MS Amera

"Royal Viking Sun" redirects here and is not to be confused with Viking Sun or Sun Viking.

MS Amera (formerly Royal Viking Sun, Seabourn Sun and Prinsendam) is a cruise ship operated by Phoenix Reisen. She was launched in 1988 as Royal Viking Sun for Royal Viking Line, and began operating for Cunard Line under the same name in 1994. She was renamed Seabourn Sun when Seabourn Cruise Line acquired the ship in 1999. In 2002, Seabourn transferred the ship to Holland America Line, which was renamed as Prinsendam. In 2018, Prinsendam was sold to Phoenix Reisen, debuting in 2019.

Amera

Amera in the Kiel Canal, 2019
History
Name	1988–1999: Royal Viking Sun 1999–2002: Seabourn Sun 2002–2019: Prinsendam 2019–present: Amera
Owner	1988–1994: Royal Viking Line 1994–1998: Trafalgar House 1998–2019: Carnival Corporation & plc 2019–present: Phoenix Reisen
Operator	1988–1994: Royal Viking Line 1994–1998: Cunard Line 1998–2002: Seabourn Cruise Line 2002–2019: Holland America Line 2019–present: Phoenix Reisen
Port of registry	1988–2002: Nassau,  Bahamas 2002–2013: Rotterdam,  Netherlands 2013–present: Nassau,  Bahamas
Builder	Wärtsilä Marine Perno Shipyard Turku, Finland[1]
Yard number	1296
Launched	May 1988[1]
Christened	8 January 1989[1]
Acquired	26 November 1988[1]
In service	1988–present
Identification	Call sign: PBGH IMO number: 8700280 MMSI number: 311000840
Nickname(s)	2002–2019: Elegant Explorer
Status	In service
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Cruise ship
Tonnage	38,848 GT
Length	674.2 ft (205.5 m)
Beam	91.8 ft (28.0 m)
Draught	23.6 ft (7.2 m)
Decks	9 passenger decks
Speed	22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) (max) 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h; 21.3 mph) (service)
Capacity	740 passengers
Crew	460
General characteristics (2002-2019)
Capacity	835 passengers
Crew	443
General characteristics (as Amera)
Class and type	Lloyd's Register cruise ship
Tonnage	39,051 GT
Length	672.57 ft (205.0 m)
Beam	95.14 ft (29.0 m)
Draught	23.78 ft (7.25 m)
Decks	9 passenger decks
Installed power	Wärtsilä-Sulzer, 4 × 7.179 PS
Speed	22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) (max) 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) (service)
Capacity	835 passengers
Crew	440

History

1988–1999: Royal Viking Sun

Royal Viking Line

She was launched in 1988 as Royal Viking Sun for Royal Viking Line. Christened by godparents James Stewart and Gloria Stewart,^[2][3] and she was the largest ship in the fleet at the time she entered service.^[4]

Royal Viking Sun prior to additional Cunard livery

Cunard Line

Amera as Royal Viking Sun

In 1994, Cunard Line purchased Royal Viking Sun and the Royal Viking brand when Royal Viking Line ceased operations. Cunard continued to operate her under the same name and initially retained the vessel's original livery. Later, Cunard repainted her funnel in their colours but retained the Royal Viking logo.^[5] In April 1996, the ship tore a hole in its hull after hitting a reef in the Red Sea about fifteen miles off the coast of Sharm El Sheikh while on its way to Aqaba.^[6]

1999–2002: Seabourn Sun

In 1999, Carnival Corporation merged Cunard and Seabourn and moved Royal Viking Sun to Seabourn.^[7] After an extensive refit, she was renamed Seabourn Sun.^[7][8] Her last cruise for Seabourn was a circumnavigation of South America in 2002.

2002–2019: Prinsendam

For other ships with the same name, see MS Prinsendam.

Amera as Prinsendam

In 2002, Seabourn Sun was transferred to sister brand Holland America Line, after Seabourn chose to focus on its fleet's smaller vessels.^[9] Renamed Prinsendam, she underwent a refit before beginning operations.

On 1 February 2007, Prinsendam was hit by two 12-metre-tall (39 ft) rogue waves near Cape Horn; 40 injuries were reported, with some requiring hospitalisation.^[10]

On 22 March 2012, Prinsendam was en route to Portimao when she received a distress call from the Portuguese fishing boat Dario, which was sinking with eight people aboard. When the ship arrived, Dario's crew was entering a life raft. The Portuguese Coast Guard directed Prinsendam to pick up the fishermen and stand by for a helicopter to take the eight men to shore.^[11]

During her career with Holland America, she had undertaken cruises to Antarctica,^[12] and was able to transit the Kiel Canal due to her low height above the waterline.^[13]

2019–present: Amera

In July 2018, Holland America announced that Prinsendam had been sold to Phoenix Reisen.^[14] However, she was chartered back to Holland America to continue operating her scheduled voyages until 1 July 2019.^[14]

MS Amera tendering in Guernsey in May 2024

On 2 July 2019, Prinsendam began her six-week renovation at Blohm+Voss in Hamburg, and left on 12 August 2019 for Bremerhaven.^[15] She was rechristened Amera in Bremerhaven on 16 August 2019 by Petra Kaiser, a veteran Phoenix Reisen employee,^[16] before sailing to Dover for her maiden voyage to Antwerp, Amsterdam, and the Norwegian fjords, where she cruised for her inaugural season.^[17][18] She operated Mediterranean cruises beginning in October 2019.^[18]