The Achille Lauro was my first ship, in fact she was not my ship of choice but whether I liked it or not she was the only cruise ship calling in our waters at the time. She was definitely not a top ship, if anything she rated really low in the cruise ship ratings. Her season's in South Africa would usually run over December, culminating in a Christmas cruise and a New Years cruise. At the close of the season I sailed on her (Jan1987) she was destined to sail to Australia, a cruise that was a disaster for many South Africans who discovered they did not have the correct visa's and paperwork. I will not say she was a favourite of mine, I did see her at least 8 times, and made one ship visit to her in the 1990's when she was not looking at her best. I also saw them try a new funnel logo, as well as a deeper shade of blue for her hull (which looked very good), but I was never really tempted to sail on her again. Yet she was a familiar visitor and one which gave many passengers their first cruise, and her loss in 1994 was tragic. Love her or loathe her, Achille Lauro was a real ship.

My Cruise on the Achille Lauro My Achille Lauro Gallery Page Wikipedia article on the Achille Lauro BBC Article on the sinking of the Achille Lauro BBC Article about the hijacking of the Achille Lauro