P&O's superliner VENTURA in Funchal

-
VENTURA seen in Funchal during her maiden call. 13th May 2008
VENTURA was P&O's first superliner, the passenger ship to surpass the 100,000 GT in the company's history. She debuted in 2008 and was followed by a sister ship, the AZURA in 2010, both built in Fincantieri, Monfalcone yard in Trieste, Italy.
Here's some images of VENTURA in Funchal, taken through the years, in 2010 and 2011 and including of her maiden call in Madeira.
VENTURA with an unusual full brown painting in her funnel, 1st April 2010.
With the modern globalization of the cruise market, especially within the Carnival group, cruise liners are becoming more similar with each other, floating cities full of balconies, like this P&O superliner class, almost identical to Princess Grand and Crown ships.And it's just a shear example of this industry nowadays and what is to become in the future. What's the fun of identical cruise ships sailing the seven seas? Nothing special, just the enthusiasm to see and photograph these marvelous floating creatures, one of the most impressive constructions built by men. And of course to experience modern cruising at it's best!Text & Photos: © João Abreu, Funchal.

Comments

  1. VMFOctober 15, 2011 at 7:52 AM

    In the past, liners were looked as a means of transport, most of the times to the beginning of a new life in a different Continent,they had character and personality, they represented nations, today the majority of cruise operators even struggle to name their ships, some very odd names on the market target passengers that want a vacation with a sea view and a minimum effort holiday, people that don`t necessary like ships, few existing liners don´t sell very well these days,they are looked as small and old, I am optimistic in terms of the future as far as elegance is concerned and there will always be ships for people like us ship lovers and photographers.... Great stuff, exquisite work

    Big hug

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMarch 15, 2013 at 12:45 AM

    Thanks for the post. You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the webp&0 cruising

    ReplyDelete
  3. VMFMarch 15, 2013 at 3:27 AM

    Thanks for your comment Meri, I feel really flattered and hope you carry on following my Blog

    Best Regards
    Vitor

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CRISTOFORO COLOMBO, one of the nicest ships ever built

-
Image
This post is dedicated to all the Italian followers of this blog. This past week saw an unprecedented number of pageviews from Italy, I was really pleased to notice that the post "WILLEM RUYS BECOMES ACHILLE LAURO" is the most popular post of this blog, leading by far all the posts related to the COSTA CONCORDIA's tragedy, so despite the relevance of the tragic events which obviously dominated the news not just in Italy but around the world, there is an obvious interest on Italian passenger liners and this is reassuring for me, I do believe that the most beautiful liners came out of Italy, this is why I have chosen CRISTOFORO COLOMBO for many the most elegant liner ever built as a testimony of appreciation to the great nation that Italy was and still is as far as shipping and ship building is concerned, so thank you to all my Italian followers, I will endeavour to carry on with the best possible work on this blog. Postcards of my collection
Read more

SS "LEONARDO DA VINCI" a remarkable liner with a short career

-
Image
The SS "LEONARDO DA VINCI" was an ocean liner built by ANSALDO SHIPYARDS at Genoa in 1960, the ship was intended as a replacement for the ill-fated ANDREA DORIA to operate on the North Atlantic run with ITALIAN LINE, she was as built 33.340 GRT and had a top speed of 25.5 knots. The ship left on her maiden voyage on the 30th June 1960 from Genoa to New York, she was kept on this service until 1965 when the new superliners MICHELANGELO and RAFFAELLO entered service, LEONARDO was then used on cruising in the MED, CARIBBEAN, SOUTH and NORTH AMERICA, after the withdrawal of the new superliners from service on the North Atlantic due to lack of passengers  LEONARDO was back on the transtlantic service, but only for a brief spell, she went back to cruising until 1978 when she arrived at La Spezia in Italy to be laid up, she caught fire in 1980 and was considered a total loss, she was finally scrapped in 1982, a brief career for such a beautiful ship, she was not a lucky vessel un
Read more

Remembering the "SUNDREAM"

-
Image
This post takes us back to 1997, the "SUNDREAM" is seen secured for sea ready for another departure from Barcelona. The ship was built in 1970 by WARTSILA in Finland as the "SONG OF NORWAY" to Royal Caribbean, she was 18416 GRT with a top speed of 22 knots, the vessel was lengthened by 24 meters in 1978, the GRT was increased to 23005 GRT. In 1996 the ship was sold to AIRTOURS SUN CRUISES and was renamed "SUNDREAM", she is still around operated by INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING PARTNERS under the name of "GEMINI" but facing uncertain times with the ship being reported for sale or charter
Read more