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To be fair, in the flesh she looks well looked after, it was good to see her after being absent from the Southampton waterfront for a number of years.
Casting my mind back not that long ago, all we had was Canberra, QE2, Black Prince and CTC offering crusies from the UK, so when she goes, it will certainly be the end of an era.
I remember Fred dividing his cruises between Tilbury and Southampton, dependent on voyages to the North or South, much like Saga does these days with Dover and Southampton.
Andrew
Greetings Ben.
She is indeed very quirky but then I would suggest that there are far too few quirky ships out there today. Soon all we will be left with are ships that are shiny and modern but devoid of character.
quote:Originally posted by Rex:Didn't she have a sister called the Blenheim? What happened to her?
Black Prince's sister was the Black Watch of 1966. The slightly larger Blenheim came into service a 4-years later. I believe the Black Watch ('66) was scrapped a few years ago and the Blenheim (later renamed Discovery 1) was burned-out in the late 1990s and later scrapped.
[ 09-22-2009: Message edited by: lasuvidaboy ]
For anyone interested in her history (and that of the Fred Olsen company) I'll throw in a recommendation for Anthony Cooke's book "The Fred Olsen Line and its Passenger Ships". It's published by Carmania Press, and the ISBN is 978-0-9543666-7-4. I enjoyed reading it and there are many good photographs. The period when Black Prince came into service is covered in considerable detail - in fact the book is very good on the whole post-war period through to the mid-80s and includes excellent coverage of Black Prince, the previous Black Watch, the first Braemar, Blenheim, and so on.
www.olacruises.com
quote:Originally posted by lasuvidaboy: The light grey paintwork (below the boats) creates the illusion (from a distance) that she has a covered promenade-at least to me.
I had this impression too !
I must say i never quite understood the fascination and popularity of Brlack Prince, wasn't it because at the time there was nothing else ?
J
She is now listed as sailing at 09.00 hrs. on Thursday 29th October 2009.
Perhaps Fred Olsen are still waiting to be paid !
Pam
It is starting to look if her new cruising operation, from Venezuala, could be delayed or cancelled !
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