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Originally posted by Neil - Ex P. & O. S. N. Company.:
Two of the original ' Love Boats ' are still in service.

Which one are you talking about and where did you get this information from ?
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At the time CMV indicated that she had been recalled by her owners who would delivering her to new owners. I don't believe there has been any confirmation on who the new owners would be or what her fate would be after this month.

You still have not said where you got the information from that the ' Discovery ' is to be scrapped !

I agree with SSTRAVELER that it is very unusual for ship scappers to demand the delivery of a ship at such short notice !

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Originally posted by Neil - Ex P. & O. S. N. Company.:
Two of the original ' Love Boats ' are still in service.
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The other Princess Cruises ship which was the original ' Love Boat ' and featured in a film before the love boat tv series is the 1972 built ' Sun Princess ' which is now owned by a chinese company and cruising between Thailand and Vietnam. She is now named ' Ocean Dream ' and has cruises advertised on their website until October 2016 !

This cruise ship had entered service as the P & O Cruises ' Spirit of London ', and was renamed when P & O Cruises bought Princess Cruises.

Although she is in need of a bit of a re-fit, she is a lovely ship. It surprising how spacious and how many public lounges she has. Parts remind me of the QE2 and SS Norway.

This recent slide show (early September) does not really do her full justice:

http://youtu.be/I_kiuMz1pgA

[ 09-29-2014: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

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Originally posted by Neil - Ex P. & O. S. N. Company.:
rd77

The other Princess Cruises ship which was the original ' Love Boat ' and featured in a film before the love boat tv series is the 1972 built ' Sun Princess ' which is now owned by a chinese company and cruising between Thailand and Vietnam. She is now named ' Ocean Dream ' and has cruises advertised on their website until October 2016 !

This cruise ship had entered service as the P & O Cruises ' Spirit of London ', and was renamed when P & O Cruises bought Princess Cruises.

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I see, thanks. The OCEAN DREAM has been mostly laid up off Laem Chabang and has been looking very neglected as of late. She is supposed to be making cruises every now and then, but I have yet to find anyone who is sure that actually performs any cruises at all. Let's hope she does sail on indeed!

There is also pictures of the company stand at a local travel show

She is making four day weekend cruises which are at present advertised as bookable until October 2016 so not sure where you get your information.

If it is from the AIS movements shown for this ship it is known that reports from this area are not too reliable !
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[ 09-29-2014: Message edited by: Neil - Ex P. & O. S. N. Company. ]

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Originally posted by Neil - Ex P. & O. S. N. Company.:
If you check their Face Book site you will see pictures of her on the cruises with passengers on board !

There is also pictures of the company stand at a local travel show

She is making four day weekend cruises which are at present advertised as bookable until October 2016 so not sure where you get your information.

If it is from the AIS movements shown for this ship it is known that reports from this area are not too reliable !
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[ 09-29-2014: Message edited by: Neil - Ex P. & O. S. N. Company. ]

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My source is a local maritime journalist working for well reputed maritime newspaper!

Besides, what do a few pics of pax onboard on a facebook page say? Could have been taken anytime!

Besides, have you seen how she looks?

Maybe she will be sailing again or is already doing so, I sure hope so!

As I provide information on two cruising web sites I run, including one on facebook, and also a website in America, I consider your remark about hounding people to be very rude and did not require you to swear !

It is by asking other members that you increase your knowledge of what is going on around the world with cruise ships !

With the links I have I often post information on here, on my own two sites as well as on an American cruising website where I have been the UK manager.

I also prefer to see facts posted, with a news source link if possible, rather than unconfirmed information which may not be correct !

I have no clue what she is doing but from the photos seen it seems as if she is laid up and has been since before the end of last year.

A lot of people thought they could make a quick buck on cruising in Asia and they followed the age old model of buying a worn down old ship, slapping some paint on it and figuring the unsuspecting would flock to it.

What the cruise lines are finding is that the Asian and specifically Chinese marker is far more sophisticated. Example RCI's decision to send Quantum to Asia while she is only a year old. Even the Asian casino market is demanding better these days and the casino operators are turning down the opportunities to buy the old ships. Example the ex. Costa Marina.

Regarding the OCEAN DREAM: remember she was sold for scrap earlier on, but the scrap buyer pulled out when he found out that her engines were clapped out indeed. The cost of towage would have made the deal unprofitable for him. She then remained in limbo for quite some time before becoming the OCEAN DREAM indeed. Whatever her problems are now, she will certainly not be in the best of shapes.

[ 10-01-2014: Message edited by: rd77 ]

Reviews by passengers on the ' Discovery ' cruises have all recently been very positive.

At 42 years old I would expect the odd signs of rust but so long as you do not go through the floor or deck, when walking, then her condition appears to still be fairly good.

There was some pictures showing holed, and rusty decks on her sister ship ' Pacific ' when she was laid up in Genoa.

It will be interesting to see the passengers reviews on the 66 year old ' Azores ' , which will replace the ' Discovery ' , as in the past she has always had excellent reports.

I always prefer a passengers review to those of travel writers who often get free cruises and then write a report on that cruise ship !
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[ 10-03-2014: Message edited by: Neil - Ex P. & O. S. N. Company. ]

No travel writer on a freebie is going to detail the problems or bad points - another freebie won't be on offer.

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Originally posted by PamM:

No travel writer on a freebie is going to detail the problems or bad points - another freebie won't be on offer.

Pam

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Many travel writers are solicited by cruise lines to sail on their ships with the expectation of a favorable review--this is really an enhanced form of paid advertising and it is understood that the review will be favorable. If someone wants to write an "exposé" with lots of unfavorable comments, they would not be doing so on a comped cruise.

Many years ago a well-known travel writer told me that if he felt that he could not be favorable towards a certain ship or cruise line, he would not accept the offer.

Agree about the travel writers reviews as their free holidays would soon end if they wrote adverse comments about a cruise.

Passengers reviews may not always be as accurate as expected but having worked on cruises, with 1500 passengers on board, we knew from their comments form remarks that on average we satisfied 96.4 % of our passenges on the ' ss Oriana '.

The other 3.6 % are the passengers that could write poor reviews so you need the experience of working on cruise ships, as I did for over 30 years, to decide if all they complain about is correct.

Just sometimes they are correct ! lol

I have also heard that the ship is going to be scrapped, and I heard it from several reliable sources - all with the same info.

That said, until an announcement has been made, nothing is "gospel" or final, but it's highly unlikely that she will see further commercial trading.

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Originally posted by PamM:
No travel writer on a freebie is going to detail the problems or bad points - another freebie won't be on offer.

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Originally posted by Tim in Fort Lauderdale:
Neil,

it's highly unlikely that she will see further commercial trading.

Tim

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She is over 40 years old and past the end of her design life. Unlike the pre-1960 classics, there is little of the fine woods, brass, and etched glass that are worth saving. She has tiny cabins, no balconies, and lacking in the amenities that are today standard.