Vistafjord

Concept and construction

Vistafjord was ordered by Norwegian America Line (NAL) from Swan Hunter, Newcastle, England. However, as the cost of building Sagafjord had put her builders, Forges et Chantiers de la Mediterranee, out of business, Vistafjord had to be built at a different shipyard. She was launched on 15 May 1972 and delivered to the Norwegian America Line exactly a year later on 15 May 1973. She is the last cruise ship to have been built in the United Kingdom.

Service history

Norwegian America Line

On 22 May 1973, Vistafjord set on her maiden voyage, a transatlantic crossing from Oslo to New York. In early 1980, the vessel was famously chartered by car manufacturer British Leyland to internally launch the Austin Metro to its British dealer network.

Although their ships were high-rated, Norwegian America Line had trouble making profit.

Cunard Line

In 1983 Trafalgar House, the owners of Cunard, purchased NAL and in October 1983 Vistafjord joined the Cunard fleet together with her fleetmate Sagafjord. She retained her original name and the grey NAL hull colour, but received Cunard Line funnel colours and was re-registered to the Bahamas.

During this time, both Vistafjord and Sagafjord, were considered to be amongst the most luxurious cruise ships in the world, sharing the top 5 in Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising, together Sagafjord and Royal Viking Line's Royal Viking Star, Royal Viking Sky and Royal Viking Sea for several years.

In 1999 the decision was made to rename Vistafjord with a more traditional Cunard Line name. On 10 December 1999 she was renamed Caronia and re-registered in the United Kingdom.

Saga Cruises

She continued service with Cunard until November 2004, when she was sold to Saga Cruises. Following a £17 million refit at Valletta, Malta Caronia reappeared as Saga Ruby in March 2005.

It was reported in 2012 that Saga Cruises would retire Saga Ruby in 2014 and the Quest for Adventure would move back into the fleet as Saga Pearl II.

Farewell voyage with Saga

She sailed her final world cruise in the first months of 2013. However it was marred by technical difficulties which kept the ship in Southampton until late February, which led to the cruise being renamed the 'Grand Voyage' visiting South America and South Africa.

It was reported that Saga Ruby would depart on her final cruise with Saga Cruises on 7 December 2013 round trip from Southampton on a 31-day voyage to the Caribbean. While on her final cruise she was forced to change her itinerary to a Western Mediterranean cruise finally returning to Southampton on January 7, 2014. The cruise returned to Southampton late due to poor weather in the Bay of Biscay, eventually arriving on 9 January 2014, with passengers disembarking on 10 January.

Floating hotel ''Oasia''

In January 2014 she was sold for $14 million USD to Millennium View, a privately held company based in Singapore. The new owners planned to convert her into a floating hotel in Myanmar. In mid-February 2014 she sailed from Gibraltar as Oasia under Bahamas flag and management of FleetPro Ocean. In February 2017, it was announced that Oasia was being sold for scrap. The ship, was still SOLAS compliant and had recently undergone a US$10 million overhaul as a hotel and museum ship. She was found in Thailand, awaiting tow to scrapping, after having US$20 million invested in her.

Design

Exterior design

Vistafjord was built with a very traditional ocean liner profile, with the funnel placed amidship and a notable sheer on her hull. The superstructure is terraced both at the fore and aft of the ship. In two refits during her Cunard Line career additional structures were added to the rear and top of the superstructure.

In Norwegian America Line service Vistafjord carried the traditional NAL livery, with a grey hull, white superstructure, yellow mast and a yellow funnel with red, white and blue (colours of the flag of Norway) stripes. Following the sale to Cunard she retained the grey hull colour, but her funnel was painted in the red/black Cunard colours and her mast white. A red "Cunard" text was later added to her superstructure. Coinciding with her renaming into Caronia in 1999 the ship's hull was repainted black. As Saga Ruby her hull was repainted dark blue and her funnel yellow, with a dark blue top and a narrow white stripe separating the two colours.

Filming

• Vistafjord featured in the 1983 movie Table for Five.

• Vistafjord featured in two 1985 consecutive episodes of The Love Boat, season 9, episodes 4 and 5 ("The Spain Cruise").

• Vistafjord featured in the 1986 episode "Countdown" of MacGyver as the cruise ship SS Victoria.

References

References

1. Asklander, Micke. "M/S ''Vistafjord'' (1973)". Fakta om Fartyg.
2. "Saga Ruby".
3. {{cite ship register
4. Ward, Douglas. (2008). "Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships". Berlitz.
5. Miller, William H.. (1995). "Pictorial Encyclopedia of Ocean Liners, 1860-1994". [[Dover Publications]].
6. "Comment in "A Last Look Inside SAGA RUBY"". Martin Cox.
7. Dawson, Philip. (2005). "The Liner: Retrospective and Renaissance". [[Conway Publishing]].
8. Ulrich. p. 221
9. Ward (2008). p. 43
10. Ulrich, Kurt. (15 April 1999). "Monarchs of the Sea - the Great Ocean Liners". [[Tauris Parke]].
11. "''Saga Ruby''". Saga Holidays.
12. "Vistafjord". Chris' Cunard Page.
13. (10 July 2012). "Saga to Retire Ruby".
14. "Saga: Over 50s Insurance, Holidays, Money and Magazine".
15. "Saga: Over 50s Insurance, Holidays, Money and Magazine".
16. Farewell Saga Ruby ''[[Ships Monthly]]'' April 2014 pages 22-26
17. Cox, Martin. "SAGA RUBY As Burma Hotel — Updated". Maritime Matters.
18. "Live Ship Map - MSSI 311000198". MarineTraffic.com.
19. (6 February 2014). "FleetPro takes over technical management of Oasia, ex Saga Ruby". Seatrade Insider.
20. "Richard Dean Anderson Website - MacGyver Lexicon - Victoria".