my first crossing on board "CALAIS SEAWAYS"

"CALAIS SEAWAYS" is now operated by DFDS on the Dover to Calais route, sailed many times on this ship with previous owners, this was my very first trip on the ship as the CALAIS SEAWAYS, recently sailed on her as the NORMAN SPIRIT both on the Dover/Calais route and roughly about two years ago on the Portsmouth to Le Havre service, when the ship was operated by LD LINES, she is still registered at Le Havre, and is still a well maintained cruise ferry, the passenger layout remains the same with very little alterations, quite possibly the biggest change as far as passenger facilities is concerned is the creation of the new driver's club, a very generous area for truck drivers, what it is now can be seen above on photos 4 and 5 and the former bar when the ship was the NORMAN SPIRIT photo number 6, some areas are still closed for passengers, the company has been upgrading the ship while at sea, in an attempt to generate more income particularly at this time of the year when this route becomes really busy. Please check for other posts of the CALAIS SEAWAYS and NORMAN SPIRIT, using the "search this blog" gadget. Photos 6.7.2013

Cruise Ferries "AMSICORA" and "NURAGHES" at Civitavecchia

 New Cruise Ferries to this Blog, the "AMSICORA" and the "NURAGHES," both operated by TIRRENIA on the Civitavecchia to Sardinia route, AMSICORA sails to the main city on the Island, Cagliari, NURAGHES sails to Olbia. "AMSICORA" weighs 36.825 G.T. and was built in 2002, "NURAGHES" is slightly larger at 39.798 G.T. and newer being built two years later. Photos of "AMSICORA" were taken on the 15.7.2013 except the one where the ship is at sea, which was taken the day before from on board CRUISE ROMA, photos of "NURAGHES", 14.7.2013

Passenger facilities on board "CRUISE ROMA"

GRIMALDI LINES cruise ferry "CRUISE ROMA" is a modern ship with very good passenger facilities, bars, restaurants, health centre, casino, shopping area, Disco, swimming-pool are all available for the approximately 2850 passengers that the ship can accommodate, cabins with showers are available, the ship also offers 50 Junior Suites and 18 Owner's suites. This fast cruise ferry with a top speed of over 29 knots, has a very generous amount of open space on deck number 11 where the Disco, swimming-pool and bars are located. The majority of passenger facilities are on deck number 10, on deck 9 the ship has an health centre with sauna, the reception area, reclining-seats are all on deck number 7 together with a conference room. I really enjoyed the layout of the ship, there is a sense of space all over the vessel, even travelling virtually full "CRUISE ROMA" never looks crowded, the unloading of the ship can be very disorganized with confusing instructions from the crew creating caos with motorists, overall this is a very pleasant ship to travel, food and drinks quality and pricing and levels of cleanliness on certain areas of the ship is something that needs to be improved.

 Disco and bars on deck number 11, where the kennels and swimming-pool are also located

 Deck number 10 that's where the vast majority of passenger facilities can be found, driver's club, kids zone, smaila's main lounge, caffetteria "A La Carte Restaurant" and casino

 Reception area on board "CRUISE ROMA" is on deck number 7 where there is also a conference centre and the reclining-seats area.

Maritime Memories on board cruise ferry "CRUISE ROMA"

Italy is a country with a great Maritime Tradition, passenger ships nowadays are decorated in a manor that don't always evoke their owner's shipping past and this is applicable to new and historic cruise and ferry operators, I am really glad to bring this evidence from a not that distant past. Photos 13.7.2013 taken on board cruise ferry "CRUISE ROMA".

"CRUISE ROMA" arriving Civitavecchia

We are once again back with "CRUISE ROMA", it took the ship exactly seven hours to get to Civitavecchia from Porto Torres, being a sunday there would be no departure back to Barcelona, the ship would stay in port for over 24 hours since the scheduled next departure would be monday, 15.7.2013 at 22.15.. Photos 14.7.2013

BRITTANY FERRIES: Voyage/Photo Report - Sailing with Brittany Ferrie...

BRITTANY FERRIES: Voyage/Photo Report - Sailing with Brittany Ferrie.....

 Ray Goodfellow, admin of DOVER FERRY PHOTOS has recently traveled on BRITTANY FERRIES, MONT-ST-MICHEL and BRETAGNE, to access his voyage report and read all about this wonderful account please click link above, many thanks to Ray for allowing me to upload his great review of what it was an excellent experience on these rather fantastic Cruise Ferries.

Cruise Ferries at Porto Torres in Sardignia

Really exciting for me to have the opportunity to see for the first time the "SNAV TOSCANA" above and the "SHARDEN" below, they were both in port recently arrived from Genova. "SNAV TOSCANA" is an old cruise ferry built in 1981 ordered by Swedish operator REDERI AB as the GOTLAND, the ship in the end was delivered to the Finish based company VAASANLAIVAT-VASABATAMA as the "WASA STAR", after 1984 she also sailed for LARVIK LINE and COLOR LINE as the "PETER WESSEL" before she was sold to her current owners, M.S.C. in 2008, she is operated by SNAV/GNV on the Genova to Porto Torres route, she is 30.300 G.T. with capacity for 2200 passengers and 562 cars.

"SHARDEN" was built in 2005, she is 39.798 G.T. and is operated by the Historic TIRRENIA, part of the ITALIAN NAVIGATION CO. She is operated on the Genova to Porto Torres route, very nice experience to be able to photograph these two cruise ferries, photos 14.7.2013