After forty years service Saga Ruby, formerly the Cunard liner Caronia, is to retire in 2014. On 10 July Saga Cruises formerly announced the retirement of the Saga Ruby, a few weeks after releasing information on the Ruby's final 33,467 nautical mile world cruise leaving Southampton on 7 January 2013 and returning on 27 April.
Saga Ruby entered service in 1973 as the Vistafjord, a sister-ship to the Sagafjord that entered service in 1965 for the Norwegian American Line. Both transferred to Norwegian American Cruises (NAC) in 1980 before joining the Cunard fleet in May 1983 following the purchase of the ships by Cunard's owners Trafalgar House. The Sagafjord served until 1997 when she was sold to Saga Cruises becoming the Saga Rose. The Vistafjord was renamed the Caronia in 1999 and was sold in 2004, also to Saga Cruises. She emerged in March 2005 as the Saga Ruby after a £17m refit.
Saga Cruises remain tight-lipped on the future for the liner following her retirement. Her sister, the Saga Rose (formerly the Sagafjord) ended up at a scrapyard at Jiangyin in China in May 2010.
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