Remember the Big Red Boat?

[Horace Horsecollar]

My cruising days go back to when I was in high school I took a cruise on Home Line's Oceanic.
<snip>
I would love to know if this is the same ship I was on lonng ago!

Yes, she sailed for Home Lines before sailing for Premier Cruises. And you can still cruise on her today. According to the link I posted earlier, she even has her original name back:

Oceanic - Home Lines (1965-1986)
StarShip Oceanic - Premier Cruises (1986-2000)
Big Red Boat 1 - Premier Cruises (1986-2000)
Oceanic - Pullmantur (2001- )

 

[zack&alexmom]

My cousin was on one of the Big Red boats for her honeymoon and it caught on fire and they had to be loaded into the life boats. Anybody remember that?

Linda

 

[akghutton]

My husband and I spent our honeymoon on the Big Red Boat in the 1996. We were on a 4 night cruise followed by 4 nights at Dixie Landing (we added on a night to the sea/land package.) There was a singer/musician in the bar area on the Big Red Boat named Tommy Treadway, who I remember listening to, and I remember playing the slots at the casino. At that time, the characters on board were the Looney Tune characters. I remember Bugs and Daffy.

We are going on our first Disney cruise this October, which will be our first cruise since 1996(we will be celebrating our 10th anniversary. I am certain from the photos I have seen that I am going to be blown away by the diffences in the cruise lines.

 

[NCardella]

Thanks for all the great memories! I've been searching for other's experiences with the Big Red Boat but the search engine couldn't seem to handle it till I tweaked it a little and searched on "red boat" instead.

My DH and I cruised on the Big Red Boat Oceanic for our honeymoon in 1992 with the Disney characters. It was our first cruise and we did a 4/3 land and sea at the Grand Floridian. We have such fond memories of that time. Even though it pales in comparison to our recent DCL cruises, it still holds such a special place in our hearts.

I am searching around for some photos to post...

Thanks for reminiscing with me...

 

[CRSNDSNY]

I have a Big Red Boat picture, too, from the last Disney Sailing to Freeport, December 2003.

 

[grimley1968]

I did this cruise in 2000, about 3 or 4 months before Premiere Cruises "went under", so to speak. By the time we went on it, you could tell it was in trouble. The staffers didn't seem very enthusiastic. No one fixed some minor problems with our room. It was not a great experience for my first ever cruise.

I remember we had our then 6 MO DD with us, and she had to be strolled everywhere. We were strolling her from our room to the restaurant. To get from our room to the restaurant, you had to go through the stupid casino on the boat. I didn't like this, but had no choice. I was strolling her through one evening after dinner, and some jerky cruise staffer pulled me aside and "informed" me that children were not allowed in the casino. I was livid! Not only do I hate gambling, but for this jerk to assume I was bringing my 6 MO DD to gamble was over the top. I "informed" him, not very kindly, that there was absolutely no other way to get a stroller from our room to the restaurant. His eyes kind of glazed over when he finally realized how idiotic he had been. No apologies were forthcoming, of course.

I have to admit, I felt bad for the good employees we had that had to find work elsewhere, but I wasn't overly sad the company went out of business.

 

[kenika]

We cruised on the Atlantic in 1995 on our honeymoon. This was our first cruise. We were very impressed, and then we pulled up next to a Carnival Ship and couldn't believe it. It seemed really large when we were on it and then we realized how small it actually was. Thanks for the awesome memories though, I emailed these pics to my hubby.

Thanks!!
Kenika

 

[NCardella]

I don't get it, how did Premier stay as a Disney ship till 2000 when the DCL first sailed in 1998? Was it then that it still had Looney Toons characters or was it still calling itself Disney?

 

[grimley1968]

I don't get it, how did Premier stay as a Disney ship till 2000 when the DCL first sailed in 1998? Was it then that it still had Looney Toons characters or was it still calling itself Disney?

I sailed in May of 2000. It was not calling itself Disney by that time. We never saw any characters of any kind on the boat, to be honest. It was just Premiere's Big Red Boat in 2000, and as I mentioned above, you could sort of tell they were in lots of trouble.

When we docked in Nassau, we were docked right by one of the Disney ships. It was like that picture someone posted earlier. I was standing on land, looking out at the docks. The first thing I saw was the Big Red Boat, and the Disney ship was behind it. Disney's ship dwarfed the Big Red Boat to such a degree that I could still see approximately 80-85% of the Disney boat in my sightline, even though Big Red Boat was blocking it. I wish I had taken a picture of that scene.

