cruises marketed in connection with a multi-day vacation stay at Walt Disney World
WATCH: From 1985 to 1992, Premier Cruise Lines’ “Big Red Boat” partnered with Disney featuring its bright red-hulled cruise ship that operated out of Port Canaveral to provide Disney-costumed characters for the cruise line’s Bahamas cruises in connection with a multi-day vacation stay at Walt Disney World.
BREVARD COUNTY • PORT CANAVERAL, FLORIDA – From 1985 to 1992, Premier Cruise Lines’ “Big Red Boat” partnered with Disney featuring its bright red-hulled cruise ship that operated out of Port Canaveral to provide Disney-costumed characters for the cruise line’s Bahamas cruises in connection with a multi-day vacation stay at Walt Disney World.
Brevard visionary businessman Bjornar Hermansen brought the multi-day cruise industry to Port Canaveral in 1984 when he and business partner, Bruce Nierenberg, began Premier Cruise Lines and partnered with The Walt Disney Co.
Prior to Disney’s entry into the cruise line industry, Premier Cruise lines hosted Disney-themed trips to the Caribbean from Port Canaveral.
Starting in 1985, the ships Majestic, Oceanic and Atlantic offered 3-day and 4-day vacations to the Bahamas.
From 1985 to 1993, it was licensed as the official cruise line of Walt Disney World and used the trademark “The Big Red Boat” based on the color scheme of some of its ships. Dolphin Cruise Lines, a company that became a part of Premier, was headquartered on Dodge Island in Miami.
Bjornar K. Hermansen, 72, an astute business person and generous philanthropist whose vision helped change the nature of Port Canaveral and the cruise industry, died this morning surrounded by family at Hacienda Del Sol, his Merritt Island home. He had battled ocular melanoma for four years.
Premier Cruise Line was formed in 1983 by A.E. “Ed” Merhige (Florida Export Warehouse/International Cruise Shops) and Bruce Nierenberg, two cruise veterans and later bought by Dial Corporation, of Dial soap fame, which then also owned the Greyhound Bus Company.
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.
Premier was licensed to provide Disney characters on its ships, until the relationship ended in 1993. Disney then proceeded to start its own cruise ship line in 1995. On July 30, 1998, with the first voyage of Magic, a 10-year contract was signed with Port Canaveral for its home terminal. In 2002, the line added seven-day cruises and western Caribbean cruises.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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 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.
– Wikipedia contributed to this report
Related Story:HOT OFF THE PRESS! February 26, 2024 Space Coast Daily News – Brevard County’s Best Newspaper
The post BREVARD HISTORY: Premier Cruise Line Pioneered Disney-Themed Voyages Out of Port Canaveral in 1980s appeared first on Space Coast Daily.