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Black Watch (ship)
Encyclopedia
MS
Ship prefix
A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship.Prefixes for civilian vessels may either identify the type of propulsion, such as "SS" for steamship, or purpose, such as "RV" for research vessel. Civilian prefixes are often...
Black Watch is a cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
, currently owned and operated by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines
Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines
Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is a UK based, Norwegian-owned cruise shipping line with four cruise ships. The company headquarters are in Ipswich, Suffolk, United Kingdom and is owned by Bonheur and Ganger Rolf. The company is part of the Fred...
. She was built by Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä is a Finnish corporation which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include large combustion engines...
Helsinki New Shipyard, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
for Royal Viking Line
Royal Viking Line
The Royal Viking Line was an upmarket cruise line that operated from 1972 until 1998. The company was the brain child of Warren Titus and had its headquarters at One Embarcadero Center in San Francisco.- History :...
as Royal Viking Star, entering service in 1972. She has also sailed for Norwegian Cruise Lines as Westward and Royal Cruise Line as Star Odyssey.
Royal Viking Star
Royal Viking LineRoyal Viking Line
The Royal Viking Line was an upmarket cruise line that operated from 1972 until 1998. The company was the brain child of Warren Titus and had its headquarters at One Embarcadero Center in San Francisco.- History :...
was established in 1970 as a joint project between the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
businessman Warren Titus and three Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
shipping companies (including Kloster Cruises, the owner of Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line is a company operating cruise ships, headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida. It began operations in 1966 under the name Norwegian Caribbean Line. The company is best known for its Freestyle Cruising concept, which means that there are no set times or...
). The aim of the new company was to offer luxury cruises to destinations around the world as an alternative to Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
cruising. For this end the company ordered three purpose-built luxury cruise ships from Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä is a Finnish corporation which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include large combustion engines...
Helsinki New Shipyard in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
.
The first of the new ships, named Royal Viking Star, was launched on May 12, 1971 and entered service on June 26, 1972. Her sisters, Royal Viking Sky and Royal Viking Sea, followed in 1973. The Royal Viking Line brand was clearly a success and the elegantly furbished ships were considered to be amongst the five most luxurious cruise ships in the world at the time, alongside Norwegian America Line
Norwegian America Line
Norwegian America Line , was a cruise ship line, originally an operator of passenger and cargo ships. Founded in 1910, the company ran a regular transatlantic service between Norway and the United States, and later to East Africa as well....
's Sagafjord and Vistafjord. In 1981 the Royal Viking Star was lengthened by 27.77 metres at Seebeckwerft
Seebeckwerft
-History:Seebeckwerft was founded in 1876 and developed from a small, metal-processing company in the heart of Bremerhaven into one of the leading shipbuilding companies in the region.During World War II Seebeckwerft built 16 Type IX U-boats for the Kriegsmarine....
, Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
As the 1980s progressed it became clear that the luxury cruise lines such as Royal Viking could not survive without the support of a larger company, with the operating costs of a handful of luxury ships being too high to be truly profitable. Royal Viking Line was acquired by Kloster Cruises in 1984, but its operations were initially kept separate from those of Norwegian Cruise Line.
Westward / Star Odyssey
In April 1991 the Royal Viking Star was transferred from the Royal Viking Line to the Norwegian Cruise Line and renamed Westward. With NCL the ship was used for cruising from New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
and on the Caribbean. In April 1994, the ship was transferred to the fleet of NCL's subsidiary Royal Cruise Line, renamed Star Odyssey and used for cruising around the Mediterranean. Here the ship joined her sister Royal Viking Sea that had sailed as Royal Odyssey since 1991. The career of the Star Odyssey was to prove short however, as Norwegian Cruise Line was facing financial difficulties in the mid-1990s and were forced to sell off various assets. In October 1996 the ship was sold to Fred Olsen.
