Portuscale Cruises

[Neil]

The new Portugese cruising company ' Portuscale Cruises ' , who bought four of the ex Classic International Cruises ships after the company had financial problems, have run into problem s with the departure of their first cruise.

After a major rebuilt and updating at a Lisbon shipyard to meet the latest safety regulations the 1961 Danish built cruise ship ' Funchal ' sailed from Lisbon to the Swedish port of Gothenburg.

Having arrived in Gothenburg the departure of her first cruise in about two years has been delayed as the swedish authorities were not happy with some aspects of the ship and how it is being operated.

Picture of the classic cruise ship ' Funchal ' below which did have a white hull but has been returned to her original colours.

 

[Neil]

Latest news reports from Sweden on the problems with the cruise ship ' Funchal ' is that there has been electrical connection problems reported between the ships bridge and some of the water tight doors.

There is also a problem reported between the ships bridge and some of the sprinkler systems.

With the passenger and crew areas on the ship have been more or less completely rebuilt, which needed the use of over 300 kilometers of electric cables ,it is disappointing that these problems have happened.

This is not the first cruise ship to experience problems after major rebuilding work.

The new Portugese company, that own the ship, are reported as spending over 20 million euros on the refitting of the ship and now have enginers at Gothenburg to sort out the problems.

Many passengers who had their cruise curtailed have been living on board and have been taken on coach tours of Sweden.

The rebuilding work has resulted in this 1961 built classic cruise ship now being classed as a four star cruise ship.

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[John J Nagy Jr]

The new Portugese cruising company ' Portuscale Cruises ' , who bought four of the ex Classic International Cruises ships after the company had financial problems, have run into problem s with the departure of their first cruise.

After a major rebuilt and updating at a Lisbon shipyard to meet the latest safety regulations the 1961 Danish built cruise ship ' Funchal ' sailed from Lisbon to the Swedish port of Gothenburg.

Having arrived in Gothenburg the departure of her first cruise in about two years has been delayed as the swedish authorities were not happy with some aspects of the ship and how it is being operated.

Picture of the classic cruise ship ' Funchal ' below which did have a white hull but has been returned to her original colours.

There is rumor of possible merger with PV Enterprises Inc., is this true?

 

[Neil]

Hi John

It seems that various people may have a financial interest with the new company but I have not heard anything about a merger.

News reports from France have said that the British built ex ' Princess Danae ' which is to be re-named ' Lisboa ' will return to the French market in February 2014.

She will be drydocked in Lisbon first.

The 1955 built cruise ship had previously operated from France with cruises including a round the world winter cruise of over 120 days.

New cruises announced for the ' ms Funchal ' include a New Years cruise from Lisbon to Madeira with two days at Madeira.

This will give her passengers the chance to see the world famous New Year's firework display which was awarded a place in the ' Guinness Book of Records '.

The ex ' mv Athena ' which is to be renamed ' Azores ' has had her hull repainted in the new owners colours while at the shipyard in Marseilles

No news at present on where she will operate but I know from friends in Australia she was very popular when previously operating cruises from Femantle and Adelaide.


Picture of her below

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[Andrew Gl]

Portuscale sign charter on 240 day period to Ambiente for MS Azores.

 

[John J Nagy Jr]

Portuscale sign charter on 240 day period to Ambiente for MS Azores.

Very nice Andrew, do you know when these charters are to begin? And also have you heard anything on the possible merger/partnerships with PV Enterprises?

 

[Andrew Gl]

in this yr PV no consider charter for Arion because of concerns of the technical condition of the vessel ... I know fm my source... Also at this year's charter for Athena was disastrous

 

[Andrew Gl]

Ambiente start own cruises fm March 2014

 

[John J Nagy Jr]

in this yr PV no consider charter for Arion because of concerns of the technical condition of the vessel ... I know fm my source... Also at this year's charter for Athena was disastrous

Thank you for your reply Andrew.

I am an potential investor in PV Enterprises, Do you have any positive or negative information you can share with me about PV Enterprises business dealings over there? Any help is very much appreciated.

 

[Andrew Gl]

out forum please... on e-mail...

 

[John J Nagy Jr]

Ambiente start own cruises fm March 2014

Thank you Andrew, if you hear anything on PV of interest in the future, please let me know.

