May 15th 1972: Launched. April 6th - April 9th 1973: Sea trials were conducted. May 15th 1973: Christened and delivered to Norwegian America Line, Oslo. May 15th 1973: Sailed from Newcastle for Norway. May 17th 1973: First called at Stavanger (Norway’s Independence Day), then arrived Oslo. May 22nd 1973: Maiden journey from Oslo to New York. June 7th 1973: Maiden cruise from New York to Nassau since which she has been in world-wide cruise service. May 1983: Sold to Cunard Line, Nassau, for delivery in October 1983.
Nigel Thornton Collection
December 1983: $15 million refit at Malta. Her aft superstructure was extended and 22 cabins added.
Nigel Thornton Collection
1999: underwent an extensive refit. December 12th 1999: Emerged as CARONIA. She was also re-registered to Great Britain at Southampton.
Nigel Thornton Collection
January 5th 2000: Just five months after a refit in Cunard Lines Southampton confirmed the vessel would have to return to Germany on May 18th for repairs. Portions of the shell plating were too thin. February 26th 2002: After CARONIA spilled nearly 7,800 gallons of oil on the night of February 23 into Guanabara Bay, Brazilian environmental authorities fined Cunard Lines $410,000. The incident was reported to have happened during an operation to remove water from the vessel's tanks. The spill was contained quickly and the clean up completed. The company was fined because the water removal operation was in violation of Brazil's environmental crimes law which prohibits the risky operation in Rio's Guanabara Bay.
© Gary Davies Maritime Photographic
May 23rd 2003: Announced today that Cunard would sell the vessel to Saga Holidays, owners of the her former fleet-mate, SAGA ROSE (ex SAGAFJORD). It was believed that she would leave the Cunard fleet in November 2004 upon delivery of the new Vista-class QUEEN VICTORIA. October 20th 2003: Departed Southampton for the last time as CARONIA. May 10th 2004: It was revealed that the CARONIA (ex VISTAFJORD) would be renamed SAGA STAR when she joined the Saga Holidays fleet. May 13th 2004: Now rumoured to become Saga Holiday's SAGA RUBY, not SAGA STAR November 2004: Planned entry into dry dock in Malta for a £17 million refit and refurbishment. November 2004: Renamed SAGA RUBY. Refurbished/refitted in Valletta, Malta.
© Saga Shipping
February 2005: Sea trials.. February 7th 2005: Arrived at Southampton. A three month refit in Malta saw the ship made ready for sailing with the Saga Cruises fleet. February 2005: Two “mini” “shake down” cruises cut short owing to technical problems. February 26th 2005: “Shake Down” overnight cruise to Zeebrugge. February 27th 2005: Return to Southampton. March 1st 2005: Maiden cruise from berth 106 (18.00hrs) under Saga colours (Azores, Caribbean and Central America. “The Inaugural Cruise”) returning on April 2. 2005: Both SAGA RUBY and SAGA ROSE sailed out of Southampton.
 Inaugural call @ Dover 30/04/2005. © Nigel Thornton
April 30th 2005: Set sail on maiden 7 day cruise from Dover, “Fjordland Wonders”
© Nigel Thornton
July 20th 2005: Reunited sisters together at Dover March 27th 2006: Made her maiden visit to Los Angeles. She later departed for San Diego and the remainder of her world cruise that included a transit of the Panama Canal and a visit to Bermuda among other stops.
 
© Nigel Thornton
April 25th 2006: Arrived in Southampton. August 14th 2006: At Dover, had one of her satellite domes replaced and repositioned. 2006: Owner and manager; Saga Shipping Company Ltd.
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Technical Data
History