 

[DBinMV]

Wife and I went on our honeymoon on the Big Road Boat in 91. Anyone else remember that Premier had _their_ private island that they would stop at, and you could snorkel, rent bikes, go to the beach, etc.? I believe our other port was Nassau.

When we went, it was still the Disney characters. Unfortunately, we booked so late we couldn't stay on site at WDW.

Here's another picture (don't remember where I got this - I didn't take it.):

DBinMV

 

[peloha86]

I just wanted to bump this thread up from 2006... So much history with DCL. We went on our first cruise ever with DCL in 2011, our second in 2012. So interesting! I wanted to find out the history and how it all started with DCL and learned about the Big Red Boat/Premier Cruises.
Thanks to all who posted in this thread.

 

[super mike b]

Our honeymoon was on the Big Red Boat. We had a great time.

 

[hayesfamof4]

Our very first cruise ever was on Premier's Big Red Boat. I know many of you remember this ship. It by no means compared to DCL's current ships (or anything else sailing out of Canaveral nowadays), but we have fond memories of our first venture into cruising. I remember how my wife and I scooted our 2 beds together, blocking the door to the tiny cabin. We had to move them back to get out in the morning. Anyway, we've been hooked on cruising ever since.

I got curious about what ever happened to the boat, and found it is sailing still in Spain. I saw it on the news a few years ago when it was actually seized during a cruise due to bankruptcy. They forced passengers off in Nassau, I believe, and they were abandoned there to find rooms and/or airfare. I always think of that when we encounter any "minor" disappointments while on vacation. Anyway, if you would like to see the Big Red Boat today (once again called Oceanic), check the link below.

http://www.pullmanturcruises.com/crucerobritt/oceanic.html

I don't remember it but it was my first sailing!!! ( I was 12 or 13)

 

[Cruisin Castaway]

I remember going on the Big Red Boat as a child in the late 80s. We did it as part of a land and sea package with WDW. I do remember the characters and thinking how cool our ship was to be painted red.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

During the years that Premier was the Official Cruise Line of Walt Disney World, there were usually two ships, and sometimes three ships, in the Big Red Boat brochure, from the following list of four ships:

Premier StarShip Royale (built 1958),
Premier StarShip Oceanic (built 1965)
Premier StarShip Atlantic (built 1981)
Premier StarShip Majestic (built 1972)

Actually, Disney didn't "use" any of Premier's ships. Premier operated the cruise line. Premier simply had a marketing and licensing agreement with Disney.


None of the four ships from Premier's Disney period went to the ship breakers in Alang, India.

Here's the actual status of the four ships:

• Premier StarShip Royale — sank in 2000 off the Virginia coast; at that time, she was named the SeaBreeze; no passengers onboard; crew taken off by helicopter
  
• Premier StarShip Oceanic — now operated by the Spanish operator Pullmantur as the Oceanic
  
• Premier StarShip Atlantic — now operated by MSC as the Melody
  
• Premier StarShip Majestic — operated in recent years as the Flamenco (I don't have more details)

The Big Red Boat II (S.S. Eugenio C) went to the ship breakers in Alang, India, but that ship didn't even join the Premier fleet until 2000, long after Premier's Disney period — in fact, after the launch of the "real" Disney Cruise Line.

Thanks for the details!

AKK

 

[aprilgail2]

When we sailed on the wonder back in 2002 we docked in freeport and they pointed out a ship near us and it was one of the old big red boats. Looked like a tugboat next to our ship

 

[ctalley]

Fond memories of the Big Red Boat. Our honeymoon was on the ship with the Disney characters. I have a picture somewhere of Goofy greeting us in the dining room on formal night. Goofy has been my favorite character ever since.

 

[Siliobear]

Thanks for the post. DH and I sailed The Big Red Boat in 1987, when I was in the early stages of pregnancy with my now DS24. I was either sea sick or had morning sickness that I was in our cabin the entire time. We were celebrating our anniversary, and the server brought the celebration cake at each dinner, hoping I would appear. I loved the land/sea package and wished DCL offered the same.

 

[Trinity524]

I went on the Oceanic and the Atlantic. Twice on the Oceanic. I was on the New Kids on the block cruise in 1991. LOL!