Regards

 

[Andrew Gl]

What relation PV to Ambiente? This is different companies

 

[Andrew Gl]

I send to You Invitation on linkedin

 

[Cruisefan]

Question why should Portuscales form a JV with PV Enterprises. CEO Peter Viliotis, ex Electrician with Regency Cruises and Engineer with CCL has no expertise running a company. he had stated over a year ago a caribbean cruise ship (ss Emerald) - a ferry with Ionian Queen between Cartagena, Colombia to Cristobal, Panama, he reported a charter for the World Trade Fair in Korea with ss Emerald (ex Regent Rainbow) which failed. The shares (VDSC) traded on the pink sheets are down to 0.0012
Although Peter has in his letter to shareholders http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/VDSC/news/News-Message-from-CEO-of-PV-Enterprises-International-to-its-Shareholders?id=65124&b=y - reported the deal with Ionian Queen I am not convinced that this run will be a success. Apollo Shipchandler who ahd operated for several years the ms Discovery sun gave up on the service, not because of the age of the vessel, but the lack of passenger and onboard revenues.
We shall see...
Inshallah!
Cruisefan

 

[John J Nagy Jr]

View attachment 38025 Question why should Portuscales form a JV with PV Enterprises. CEO Peter Viliotis, ex Electrician with Regency Cruises and Engineer with CCL has no expertise running a company. he had stated over a year ago a caribbean cruise ship (ss Emerald) - a ferry with Ionian Queen between Cartagena, Colombia to Cristobal, Panama, he reported a charter for the World Trade Fair in Korea with ss Emerald (ex Regent Rainbow) which failed. The shares (VDSC) traded on the pink sheets are down to 0.0012
Although Peter has in his letter to shareholders http://www.otcmarkets.com/stock/VDSC/news/News-Message-from-CEO-of-PV-Enterprises-International-to-its-Shareholders?id=65124&b=y - reported the deal with Ionian Queen I am not convinced that this run will be a success. Apollo Shipchandler who ahd operated for several years the ms Discovery sun gave up on the service, not because of the age of the vessel, but the lack of passenger and onboard revenues.
We shall see...
Inshallah!
Cruisefan

Took a lot of time posting to a simple question......yes or no. Sounds like either you had bad dealings with him, or a competitor, either way I have to dismiss your response as rambling. Good luck to you in your endeavors.

 

[Neil]

The original topic about ' Portuscale Cruises ' seems to have gone completely off course so I am steering it back !

The ex ' Athena ', which is now named ' Azores ' , has been chartered from her new owners ' Portuscale Cruises ' by the German company from March 2014 until November 2014.

The first cruise is a seven day cruise from Lisbon to Bremerhaven between the 10th and 16th March 2014 with fares from Euros 399 in a two bed cabin.

Various length cruises will then depart and return to Bremerhaven until the 15th September sailing when she will finish that 11 day cruise at Nice .

She will then operate five cruises from Nice or Venice until the 20th November 2014.

The final cruise will finish in Genoa on the 20th November 2014 according to my brochure information..

It would be rather interesting if her new owners then sent the ' ms Azores ' to Australia as this ship was very popular when previously on Australian cruising and operated fully booked for most cruises.

Picture below of the ' ms Azores ' in her new ' Portuscale Cruises ' colours -

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[Andrew Gl]

I see new photos Funchal pax accomodation . I didn't find in anything that she came nearer to 4+ stars level as promised by the Owner. I advice she as 3 stars.

 

[sail the waves]

I see new photos Funchal pax accomodation . I didn't find in anything that she came nearer to 4+ stars level as promised by the Owner. I advice she as 3 stars.

Have you heard any thing about the MV Porto sailing in the Med next spring under PV Enterprises management? That question was still not answered, sorry. I am also curious if you know of any Turkish time charters during the month of November for approx 800 passengers from Istanbul and thru the Greek Isles?

Also Andrew are you familiar with the Ionian Queen RORO that was operated by Endeavor Lines for some time? Rumor has it she may be heading to Florida this winter for ferry between Port Everglades and Nassau.. The Ionian Queen is supposedly under arrest/ for sale in Igoumenitsa, Greece. Thanks a ton!

 

[Andrew Gl]

Gd day,
For Porto still is unrealistic variant. I also don't know for Istanbul-Greek isles cruises. What is vessel name? Re: Ioanian Queen. I know The Owners and available vessel for sale. However, I don't know situatioan around arrest and any work between US and Bahamas.

 

[Neil]

Andrew -

Without a visit to the ' Funchal ' I do not consider you are qualified to class a cruise ship.

I do not know why, but I get the impression you are ruuning down this new Portugese cruising company !

I am a retired cruise ship hotel manager and from the published pictures although she is a smaller ship I think ' Funchal ' looks equal to the ' Saga Ruby ' which is also classed as a four star classic cruise ship.

Linkedin does not interest me.

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