Reina del Mar
The Cruise Years | 1964–1975
CONVERTED FOR CRUISING
1964
PASSENGER CAPACITY
1,047
GROSS TONNAGE
20,750 gross tons
CRUISE BASE
Southampton
FIRST CRUISE SEASON
1964
CHARTERED TO
Travel Savings Association
LATER OPERATOR
Union-Castle
FINAL YEAR
1975
A New Life at Sea
From liner to cruise ship
When Reina del Mar returned to Liverpool on 5 March 1964, her years as a scheduled passenger and cargo liner had come to an end. But after eight years on the South American route, her career was far from over.
With traditional liner travel declining and leisure cruising growing in popularity, plans were already underway to give Reina del Mar an entirely new role. Within days, she returned to Harland & Wolff in Belfast to begin the transformation from working liner to holiday cruise ship.
A new chapter in Reina del Mar’s life at sea was about to begin.
Reina del Mar leaving Cape Town on 18 December 1965, on the first cruise of the 1965–66 South African cruising season.
Credit: British and Commonwealth Staff Register.
Reina del Mar commences her new life as a cruise ship in June 1964.
1963
Discussions begin with TSA
1964
Converted for cruising
The Travel Savings Association
A new role for Reina del Mar
The Travel Savings Association, led by Max Wilson, had begun discussions with the Pacific Steam Navigation Company in 1963 about chartering Reina del Mar for a new programme of cruising.
The original plans included seven transatlantic crossings to New York and Montreal, together with a cruise to Tokyo. Her charter was intended to continue until 30 September 1965.
The arrangement proved far from straightforward. Plans for the ship to be sold to the Chandris Group were eventually abandoned, and Reina del Mar instead remained under the British flag, chartered by TSA and managed and crewed by Union-Castle.
Although the TSA venture would prove short-lived, it provided the catalyst for Reina del Mar’s transformation from scheduled liner to dedicated cruise ship.
Reinvented for Cruising
1964
At Harland & Wolff in Belfast, Reina del Mar underwent a major conversion to prepare her for a new career devoted to cruising.
Her former cargo spaces were transformed into additional passenger accommodation and public areas, increasing capacity from 766 to 1,047 passengers. The forward restaurant was enlarged from 200 to 412 seats, a cinema was added and her gross tonnage increased to approximately 20,750 tons.
The work was completed in only a few months. On 10 June 1964, Reina del Mar departed Liverpool to begin her new cruising programme - looking ahead to a very different future from the liner service for which she had originally been built.
Further alterations followed at Southampton in November 1964. Reina del Mar was converted to single-class accommodation for 998 passengers and exchanged her white hull for the distinctive lavender-grey livery of Union-Castle.
House flag of the Union-Castle Line, under which Reina del Mar continued her cruise-service career.
Cruising Under the Union-Castle Flag
A new chapter under new management
Union-Castle had deep roots in British passenger shipping. Formed in 1900 from the merger of the Union Line and Castle Line, the company operated principally from Southampton and became known for the distinctive lavender-grey hulls of its ships.
Union-Castle became closely involved with Reina del Mar during her 1964 transformation. While the ship was chartered by the Travel Savings Association, Union-Castle managed and crewed her, and also supervised her conversion for cruising.
As the TSA venture faltered, Union-Castle took an increasingly direct role. By late 1964 it had acquired its partners’ interests in TSA and subsequently took over Reina del Mar’s charter directly from PSNC, extending the arrangement beyond its original 1965 expiry. Southampton, rather than Liverpool, would now become the centre of her new cruising life.
After almost a decade operating the ship, Union-Castle purchased Reina del Mar outright in November 1973 for around £1 million, securing the vessel that had become an established part of its cruise programme.
1964-65
A new era in South Africa
Southampton
Northern summer base
Cape Town
Southern summer base
1973
Purchased by Union-Castle
A New World of Cruising
From Southampton to the Mediterranean, South Africa and beyond
Reina del Mar’s new role brought with it a much broader and more varied programme of travel. Instead of following the fixed South American liner route of her earlier years, her itineraries now changed with the seasons.
From Southampton, she carried holidaymakers on cruises to destinations across the Baltic and Mediterranean. During the southern summer, she sailed from Cape Town on cruises to South America.
Reina del Mar cruising brochure, 1971, reflecting her established role as a leisure cruise ship.
The voyage becomes the holiday
By this stage, ocean travel was no longer simply about reaching a destination. Reina del Mar was being marketed for the experience of cruising itself, combining life aboard ship with changing ports, destinations and itineraries.
1971
An established cruise ship
By the beginning of the 1970s, Reina del Mar had become firmly established as a holiday cruise ship, operating seasonal programmes from Southampton and Cape Town.
1973–1974
The Caribbean joins the programme
Her later cruise seasons expanded further to include Caribbean voyages, adding another region to Reina del Mar’s increasingly varied programme.
Postcards from the Cruise Years
Reina del Mar’s later career brought a very different appearance, with her cruise-era livery becoming a familiar sight during the years she operated under Union-Castle. These contemporary postcards capture that second chapter of her working life.
Reina del Mar in her home port of Southampton during her later cruise career, captured from above in a contemporary postcard view.
Reina del Mar cruising in her Union-Castle livery.
26 October
1974
Final Southampton cruise departs
1 April
1975
Laid up at Southampton
The final chapter of Reina del Mar’s twenty-year story, 1955–1975.
The Final Voyage
1974–1975
By 1974, the cost of operating Reina del Mar had become increasingly difficult to sustain. Despite strong passenger bookings, the 1973 oil crisis, rising crew wages and maintenance costs placed growing pressure on the ship’s viability. Union-Castle announced in June 1974 that she would be withdrawn after completing the 1974–75 Cape Town cruising season.
Her final cruise from Southampton departed on 26 October 1974, a 15-day voyage calling at Gibraltar, Casablanca, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Madeira and Lisbon. She then sailed south as usual, completing three final cruises from Cape Town to South America before returning to Southampton, where she was laid up on 1 April 1975.
Reina del Mar was subsequently sold for breaking up and left Southampton for the final time on 28 May 1975. Travelling slowly to conserve fuel, she stopped at Cape Town and Singapore before arriving at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on 30 July 1975, bringing her twenty-year story to a close.
A Glimpse of the Cruise Years
1964–1975
Reina del Mar at Southampton during her cruise-service years.
Reina del Mar at Cape Town during the 1970s, towards the end of her cruising career.
Reina del Mar leaving Cape Town in March 1975, returning to Southampton at the end of her cruising career to be laid up.
Credit: British and Commonwealth Staff Register, from Clansman, April 1975.
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