As usual with Star the guessing game now begins as to who has actually bought the ship! My guess is that she has been acquired by Club Cruise for Phoenix Reisen as I believe Club Cruise already has a contract to deliver another ship to Phoenix as soon as it can find a suitable one.

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STAR CRUISES SELLS SUPERSTAR GEMINI

AS PART OF FLEET OPTIMISATION PLAN

Star Cruises today announced the sale of the SuperStar Gemini which is to be concluded in the following weeks. SuperStar Gemini will be chartered back from the new owner until December 2008 to continue offering her cruise itineraries before being handed over to the new owner. SuperStar Gemini is presently owned by Star Cruises along with the Asian fleet of other mid-sized ships such as the SuperStar Virgo, SuperStar Aquarius, SuperStar Libra, Star Pisces, Megastar Taurus, Megastar Aries and Wasa Queen, of which she has been part since 1995.

“SuperStar Gemini has an extremely loyal following especially from the Australians as it is a truly unique ship that offers an ambience that is filled with a very personalised level of service and genuine warmth and hospitality. The crew onboard are very dedicated and many repeat guests have fondly commented that it really does feel like they are part of an extended family onboard, and this is what keeps them coming back time and time again." said Mr. David Chua, Star Cruises’ President.

“The sale is part of the company’s fleet optimisation plan in line with the realization of new growth opportunities in the region. Such a need to sell or replace selected ships in the fleet will occur as and when opportunities from potential buyers arise to enable us to acquire bigger, better vessels as well as to renew and further enhance our products and services to better cater to our guests’ needs.” he further added. “An example is the arrival of the SuperStar Aquarius recently in June this year to Hong Kong, with greater capacity and features to cater to the needs and tastes of our guests.”

Apart from the future growth potential with renewed and bigger capacities and features of ships, Star Cruises will now be able to focus on further improvements to its current ships such as the SuperStar Virgo, SuperStar Aquarius, SuperStar Libra, with continuous innovation and improvement of personalised services, ongoing new activities and world-class themes and performances. Star Cruises is the pioneer of the industry in this region for more than a decade, it has the local knowledge and depth of experience to know and understand what each guest's needs are in order to provide them with the best cruise experience in the region.

SuperStar Gemini currently offers 7, 10, 11 and 21-night cruises from Singapore to destinations in South East Asia before moving Downunder to Australia where her ardent fans are in November for three months. In Australia, she will do two full circumnavigations of the continent, creating many memorable itineraries taking in ports of call such as Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin and others. The decision to deploy the ship for three months Downunder during some of the very best cruising conditions, the Australian Summer, was largely due and in response to the huge popularity of SuperStar Gemini with the Australian market. On returning to Singapore, she will continue with the ever popular 7-night Straits of Malacca cruises as well as another six 10, 11 and 21-night cruises taking in Thailand, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

At 19,093 gross tonnes, SuperStar Gemini is a world-class cruise ship with international and Asian dining, world-class entertainment and recreational facilities. Her facilities include a swimming pool, restaurants and bars, hair salon, spa, well-appointed karaoke rooms and much more to cater to all types of passengers, young and old, singles, couples and families.

About Star Cruises

Star Cruises, the third largest cruise operator in the world is a global cruise brand with a combined fleet of 21 ships with about 32,300 lower berths in service with an additional 3 ships and some 10,800 lower berths due to be delivered by 2010, cruising to destinations and islands in Asia-Pacific, North and South America, Hawaii, Caribbean, Alaska, Europe, Mediterranean, Bermuda and the Antarctica under the Star Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, NCL America, Orient Lines and Cruise Ferries brands.

Star Cruises is represented in more than 25 locations worldwide with offices and representatives in Australia, China, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Cambodia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

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she has been sold to the Clipper Group and ISP has been appointed to manage the ship as well as seek charter-hire.

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Originally posted by dougnewman:
It will be interesting to see who charters her.

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I know of a few interested parties whom I'm sure will provide a nice home and future employment for her.

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Originally posted by dougnewmanatsea:
I believe Club Cruise already has a contract to deliver another ship to Phoenix as soon as it can find a suitable one.

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Hi Doug,

that ship is "Jules Verne" aka "Alexander von Humboldt" (II). I am told that Club Cruise is looking for a (smaller) replacement ship for Vision Cruceros.

Best,

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Originally posted by Tim in 'Lauderdale:
I know of a few interested parties whom I'm sure will provide a nice home and future employment for her.

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The most obvious to me would be Voyages of Discovery whose parent company just sold £10m worth of stock on the AIM. That said I am not sure if she would be suitable for the sort of itineraries they do.

I suppose Phoenix may be interested, probably not Transocean as they have just gotten MARCO POLO... Vision Cruceros is in need of a new ship but I imagine this one is too big. And I understand Travelplan would like a running mate for NEW FLAMENCO...

Am I warm with any of these ?

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Originally posted by r.fiebig:
that ship is "Jules Verne" aka "Alexander von Humboldt" (II). I am told that Club Cruise is looking for a (smaller) replacement ship for Vision Cruceros.

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[ 09-29-2007: Message edited by: dougnewman ]

it is obvious that Phoenix has been looking for a "Maxim Gorkiy" replacement. I know this might be considered a contradiction to earlier reports that the old lady might very well sail beyond 2010, but it isn't. However, it appears that she won't be doing so for Phoenix but probably for a different, new German operator.

There have been reports that Phoenix might be interested in "Artemis", which would be a fabulous addition, IMHO. I cannot believe Artemis is about to turn 25 in a couple of years. Boy, she really was ahead of her time.

