Royal Viking Sun

later Seabourn Sun, later Prinsendam, later Amera

The former Royal Viking Sun is presently operated as Amera for Phoenix Reisen. Built in 1988 at the Wärtsilä shipyard in Turku (now Meyer Turku) for the erstwhile Royal Viking Line, Royal Viking Sun has also been sailing as Prinsendam for Holland America Line from 2002 - 2019 after a short intermezzo as Seabourn Sun for Seabourn. A short summary of her history and some pictures of the vessel are found at Simplon Postcards.

Photos showing her in her present condition are found at oceanliner-pictures.com. For footage on her constrution watch this video at YouTube.

During a world cruise in 1996 Royal Viking Sun ran aground on a coral reef in the Gulf of Aqaba and sprung leak. All passengers were safely evacuated. The ship was seized for a while by Egyptian authorities and resumed operation two months after the incident following a refit in Malta.

A plan of Royal Viking Sun is available at Associazione Navimodellisti Bolognesi.

The here presented video clips were shot during a Mediterranean cruise aboard Royal Viking Sun in 1997. At this time Royal Viking Line was part of Cunard.

Royal Viking Sun has some very nice features but also quite a few shortcomings and a rather strange overall arrangement. However, she underwent refits before joining Seabourn, Holland America and Phoenix. Especially her interior - originally designed by Njål R. Eide - is now in a different condition as seen in the videos shared on this webpage and many of her flaws have been corrected by now.

Amera - IMO: 8700280 @ MarineTraffic