Both the ex ' Princess Danae ' and the ' Arion' , which are now named ' Lisboa' and ' Porto ' are advertised for sale on one of the ship brokers sites which leaves him with only the 1948 built ' Azores ' still in service.

The ' Azores ' is reported as being on a five year charter to the UK company CMV Cruises.

I wonder if Portuscale Cruises are showing any interest in the laid up 1998 built 22,496 grt five star deluxe cruise ship ' Deutschland ' which would make a fine addition to their fleet once her classification is renewed.

She is advertised for sale at US $ 35 million, on one of the ship brokers websites, so not too costly to buy depending on the amount of work required for her re-classification.

There's talk that they are basically forcing CMV to buy the Azores.

The ' Lisboa ' is already sold to breakers in Turkey, due to the large amount of steel to replace, and is expected to leave Lisbon in about ten days time !

The small ' Porto ' is also for sale according to my friends in Lisbon.

I do not know where you get your information from that they are short of money but Snr. Rui Alegre and his partners invested 20 million Euros to buy the four ships and have spent about the same amount again in updating both the ' Funchal and Azores '.

The cancelling of the ' Funchal ' cruises was due to a glut of ships on the UK market this year and seems to be a sensible move as they were to operate her themselves.

With the 1968 built Louis Cruises ship ' Louis Aura ' having been withdrawn from service, and most likely heading to Alang, I would not be surprised to now see the ' Funchal ' operating some French charter cruises in 2015.

The banks are the ones who forced the cancellation of the Funchal's program because the bookings were simply too low and it was going to be another money loser. Also it was the banks that were not willing to dig any deeper into their pockets to put up the money to finance any more reconstructions. If Lisboa has in fact gone for scrap that is going to be a costly mistake because they had sunk money into her refit and the same with Porto if she can not find a buyer.

The report is that the banks are also forcing the hand on the Azores pushing for her to be sold immediately because she is the only ship that is operating. If this is correct CMV could be caught in a real bind to either buy the ship or lose her.

As for Funchal unless she can find a niche firm willing to run a charter her days may be numbers as well. Considering it is the middle of February and nothing has been laid on they are likely to miss out on the summer season which could have been her savior. Officially she is laid up but unless they keep up on the maintenance it will become much harder for her to operate again.

You have still not said what source you got this information from as my contacts in Lisbon tell a completely different story !

It leads me to think you do not like these very popular smaller classic cruise ships sailing on the UK market and taking business away from the American big boys !

It has been said for years that the four Fred Olsen classic cruise ships have lost money but they are still well maintained and supported by other operations within the Fred Olsen group of companies as the company look on them as a family obligation operation after so many years in passenger ship operation going right back to having sailing ships ! .

I think your posts are just trying to put american passengers off sailing on these smaller classic cruise ships !

I am a Carnival group shareholder but delighted to see all these smaller classic cruise ships sailing on the UK market, many for adults only, as it keeps the big boys on their toes and might improve their falling standards such as previously cooked roast beef being heated up and served in slices in a beef stew as happened to friends of mine when they cruised on the P & O Ventura two years ago !

They are the Managers of a large UK country house style hotel and have said that although they have cruised with P & O several times a year since the 1970's they will never cruise with them again !

This year are now on the Portuscale Cruises owned 1948 built ' Azores ', on her 30 day Caribbean cruise with CMV Cruises.

They have already contacted me and said the quality of the food has been excellent, no warmed up sliced meat served as a beef stew, and they are going to cruise on her again later this year !
.

[ 02-17-2015: Message edited by: Neil - Ex P. & O. S. N. Company. ]

What the American firms are doing has nothing to do with a niche operation like Portuscale. As you point out the people who enjoy one of the ships run by Portuscale (or Fred. Olsen or any of the niche operations) would not enjy the big ships and find no attraction to sail on Ventura or her likes.

Portuscale's problems that I was discussing entirely have to do with the financial issues and the banks unwillingness to keep financing the operation.

You pointed out that the Lisboa and Porto were up for sale or sold possibly for scrap. Possibly the monies raised from these sales will off set the problems and make it possible for Portuscale to do other things. The reports are that the banks wanted them to raise money and were pushing for the sale of the Azores as a way to raise money. But maybe these other sales will be sufficient.

I pointed out that the banks had pulled the plug on the Funchal's programs for this summer unwilling to finance what appears to be a money losing season.

