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Peter Knego
quote:Originally posted by Redlinekid2:But then again, 2008 had provided with the exact opposite of what would happen to the SS Hamburg and the SS Topaz.
quote:Originally posted by dougnewman:I do not understand this sentence.
I implied that 2008 would had been the year when the SS Topaz and the SS Hamburg would be acquired as hotel ships, like the SS Rotterdam. Instead, the SS Topaz was sold for scrap; and soon the SS Hamburg might have a similar fate as well. However, here is an article that highlights the hotel plans for the SS Hamburg:
http://www.abendblatt.de/daten/2008/12/01/982009.html
I am so upset.
[ 01-04-2009: Message edited by: Redlinekid2 ]
quote:Originally posted by Redlinekid2:I just got word that the SS Maxim Gorki has been sold to a shipbreaker. This is terrible news. Once again, another fine ship is going to Alang. Why couldn't they had gone after the Clipper Pacific, instead? First, the SS Topaz. Now the SS Maxim Gorki? I am so upset.[ 01-04-2009: Message edited by: Redlinekid2 ]
1: Where did you get this information.2: upset why? this vessel is 40/41 years old to expensive to run. In this day and age the most sensitive thing to do. She have a good life and now here role is over. And once again don't start the hotel thing again......!!!!!!!!!!
Ben.
quote:Originally posted by Maasdam:1: Where did you get this information.2: upset why? this vessel is 40/41 years old to expensive to run. In this day and age the most sensitive thing to do. She have a good life and now here role is over. And once again don't start the hotel thing again......!!!!!!!!!!Ben.
I haven't STARTED the HOTEL thing AGAIN!!!!!!
This is so upsetting to see this beautiful ship on that godforsaken beach. It makes me so sad.
Soon, there will be no other classic ships from the 1950's and 1960's left.
quote:Originally posted by Redlinekid2:I just got word that the SS Maxim Gorki has been sold to a shipbreaker.[ 01-04-2009: Message edited by: Redlinekid2 ]
Where did you get this news?
Tony
quote:Originally posted by Redlinekid2:First, the SS Topaz. Now the SS Maxim Gorki?
Ships are machines. They get old. They are not useful any more. They get scrapped.
If you get upset every time some ship is scrapped, you will spend your whole life being upset.
Best,
Raoul
Although not a cruise ship one of the oldest passenger ships still making day trips in the UK is the Sir Walter Scott which is now 110 years old !.
She is screw driven and was built in 1899 !!
In 2007 she was converted to run on bio fuel having previously run on coal and then smokeless fuel.
She still has her original three cyclinder triple expansion engine and two locomotive type boilers.
She carries about 300 passengers and makes day trips on Loch Katrine in Scotland.
She was built by Denny Bros at Dumbarton and then transported to the loch in parts before being re-assembled on the loch shore.
quote:Originally posted by dougnewman: Ships are machines. They get old. They are not useful any more. They get scrapped.
True but what makes it harder is that there are very few (if any) really attractive ships coming on line to replace them.
Seriously. If you had the choice between one of the ships from Classic International Cruises (or even the Regal Empress) or a newbuild out of Florida, both doing the same 7-night itinerary at abt the same price, which would you choose? Say the price was 700 Euros or roughly 1000 USD for either. And you get ONE vacation a year (if you're lucky). Say it was a toss-up b/t the Solstice or the Princess Daphne, the Funchal or MSC Fantasia, even Ruby Princess or the Athena. How are you going to spend your hard earned $1000?
Ask the same question to 10 of your friends. Show them the pictures of the those ships (both exterior and public rooms) and see which they would choose. I bet 10 out of 10 would pick the newbuilds.
The older tonnage has served its purpose, and if no one buys them to keep them around then thats just the way the ball bounces. Who among the 13 million of todays cruise ship passengers really remembers what classic liners went to the breakers in the 1980's or 90's? Name a few that we lost during that time that by their loss we are all worse off by not having them around to remember them by or visit. I would much rather see them scrapped than to sit around as a struggling hotel, tourist attraction, or a gambling ship out of Asia, run down for years, then disposed of as rusting abused hulks.
Now THAT would be a tragedy.
quote:Originally posted by Neil Whitmore ( Bob ex P&O Cruises):You should remember that travel agents earn commission on their sales so depending on the cruising companies they sell, and the commission offered to them, could depend what they try and sell.
Go back and read my post. I said 'you', not Travel Agents.
quote:Originally posted by dmwnc1:[...]Seriously. If you had the choice between one of the ships from Classic International Cruises (or even the Regal Empress) or a newbuild out of Florida, both doing the same 7-night itinerary at abt the same price, which would you choose? [....]Ask the same question to 10 of your friends. Show them the pictures of the those ships (both exterior and public rooms) and see which they would choose. I bet 10 out of 10 would pick the newbuilds.[...]
Seriously. If you had the choice between one of the ships from Classic International Cruises (or even the Regal Empress) or a newbuild out of Florida, both doing the same 7-night itinerary at abt the same price, which would you choose? [....]Ask the same question to 10 of your friends. Show them the pictures of the those ships (both exterior and public rooms) and see which they would choose. I bet 10 out of 10 would pick the newbuilds.[...]
During my last cruise aboard an old ship I did not meet one single person who did not sort of hate being on an (old) ship. I sincerely hope that I just did not happen meet the other ship enthusiast(s) but I was certainly under the impression that I was the only one aboard who actually liked the (old) ship. All people whom I talked (!) to wanted to be on the 'large luxury ships' they saw next to our ship. Most passengers really cordially hated to be on the old ship (O.K. - there was a really bad smell in some areas) - even those who were a bit more appreciating being on a 'vintage vessel' expressed their preference for a more modern ship. Like it or not, that's how it is.
Eventually, and a lot quicker than we want to believe, every single one of these 'classic' ships will either end up in one of these minor European cruise companies or under the torch cutters in Alang. The older ships just cannot compete. And how many ships will SOLAS 2010 claim? In the economy our planet is in for the next decade no one wants to invest tens of millions of dollars on one of the 'classics' to save them. And unless the ship has had some kind of substantial historic impact its cheaper just to cut them up than to save them. It is sad, but a fact of life.
quote:Originally posted by ahrpd:Where did you get this news?
Still no news on the source? The "old reliable" (Wikipedia) still has no reference to her being sold for scrap and a Google search comes up negative.
quote:Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:True but what makes it harder is that there are very few (if any) really attractive ships coming on line to replace them.
Of course if one really only likes ships built, say, before 1980 (or worse, before 1970) then one has a problem.
quote:Originally posted by dmwnc1:One question: Will (CIC) Classic International Cruises, Majestic International Cruises, and Louis Cruise Lines be in operation after the SOLAS 2010 regulations take effect?
As far as I know Majestic only has one ship (OCEAN MAJESTY) and she complies.
quote:Originally posted by dmwnc1:And how many ships will SOLAS 2010 claim?
The ships that don't comply are largely ships that are so old they would be retired anyway, SOLAS or no SOLAS. Virtually all of them will be/would have been 40 years old or more by 2010. It is ridiculous to assume that more than a tiny handful of these ships, if any, would have survived long past 2010 even if new SOLAS rules were not coming into effect.
I doubt it is a coincidence that the deadline was set so far out (the regulations were drawn up in the 1990s) that all the non-compliant ships would basically already obsolete by then anyway.
Or was it a syringe !
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