I have a great idea that I think would be a hit so let me know what you all think????

Have a two-ship fleet (Oceanic & Rembrandt), really focus on not just maintenance only, rather, preventative maintenance as well. Both of these ships are really in quite good shape and could be in use for another 5-10 years. Here's the BIG IDEA: Have a shuttle from Miami, or Ft Lauderdale to San Juan and back again. The ships would take passengers on a two-day cruise to San Juan, and get them there on Saturdays & Sundays. There are many people who now cruise out of San Juan on 7 night cruises....perhaps they would be interested in taking a luxury cruise ship to San Juan rather than flying?? It could be packaged ala carte. People could extend their vacation by taking a ship to meet up with their 7 night cruise....then after their 7 night cruise...they could take the ship back to Miami or Ft. Lauderdale. That would make an 11 night cruise package to offer travel agents. Also, another option for passengers would be to stay in San Juan for the week, and then take the ship back. The ships would arrive in the morning with plenty of time for some passengers to meet up with their 7 day cruise ship departure. These ships that cruise out of San Juan usually leave in the evening so there should be plenty of time to get from one ship to another.

The only glitch may be that our ships would have to probably stop in Nassau, because they couldn't go from one USA port to another.

Then...when the ships are not doing the 2 day trip to San Juan, they could do four-five night cruises to Jamaica or Grand Cayman or Cozumel. Passengers could pay for a one-way ticket from Miami or Ft Lauderdale to Jamaica for example...stay in Jamaica for a week, then cruise back to Miami or Ft Lauderdale. What a deal!!!!

Maybe have one ship cruise out of Ft Lauderdale and one out of Miami??

A Name for the cruise line???

Sea Voyage Cruise Lines, or Ocean Voyage Cruise Lines, or Trans-Ocean Cruises (TOC), or Oceanic Cruise Voyages, Inc.

The ship names: Oceanic (Oceanic) Rembrandt (Ocean Lady)

Just some ideas....so what does everyone think?? Should we do it? If we could get some investors to help us clean up these ships so that they are in tip-top shape, hire Norwegian officers and captains, International Cruise Staff, and a service crew of Tahitians...what a combination!! Knock out a couple of the smaller staterooms and make several huge 2000 sq ft suites on both ships. Register the ships in Norway. Add more modern and exquisite spa facilities on both ships. Create a "Real" 7 star service program where the entire crew and staff are required to go through a two week training program on (ediquette)sp. and service...so the entire crew and staff on the ships are hand-picked to provide the absolute best possible service. To be able to predict and prepare for ways to provide service as quickly and efficiently as possible, even before the passenger may respond to a service need. The ships would provide the absolute best dinning possible at sea.

The passengers with suites on these ships would have their own dinning areas and lounges and entrance to the ship. The suite passengers would be given the service similar to a bed & Breakfast environment.

So many ideas...so little money.. Anyone want to invest in this new cruise line????

More to report later.

Paddy.

And were it not for Nierenberg, Premier would probably have folded back in '99.

Plain and simple, Premier went under due to the fact that they were mismanaged from the get go in '97. Anyone who thought they could compete against the bigger, newer ships, without a unique niche was blind.

Had Premier simply embranced the Big red Boat concept from the start, perhaps they would still be operating.

Instead, the ships and the lones image just got run down, they didnt market their product properly, fuel costs escalated, the ships kept breaking down and Premier was posting HUGE finacial losses.

Tim

Combine vacation/timeshare (bite my tongue, I never thought where that concept would make sense to me) ownership with classic ships that visit the great ports of the world small and large. Sell rotating ownership intervals (without high pressure sales tactics in 14-21 day increments) on the two best ships in the Premier fleet. Eventually, one could see the world without having to wait for that once in a lifetime world cruise.

Don't know the specific economics of this idea, but if you could get initial sales going well it would load the financial front end of the project. Yearly maintenance fees would help with the upkeep of the ships. Remaining ships in the line could be used on short 3-5-7 day regular cruises (no interval ownership)cruises easily accessible from major U.S. metro areas (L.A., NYC, SEA, MIA, HOU) to introduce newcomers to the program and help with cash flow. Need first class management, officers, food, entertainment and cultural programs on board.

As far as Premier is concerned, I'm holding two tickets to sail on their ships - one is for today and one is for October. Alas, neither will happen and at best I'm disappointed I'm not cruising this week or next month and I doubt if I'll ever see any of my money, but more importantly, how can you all talk about these lovely old ships as if they have no value or worth?

I'm absolutely heartbroken ships such as the Oceanic and the Rembrandt/Rotterdam are sitting idle just waiting for their fates to be decided. These ships have hearts and souls and carry the essence of every passenger that has spent a night on board. They're probably aching to steam off into a sunset headed for their next port. Oh, I may sound dramatic and romantic, but there is nothing, absolutely nothing, like a classic old liner. Those of you who would send older ships to the scrap heap should be ashamed of yourselves. You can't possibly love the sea, and cruising, as much as you might profess if you think "old is bad" and only "new is good".

Cruising has changed tremendously in the last 25 years that I've known it. We all know how much, and we all know that greed is a big part of the cruise lines problems. Bigger, faster, ice skating rinks, rock climbing walls, race tracks; honestly, why go on a cruise at all? Go to the rink, or the mountain, or the track.

Go to sea for a cruise. The Oceanic will do just fine, thank you. So she needs a little work. Don't you need a little work every morning to walk out the door? Don't you need a shot, or a pill, or a nip & tuck? Of course. Better to go inside her engine room, modernize the workings, clean & refit her, maintain her sleek, unique exterior, and let her sail away.

That's the cruising experience; the brilliant sun, tumultous sea, salty breeze against your face and the distant horizon on a classic lady built specifically to accommodate the moment.

When Premier was operating the BRB's back in the 80's and early 90's, it was a successful and profgitable company that had a NICHE.

Sadly, the vision of operating a fleet of classic ships was misguided, you cant have a niche where none exists. There just werent enough people to fill their ships.

As for a "downmarket" product, I dont necessarily agree. The food and service on Premier was quite good. They did allow the ships to get run down though.

As for Bruce, when he came along in early '99, that company was already mince meat. They'd lost almost 80 million in '98 and were reeling. The "Mexi Cruises" were already ready to launch when he came aboard and it was a sad, pathetic, expensive mistake.

The BRB concept was a viable one as it has/had tremendous consumer awareness. Bruce tried to swing back in that direction but it was all too late.

Nothing was going to save the company at that point and by April of this year, Bruce was just a figurehead; being paid to talk to the press and trades in an attempt to feign some sense of stability and direction.

As for the ships, it seems that there fate has been sealed by the stigma of the Premier collapse, skyrocketing fuel costs and the lack of maintenance they recv'd. I spoke with a broker yesterday and his feelings are this:

SeaBreeze: Scrap
Oceanic: $22 million TOP
Island Breeze: $20 million
Rembrandt: $22.5 million
Seawind Crown: $12 million

But with a glut of 50's and 60's tonnage on the market, and no buyers in sight I doubt they will be returning to service quickly. Oceanic and Rembrandt stand the best chances, but they're expensive to run and maintain.