MV ''Nordic Prince'' was a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

. She was built in 1971 by

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish corporation, Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the Marine propulsion, marine and energy markets. The core ...

Helsinki Shipyard,

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and christened as MV ''Nordic Prince''. She subsequently sailed under the names of ''Carousel'', ''Aquamarine'', and ''Arielle'', prior to being renamed ''Ocean Star Pacific''.

History

''Nordic Prince'' was the second ship to be built for Royal Caribbean, and one of the first modern purpose-built cruise ships. She was launched on 9 July 1970, and entered service for RCCL on 31 July 1971. Like her older sister, ''Song of Norway'', she was used for cruising on the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

with

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

as the starting port. In June 1980, the ship was lengthened at Wärtsilä Helsinki by 26 meters. When RCCL acquired new tonnage in the late 1980s, ''Nordic Prince'' was used for cruising around the world. ''Nordic Prince'' became the first RCCL ship to be supplanted by larger tonnage in March 1995, when she was sold to Sun Cruises. Before the ship entered service for her new owners, the sky lounge around her funnel was removed. Renamed ''Carousel'', the ship began cruising for Sun Cruises on 6 May 1995. During her time with Sun Cruises she spent summers cruising on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

but during the winter seasons she returned to the Caribbean. In February 2000, ''Carousel'' was grounded near

Cancún Cancún is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, located in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat of the municipality of Benito J ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, which led to cancellation of five cruises while she was being repaired. Toward the end of her service with Sun Cruises the ship received MyTravel funnel colours. In the early 2000s, Sun Cruises started pulling out of the cruise business. In July 2004, ''Carousel'' was sold to

Louis Cruise Lines Celestyal Cruises (formed in 2014) is a succession to Louis Cruises and Louis Cruise Lines. The Cruise line was a subsidiary of Louis plc (founded in 1935 as the first travel agency in Cyprus) until November 2021 when Searchlight Capital Partners ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, but chartered back to Sun Cruises until May 2005. ''Carousel'' was the last Sun Cruises ship in service. Louis Cruise Lines renamed the ship ''Aquamarine'' and starting from June 2005, she was used on 7-day cruises around the Mediterranean with

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

as the starting port. In April 2006, the ship was chartered for five years to

Transocean Tours Transocean Tours was a German cruise line that operated ocean-going cruise ships in the German and United Kingdom, British markets and river cruise, river cruise ships in Germany. The company was formed in 1954 and first began operating cruises i ...

who renamed her ''Arielle''. However, the charter was apparently terminated by early 2008, when the ship returned to Louis fleet and reverted to the name ''Aquamarine''. MS Arielle Kiel2007

In May 2008, ''Aquamarine'' was diverted to Milos, an island in the Aegean Sea, after a 1.5-meter gash was found on its hull at about 1.5 m above the water line. The ship's hull was damaged after it scraped against a pier during its departure from the port of Iraklio, in Crete, to the resort island of Santorini. The 872 passengers and the 407 crewmembers on board were safe. In December 2010, Louis Cruises announced they would be continuing the renewal of their fleet by selling ''Aquamarine'' to Mexican operator Ocean Star Cruises, which renamed her ''Ocean Star Pacific''. In March 2011, ''Ocean Star Pacific'' was moored at Caracas Bay, on Curaçao, for maintenance. She entered service for Ocean Star Cruises on 10 April 2011. On 15 April 2011 the ''Ocean Star Pacific'' was disabled at

Huatulco Huatulco (; ''wah-TOOL-coh''), formally Bahías de Huatulco, centered on the town of La Crucecita, is a tourist development in Mexico. It is located on the Pacific coast in the state of Oaxaca. Huatulco's tourism industry is centered on its ni ...

, Mexico, due to a fire in the engine room. She crossed the Mexican riviera after undergoing an extensive repair process in Salina Cruz, Mexico, but suffered another breakdown on 26 July 2011, in her cooling systems and air conditioning. She was planned to sail through 17 April 2012. PV Enterprises International acquired the vessel in May 2012, and received seaworthiness certification in July 2012, changing the name to ''Pacific'' in November 2012. In December 2014, the vessel, sailing under the name ''Pacific Victory'', ran aground in

Sarangani Bay Sarangani Bay is a bay located on the southern tip of Mindanao in the Philippines. It opens up to the Celebes Sea on the Pacific Ocean. General Santos, one of the Philippines most important cities and ports, is located at the head of the bay, ma ...

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, while en route to

Alang Alang is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Because it is home to the Alang Ship Breaking Yard, Alang beaches are considered the world's largest ship graveyard. Demographics As of the 2001 Indian census, Al ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, for

ship breaking Ship breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship scrapping, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sol ...

. In February 2015, ''Pacific'' arrived in Alang for decommissioning.

Sister ships

* ''Song of Norway'' * ''Sun Viking''

References

https://web.archive.org/web/20150715044432/http://www.mb.com.ph/cruise-ship-runs-aground-in-sarangani-bay/

History

Sister ships

References

External links