MS Golden Iris

Concept and construction

The ship that eventually became known as the Cunard Princess was originally one of two ships ordered by the United States-based Overseas National Airways. Unusually Hugh Hefner, the founder of Playboy, was involved in the design process of the ships, envisioning them as "floating Playboy Clubs". Order for the two ships was placed with the Burmeister & Wain shipyard in Copenhagen, Denmark. However, during construction the ships were sold to the United Kingdom-based Cunard Line. Although better known as luxury cruise operators, Cunard decided to maintain the original informal cruise concept developed for the ships by Overseas National Airways.

Cunard Conquest, the second of the two sisters, was launched from drydock in December 1974. Instead of having the ships completed at Burmeister & Wain, Cunard decided that once the hulls of the ships were complete they would sail to the Navali Mechaniche Affini in La Spezia, Italy, where interior fittings would be installed. Therefore, following delivery to Cunard on 30 October 1975 the Cunard Conquest sailed to La Spezia, where she arrived on 6 November 1975. While the ship was being fitted out Cunard decided to change her name to Cunard Princess. Following delivery to Cunard in early 1977 the ship sailed to New York City, where she was renamed by Princess Grace of Monaco.

1977-1995: Cunard Princess

Cunard Princess set on her first cruise from New York City to Bermuda in April 1977, joining her elder sister MS Cunard Countess in the Caribbean cruise service after the Bermuda run. Cunard Princess sailed out of Ft Lauderdale, then after a charter to Lauro Line in 1979 she sailed a Caribbean run out of San Juan. At the time the Cunard Princess was registered in Southampton, but in 1980 she was moved to the Bahamian registry, with Nassau as her homeport. Later during her career with Cunard, the ship started cruising around Europe, while the Cunard Countess remained in Caribbean service.

During the Gulf War the Cunard Princess was chartered to the United States Armed Forces Recreation Center as a recreational facility for troops involved in the conflict. The ship arrived in Bahrain on 24 December 1990. Initially the plan was to operate the ship on three-day cruises around the Persian Gulf, but for economic reasons she was permanently moored in Bahrain instead. Following the end of her service in the Gulf War, the ship was docked at Valletta, Malta on 23 September 1991. She re-entered normal service with Cunard on 19 October 1991.

In 1993 the Cunard Princess was moved to the fleet of Cunard's newly created mid-market subsidiary Cunard Crown Cruises, joining her sister Cunard Countess and three ships chartered from EffJohn. Cunard Crown Cruises proved to be short-lived, and in 1995 the Cunard Princess was chartered to StarLauro Cruises, who were in need of a replacement for their MS Achille Lauro that had sunk following a fire in 1994. Initially the Cunard Princess kept her older name in StarLauro service.

1995-2009: Rhapsody

After a short time under charter to StarLauro, the company acquired the Cunard Princess. Initially the ship was planned to be renamed Harmony, but in the end she was renamed Rhapsody. Coinciding with the change of ownership the ship was re-registered in Panama. Initially she was used for cruising around the Mediterranean out of Italy. Shortly after acquisition of the Rhapsody StarLauro was rebranded as Mediterranean Shipping Cruises on 1 October 1995. Subsequently the company further rebranded themselves into MSC Cruises.

In 2001 the Rhapsody was re-registered to Naples. On 9 April 2009 MSC Cruises sold the Rhapsody to the Israel-based cruise operator Mano Maritime.

2009 onwards: Golden Iris

Following the sale to Mano Maritime, Rhapsody was renamed Golden Iris. She entered service with Mano Maritime on Mediterranean cruises from Haifa on 31 May 2009, following the completion of a refit. As of 2013 she was sailing from Haifa to Cyprus, the Greek Islands, Montenegro, Italy, and Croatia.

Exterior design

The Cunard Conquest was designed with a heavily raked bow and a tapering stern. She has a low superstructure that extends slightly outward from the sides of the hull. The open-winged bridge is located two decks above the top deck of the hull. An observation lounge is located above the bridge; a pool area is located aft of the bridge and forward of the heavily raked, round funnel that has a large deflector fin extending aft of the funneltop. The terraced rear superstructure houses additional sundeck areas.

Like her sister ship Cunard Countess, at delivery Cunard Princess appeared in the traditional red/black Cunard funnel colours, complimenting a white hull and superstructure. In addition, a red decorative stripe was painted between the hull and the superstructure. In StarLauro service her funnel was repainted in that company's livery of blue with a black top and a white five-pointed star in the centre. Following the eventual new owners' rebranding into Mediterranean Shipping Cruises, her funnel was repainted white with a dark blue top and gilded MSC logo centrally, while the blue decorative stripe was divided so that top half of the stripe was navy blue and the bottom half grey. Subsequently the funnel colours were altered into dark blue with MSC Cruises' blue/white "compass" logo replacing the earlier MSC logo.

Decks and facilities

As Rhapsody, only including facilities accessible to passengers:

1. Outside and inside cabins.
2. Outside and inside cabins, medical centre.
3. Information, shops, outside and inside cabins.
4. Main dining room, buffet restaurant, outside and inside cabins.
5. Showlounge, children's playroom, nightclub, sundeck, outside and inside cabins.
6. Bridge
7. Observation lounge, casino, card room, sundeck, swimming pool, jacuzzis, spa.