NEW ORLEANS--After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainians
began selling off surplus cruise ships, including a passenger ferry
turned cruise ship named the Azerbaydzhan.
The ship briefly became the Island Holiday for New SeaEscape
Cruises of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Commodore leased the vessel last
spring and rechristened it Enchanted Capri.
To give the ship more of a Caribbean ambience, Commodore
redecorated most of the public rooms in bright, almost jarring
colors. In contrast, the halls and stairways of the vessel retain a
Cold War-era, Soviet starkness.
In fact, the Capri still shows a lot of signs of its Soviet
roots. Crew members are Ukrainian, the artwork depicts Azerbaijani
folk scenes, the wall-mounted crew telephones would look more at
home on a nuclear submarine and the life jackets still sport the
Communist hammer-and-sickle emblem.
As if to exemplify the ship's split personality, all the signs
on board are in both Russian and English. What goes on in these odd
surroundings, though, is 100% American.