NAVIGATION-Cruising and Maritime Themes

"NORMANDIE EXPRESS" has been owned and operated by BRITTANY FERRIES since 2007, she sails from Portsmouth to Cherbourg and Portsmouth to Le Havre, this Sunday will be my second trip on the ship, see more photos and further information about this catamaran on my BRITTANY FERRIES blog here

Completed in 2005 by CANTIERI NAVALE VISENTINI, "STENA MERSEY" was originally called MERSEY VIKING, the ship is 26.500 G.T. with a top speed of 24.5 knots, together with STENA LAGAN she is operated by STENA LINE on the Birkenhead to Belfast route, photos 30.7.2015

Cruise ship "AZORES" built as the STOCKHOLM in 1948 was in Liverpool today for the first of three turnaround cruises from the Merseyside, the ship is on charter with British based cruise operator C & MV. Beautiful sunny weather booked its presence as well, so decided to board a Mersey Ferry from Seacombe to the Pier Head in Liverpool for a better view of the AZORES, it's always fascinating to see so many years of combined Maritime History, AZORES built in 1948 and ROYAL IRIS in 1959, two tugs assisted the cruise ship for her departure, there was even a change of ships horns, always so emotional to witness, all in all a wonderful evening, photos 30.7.2015

Part of the 175 Anniversary of the CUNARD LINE, QM2 was in Liverpool on the 4th of July 2015 to retrace the voyage of the BRITANNIA back in 1840, see more photos and details here , the ship is seen here on the 26 th of May 2015 when the three CUNARD QUEENS were together in Liverpool for the very first time.

ORIANA of 1995 is a ship with regular entries on this blog, here she is once again remembered, top image in Lisbon in 2003 and at Southampton in 2002, she completed 20 years in service this year, still going strong with a legion of devoted followers.

Footage of the CANBERRA back in October of 1997, when the ship arrived to be broken up, she proudly steamed under her own power, amazing 18 years have now passed, follow the link here . CANBERRA in Lisbon in the 80's

Traditionally a fishing port, PADSTOW situated in Northern Cornwall is nowadays more of a tourist attraction, this beautiful place is also an haven for yachting, photos taken 19.7.2015

M/V "BALMORAL" was built originally as a ferry in 1949 for the RED FUNNEL LINE. Today she is owned by the charity organization MV BALMORAL FUND LTD and operated by subsidiary WHITE FUNNEL LTD, this year she returned to service offering a wide choice of coastal day excursion cruises, please click the gadget on this blog to access BALMORAL's website. I could not believe my luck when she showed up at Liverpool for the CUNARD Celebrations, she can be seen here with QUEEN MARY 2, the day the Cunarder was retracing the voyage of BRITANNIA back in 1840. Photos 4.7.2015

The brand new "BRITANNIA" latest addition to the P & O CRUISES fleet was today in Liverpool, a maiden call during her "Around the British Isles Cruise", an itinerary that is becoming a regular for some cruising operators, it was very good to see the BRITANNIA again despite the miserable weather, rain and cold all day, photos 13.7.2015