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Maybe there is an interested buyer, maybe a charter, maybe ending early... a few options. How did you find out Jepp? Are you booked on it?

quote:

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PamM wrote:
She has been up for sale for a couple of years, if not longer.

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Yes that's true. I remember last year (2004) her scheduled cruises ended at about the same time in September. Was this the same the year before?

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quote:

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Originally posted by PamM:
How did you find out Jepp? Are you booked on it?

Pam

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maybe is time to MSC sell this ship, she is a little bit "old" for her recent fleet. I think that SS Monterey is a good option for Louis. Maybe? Who knows?

The truth of that remains to be discovered

I was not able to book Pullmantur from the UK, but used a Belgian TA, and others have used Dutch TAs.

It's a shame this cruise has been cancelled, didn't realise so many CT'ers would have been aboard. One does wonder if it really is a charter, as you say. Hope you manage to find something else. There's always Louis too if you're looking for 'older' ships, and G Latino, Ocean Countess etc all have availability for 19 Sept.

Pam

[ 08-26-2005: Message edited by: PamM ]

Any idea what the Oceanic will be doing in 2006? The Pullmantur site only shows through the end of 2005.

quote:

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JP wrote:
Does anyone know of any Pullmantur cruise reviews? I can't find any anywhere.

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If you understand Spanish go to:

Infocruceros

or

Cruceromania

both have forums.

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Johan sailed Oceanic in July 2004, his review is in this thread, along with links to his photos in the galleries. Willem sailed her earlier this year and has many photos on his personal website indexed here. I sailed her a month ago, had a fabulous time, but have not yet done a review, nor got many of my photos sorted, though there are a couple of galleries in there somewhere.

Do you speak Spanish? It's not really a problem, as many of the staff [and most of the Officers], speak English well, but there will only be a handful of other English speaking pax aboard [25 on our trip], and one may be inclined to feel left out if you like constant chat with other pax. Not many Spanish speak English, but some certainly will. A few words of Spanish breaks ice. Some staff still hail from her Premier Days, so happy to chat. The Diario De A Bordo is printed in English, so no problems that way, and all announcements are in both Spanish & English.

As a ship, she is a delight, kept in good condition and well worth a trip aboard. The staff are very good in some areas [restaurants/cabin], not so good in others [bar staff], but that's because being all inclusive they have no incentive to serve as quickly as possible. She's clean and quite spacious, with lovely stern decks and covered prom... however all the loungers soon get pinched from here in the morning at sea, by pax taking them out on the stern decks. No forward deck area though big minus, and only clear fwd views from the Sunrise Terrace [buffet eating area].

I am sure I will spout forth more in due course, but not much time during school hols. I note Holiday Dream is also going all inclusive later this year, not sure about Blue Dream/Star though. The Spanish do prefer the R ship, but of course she's a higher standard and more expensive.

Cruceromania, where are you?

Pam

[ 08-28-2005: Message edited by: PamM ]

quote:

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Originally posted by TBirdFrank:
.... but only to confirm that there is no availability on Oceanic that fits my time frame

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That's a very big shame Is there a cancellation wait list? or similar? but not much of a hope at this stage. What are you thinking of doing instead?

I have however managed to get cabin 802 on the Marco Polo ex Dover a week on Sunday for £999 each. Train spotting from the jaccuzzi in amsterdam the next day!

She's not a bad old tub - 39 years old - lost all her Ruskie spartan character and has a lovely forward deck area from where I managed to even photograph the Waverley last summer in the bristol Channel. We once sailed the Mikhail Lermontov in 1976 so we remember fried brussles sprouts, thirty five minutes for dinner then the lights went out, ad a try on to see if the Brits would spot no vodka in the drinks etc etc.

I would certainly like to do an antractic on her one day in her now cruise role.

The only drawback is that we will only see Barca through a coach window on transfer to the sirport, but by then the wife will be getting concerned to be home

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quote:

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Originally posted by PamM:
As a ship, she is a delight, kept in good condition and well worth a trip aboard. The staff are very good in some areas [restaurants/cabin], not so good in others [bar staff], but that's because being all inclusive they have no incentive to serve as quickly as possible. [ 08-28-2005: Message edited by: PamM ]

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Hello!
I was rapidly reboked and was lucky to get new air tickets and time off work. I came home yesterday from the 27th August cruise with s/s Monterey. The staff was very good in some areas (bar/cabin), not so good in others (restaurant)...
Last year I traveled with s/s Oceanic and then all staff was excellent everywhere but it wasn´t "all inclusive".. The food was better on s/s Oceanic.
Next year a hope that s/s Ausonia is still alive... Does somebody have experience from her?

"MONTEREY To The Gulf Coast?
October 22: In the wake of Hurricane Rita, the city of Lake Charles, Louisiana has been working with State Governor Kathleen Blanco, to bring a cruise ship up river to the Lake area to house hundreds left homeless after the storm damage. Could this be why MSC's 1952-built MONTEREY (ex PINE TREE MARINER) is now reported to be headed to the US Gulf Coast from Italy? Originally a cargo ship, she and her sister were bought by Matson Line in 1955, and rebuilt as passenger ships for South Pacific service. Pacific Far East Lines bought the ships in 1970 and in 1989, MONTEREY was purchased by StarLauro Crociere, and later passed to MSC in 1995. It was reported that the elderly ship would no longer sail under the MSC banner after the charter ends, speculation has her possibly chartered for cruising from Durban, South Africa in April or May 2006."