Published October 19, 2003. All images and text copyright Peter Knego 2003 (unless otherwise noted).

Page Five: The Carnival Refit and Return to Greece

A funnel evolves. Left, Carnival colors; center Royal Olympic; right Thomson

MARDI GRAS (ex EMPRESS OF CANADA) and CARNIVALE (ex EMPRESS OF BRITAIN) were relegated to the three and four day Bahamas cruise circuit from Port Canaveral, FL in their final years with Carnival. They would sail in tandem and are shown here on 13 May 1993. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 1993.

In 1990, CARNIVALE was given a major refit that sadly saw the removal of most of the polished woods and brass in her public rooms and cabins. Although Joe Farcus' conceptual and playful interior work on the Carnival newbuilds has been resoundingly successful, it was shocking to see the changes made to the ship during a visit to her in 1993. She was in excellent cosmetic condition with scrubbed decks and freshly painted surfaces. However, on the inside, instead of promoting their unique vintage survivor, it was as if the company had done everything they could to hide the fact that CARNIVALE was 35 years old. Museum quality fittings and fixtures were covered up or disposed of, and the warm wood veneers were replaced with acres of magenta and violet Formica surfacing crisscrossed by flashing lights and neon.

The CARNIVALE's new look, as seen in an aft-facing view along midships Apollo Deck. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 1993

The former tourist class entrance stairtower, its bulkheads covered in purple carpet. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 1993.

The International Dining Room. facing aft. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 1993.

With an increasing number of newbuilds joining the fleet, Carnival finally opted to divest itself of the former EMPRESSES. In a bold move, the company formed a new Latin-themed subsidiary, Fiesta Marina Cruises, and took the redundant CARNIVALE to Miami for a re christening as the FIESTA MARINA in October of 1993.

The FIESTA MARINA at Miami on her naming day, 18 October 1993. Photo and copyright Andres Hernandez 1993.

With public rooms sporting Spanish monikers, a Spanish-speaking staff, and all activities and cuisine geared toward the Spanish-speaking market, the FIESTA MARINA's new career out of San Juan and Caracas was, sadly, a dismal failure. After a mere three months, she was withdrawn. Meanwhile, a planned merger with Mediterranean-based Epirotiki Cruises (in order to strengthen Carnival's "Euro" presence) was fizzling. In a concessionary move, Carnival traded the FIESTA MARINA and the MARDI GRAS to the Greek company and withdrew from the deal.

The handsome OLYMPIC, sporting Epirotiki's Byzantine Cross logo on her funnel, at Santorini on 2 September 1995. Photo and copyright Richard I. Weiss 1995.

FIESTA MARINA quietly sailed for Perama and the waters from which she was retrieved by Carnival eighteen years earlier. In the handsome livery of Epirotiki, she emerged in the spring of 1995 as the OLYMPIC for that company's Aegean-based cruise program. The largest ship in the fleet to date, and with her deep draft, she was not without her maneuvering difficulties (an incident where she collided with the pier at Kusadasi in the summer of 1997 would be testament to that fact), but she was beautifully maintained and loved by her passengers. Her crew was especially proud of the ship's heritage, and for a time, the old liner was once again "queen" of the Greek fleet.

OLYMPIC at Patmos on 3 August 1997. She is now in the revised livery of Royal Olympic Cruises. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 1997.

The OLYMPIC was remeasured at 31,500 gross tons and carried 950 passengers and 470 crew. She was slightly "toned down" from the splashy interior look rendered by the 1990 Carnival refit. In 1996, Epirotiki Lines merged with longtime competitor, Sun Lines, to form Royal Olympic Cruises. At this time, their ships adapted a new funnel logo, which was a combination of Epirotiki's Byzantine Cross and Sun Line's "shining sun" emblems.

Facing forward from the base of the funnel over the former first class sun deck. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 1997.

The OLYMPIC's two forward lido pools were plated in late in the ship's CARNIVALE career. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 1997.

The view aft from OLYMPIC's fo'c'sle revealed a relatively unchanged superstructure as well as the ship's original cargo loading gear. Compare this with a similar view on page seven. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 1997.

The deco-inspired doors to the forwardmost public room, the Nine Muses Lounge, were last seen intact during the ship's career as OLYMPIC. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 1997.

These wonderful etched glass windows at the rear of the Nine Muses Lounge would disappear during the ship's conversion to THE TOPAZ in 1997.

Even as OLYMPIC, much of the latter day CARNIVALE interior stylings lived on. Here, the original etched glass and brass framed windows leading to OLYMPIC's Casino contrast with the over-the-top Carnival carpeting. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 1997.

The still lovely and original Cinema, shown facing forward. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 1997.

Life for this fine ship did not end with her Royal Olympic career. She was sold in late 1997 to Greek-based Topaz International.

THE TOPAZ is shown in Thomson Cruises' livery departing Port Canaveral, Florida on 29 August 1998. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 1998.

As THE TOPAZ, she was sent to the Eleusis Shipyard in December of 1997, where a $20 million refit saw the installation of more cabins on forward Upper Deck, the addition of a buffet-style restaurant on aft Verandah Deck, and numerous interior revisions. With a new tonnage of 32,327 and capacity of 1050, THE TOPAZ returned to service on a bare boat charter to Thomson Holidays in the spring of 1998.

She was the "darling" of the fleet, offering an "all-inclusive" cruising experience (meaning liquor was also covered in the fare) to a mostly UK-based clientele. THE TOPAZ' dining areas were fitted out with performance spaces and her Cinema was even transformed into a dinner theater.

THE TOPAZ late in her Thomson tenure, bearing the new colors of parent company, TUI. Photo and copyright Bruce Peter 2002.

She sailed under The Thomson banner (later adapting parent company TUI's new livery) until mid-2003, when she was replaced by the SPIRIT (former NIEUW AMSTERDAM). With the procession of so many still viable older ships to the scrapyards of India and Turkey, it was a huge relief to shiplovers everywhere to learn that THE TOPAZ still had a healthy dose of life ahead of her.

Please click for page six: THE TOPAZ Top to Bottom Tour

[THE TOPAZ page one]   [THE TOPAZ page two]   [THE TOPAZ page three]   [THE TOPAZ page four]   [THE TOPAZ page six]   [THE TOPAZ page seven]

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