PORTSMOUTH NO MORE

This blog is dedicated to the former BRITTANY FERRIES "VAL DE LOIRE" and P & O FERRIES "PRIDE OF BILBAO" as well as "PRIDE OF LE HAVRE" and "PRIDE OF PORTSMOUTH", these cruise ferries were constant visitors to the port of Portsmouth, I have sailed on all of them many times since 1994. The VAL DE LOIRE was built in 1987 as the NILS HOLGERSSON, sold to BRITTANY FERRIES in 1993 she was employed by BF until 2006 mainly for the Plymouth/Santander route, but she was also a constant visitor to PORTSMOUTH especially in winter months she was sold in 2006 to DFDS for the Newcastle/Amsterdam route, the ship was the KING OF SCANDINAVIA until 2010, today still with the same operator but under the name of KING SEAWAYS, she has a GT of 31395 and 20 knots cruise speed, I was a frequent traveller on this ship and I loved every bit of her, I remember one crossing from Santander where we arrived six hours late at Plymouth because of severe weather in the bay of biscay. The PRIDE OF BILBAO was built as the OLYMPIA in 1986, she sailed weekly from Portsmouth to Bilbao as well as Portsmouth/Cherbourg from 1993 to September 2010, again I was frequent traveller on the vessel having enjoyed every crossing, this ship had an observation lounge and at least two quite rooms which are a thing of the past these days, today she is still in service for the ST PETER LINE as the PRINCESS ANASTACIA due to resume service this month after a long and well deserved refit. The last two references on this post are for the former OLAU LINE vessels OLAU HOLLANDIA and OLAU BRITANNIA which entered service respectively in 1989 and 1990 they were both chartered to P & O in 1994 and sailed on the Portsmouth/Le Havre route until 2005 when they were both bought by SARDEGNA SAVIERA, they are both registered in Italy.
Photos 1 and 2 the VAL DE LOIRE at Portsmouth
photo 3 VAL DE LOIRE and PRIDE OF BILBAO, taken from the MONT SAINT MICHEL, also Portsmouth
photo 4 the funnels of the VAL DE LOIRE and PRIDE OF BILBAO
photos 5 and 6 PRIDE OF BILBAO at Portsmouth 2002
photo 7 PRIDE OF LE HAVRE, Portsmouth 2001
photo 8 PRIDE OF PORTSMOUTH at sea from the MONT SAINT MICHEL