sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act for not making accommodations for people with disabilities. Premier Cruises eventually went into bankruptcy and folded in September, 2000.

Some Premier ships included the Majestic (the former Sun Princess of Princess Cruise Lines), the former Home Lines flagship Oceanic, the Atlantic (another former Home Lines ship), and the Royale, a former Costa liner known then as the Frederico C. The original four ships had the prefix "Star Ship" or S/S before their names. During Premiers' reorganization in the mid 1990s all but the Oceanic (Big Red Boat I) were sold off. Premier then became an amalgamation of Dolphin and Seawind Cruises. Later, the Rembrandt, formerly the Rotterdam of Holland America Line was added to the line.

The Oceanic (Big Red Boat I) is still sailing today for Spain based Pullmantur Cruises. The Big Red Boat II, formerly Eugenio Costa, was sold for scrap. The Big Red Boat III, formerly Carnival Cruise Line's Festivale was also sold for scrap. The former Frederico C (called the Seabreeze I) was to be scrapped at India but instead sank in a storm 220 nautical miles (407 km) off the Virginia coast. Lastly, the Rembrandt, formerly the Rotterdam, was purchased by the city of Rotterdam, The Netherlands, to be restored and kept as a historic landmark.


[edit] Controversy
At the time of its sinking, the Seabreeze I had been under arrest by creditors in Halifax since September 2000. The investigation into the sinking of the Seabreeze I caused international concern, based upon numerous suspicious incidents, including the fact that the ship was likely to fetch only between $5 and $6 million for scrap, but had a $20 million insurance policy on it. The cruise ship sank in international waters flying the Panamanian flag, making Panama responsible for the investigation of the sinking of the boat.

The ship's captain told U.S. Coast Guard rescuers that his boat was in imminent danger of sinking as a result of its engine room being flooded in heavy seas. At the time, the Coast Guard rescuers believed that it was highly unlikely for a ship that large to sink that quickly, and were astonished when the Greek captain demanded that he be exfiltrated from his boat, rather than stay aboard it and try to shepherd it to shore and recovery.

At the time of the sinking, Steven Cotton of the International Transport Workers Federation in London stated that he wished that the ship, which went down 225 nautical miles (417 km) off the Virginia coast, had gone down 25 nautical miles (46 km) closer to the coast because that would have put the case in the hands of American investigators.

According to Cotton, "Panama's track record of carrying out comprehensive investigations into vessel sinkings is not very good." Suspicion on the sinking was also cast based upon the fact that ships flying the Panamanian flag had in recent years lost more ships than any other flag-state in the world.

The United States Coast Guard organized interviews with the 34 crew members it rescued from the sinking vessel, but the Greek captain refused to talk to them. Without engaging in an expensive and dangerous deep-sea dive to investigate the wreckage of the Seabreeze, it is highly unlikely that the true reason behind the sinking will ever be discovered

 

[tyedye]

Interesting... here is the link to the article on it's sinking
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/12/18/ship.rescue/index.html

 

[Windy City Heather]

When it went they claimed bankruptcy they dropped there passengers in the closest ports. I really felt sorry for those people, hope they had good ta's. We were scheduled to cruise on them the week after they claimed bankruptcy.

 

[nobodycares]

My first cruise was on the Oceanic!

 

[beachblanket]

From Wikipedia:

The Big Red Boat III, formerly Carnival Cruise Line's Festivale was also sold for scrap.

That vessel actually had much more history to her than her period as one of the first ships in the Carnival fleet.

The "Big Red Boat III" was originally built in 1961 by Union Castle Line (a famous British passenger line started in 1900) as a single class liner named the Transvall Castle. She served in that capacity on the Southhampton, England to South Africa route for five years.

In 1966, she was transferred to Union Castle's South African Safmarine subsidiary and was renamed Sa Vaal, sailing routes from Africa to the Middle East. For anyone who thinks that these sorts of "old" ships were much less accomodating than current cruise liners, think again - Here's a 1960s brochure picture of one of middle range cabins during that period of service:

In 1977, she was sold to the then new Carnival Cruise Line, who significantly rebuilt and improved her, rechristening the ship the Festivale. For a short period Festivale was the largest American-based cruise ship and served Carnival for almost twenty years before being sold to Dolphin Cruise Lines and renamed IslandBreeze in 1996.

