Premier Cruise Lines

A family ready to embark on a Big Red Boat

Premier Cruise Line was formed in 1983 by A.E. "Ed" Merhige (Florida Export Warehouse/International Cruise Shops) and Bruce Nierenberg (NCL), two cruise veterans and later bought by Dial Corporation (of Dial soap fame), which then also owned the Greyhound Bus Company. The ships typically operated three- and four-day Bahamas trips out of Port Canaveral, Florida. The company earned over $20 million annually on a gross revenue of $100 million during the 1980s. The successful niche that Premier served was the family cruise line, especially attractive to grandparents sailing with their children and grandchildren.

Starting in 1985, Premier partnered with Walt Disney World, providing seven-night land and sea vacations on The Big Red Boat. Premier was licensed to provide Disney characters on its ships, until the relationship ended in 1993.[5] Disney then proceeded to start its own cruise ship line in 1995.

After the Disney contract ended, Premier then affiliated itself with Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes characters to maintain its family-friendly image,[6] and was returned to profitability under the direction of 20-year cruise veteran Jim Naik. The company had an aging fleet of Italian-designed ships competing with newer and larger liners. Mr. Naik brought Premier to profitability in his first quarter with the company. Premier's parent company, Dial, sold the company after posting profits for 1995, 1996, and 1997. New owners and new leadership followed, with Larry Magnan as president in 1998. However, the company would file for bankruptcy and cease all operations on September 14, 2000, with passengers on the still-running cruises being docked and given flights home on a first-come, first-served basis; the company's primary lender had seized its existing fleet, which had been put up for collateral.[7][8]

The older ships were designed before the current disability acts coming into effect, requiring reasonable access for persons with physical disabilities, were even envisioned, let alone enacted into law. Much later, after 1997, Premier was sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act (passed in 1990) for not making accommodations for people with disabilities. Premier ships included the Majestic (the former Sun Princess of Princess Cruise Lines), the former Home Lines flagship Oceanic, the Atlantic (another former Home Lines ship), and the Royale, a former Costa Cruises liner known then as the Frederico C. The original four ships had the prefix "Star/Ship" before their names. During Premier's reorganization in the mid 1990s all but the Oceanic (Big Red Boat I) were sold off. Premier then became an amalgamation of Dolphin and Seawind Cruises. Later, the Rembrandt, formerly the Rotterdam of Holland America Lines, was added to the line.

The SS Oceanic (Big Red Boat I) was still sailing until 2012 when she was sailed to Yokohama for scrapping.[9] The Big Red Boat II, formerly Eugenio Costa, was put up for sale and was laid up in Freeport, Bahamas. She had no potential buyers and remained there until 2005, eventually being sold to the breakers and was scrapped in Alang, India in late 2005.[10] The Big Red Boat III, formerly Carnival Cruise Line's Festivale, was also sold for scrap. The former Frederico C (called the Seabreeze I) was to be scrapped at India but instead sank in a storm 220 nautical miles (407 km) off the Virginia coast. Lastly, the Rembrandt, formerly the Rotterdam, was purchased by the city of Rotterdam, The Netherlands to be restored and kept as a historic landmark.

Ship	Built	In service with Premier	Tonnage	Status	Image
StarShip Oceanic Big Red Boat I	1965	1985-2000	38,772 GT / 39,241 GRT	Also known as Oceanic for Home Lines, Sold to Pullmantur Cruises in 2000 and to Peace Boat in 2009. Scrapped in 2012.
Starship Majestic	1970	1988-1995	17,042 GT	Previously Spirit of London for P&O Cruises and Sun Princess for Princess Cruises. Sold in 1995. Capsized and sank in 2016.
StarShip Atlantic	1983	1988-1997	35,143 GT	Previously Atlantic for Home Lines. It later became the MSC Melody for MSC Cruises and the Qing. The ship sank at its berth in Goa, India in 2016. She was later refloated and sold for scrap in 2018.
Big Red Boat II	1966	1999–2000	32,753 GRT	Also known as Eugenio C / Eugenio Costa for Costa Crociere, and Edinburgh Castle for Lowline Shipping. Sold for scrap in 2005.
Rembrandt	1958	1997-2000	38,645 GT	Previously Rotterdam for Holland America Line. Converted into a hotel and museum in 2004.
OceanBreeze	1955	1997-1999	20,204 GRT	Previously Southern Cross, Calypso, and Azure Seas. Sold for scrap in 2003.
Royale SeaBreeze	1958	1983-1988 1997-2000	21,000 GT	Previously Federico C for Costa Cruises. Sank in 2000.
Big Red Boat III	1962	1998-2000	26,632 GRT	Also known as Transvaal Castle, S.A. Vaal, IslandBreeze, and Festivale. Sold for scrap in 2003.
SS SeaWind Crown	1961	2000	23,306 GRT	Also known as Infante Dom Henrique and Vasco Da Gama. Scrapped in China, 2004.

Timeline

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