NAVIGATION-Cruising and Maritime Themes

 "COSTA NEO ROMANTICA" was built in 1993 by FINCANTIERI as the COSTA ROMANTICA for COSTA CROCIERI, when built she was 53.000 GRT, in November last year the ship underwent a massive £80 million refurbishment that included the addition of two new half-decks and new balconies, the GRT was increased to 56.000 tons, she was renamed "COSTA NEO ROMANTICA", she cruises at 18.5 knots and has capacity for 1350 passengers. Personally I believe the ships looks have been ruined particulary with the new half-decks above the bridge but at least they were tapered to match the front slope, pleased to see though, COSTA investing on her older cruise ships, "COSTA NEO ROMANTICA" will be competitive on today's market for another 10 to 15 years. Photos at Lisbon during her maiden call after refurbishment in June of 2012, copyright Rui Agostinho                   the ships decks are named after famous European cities                             COSTA ROMANTICA

Harald Oanes has been a keen contributor to this Blog and a devoted follower of my Facebook page about passenger ships, "My Favourite Cruise Ships Photos", this post is dedicated to his marvellous photographic skills, in order to truly appreciate is work, please visit his page on http://haraldoanes.shipexplorer.no  . So a big thank you to Harald for allowing me to reproduce some of his photos. Above all at Stavanger in Norway, SEABOURN SOJOURN, SAGA SAPPHIRE, both this month, ARTEMIS in 2009 and DISCOVERY in 2011. All photos copyright

QUEEN MARY has a new upgraded website, please visit  www.queenmary.com  and explore, the legend continues, the most famous ocean liner ever, just the opinion of this Blog's author is alive and kicking. Photo taken from the QUEEN MARY website

the "WORLD RENAISSANCE" was built by CHANTIERS DE L'ATLANTIQUE in 1966 for the French company COMPAGNIE GENERALE FRANCAISE DE NAVIGATION, she was then known as the RENAISSANCE, in 1977 she was sold to EPIRITOKI LINES and since then until 2010, the year that she was sold for scrap at Alang, for not meeting SOLAS requisitions, she also served AWANI CRUISES, ROYAL OLYMPIC LINES, ELYSIAN CRUISE LINES and BLUE MONARCH SHIPPING. When she was sold back in 1977 to EPIRITOKI she was renamed HOMERIC RENAISSANCE, she became known as the "WORLD RENAISSANCE" during her charter years with COSTA CRUISES. The ship was 12.000 GRT and had capacity for about 450 passengers. She was renamed MAESTRO for her final voyage to the scrapyard. Photos here, Lisbon in 1990, Piraeus 1998 and a postcard from my collection

"LIBERTY OF THE SEAS" at Barcelona, 4.7.2012, this is the second time in less than an year that I had the opportunity to photograph this mega-cruise ship, please check for other post dated 1.10.2011. Built in 2007 she is a frequent visitor to the Catalonia capital, I wanted to go intimate in this occasion

The former flagship of MSC CRUISES, the MSC FANTASIA at Barcelona, 6.7.2012. This mega cruise-ship was built by STX EUROPE at Saint-Nazaire, she entered service in December of 2008 and is 135.000 GRT, she's recently lost her status to the MSC DIVINA which is the MSC CRUISES new flagship at 139.400 GRT, the new ship entered service this last May

"SEABOURN QUEST"is the latest addition to the prestigious cruise line operator, SEABOURN CRUISE LINE, the ship was built by Italian shipyard T. MARIOTTI at Genoa and was christened in Barcelona on the 20.6.2011, the date she embarked on her maiden voyage. "SEABOURN QUEST" can be fast, she can get to 25 knots but she normally cruises at 18.5, she is 32.346 GRT and has capacity for 450 passengers, the QUEST is very similar in design to her previous sisters, the ODYSSEY and the SOJOURN. It was my first live experience with this beautiful ship, also in port last friday were the NIEUW AMSTERDAM and the MSC FANTASIA and they were all due to sail between 5.30 and 6pm, so my decision was to go for the QUEST and I don't regret it at all, I was completely in love with this graceful, elegant and enchanting ship, this in my opinion is the answer to all the sceptics that assume that modern ship building relates to "blocks of f

SERENADE OF THE SEAS is a RADIANCE Class cruise ship built in 2003 by the German shipyard MEYER WERFT, she is owned and operated by R.C.I. This beautiful passenger ship is 90.090 GRT and has a top speed of 25.5 knots propelled by gas-turbines, the capacity is for 2480 guests. 2012 marks the first season that the ship is sailing in the MED with cruises departing from Barcelona, she is normally based at  San Juan de Puerto Rico. Other ships on this class are JEWEL OF THE SEAS, BRILLIANCE OF THE SEAS and RADIANCE OF THE SEAS. Photos, Barcelona 4.7.2012