Black Watch
The ship was renamed Black Watch (a traditional name in Fred Olsen fleet) and entered service for Fred. Olsen Cruise LinesFred. Olsen Cruise Lines
Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is a UK based, Norwegian-owned cruise shipping line with four cruise ships. The company headquarters are in Ipswich, Suffolk, United Kingdom and is owned by Bonheur and Ganger Rolf. The company is part of the Fred...
on 15 November 1996. In February 1997 the ship suffered engine problems while outside Marmaris
Marmaris
Marmaris is a port city and a tourist resort on the Mediterranean coast, located in southwest Turkey, in Muğla Province.Marmaris' main source of income is tourism. Little is left of the sleepy fishing village that Marmaris was just a few decades ago after a construction boom in the 1980s...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, and had to be docked for two weeks at Valletta
Valletta
Valletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,098. The name "Valletta" is traditionally reserved for the historic walled citadel that serves as Malta's...
, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
for repairs. From April 2005 onwards, the ship was docked for two months at Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany. During this time her engines were upgraded and interiors refurbished. In July 2007, the ship was the subject of a Legionnaires Disease outbreak which affected a number of passengers in their seventies and eighties.
Public spaces
The Neptune Lounge is the main show lounge on board, with a stage and dance floor. Entertainment on board includes comedians, musicians and dancers. In the daytime this space is also used for lectures, bingo, etc. Cabaret-style performances can also take place in the Lido Lounge, which also has a dance floor, and the Observatory Lounge above the bridge. The dance shows are usually themed by port destination, from RussianRussian culture
Russian culture is associated with the country of Russia and, sometimes, specifically with ethnic Russians. It has a rich history and can boast a long tradition of excellence in every aspect of the arts, especially when it comes to literature and philosophy, classical music and ballet, architecture...
dancing in St Petersburg to Flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
in the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
.
The Braemar Room, which occupies the aft-starboard quarter of the original dining room, is a quieter lounge for reading and conversation, with groups of plush chairs and couches and a small bar. The enormous figurehead from the SS Braemar, a former member of the fleet, occupies the inboard wall.
Opposite the Braemar Room on the port side and amidships is the Braemar Garden Cafe (the ship's buffet restaurant) and the Orchid Room, a small dining room offering the same menu as the main restaurant. The latter, known as the Glentenar Restaurant, occupies the space of the ship's pre-expansion restaurant and has buffet stations along its fore and aft walls. There are two seatings for lunch and dinner, and a late-night buffet is offered in the Garden Cafe only.
A small bar called the Piper's Club is decorated with memorabilia of the Black Watch Regiment for which the ship is named.
A cinema, forward on the lowest two passenger decks, is the only double-height space on board. When the ship was built, there was a dedicated chapel just forward of the cinema, but this has been replaced by cabins. Religious services are now held in the cinema.
A fitness center, with sauna and massage room, was added during the ship's Kloster ownership. It is located amidships on the top deck. It is only accessible by outdoor stairways, and features floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides.
Decks
The deck plans provided by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines only include decks accessible to passengers; therefore the precise layout of decks 1 and 2 is unknown.- Engine room?
- Crew accommodations?
- Marina Deck: medical center, cabinsCabin (ship)A cabin or berthing is an enclosed space generally on a ship or an aircraft. A cabin which protrudes above the level of a ship's deck may be referred to as a "deckhouse."-Sailing ships:...
, lecture theatre - Atlantic Deck: Beauty salon, cabins
- Main Deck: Reception, shop, suitesSuite (hotel)A suite in a hotel or other public accommodation, denotes a class of luxury accommodations, the key feature of which is multiple rooms. Many properties have one or more "honeymoon suites", and sometimes the best accommodation is called the "presidential suite".Suites offer multiple rooms, with more...
, cabins - Lounge Deck: Restaurants, bars, café, showlounge, sundeck, swimming pools
- Lido Deck: Suites, cabins, casino, lounge, sundeck
- Bridge Deck: BridgeBridge (ship)The bridge of a ship is the room or platform from which the ship can be commanded. When a ship is underway the bridge is manned by an OOW aided usually by an AB acting as lookout...
, suites, cabins - Marquee Deck: Observation lounge, bar, swimming pool, suites
- Sun Deck: Fitness center, sundeck