About Cruise Ship Odyssey

Having been addicted to cruising since the seventies (my first cruise was onboard the Soviet vessel Shota Rustaveli in 1977), my greatest memories are from my travels at sea and visiting over 200 cruise ships all over the world. CSO is all about cruise ships past and present, telling the stories of iconic vessels, as well as listing those on order and retired. The history of cruising is covered in short and over 10,000 interior photographs are here for you to browse through.

Ship Interior Architects

The Floating Palaces

The start of passenger ship interior design between the end of the 19th century up to World War I During the mid nineteenth century travelling by ocean liner was seen as a highly uncomfortable and dangerous mode of transportation. A

Joe Farcus

Joe Farcus is one of the most famous cruise ship interior architects having designed the interiors of over 50 cruise ships starting with the Carnivale for Carnival Cruise Line in 1975 Farcus had always had a keen interest in ships

Charles Frederic Mewès (1858 – 1914)

He introduced hotel-style interiors to ocean liners Charles-Frederic Mewès, was born in Strasbourg, Alsace in 1858 and grew up in Paris after his family had fled the Prussian invasion.  He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts with Jean Louis Pascal being

John McNeece (1939 – 2015)

Designer who specialised in creating simple, elegant and lavish cruise ship interiors John McNeece was born in Govan, Glasgow within sight of the ship yards at the river Clyde. Excelling at sketching and art in general, he studied at The

Johann Georg Poppe (1837 – 1915)

He brought international flair to ocean liners at the turn of the 20th century using historical revival styles like neo-baroque and -renaissance Poppe was born in Bremen into a family with a heritage as architects. From 1855 to 1859, he

Brian O’Rorke (1901 – 1974)

The architect who introduced Art Deco in passenger ship interiors on the Australian route Born in Christchurch , New Zealand, Brian O’Rorke moved with his family to the UK in 1911. He studied engineering and architecture at Cambridge University, At

Articles

In the Articles, section, there are short stories of iconic cruise ships and (former) operators. I will cover ships of the past, but also profiles of modern vessels will be added, as not only their interiors are gorgeous, often having been designed by famous architects, but also because their amenities are stunning: parks, picknick lawns, bars moving up and down decks, go-cart tracks, you name it and it’s there for passengers to enjoy.

Explora I, Explora Journeys

Photographs courtesy of MSC/ Explora Journeys On June 10 more details were revealed of their new ultra luxury brand which

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Cruise ship interiors

This site is dedicated to both cruiseships of today as well as those of yesteryear. In the section Cruise ship interiors, interior photographs of ships presently in active service are featured. Sometimes these photos were taken a long time ago, as far back as the seventies. However, the current name and owners are also mentioned if the ship has switched owners.

AIDAaura

Built 2002, Aida Kreuzfahrten, Germany, 75 photographs (2019 ship visit in Hamburg)

AIDAprima

Built 2016, Aida Kreuzfahrten, Germany, 145 photographs (2016 ship visit in Rotterdam)

AIDAstella

Built 2013, Aida Kreuzfahrten, Germany, 148 photographs (2014 ship visit in Amsterdam)

Amadea

Built 1991. Phoenix Seereisen, Germany 61 photographs (2006 ship visit in Bremerhaven)

Ambition

Built 1999, Ambassador Cruise Line, UK, 229 photographs (taken during the day of her renaming ceremony on May 11, 2023

Amera

Built 1988, Phoenix Reisen, Germany, 252 photographs, taken during ship visit in Bremerhaven in 2019

Berlin

Built 1980. Reederei Deilmann (until recently she sailed for German FTI Cruises, but after FTI ceased trading she has been

Out of service

Out of service contains interior photos of ships that have been taken out of service, but these vessels and their classic interiors which are no longer with us, deserve to live on.

Static ships

Some classics manage to escape the breakers torch, and are -sometimes having been meticulously restored- open to the public as a museum or hotel. Many of these I have visited, ranging from the SS. Rotterdam V, Queen Mary, Hikawa Maru, Brunel’s Great Britain and several former Norwegian coastal express ships and you can board them too, by browsing through the Static Ships section.

Birger Jarl

Birger Jarl was built in Sweden in 1953 for Redieri AB Svea. In 1973 she was sold to Jakob Lines,

Bore

MS Bore is a museum and hotel ship docked permanently in Turku, Finland. She was originally built in 1960 by

Britannia

Former Royal Yacht from 1953 until 1997. She made Queen Elizabeth II the world’s most travelled monarch. Her last offical voyage was in

Cap San Diego

Freighter with passenger accommodation, built 1962 for Hamburg-Sud. Spent most of it’s seagoing years on the run to South America.

History

It is interesting to follow the journey of cruising itself, in the History section, from the humble beginnings of the mid nineteenth century up to the present day, here is the development of cruising in a nutshell. Also, articles will be added on the remains of the liner age still present in many ports.

Cunard Building – New York

The former classic Cunard building is situated at 25 Broadway in Manhattan’s Financial District. It is a vast, 22-story limestone office building with a facade

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Present day cruising

During the years from 1970 onwards, the cruise industry has developed into an important holiday product, generating over a million jobs (situation 2022) also outside

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Annual news review

Check out Annual News Review, which gives a compact overview of important events since the 1970’s in the cruise industry.

Annual news review 2022

The end of the pandemic: cruising restarts MSC Magnifica is an excellent example of the way cruise ships returned to service after the pandemic. She was

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Ships on order

Those On order, which is a spectacular number nowadays (over 50 vessels!).

Retired

An overview of cruise ships retired since 1985 (it seems we are the only non-commercial website with this info)

Retired from 1985 to 1990

Principal passenger/ cruise ships retired since 1985 1985 Ship/ Ex-name(s)/  Year built/ Reason retired Columbus-C, ex-Kungsholm, Europa, 1953, Broken up Regina Prima, ex-Panama, President Hoover,

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