On 8 May 1906 Ortona was sold to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, who used her in a joint operation with the Orient line to Australia.
The "All Golds"  professional New Zealand Rugby League team, travelled on Ortona from Australia to France via Ceylon in August/September 1907.
In April 1909, she was transferred to the Royal Mail West Indies service.
In 1910, she was sent to the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast for conversion into a 320-capacity cruise ship with a new gross tonnage of 8,939.
She was renamed RMS Arcadian  on 21 September 1910 as the RMSP's liners had names beginning with the letter "A", and was registered at Belfast in September of the following year.
She started her first world cruise in January 1912, the largest dedicated cruise ship in the world at that time.
She was on the first leg of this voyage that Olave St Claire Soames met Lieutenant General Sir Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout Movement, leading to their marriage in October of that year.
On 8 May 1906 Ortona was sold to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, who used her in a joint operation with the Orient line to Australia. The "All Golds"  professional New Zealand Rugby League team, travelled on Ortona from Australia to France via Ceylon in August/September 1907. In April 1909, she was transferred to the Royal Mail West Indies service. In 1910, she was sent to the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast for conversion into a 320-capacity cruise ship with a new gross tonnage of 8,939. She was renamed RMS Arcadian  on 21 September 1910 as the RMSP's liners had names beginning with the letter "A", and was registered at Belfast in September of the following year. She started her first world cruise in January 1912, the largest dedicated cruise ship in the world at that time. She was on the first leg of this voyage that Olave St Claire Soames met Lieutenant General Sir Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scout Movement, leading to their marriage in October of that year.
SS Arcadian