Cruise ships in Skagway in the 1990s
Seeing the megaships that visit Skagway now, it’s interesting to look back at what the ships looked like 20-30 years ago. I started taking pictures of them in 1990 when I started picking up their passengers for bus tours. To many ship enthusiasts, the 1990s were nearing the end of the time when cruise ships looked liked ships.
Seeing the megaships that visit Skagway now, it’s interesting to look back at what the ships looked like 20-30 years ago. I started taking pictures of them in 1990 when I started picking up their passengers for bus tours. To many ship enthusiasts, the 1990s were nearing the end of the time when cruise ships looked liked ships.
First, let’s have a look at the docks at Skagway. The basic configuration now is the same as it was 30 years ago, though the Railroad Dock is now 2,000 feet long, almost 3 times what it was in 1990. The photo below, from Google Earth, was shot on June 21, 2019 – Carnival Legend was at the RRF docking position (the Railroad Dock Fore, closest to town), Viking Orion was at RRA (Railroad Dock Aft, to the south), and Norwegian Jewel was at BRD (Broadway Dock). Google Earth actually has this image dated as June 20, 2019 – my wife, Cathy, thinks it’s quite amusing that I even noticed that the ships were wrong for that date 🙂
On September 12, 1990, Regent Sun was at the Railroad Dock (background) and Island Princess was at the Broadway Dock.
In July 1991, Regent Sea (foreground) and Costa Daphne were at the Broadway Dock.
Also in July 1991, Executive Explorer was at the Ferry Dock.
On August 27, 1991, Pacific Princess and White Pass’ container ship Frank H. Brown were at the Railroad Dock.
The Pacific Princess is often said to be the original “Love Boat” on the very successful TV series, Pacific Princess and Island Princess were the original floating stars of the show which began in 1977, but The Love Boat was filmed aboard many Princess ships in destinations around the globe.
In September 1991, Royal Viking Sky was at the Broadway Dock.
Also in September 1991, Yorktown Clipper was at the Ferry Dock, and Pacific Princess was at the Railroad Dock.
On September 10, 1991, I caught Dawn Princess approaching the Railroad Dock.
Dawn Princess had been built for Cunard in 1957 as RMS Sylvania, deigned to carry both cargo and passengers. The last of their 4 Saxonia class ships built for the Trans-Atlantic route, their dimensions (608 feet 3 inches long, 80 feet 4 inches wide) were defined by the Saint Lawrence Seaway, as the ships had to pass through that system of locks and canals to reach Montreal. Cunard sold her in 1968 to Sitmar Line, who re-named her Fairwind. Following a year-long refit, she began sailing Alaska cruises in 1971, with a capacity of 925 passengers and a crew of 330. For a brief period she operated as Sitmar Fairwind, but in 1988, Sitmar was sold to P&O, who re-named her Dawn Princess and transferred her to their Princess Cruises division. She only operated for Princess for 5 years – in 1993 she was sold to V-Ships, who re-named her Albatros. By late 2003 her machinery was worn out, and she was sold so a ship breaker in India, where she was broken up in 2004.
Using the same name for different ships can be confusing. When I posted the photos in this post on my Yukon History & Abandoned Places group, a couple of people said they sailed on the Dawn Princess long after 1993. The next photo, though, shot in 2006, shows the Dawn Princess that was built in 1997 and operated under that name until 2017.
By 2001, ships were getting much larger. Some time that year, Carnival Jubilee was at the Railroad Dock.
One last photo follows, just because Empress of the North was so unique. On September 4, 2006, she and Celebrity Summit were at the Ore Dock.
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