The Carnival livery:

The Dolphin livery (during one of the few, rare appearances this ship ever made in in New York):

Her final incarnation started in 2000 as Premier's SS The Big Red Boat III. Her career in that role was brief, since Premier went belly up only months after she entered service (pictures and/or stories from people who sailed on her during that period are consequently very rare). She was subsequently laid up for three years in Freeport, Bahamas. Almost cruely, the then new Disney Wonder often tied up right next to her during the first few years of DCL sailings to that port.

The Big Red Boat III was sold to scrappers in 2003, who almost immediately sailed her to the infamous, grim scrapyards of Alang, India. There, she had the unfortunate designation of being the largest passenger ship scrapped to date (one that she will soon lose to the S.S. France a.k.a. S.S Norway - a terrible loss which is discussed elsewhere on this board on a thread titled "Death of a Great Lady" - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1108595

And here is a picture of the final remains of the Transvaal Castle a.k.a. Sa Vall a.k.a. Festivale a.k.a. IslandBreeze a.k.a. Big Red Boat III, the latter being the legacy of one of Disney's first engagements in the cruise industry, circa early 2004:

 

[zalansky]

The Big Red Boat was my first cruise ever also! My parents added me to their reservation for only $99 back in 1993! I didn't want to go, but went - and LOVED every second of it and have been a cruise lover ever since. Get this COOL feature - you used to be able to have a character come to the room and tuck your kids into bed at night! The food was really good and we had a blast on that cruise.

 

[pumpkin5156]

"Big Red Boat, stay afloat, sailing the ocean blue..." I though the OP was going to ask the lyrics of The Wiggles song. So sad that I know them....


On a serious note: I am not downplaying the sinking of the real boat or anything.

 

[bevtoy]

Heres a 1996 Photo of Oceanic:

and a few to bring back good memories for those who sailed.

 

[pfishgirl]

We were on the Big Red Boat when DS was 5 years old.. 12 years ago..

The LooneyToon Characters were on it.. Bugs, Taz, Tweety etc..

We have a picture of a Giant Tweety tucking in a Tiny boy He still has his Tweety stuffed toy he was given stored in the attic..

 

[crissichef]

My first cruise was on the Oceanic!

Mine too! I was 15 at the time...............it was one of the best vacations ever !!! I remember the stop at Castaway Cay and how great the beach there was.............the water was so clear!

 

[outahere]

Mine too! I was 15 at the time...............it was one of the best vacations ever !!! I remember the stop at Castaway Cay and how great the beach there was.............the water was so clear!

I may be wrong, but I don't think you stopped at Castaway Cay while sailing on the Big Red Boat. I do believe that Premier had a private island in the Bahamas, but it was not CC. I think the pictures in bevtoy's post above are of that island.

 

[bevtoy]

When we were there it was called Salt Cay.

 

[ramkam]

From December 1993

The Oceanic

The Atlantic

The Majestic

 

[outahere]

When we were there it was called Salt Cay.

Anyone know if it was the same island? The original (legal) name of CC was Gorda Cay.

A few years ago I remember seeing pictures of whatever island the Big Red Boat used to stop at. The decorations were Disney themed, but it had been idle for several years and was in pretty bad shape and really didn't look anything like CC.

 

[rileyfamily]

The BRB island was Salt Cay. My sons and I cruised on two of their BRB ships for a total of three cruises (as a single dad). They were all great. The best time I had was on the Star Ship - Majestic. She was a prior "Love Boat" ship that was small enough to visit the Abacos Islands overnight (Great Guana Cay) as well as provide big ship entertainment. She held fewer passengers and was very nice. The Boys and I would visit Salt Cay when on the Star Ship Oceanic. We also enjoyed the bingo games, stage shows, and arcades. The staff were wonderful to the Kids and I. Loved their boats.
Now have a new love with the Magic. Boys are grown, but new wife and I share a love for the Magic. We are doing our 4th and 5th cruises on her in January. Did our honeymoon on her 6 years ago.
But will always have a soft spot and warm memories from the Big Red Boat!


rileyfamily

 

[DreamCruiser100]

 

[bevtoy]

I love that magnet! Thats great!

 

[SomePixiedust]

We sailed the Big Red Boat in 1990 with a Disney Theme and stopped at Salt Cay. I believe Salt Cay is now Blue Lagoon Island, the island you go to if you do the Dolphin Encounter from Nassau. We were just there and it even though it was 17 years later, it felt shockingly familiar. Just as beautiful as I remembered.

 

[antmaril]

We were on the Big Red Boat when our DS was four years old - he's going to be 21 in December!

We did a three day cruise with four nights at WDW and it was the best vacation of my life. We had so much fun. I'll never forget it.