Whither the Windsor Castle? - Letters - Letter to the Editor

Cruise Travel, May-June, 2003 by Dorothy Eyre Reminick

As a longtime subscriber to Cruise Travel, I always enjoy each issue, especially the Annual Directory, when I learn the whereabouts of the ships of the past.

One correction to the "Cruise Ship Guide" in the February 2003 edition: the Margarita L, former Windsor Castle (Union-Castle Line), entered service in 1960, not 1966. At the time I was working for the line in London and was the reservation agent responsible for berthing her maiden voyage that year.

She was a magnificent ship, and I always wondered what became of her after her sadly career with that fleet. I would like to know more, if possible, of her history in the intervening years.

Dorothy Eyre Reminick, Jupiter, FL

The British-built 37,640-gross-register-ton/ 782-passenger Windsor Castle served in the Union-Castle Line fleet from 1960 till 1977, when she was bought by John S. Latsis, a Greek oil and shipping magnate, renamed Margarita L, and converted into an 852-guest hotel ship for use at Jiddah, port for Mecca. She was next used as an office and leisure center for Latsis at Rabigh, then moved again near Jiddah. In 1990 she arrived at Eleusis, Greece and laid up. She is still quite original in profile and inside. Recent proposals include a hotel/attraction in Southampton or Cape Town.