THE 23,000-ton Greek liner Olympia made a major contribution in the 1950s to raising standards of accommodation for tourist-class passengers on the North Atlantic route.

They could travel at rates from £60 to £70 and had the use of 14 public rooms - fantastic value compared to costs and standards in other liners, dating mainly from pre-Second World War.

The liner was built at the Govan yard of Alexander Stephen and Sons and launched in April, 1953 on the same day as the Royal Yacht Britannia. She was a handsome liner with white hull and single yellow-and-black funnel amidships. She put into Southampton for the first time in October 1953. The maiden voyage to Halifax and New York attracted 1,200 passengers.

Olympia was one of the few liners to go aground in Southampton Water. The liner was withdrawn in the early 1970s and laid up in Greece for ten years before being sold to the Sally Viking Line of Finland. She was renamed Caribe in 1982 and the following year became Caribe I.

In 1993 she became Regal Empress and in 2002, on the eve of her 50th birthday, she was still in service as one of the last classic passenger ships in US-based cruise service.