MS ''Amera'' (formerly ''Royal Viking Sun'', ''Seabourn Sun'' and ''Prinsendam'') is a cruise ship operated by
Phoenix Reisen. She was launched in 1988 as ''Royal Viking Sun'' for
Royal Viking Line, and began operating for
Cunard Line
The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...
under the same name in 1994. She was renamed ''Seabourn Sun'' when
Seabourn Cruise Line acquired the ship in 1999. In 2002, Seabourn transferred the ship to
Holland America Line
Holland America Line N.V. (HAL) is an American cruise line operating as a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Founded in 1873 in Rotterdam, Netherlands as the Netherlands-America Steamship Company (NASM), the company operated regular trans ...
, which was renamed as ''Prinsendam''. In 2018, ''Prinsendam'' was sold to Phoenix Reisen, debuting in 2019.
History
1988–1999: ''Royal Viking Sun''
Royal Viking Line
She was launched in 1988 as ''Royal Viking Sun'' for Royal Viking Line. Christened by godparents
James Stewart
James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...
and
Gloria Stewart, and she was the largest ship in the fleet at the time she entered service.
Cunard Line
In 1994, Cunard Line purchased ''Royal Viking Sun'' and the ''Royal Viking'' brand when Royal Viking Line ceased operations. Cunard continued to operate her under the same name and initially retained the vessel's original livery. Later, Cunard repainted her funnel in their colours but retained the Royal Viking logo. In April 1996, the ship tore a hole in its hull after hitting a reef in the
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
about fifteen miles off the coast of
Sharm El Sheikh
Sharm El Sheikh (, , literally "bay of the Sheikh"), alternatively rendered Sharm el-Sheikh, Sharm el Sheikh, or Sharm El-Sheikh, is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip alo ...
while on its way to
Aqaba
Aqaba ( , ; , ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative center of the Aqaba Governorate. The city had a population of 148, ...
.
1999–2002: ''Seabourn Sun''
In 1999,
Carnival Corporation
Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras.
Carnival typi ...
merged Cunard and Seabourn and moved ''Royal Viking Sun'' to Seabourn.
After an extensive refit, she was renamed ''Seabourn Sun''.
Her last cruise for Seabourn was a circumnavigation of South America in 2002.
2002–2019: ''Prinsendam''

In 2002, ''Seabourn Sun'' was transferred to sister brand Holland America Line, after Seabourn chose to focus on its fleet's smaller vessels. Renamed ''Prinsendam'', she underwent a refit before beginning operations.
On 1 February 2007, ''Prinsendam'' was hit by two
rogue wave A rogue wave is an abnormally large ocean wave.
Rogue wave may also refer to:
* Optical rogue waves, are rare pulses of light analogous to rogue or freak ocean waves.
* Rogue Wave Software, a software company
* Rogue Wave (band), an American in ...
s near
Cape Horn
Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...
; 40 injuries were reported, with some requiring hospitalisation.
On 22 March 2012, ''Prinsendam'' was en route to
Portimao when she received a distress call from the Portuguese fishing boat ''Dario'', which was sinking with eight people aboard. When the ship arrived, ''Dario''s crew was entering a life raft. The Portuguese Coast Guard directed ''Prinsendam'' to pick up the fishermen and stand by for a helicopter to take the eight men to shore.
During her career with Holland America, she had undertaken cruises to
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
, and was able to transit the
Kiel Canal
The Kiel Canal (, until 1948 called in German the ) is a fresh water canal that links the North Sea () to the Baltic Sea (). It runs through the Germany, German states of Germany, state of Schleswig-Holstein, from Brunsbüttel to the Holtenau di ...
due to her low height above the waterline.
2019–present: ''Amera''
In July 2018, Holland America announced that ''Prinsendam'' had been sold to Phoenix Reisen.
However, she was chartered back to Holland America to continue operating her scheduled voyages until 1 July 2019.

On 2 July 2019, ''Prinsendam'' began her six-week renovation at
Blohm+Voss Blohm is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Hans Blohm C.M. (born 1927), photographer and author
*Hermann Blohm (1848–1930), German businessman and co-founder of German company Blohm+Voss
*Irma Blohm (1909–1997), German politi ...
in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, and left on 12 August 2019 for
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser.
Brem ...
. She was rechristened ''Amera'' in Bremerhaven on 16 August 2019 by Petra Kaiser, a veteran Phoenix Reisen employee, before sailing to
Dover
Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...
for her maiden voyage to
Antwerp
Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
,
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, and the Norwegian fjords, where she cruised for her inaugural season.
She operated
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 ...
cruises beginning in October 2019.
References
External links
Royal Viking Sun Video Clips*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amera
Ships of the Holland America Line
Rogue wave incidents
Ships built in Turku
1988 ships
Maritime incidents in 2007