sailing the MED on "CRUISE ROMA"

Onboard "CRUISE ROMA" approaching Barcelona, photos 18.11.2015

"SUPERFAST XI" arriving Ancona

"SUPERFAST XI" was built in Germany by HDL in 2002, she is operated by SUPERFAST FERRIES and been in service since her introduction on the Patras-Igoumenitsa in Greece to Ancona in Italy, she is a striking cruise ferry with a beautiful livery, the ship is 30.902 G.T. with capacity for 653 cars and 1427 passengers, her powerful Wartsila-Sulzer engines can propel the ship to a top speed of 31 knots. Photos taken at Ancona 15.11.2015

ZADAR at Ancona

ZADAR is a small ferry with 9.487 G.T. owned and operated by Croatian state-owned company JADROLINIJA, she is a beautiful ship linking Split with Ancona. ZADAR was built in 1993 and started service with her current owners in 2004. Photos at Ancona, 13.11.2015

Cruise Ferry "CRUISE EUROPA" of MINOAN LINES

Cruise Ferry "CRUISE EUROPA" arriving Ancona 14.11.2015. The ship together with her sister "CRUISE OLYMPIA" are operated by the 1972 founded Greek Ferry company "MINOAN LINES", one of the leading Ferry companies in Greece. These mega cruise ferries are on charter from GRIMALDI, parent company since 2008. CRUISE EUROPA was built in 2009 and OLYMPIA in 2010, at 54.000 GT they are the largest cruise ferries operating in the Adriatic Sea, they have two more sister ships the CRUISE ROMA and CRUISE BARCELONA, both operated by GRIMALDI on the Civitavecchia to Barcelona route. These quartet of ships can carry 2850 passengers and get to speeds of up to 28.5 knots. Photos 14.11.2015

Cruise Ferry "HELLENIC SPIRIT" arriving Ancona

"HELLENIC SPIRIT" and her sister ship "OLYMPIC CHAMPION", were the first new buildings for ANEK LINES, they are operated on the Greece to Italy service, both have a top speed of 30 knots, capacity for 1850 passengers and 670 vehicles. OLYMPIC was the first to be introduced in 2000, the "HELLENIC SPIRIT", seen above entering Ancona, one year later. Photos 14.11.2015

"BRIDGE" at Ancona

Built in 1976 "BRIDGE" is operated by ADRIA FERRIES linking Italy to Albania, she is seen here at Ancona on the 13th of November 2015, the ship can carry 1030 passengers and 450 cars.

ANCONA, haven for Maritime Spotters

I went recently to Ancona, situated in the region of Marche, Italy, read on "trip advisor" that the city was ugly and people shouldn't bother visiting, my intention was to have the opportunity to live what the city has to offer, which is a lot, in terms of the Maritime World, but going back to some of the "Trip Advisor" reviews, if your idea when visiting Italy is cities like Firenze, Venezia, Roma, then Ancona is not for you, the city is in my opinion far from being ugly but do not rank amongst the most beautiful to be visited in Italy, if you however are looking for some serious maritime ambiance with plenty on offer to be explored, then Ancona should without a doubt be part of your list, various cruise ferries visit the city daily, it is one of the most important Ports serving the Adriatic Sea, with Ferry connections to Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece and even other Italian Ports, cruise ships also visit Ancona on regular basis, Container ships, fishing trawlers, tugs and possibly top of the list the FINCANTIERI ANCONA shipyards, where many ships are build, at the present VIKING CRUISES new cruise ships VIKING SEA and VIKING SKY are under construction, both to enter service in 2016, most importantly of all is the freedom we can have moving around and register these wonderful moments, with the guarantee of being saluted by locals, locals by the way are friendly and so helpful, being a small city, they will tell you where to go for a coffee, lunch or having a terrific dinner, there is a feeling of a cosmopolitan ambiance a lot to do with the thousands of passengers from the most various nationalities taking the ferries, foot passengers, car passengers or of course freight passengers. For more information of Ancona, follow this link here. Other entries here will follow, photos above taken from the 13th to 15th of November 2015

Expensive new cruise ships, need expert security guards

FINCANTIERI at ANCONA is at the moment bulding two of the most exciting new passenger cruise ships the "VIKING SEA" and "VIKING SKY" to come into service soon, a colony of expert "Felinos" security guards were allocated to the area to supervise the work in progress, these "Felinos" were given proper homes with regular checks on provisions and the council made sure that visitors to the area are aware that these "Felinos" are on CCTV cameras, there is even a sign basically saying, "We know you there, leave these "Felinos" in peace because if not, we know who you are and we will find you". Brilliant stuff, never seen it before anywhere, these "Felinos" were given a home, are regularly supervised and looked after by the local council, after a couple of minutes I was accepted to their environment and even allowed to make a few photos of the ships, thank you my new friends. Photos 14.11.2015

Back cruising on the "PRIDE OF ROTTERDAM"

PRIDE OF ROTTERDAM was introduced in 2001, since then I have sailed on her many times, she was together with her sister PRIDE OF HULL the largest cruise ferries in the World back then, they have lost the status but they still up there. It's always an immense pleasure to sail on them, yesterday was no exception, one of the fantastic things about cruising on these ships, is the possibility to board at about 4.30 pm, four hours before the ship's departure, plenty of time to explore the ship, make some photos, many in my case, have a drink and even dinner, all very civilized and relaxed, especially during winter months and mid week sailings. PRIDE OF ROTTERDAM is registered in Rotterdam, she is manned by Dutch officers and Philippines crew, a very happy ship, she is due for another refit soon, for this "post", I have chosen photos of my Premier Two berth outside cabin and the two restaurants on board, the A LA CARTE BRASSERIE and the Self-Service, today called "THE KITCHEN". The ships provide a very enjoyable first time cruise experience, it was good to see some passengers very excited about the possibility of sharing a meal at the BRASSERIE and making plans for the excursions ashore, ROTTERDAM and AMSTERDAM. Photos 10.11.2015