Pacific - ex Pacific Princess - ex Sea Venture

[SeaDog-46]

Bids for the court ordered sale of mv.Pacific at Genoa will be opened 17th November. Base price is 2,737,080 Euro. The vessel to be sold - as is where is.

Pacific was arrested for unpaid debts by Italian Coastguards.

 

The vessel was chartered to Quail cruises & they became the owners in 2008. It has been at a repair yard in Genoa since 2008 & money is owed for repairs done.

 

Lloyds Register had over 20 conditions of class against the ship in 2008.

After a further Lloyds inspection later that year all certificates were withdrawn.

 

Quail have several court cases in Florida against the previous owners & Lloyds.

Google : Quail Cruises court cases & Seattle Maritime Law blog.

There is also a video available - see Save the Love boat.

 

The future looks very bleak for the 40 year old Pacific that is not SOLAS 2010 compliant. Estimated US $2 million to get her back cruising.

[MrsMuir]

Sea Dog, how sad. Thank you for letting us all know about this beloved ship. I'll check out the other sites and the video, though I don't know if I will be able to watch if she's in such bad shape. How unlike the fate of her sister, Island Princess.

 

Cue the theme music, followed by "I Had the Time of My Life."

 

Mrs Muir

[Rotterdam]

I sailed on her for a new years cruise one year....it was 12 or 14 days....wonderful ship...the only thing I really remember was New Years Eve & Captain John King sing the Stones "Satisfaction" and literally dancing til dawn.....fun fun fun...

[SeaDog-46]

Of the 3 vessels used for the film & TV series -

One is thought to be on the way to the breakers.

Pacific is in limbo & not likely to be saved unless preserved similar to QM.

Discovery is operating & is due in Sydney 10th Feb. & then returns to London on a 92 day cruise.

 

Pacific has multiple corrosion problems that are not obvious in the video that is on line - in fact she looks in quite good condition.

 

There is a typo in my original post - the estimated cost to bring her back to cruising condition is $20 million. Too much for a 40 year old vessel with the unusual type of engine drive system she has, where parts have to be made to order.

[COMBOY]

Very interesting history regarding this ship. She and her twin were built as the Sea and Island Venture for Island Venture Cruises which lasted a very short time. When P&O bought Princess cruises in the early 70's they bought these ships to add to the fleet. P&O's Spirit of London would become the Sun Princess (originally to be a new build as a sister ship to NCL's Southward, but was picked up by P&O instead) along with the Pacific and Island Princess. The Sun Princess is where Aaron Spelling Productions filmed the pilot episode of The Love Boat; however, it was the Pacific Princess that would become the star of the weekly TV series although they built a set production of the lobby and pool area. They did film on board the ship at various times with a whole production staff with many passengers vying for walk by roles. The Pacific Princess sailed one-way cruises from Los Angeles to Acapulco and back in the winter and Alaska Cruises in the summer. At this point Princess Cruises was considered an upscale boutique cruise line with British officers and an all Italian wait staff in the Coral dining with their headquarters in the prestigious twin towers in Century City, CA. After the Love Boat ended in 1986 Princess continue to operated the Pacific Princess for many years doing 7-day Alaskan Cruises from Vancouver to Whittier and back in the summer and longer exotic world cruises in the winter. She unfortunately couldn't compete against the newer Princess' ships coming on line as well as other operational issues and was sold.