There has even been speculation that Phoenix is looking into ordering a newbuild.

What I can say for sure is that Phoenix will continue to expand its fleet at a reasonable pace.

Best,

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Originally posted by r.fiebig:
I know this might be considered a contradiction to earlier reports that the old lady might very well sail beyond 2010, but it isn't. However, it appears that she won't be doing so for Phoenix but probably for a different, new German operator.

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Originally posted by r.fiebig:
There have been reports that Phoenix might be interested in "Artemis", which would be a fabulous addition, IMHO.

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I have heard she is not doing very well at P&O and I do wonder just how long she will stay there?

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This is purely anecdotal, but on a ship visit to Oceana in summer 2006 our hostess suggested that Artemis appealed to a specific set of passengers, viz. the older ones. Given that P&O has been attempting to broaden their appeal, there is perhaps a mixed message here.

There may be other reasons. I've had several good looks over the deck plans of Artemis, and there seem to be a lot of cabins with obstructed views. Then there's also a deck of cabins with views onto the Promenade - and therefore presumably views from the Prom into the cabins!

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Originally posted by PamM:
Maybe FOCL. If she's not available until the end of 2008, they will have had Balmoral up and cruising for a while and time to say Cheerio to Black Prince.

Pam

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Originally posted by Rex:

A replacement for Black Prince? You think so??? Is Black Prince over 40????

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I don't think Olsen will replace the 'Black Prince' in the short term.

'Balmoral' and 'Braemar' are both being stretched. Even with the loss of 'Black Prince' Olsen will increase the number of berths.

[ 09-30-2007: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

I do not know where I read it in a longer article, but I only find this information here (but only one sentence).

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Originally posted by Capitals36:
Maybe Pullmantur?

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A Spanish member on another group has suggested Iberojet but I imagine future ships there will come from the Carnival group... But stranger things have happened!

It would certainly be interesting to see her go to a Spanish operator as she is of course one of the very few cruise ships to have been built in Spain!

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Originally posted by Tom Burke:
This is purely anecdotal, but on a ship visit to Oceana in summer 2006 our hostess suggested that Artemis appealed to a specific set of passengers, viz. the older ones.

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I know many former P&O passengers who do not cruise with P&O any more - neither ARTEMIS nor any of the other ships appeal to them. (Well, some actually like AURORA and/or ORIANA but they will not sail with P&O for other reasons.)

Fred. Olsen in particular seems absolutely full of former P&O passengers.

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Originally posted by Tom Burke:
Royal Princess may have sign-posted the way the industry was going with all-outside cabins, but more recent implementations of the concept have perhaps done it better.

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The real innovation of ROYAL PRINCESS - albeit far less hyped than the all-outside cabins - was in the location of the public rooms on the lower decks, and in her being the very first ship to offer standard cabins with balconies.

From what I have seen she does look rather dated in some areas, especially the public rooms which appear quite bland (and which are too few and too large - not enough smaller, more intimate spaces for the British market), but the basic framework of her layout is more modern than most ships built in the ten years after her, and with an appropriate refit I am sure most traces of "dated-ness" could be easily abolished.

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Originally posted by Rex:
A replacement for Black Prince? You think so??? Is Black Prince over 40????

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In addition to her age, mechanical problems and regulatory issues she is also growing increasingly isolated in the Fred. Olsen fleet, the other vessels (even BLACK WATCH and BOUDICCA which are not actually that much newer in years) being far larger and far more modern. As Fred. Olsen expands there will come a point where the fleet simply cannot contain a vessel like this that, despite her charms and her loyal followings, is far below modern standards.

[ 09-30-2007: Message edited by: dougnewman ]

well, "propulsion problems" were the reason for the ship being broken at this time. While in transit of the Korinth Canal, one of her propellers was damaged. So, this is actually not your typical "ship breaking down" propulsion problem but the result of an accident that could happen to any ship, any time.

She is currently in dry-dock at Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg.

Best,

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Originally posted by dougnewman:
As Fred. Olsen expands there will come a point where the fleet simply cannot contain a vessel like this that, despite her charms and her loyal followings, is far below modern standards.

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Nigal Lingard, Olsen’s Marketing Director revealed several interesting facts at a lecture to the OLS in 2006:

‘Black Prince’ is still one of Olsen’s most popular ships. She regularly sells-out. Olsen finds her an ideal size to experiment with new itineraries that may have unknown demand. She has under 500 berths so there is no the pressure to have to sell 1000 berths, providing less financial risk.

Although he cabins are small and outdated, the public rooms seem to be perfectly adequate for the guests requirements. Given the fact that many of Olsen’s regulars are elderly, they find her easy to get around the Black Prince. In fact I’ve heard Olsen passengers say that ‘Baremar’ is too big!

These facts do not change the fact that her days are numbered, of course.

[ 10-01-2007: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

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Originally posted by Waynaro:
Although it would be nice to see the SUPERSTAR GEMINI pair up with her sister BREAMAR, I do not believe FOCL will need additional capacity in the near future. Once BALMORAL enters service and the BREAMAR gets stretched, FOCL's capacity will nearly increase by 30%...

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My understanding is that Fred. Olsen considers it vital to acquire another ship by 2010. Without doing so its UK market share will inevitably drop.

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Originally posted by Waynaro:
Earlier, Louis Cruises has said they are seeking to purchase a newer ship built in the 90s.

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I believe Louis would like to have NORWEGIAN MAJESTY, though Star Cruises may have other plans for her.

[ 10-01-2007: Message edited by: dougnewman ]