quote:

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Originally posted by ahrpd:
It's been reported on another forum that FLAMENCO I's mystery buyers are a company called Singapore Star Shipping, probably an Asian gambling outfit. They paid $US3.4m, compared to the $US28m paid by Club Cruise two years ago.

Tony

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Tony,

Has the Flamenco I been withdrawn from Lloyds Register ? ?

Classification society Date of status Status Reason
Lloyd's Register 2009-02-11 Withdrawn by society for other reasons

Having been laid up anchored in Singapore for so long and on an earlier charter as an accommodation ship in New Caledonia before that, it does not surprise me that Lloyds have withdrawn their classification of the ship. I dread to think what is required to bring her up to an acceptable standard for any classification society.

All the best

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Originally posted by DAMBROSI:
Please correct me if I'm wrong...wasn't she one of NCL's ships once? Or am I confusing her with the former CUNARD ADVENTURER?

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FLAMENCO I started life as P&O's SPIRIT OF LONDON, then moved to Princess as SUN PRINCESS. She later became STARSHIP MAJESTIC, SOUTHERN CROSS, FLAMENCO, ELYSIAN FLAMENCO and NEW FLAMENCO.

The former CUNARD ADVENTURER is now sailing as CORAL for Louis Cruise Lines.

hi your confusion is understandable
being ordered by Klosters as Seaward she
was to become a sister to their Southward
however before she sailed was sold to P&O

The Love Boat Fleet

It seems all the work was not completed on time !

She then ran into rough weather when she did sail and missed the calls at Malta and Alexandria !

To get back on schedule she is cutting the stay at Safaga to one day instead of two !

The ss Oceanic made up some of the time which had been lost on her present voyage for the Japanese Peace Movement.

On her Atlantic crossing she made up 24 hours between Las Palmas and Cuba to arrive on time !

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Originally posted by Neil - Ex P. & O. S. N. Company.:
Although the engines may now be running OK on the mv Discovery she seems to have no reserve speed to make up any time she looses!

The ss Oceanic made up some of the time which had been lost on her present voyage for the Japanese Peace Movement.

On her Atlantic crossing she made up 24 hours between Las Palmas and Cuba to arrive on time !

The original Sun Princess was always the fastest of the three 1970's Princess ships.

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Neil,

I get the sense you have a real hard on for Discovery! I have to wonder why that is!?

That said, you are comparing apples to oranges!
Oceanic was built to have the power of an express liner and the reason she has tremendous 'reserve speed' is that her itineraries are planned WELL below what her maximum speed is - ie; 16.5 to 18 knots when she can pull 24 out of a hat!

Discovery has a max cruising speed of @18 knots which is what she was built for. So that she left two days late and encountered ferocious storms and had to cancel two calls is not all that unreasonable!

Do you have an intimate knowledge of all the sea and weather conditions?!

Do you know that when dry-dock work is not completed on time, it is typically the fault of the dry-dock operator/contractor?!

I am sure all the answers to this and more are contained on the other cruise site of which you are a moderator!

When diesel engines are re-built or overhauled they should be able to run at their original speed.

Discovery was designed to cruise at 21.5 knots when operated by Princess Cruises.

Both her and her sister ship were slightly slower than the smaller sister ship Sun Princess, which had been the Spirit of London and on which I sailed.

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Originally posted by Neil - Ex P. & O. S. N. Company.:
Hi Tim

When diesel engines are re-built or overhauled they should be able to run at their original speed.

Discovery was designed to cruise at 21.5 knots when operated by Princess Cruises.

Both her and her sister ship were slightly slower than the smaller sister ship Sun Princess, which had been the Spirit of London and on which I sailed.

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Sorry Neil,

those ships were never designed for 21.5 knots. They were built with a contractual cruising speed of 20 knots; Sun Princess or SOL had a contractual cruising speed that was only 1/2 knot faster.

They were all built with Fiat diesels which, over time, have worn down and have been notoriously fussy all their lives. The Island and Pacific Princess were never able to sustain much over 18 knots after about ten years of age and it was only after Gerry Herrod lavished so much money on the ship that her engines were in like-new condition once again.

Princess did a horrible job of maintaining those ships in the post-Sitmar purchase era. By the time Pacific Princess was delivered to her new owners in 2002, she was practically falling apart.

The cruise line actually owes guests notning for the weather delay, that is why it is called a 'gesture of goodwill'.

Again, you seem to have a perpetual hard on for VOD and Discovery, why is that?

P & O put their engine problems on their UK website but not Voyages of Discovery !

David Yellow, their Managing Director at the time, declined to answer questions or provide information about the ships problems.

Re the speed of the ex Island Princess, a service speed of 20 knots does mean that the ship should be capable of exceeding this speed which they often did between ports in the 1970's !

Although not a complete walk round promenade deck, it was possible to walk along the outside deck, pass the restaurant, when the ship sailed as Spirit of London and Sun Princess.

Built cheap and I am surprised she is still going. Just MHO but then I was there and remeber her clearly.

Having worked on her for about two years when she was the Spirit of London, as well as the Sun Princess, compared with the other P & O ships at that time she was new and different.

Vibration in the cabins on the aft end of some of the decks was a problem.

However she was the original Love Boat and on the first night of most cruises, in the ships cinema, they showed the film which was made for TV before the series was made.

The party cruises she did at weekends, from Los Angeles, were always popular and she sailed full on them most of the time.

Her hygeine scores were always above the other two Princess ships which frequently got pulled up for food containers being on the floor in the galley when the ships were inspected at St Thomas.

Significant perhaps that she was the first to be sold - even before the very much older Fair and Dawn P's. or even Fairstar if I remember correctly. She was considered for the Aussie market but it was decided that she would not do well down there. In fact I don't recall her ever leaving her "Fun on the Sun" route, Caribbean / Mexico / Alaska.

Although finished to P & O requirements it has to be remembered that Spirit of London / Sun Princess was ordered by NCL so not really built to a P & O design.

Even Royal Princess when built still lacked some of the refinements you might have expected in a new Cruise Ship.

John Young, who was the Captain on the Sun Princess when I was there, had some imput into the design of the Royal Princess.

Re the Dawn and Fair Princess, they came under the Princess banner when P & O bought Sitmar Cruises.

They had been built to a Cunard design and bought second hand by Sitmar.