Other than a few shipbuffs in America I do not know anyone in the American general public that even knows the Funchal exists. The firm has no marketing in the USA to attract any American passengers so I think you are on an unrelated tangents.

As you have still not said where you get this information from about the banks is it you just assuming there is a problem ?

But if you looked in the media reports you will see it is all over the media!

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=portuscale+cruises&tbm=nws

In particular you might want to read this one which talks about the "financial abyss" for Portuscale and Rui Alegre.

http://www.meretmarine.com/fr/node/99373

If you can only read Enlgish it basically says the following:

The situation is delicate for Portuscale Cruises, despite his will and the heavy investments in this venture, it will be necessary to see if Rui Alegre decides to sell the ships to avoid digging what became a financial abyss. Porto is in any case available on various websites for sale for a few months at a posted price of 8 million.

Portuguese classic cruise ship operator Portuscale Cruises appears to be grappling with new difficulties after announcing it has cancelled the 2015 cruise programme of its recently restored flagship, Funchal.

Reports are currently rife at the influential Seatrade Miami conference that Portuscale Cruises is in trouble.

Neil, where did you here this about LOUIS AURA? She is chartered out from May to october - would Louis really sell her for scrap? She has plenty of years left in her.

The news about the ' Louis Aura ' came from a French news source which I published on my facebook ' Neil's Crusingchat ' site around the 23/25th December 2014.

It said her french charter would be her final one !

f you are not a member you are welcome to look in as I started this site having also been asked to be the UK Manager on the American ' Cruisingtalk ' website.

The news item also included reports about the other Louis Cruises ships which are chartered out to Thomson Cruises until 2017 !.

The report also suggested that Louis Cruises may need to order some new ships as there is little on the market that can be used after 2017.
.

SSTRAVELLER -

Spreading gossip, from other websites where you do not know the true source of their information, does nothing to help a new cruising company !

I would not give you the privilege of knowing where all my news sources are apart from saying that many are provided by people I worked with both at ports of call, ashore, and on board while I was at sea for over 34 years !

I also speak several languages !

quote:

---

Originally posted by Neil - Ex P. & O. S. N. Company.:
1998 built 22,496 grt five star deluxe cruise ship ' Deutschland ' which would make a fine addition to their fleet once her classification is renewed.

She is advertised for sale at US $ 35 million, on one of the ship brokers websites, so not too costly to buy depending on the amount of work required for her re-classification.

---

Neil,

for what it's worth, the "Deutschland" is currently in classification by Germanischer Lloyd as it has received a three-month extension. So, all that is currently needed is a regular extention of her classification as it is regularly required for any given ship, not a re-classification.

Best,

Many thanks for the update.

I expect she will still want a full survey done once she has a new owner.

Lets hope she soon finds a buyer and returns to service.

I still think she would be an ideal addition to the ' Portuscale Cruises ' fleet and give them a bigger income with her five star up market classification as her public rooms are beautiful.

The CMV Cruises brochure shows this Portuscale Cruises owned cruise ship, which is chartered by the UK company ' CMV Cruises ', as heading straight to the UK port of Avonmouth after calling at the Azores and due to arrive there at 08.00 hrs on th 25th February 2015 !

The ships AIS postion is now showing the ' Azores ' as due to call at Lisbon on the 23rd February 2015 at 23.30 hrs. !

This could be to pick up surplus stores from the ship's owners laid up cruise ship ' Funchal ', which had her 2015 cruising programme cancelled, or is there some other problem !

CMV Cruises are due to host a cruise ships visit event to the ' Azores ', while she is at Avonmouth on the 25th February 2015, which was to include Dinner and an overnight event for which they charge from £79.00p for a two berth inner cabin which includes breakfast the next morning.

They state these charges are not refundable !

The ' Azores ' is due to sail from Avonmouth on a Norwegian cruise on the afternoon of the 26th February 2015.
.

[ 02-22-2015: Message edited by: Neil - Ex P. & O. S. N. Company. ]

There's also a rumor going about that CMV might take the Porto at least on a short term charter which would be nice because she would see employment.

It is already known that more steel replacement work was required on the ex ' Princess Danae ' than had been expected to meet all the latest regulations.

Seems some people know a lot about Portuscale Cruises but never say where they get the information from !

http://www.ihsmaritime360.com/article/16853/portuscale-drops-out-of-classic-cruise-market

That report is well out of date as it has been known for about the last seven days that the ' Lisboa ' is heading to Turkey !