Κυκλαδικές Κρουαζιέρες [Cycladic Cruises]

[Henry Casciaro]

Dear friends,

Does anyone know why the Kyrtatas brothers company came to a sudden end in the early 90's. They had been a successful cargo and tug operator and then ventured into the cheap end of the Aegean cruise market and seemed quite successful at it during the 80's/90's.

One thing that always intrigued me about this company is why they painted part of the ship superstructures in buff/yellow including the funnel. I think even their one day cruise ships also had the same peculiarity.

Maybe it had something to do with maintenance or was it a tradition from their cargo/tug operations? Would be interesting to find out.

Henry.

[Ellinis]

I am not sure of the reasons that the company took the downturn, but in 1995 it was already facing financial problems and its ships were either sold or laid up.

Lets see an overview of the company as it was presented in the magazine Shipping in Feb 1980.

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[Henry Casciaro]

Thanks Aris for opening the thread on this interesting company. I will start by posting the earliest brochure I have from 1986 even though the company had been in operation over 10 years before. According to the book Cruise Ships of the World by Nicholas T Cairis the City of Myconos was bought from Adriatica in 1977 and was used mainly for 7 day cruises to the Greek Islands, Israel and Egypt from May to October. She was refurbished in 1980. The City of Rhodos on the other hand was acquired later (1979) and rebuilt in Greece in 1980 to start her programme of 3/4 day cruises to the Greek Islands and Turkey. She occasionally made other cruises as she is photographed in one of the company brochures transitting the Corinth Canal and was frequently chartered during the shoulder months (Spring and Autumn).

Henry

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[Ellinis]

Ι love the shot of the sun deck in front of the bridge, in the last page that you uploaded... great unobscured view of a voyage at sea!

I am under the impression that Cycladic is best remembered for its small day cruisers that used to operate in the Saronic, rather for their larger vessels. The CITY OF PIRAEUS was the company's first ship bought in 1975 and followed the next year by the CITY OF HYDRA.

Althought the CITY OF POROS was best known due to the terrorist attack on board, I believe that it was the CITY OF HYDRA that was the most succesful. Also, a great conversion!

Here is a small brochure for the Saronic cruises

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[Henry Casciaro]

Ι love the shot of the sun deck in front of the bridge, in the last page that you uploaded... great unobscured view of a voyage at sea!

I am under the impression that Cycladic is best remembered for its small day cruisers that used to operate in the Saronic, rather for their larger vessels. The CITY OF PIRAEUS was the company's first ship bought in 1975 and followed the next year by the CITY OF HYDRA.

Althought the CITY OF POROS was best known due to the terrorist attack on board, I believe that it was the CITY OF HYDRA that was the most succesful. Also, a great conversion!

Here is a small brochure for the Saronic cruises

Aris, you are right of course the small day cruisers were their pride and joy and they certainly had a good eye for conversion (I wonder who designed these small ferry to cruiser conversions for them it must have been a Greek maritime firm or individual?).

Although I liked them all and the classic one is for me the City Of Poros my other personal favourite was the City of Piraeus which had a very streamlines modern look ahead of its time! Here is a brochure of a programme of cruises which she supposedly carried out from Kerkyra in the later years of Cycladic.

Have also added a couple of photos of these lovely vessels.

Cheers, Henry.

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[Appia_1978]

Very interesting! Thank you very much, guys :D
Does anyone have inside-pictures of the City of Rhodos?

[Henry Casciaro]

Very interesting! Thank you very much, guys :D
Does anyone have inside-pictures of the City of Rhodos?

Marcus, here are some pages taken from the 1992 brochure which show some interior shots of the City of Rhodos. She had some very nice classic public rooms and tastefully decorated interiors even though she was the budget end of the market.

I also remember from my cruise on her in 1988 that she also had quite a lot of interior woodwork and furnishings from her previous career in South America as a coastal liner.

Henry.

[Henry Casciaro]

Ellinis and Appia here is a nice bow shot of her from the official ships photographer with the incomparable background of Thira. I think although she was clearly a former coastal ferry she had some clean lines and a sleek overall profile. She was definitely a ship with a lot of character!

Henry.

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[Ellinis]

wow :shock: ... that's a great picture. Surely makes her look even better, not that she was'nt good looking.

Here is her schedule back in the 80's from the brochure of a travel agency.
Note the prices at bottom right, 23.000 drachmas for a 4-day cruise. In todays money that 70 euros :rolleyes:

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[Appia_1978]

Henry and Ari, thank you both very much!
In my opinion, she looks very impressive and a lot bigger then she actually is (130 m).

On the website:

http://www.histarmar.com.ar/

you will find a lot of informacions (not all in English), about the civil maritime history of Argentina. Among others, also about the coastal routes to Uruguay and a long the Argentinean coast.

[Ellinis]

Ας δούμε και τις κρουαζιέρες που έκανε τη δεκαετία του΄80το CITY OF MYKONOS, ένα καράβι ναυπηγημένου για τις θάλασσες της Ανατολικής Μεσογείου.
Μέσα από την μπροσούρα του ταξιδιωτικού πρακτορείου travel plan.

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[Henry Casciaro]

Interseting Aris to see two cargo ships in the livery of Cycladic which goes to show that they were a sizeable company in cargo and other operations (seemingly tugs, remember my photo) and later ventured into cruising albeit for a short period mid 70's to 1992. Thanks for these photos.

Henry.