"Black Prince" to be "retired".

[Parsman]

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines have announced that the faithful old "Black Prince" is to be disposed of in October 2009. Although it was well past its sell-by date many loyal customers will be very sad to see it go.

I first sailed on it in 1991 and enjoyed some great cruises.

[Poodlecrazy]

Perhaps they should 'retire' Boudicca instead! :p

[merecat]

I think a lot of faithful followers will be sad to see her go ,just wonder who will cruise out of Liverpool instead and take over her intended cruises,hope its Boudicca ,such a nice ship.:)

[braemar12]

I was on a ship visit on Boudicca earlier this year. We were told that Boudicca would do east coast cruises (Newcastle and Leith) with Black Watch doing west coast cruises (Liverpool and Greenock) when Black Prince retires. Suppose that leaves Balmoral and Braemar to do the Southampton/Dover cruises.As a footnote, I can imagine that the last cruise to the Canary Islands will be an emotional goodbye to Black Prince when she calls in Tenerife, Lanzarote and Madeira for these ports have been on her roster since 1966.

[Parsman]

I agree. It will be a very emotional time for many who would cruise only on this odd little ship. I have had many good times aboard it. There will be a high demand for places on its final cruises.

There is no news of the much-rumoured "new-build" to replace it. I expect in the current world economic situation this has been forgotten or at least put on the back-burner.

[merecat]

Black Watch has a good following,I did a visit to her in July and was nicely surprized to see she had been refurbished ,so I expect she will be on my list to cruise from Liverpool on.:)

[monas queen]

Black Prince has a lovely friendly atmosphere on board, and will be sadly missed. Regrettably it seems unlikely now that Fred Olsen will replace her, which is a shame, as she can go into so many more ports than the larger vessels.

 

I love small ship cruising, as you get to meet people more than once, and it is a great way to make friends with similar minded people.

 

The other ships are getting just that bit too big now they have been stretched, but the cruising industry in general seems intent on trying to force people into larger and larger ships.

 

Please, Fred, get another small ship when conditions allow, and don't get any ship bigger than those you already have.

[petergoesrock]

I was on a ship visit on Boudicca earlier this year. We were told that Boudicca would do east coast cruises (Newcastle and Leith) with Black Watch doing west coast cruises (Liverpool and Greenock) when Black Prince retires. Suppose that leaves Balmoral and Braemar to do the Southampton/Dover cruises.

 

Hmm, if that was the case I'd be looking for a new cruise line :(

 

We're South Coast based and won't be travelling to Liverpool for a cruise on the BW. The Braemar holds no intrest to us at all, and the reason we cruise with FO is because of the size of their ships, BW is perfect, the Balmoral hasn't grapped me yet, although I do want to try her soon.

[merecat]

Good news though for us north of the Watford Gap.:)