Fred Olsen's Black Prince to retire

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has announced that in October 2009 Black Prince will retire from their fleet of ships. Black Prince was built by Flender Werft in Lubeck in 1966 and after entering service on the 19 October 1966 operated as a joint passenger/freight ferry between the UK and the Canary Islands in the winter, and the UK and Norway in the summer. Black Prince was converted to a full time cruise ship in 1987.

There will be a series of four farewell cruises for Fred. Olsen Cruise Line’s Black Prince, starting on the 9 September with a 10 night cruise from Liverpool to Southampton, a 3 night mini cruise from Liverpool to Southampton, a 10 night Historic Home Ports cruise and finally a 14 night cruise to the Canary Islands. Black Prince will return to Southampton on the 16^th October.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines managing director Mike Rodwell said: “This is a very sad announcement for the company to make as Black Prince is one of the best loved ships that caters to the UK market, and many passengers have cruised on her so often that even they have lost track of the number of holidays they have taken. We know that there will be thousands of passengers who have sailed on her who will be very sad on that final day.”

Fred Olsen Cruise Line to go smoke free

Fred Olsen Cruise Line is due to be introducing a new policy from early 2009 which will mean all five of their vessels will have a totally smoke free indoors environment.

Smoking will be banned in all indoor areas and only permitted on cabin balconies and on specially designated areas of deck space. This new ruling will come into effect initially on three vessels: Boudicca, Black Prince, and Braemar will become smoke free from their first sailings in 2009 (January 1st, 5th and 8th respectively). Black Watch and Balmoral will follow suit after completion of their 2009 world cruises (13th April and 29th May).

“A recent very extensive survey amongst our current and past passengers has proved to us without a doubt that this course of action is what most people want and, frankly, expect. Even those passengers who are committed smokers understand the situation and accept that smoking on board will be restricted to balconies and specified deck areas” said Mike Rodwell, managing director of Fred Olsen Cruise Lines. He continued: “Whilst we may have a few negative comments initially, I am confident that many new customers who are non-smokers will be encouraged to cruise with us in the future.”

Fred Olsen Cruise Line operates a fleet of five ships with itineraries in the Canaries, Mediterranean, the Caribbean, North America, Scandinavia and Europe.

Fred. Olsen taking Bio Fuel Initiative

Fred. Olsen Cruises are taking steps towards more environmentally friendly operations by signing a deal with Bio Driven of Canterbury, a new start up company dedicated to the production of high quality, compliant Bio diesel.

Waste cooking oil from the cruise ships will be collected and transformed through a carbon negative process into a clean and efficient fuel.

David Chalk of Bio Driven said: “We use pioneering technology in our plant facility, ensuring our production process to be carbon negative.” Bio Driven is also a member of the Environmental Industries Commission and the Renewable Energy association.

The waste oil will be collected from the ships in Southampton and Dover and transported in containers provided by Bio Driven. The containers are then delivered to the Bio Driven plant in Canterbury where it will be filtered, analysed and washed before being put through a process which removes the glycerine. The final stage is to dose the glycerine-free bio diesel to remove any chemical impurities and then it undergoes a final polishing and filtration before being packaged ready for supply as environmentally friendly fuel.

Matt Grimes, Director of Logistics for Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines said: “We are very excited to be working with Bio Driven, as we are always looking for ways to make our operations more environmentally friendly and to recycle our waste material, so this venture is a “win win” situation for everyone.”

Bio Driven will also be donating 5p per litre to projects in Zimbabwe.

Fred Olsen's Balmoral Rome Cruises

Balmoral, Fred Olsen’s newest 1,340 passenger ship, starts a short season of Mediterranean fly/cruises from Civitavecchia (the port for Rome) from May, with flights direct from Stansted.

There will be five cruises in the Mediterranean and Adriatic before Balmoral returns to her UK home port of Dover for the remainder of the year.

The programme begins with an eleven night eastern Mediterranean cruise from Civitavecchia visiting Valleta, Crete, Kusadasi, Marmaris, Rhodes and Piraeus before returning to Civitavecchia for the return flight to the UK.

The second cruise itinerary is a 10 night voyage starting on the 12 May, with visits to ports in the Western Med and stops at Livorno, Villefranche, Barcelona, Majorca, Tunis, Valletta and Naples before ending in Civitavecchia.

In the final itinerary Balmoral will return to the UK, departing from Venice on the 11 June. Over the next eleven nights she will call at Dubrovnik, Sicily, Sardinia, Gibraltar, Lisbon and ends in Dover.

FRED OLSEN PREPARES TO CONVERT NEW ADDITION TO FLEET

NCL's (Norwegian Cruise Lines) Norwegian Crown has been handed over to Fred Olsen Cruise Lines in preparation for its expansion and conversion into the Balmoral.

The fifth ship in the Fred Olsen fleet is to be extended through 30 metre mid section being inserted at a Hamburg shipyard.

Public areas will all be redesigned while alterations to accommodation includes the addition of balconies on several cabins and suites to bring the vessel in line with three of the line's four other ships, Black Watch, Braemar and Boudicca.

Balmoral is due to sail on its inaugural cruise from Dover on January 30 on a 14-night cruise to the Canary Islands.

by Phil Davies