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Regency Cruises

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Regency Cruises
Industry
Founded1984
FounderAnastasios Kyriakides and William Schanz
Defunct1995
HeadquartersNew York, New York
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsCruises
ParentLelakis Group

Regency Cruises was a Greek cruise company operating former ocean liners in the late 1980s and early 1990s, formed by Anastasios Kyriakides and William Schanz.

History

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The company began in 1984 with their first ship, the Regent Sea, a former transatlantic ship built for Swedish American Line.

In 1986, the company bought 3 container ships with the intent to completely rebuild into cruise ships. The Axel Johnson, was to be renamed Regent Sun, and the Annie Johnson, was to be renamed Regent Moon.[1] Regency Cruises would not proceed with the conversions, and the ships would be sold to Costa Cruises. The third vessel Margaret Johnson, intended to become Regent Sky, instead was sold to the breakers, with her steering gear and engines used for the refit of into the recently purchased Regent Star.[1]

In 1988, the cruise line would purchased the Royal Odyssey from Royal Cruise Line, and rename the ship the Regent Sun. In 1989 the line purchased the unfinished hull of Stena Baltica of Stena Lines with the intent that the ship would become the lines first new build. Completion would be delayed many times, and the ship would only reach 60% completion by the time Regent went bankrupt.[2] By 1992, the line had six ships, adding Regent Spirit and Regent Rainbow to the fleet that year.[3]

In 1994 the line purchased the former car ferry M/S Canguro Verde, renaming her the Regent Jewel and invested a significant amount of money for the acquisition and refit.[4]

In 1995, Regency Cruises arranged to charter the Princess Cruises ship Fair Princess. Regency planned to operate the ship as the Regent Isle for the start of the 1996 cruise season.[2]

Bankruptcy

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On Oct. 29, 1995 Regency Cruises announced its shutdown.[5] Warning signs were seen when several sailings were canceled because the line did not receive financing for the purchase of Princess Cruises’ Fair Princess in mid-October. Travel agents were also seeing late commissions on bookings, the companies president Ron Santangelo had resigned, and the Regent Rainbow had been arrested in Tampa.[4] A primary contribution to the bankruptcy was the large acquisition and refit investment of $31.4 million in 1994 for the Regent Jewel.[4]

The cruises ships Regent Star, Amerikanis and Mediterranean Sky laid up in Eleusis Bay in 2000.

Following bankruptcy, half of ships would go on to sail for other cruise lines, while the Regent Sea, Regent Sun and Regent Star would never end up returning to service, and the under construction Regent Sky would never be completed, eventually being scrapped in 2012.[6]

Fleet

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Ship Image Built In Service fo Regency Status Notes
Regent Sea 1957 1984-1995 Sank on way to Scrapyard in 2001 Built as the Gripsholm for Swedish American Line
Regent Star 1956 1986-1995 Scrapped in 2004 Built as the Statendam for Holland America Line
Regent Sun 1964 1988–1995 Sank on way to scrapyard in 2001 Built as the Shalom for Zim Lines
Regent Rainbow
1958 1992–1995 Scrapped in 2012 Built as the Santa Rosa for Grace Line
Regent Spirit 1962 1992–1995 Scrapped in 2009 Built as the Anna Nery for Cia Nacional de Nav Costeira Autarquia Federal
Regent Jewel 1967 1993-1994 Scrapped in 2013 Built as the car ferry Canguro Verde
Never Entered Service
Regent Sun 1969 1986 -1987 (Owned) Scrapped 2014 Purchased by Regency Cruises to be refitted into cruise ships, but sold before any work was carried out.
Regent Moon 1969 1986 -1988 (Owned) Scrapped 2012 Purchased by Regency Cruises to be refitted into cruise ships, but sold before any work was carried out.
Regent Sky 1985 1989-1995 (Hull Owned) Scrapped in 2012 Ship under construction, was 60% complete when Regency Cruises filed for bankruptcy. Never completed.
Regent Isle 1956 1995 (Planned) Scrapped in 2006 Built as the RMS Carinthia for Cunard Line. Chartered by Regency Cruises, but never entered service due to bankruptcy.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Costa Marina". www.castlesoftheseas.nl. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
  2. ^ a b Bailey, Jordan (2020-09-02). "Remembering Regency Cruises & The Abandoned Regent Sky". Cruise Capital.
  3. ^ "REGENCY DECLARES BANKRUPTCY". Deseret News. 2024-01-22.
  4. ^ a b c Industry News, Cruise. "Regency's Chapter 11 - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News".
  5. ^ "REGENCY DECLARES BANKRUPTCY". Washington Post. 2024-03-04. ISSN 0190-8286.
  6. ^ CruiseOctopus (2011-07-15). "The Rise and Fall of : Regency Cruises". CruiseOctopus.com.