MV Leisure World

The Leisure World was delivered on December 10, 1969 as Skyward for cruise services along with her sister, the Starward.[2] Skyward and Starward were the first purpose-built ships of Norwegian Cruise Line. During a cruise in 1973 many passengers became ill due to infected water. In 1979 a boiler room fire broke out on board the Skyward, and consequently her engines had to be stopped and her passengers transferred to the Starward. She was operated by her original owners until 1991, when the Skyward was purchased by Johnson Sembawang Shipmanagement in Nassau to become the Shangri-la World.[3] Shangri-la World operated cruises out of Singapore. After going through several name changes in the 1990s, the now renamed Leisure World was rebuilt and renovated in Jacksonville, Florida and sold to Queenstown Investments in 1995. In 2000 she was sold to New Century Cruise Line, who operate her as a casino/entertainment ship out of Penang. As a casino ship, she was one of at least three casino ships (Long Jie(formerly Omar), Royale Star) operating off Batam. Following the opening of the two legal land casinos in Singapore, ship casinos' business suffered badly. As a result, all the casino ships closed down except for MV Leisure World. In 2014, a new casino ship (Ocean Grand) emerged to compete with Leisure World. Unfortunately, she closed down about six months later despite advertisements in "The New Paper" (a Singapore tabloid). Since then, business has picked up at Leisure World.

MV Leisure World
MS Skyward leaving the port of Miami, 1980
History
Name:
  • 1969-1991: Skyward
  • 1991-1992: Shangri-La World
  • 1992: Asean World
  • 1992-1993: Fantasy World
  • 1993-Present: Leisure World
Operator:
  • 1969-1991: Norwegian Cruise Line
  • 1991-1995: Johnson Sembawang Shipmanagement
  • 1995-2000: Queenstown Investments Ltd
  • 2000-Present: New Century Cruise Line
Port of registry:
Builder: AG Weser Shipyards
Launched: June 26, 1969
Completed: December 10, 1970
In service: January 3, 1970
Identification:
Status: In service as of Nov 2013
General characteristics
Tonnage: 16,254 gross register tons (GRT)
Length: 528 feet
Beam: 74 feet
Speed: 16 knots
Capacity:
  • 580 (normal)
  • 850 (maximum)
Crew: 250
Notes: [1]

On board features

On board Leisure World there is a karaoke lounge, miniature golf course,[4] sauna, arcade, gift shop,[5] fitness center and hair salon.[6]

References
  1. Leisure World Statistics
  2. Skyward
  3. SKYWARD (1969) (in swedish)
  4. "Features 1". Archived from the original on 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
  5. "Features 2". Archived from the original on 2010-09-29. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
  6. "Features 3". Archived from the original on 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
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