Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - Heinu Sch

Pages: [1] 2
1
Hello Frank,

This is likely due to your internet service provider blocking the Shipspotting website. It means their servers sees the site, but their access to the site is forbidden.

It is most likely because Shipspotting is unsecured (i.e. HTTP instead of HTTPS) and your ISP doesn't want their infrastructure exposed to unsecured sites.

You can read further about this error here:
https://www.allconnect.com/blog/403-forbidden-error-explained

Using a VPN should solve this problem, and we should all be using VPNs more often.

Regards,
Heinu

2
Shipping News and information / Re: The Return of Pullmantur
« on: November 30, 2020, 12:15:32 PM »
However, Celebrity Cruises has denied selling any of it's vessels to Pullmantur and they stated that they have not agreed to transfer or lease any of their vessels to Pullmantur. This may be worrysome because if Celebrity Cruises refused to sell, than Pullmantur may not come back. Here is the link:

https://www.cruisehive.com/celebrity-cruises-has-no-plans-to-offload-ships-to-pullmantur/43618

I must note that Royal Caribbean still owns the MV Horizon and it's a former Celebrity Cruises vessel and is in cold layup in Greece, so If Celebrity refuses to lend it's ships, they may use the smaller Horizon instead. Royal Caribbean is also about to have the Ocean Dream and the MV Zenith returned from Peace Boat, and since the Zenith is a sister ship to Horizon and is a former Celebrity Cruises vessel, they could also use her.

I doubt whether there is much truth in this, the big corporations are still just hoping to survive as cancellations are currently up to March 2021. Nearly a year of no income for cruise lines! With the debts on new ships still expected to be paid, even the likes of Carnival and Royal Caribbean cannot hold on much longer.

Spain sadly wasn't in a good economic condition before the pandemic and will, unfortunately, be even worse off after the lockdowns. A cruise line marketed directly at Spanish consumers have little hope of succeeding. Same goes for their winter market in Brazil.
Even in good conditions, I don't see a Spanish cruise line succeeding. Like any other person in the world, the Spanish are looking for the best value for money on their holiday budget, not a the Spanish-only cruise line. Most often, the best value comes in a ship from a competing brand.

If Royal Caribbean is indeed pondering the saving of Pullmantur, the speculation about which ships will be passed on, is just that, speculations. With all the ships laid up, the cruise blogs seem desperate to push some hot air that will generate clicks.
If Pullmantur struggled with sales on budget class ships pre-Covid, how will they fill even larger, far more luxurious (i.e. higher fares) ships post Covid?

Even so, if the bigwigs at Royal Caribbean do decide that they will rescue Pullmantur, being worried about which ship(s) they will get is rather pointless. Should they decide the Millennium class vessels are the way to go, Celebrity will do as they are told. As a wholly owned subsidiary, they do not have the luxury of holding out on the parent corporation.

3
Shipping News and information / Re: Carnival ship sales
« on: October 23, 2020, 11:25:47 AM »
PS Carnival has spent many years building up P&O Australia's brand recognition and loyalty. It was a market that grew very slowly (compared to the Caribbean or Mediterranean) and is finally expanding on  its tremendous potential. The Australian market is demanding more and newer ships to grow.

When the gap in the market is finally there, you want executives to say, "Aww schucks, you know, I feel we shouldn't".

4
Shipping News and information / Re: Carnival ship sales
« on: October 23, 2020, 11:17:40 AM »
What I was trying to say is that Carnival should wait until the pandemic was over to transfer the Golden Princess and Star Princess to P&O Cruises Australia, because the markets would be improving and getting better. Transferring and repainting the vessels during the pandemic seems like a waste of money. I stll support Carnival and other lines, it just made me upset when they did this during these times of trouble. Also davidships, stop removing my replies. Thank you.

This pandemic will pass and once it does, cruise lines must already be in a position to recover their losses as soon as possible. That means getting ships ready and postioned, able to operate at the push of a button. They can't wait until everything is over and then start their analysis, decision making and resulting scheduling. If they did that they might as well call it quits now and invest their funds elsewhere. If Carnival isn't ready to resume their operations in every region, I assure you that MSC, NCL and Royal Caribbean most certainly are.

The financial institutions keeping Carnival afloat during this time aren't saying "Meh, let's wait and see what happens". They are demanding operational plans for the next couple of years, as well as alternatives and contingencies on those plans.

Any cruise line that only plans for the next 6 months will fail. Cruise lines, like all industries with expensive assets like ships, are thinking on timelines as long as 20 years.

I'm sorry it makes you upset that Carnival is planning ahead, but these decisions are not made on feelings but are based on in-depth data analysis, financial models and risk analysis by industry experts with hundreds of years' experience shared among them. With billions of dollars at stake, they aren't going by gut feelings.

Quite frankly, I don't understand your concern over where Carnival puts their ships. At the end of the day, all the brands roll up financially into Carnival Corporation and it makes no real difference what house flag the ships are flying. The only difference is product differentiation and marketing.

When all our fondness of ships and the associated excitement are set aside, a ship is an asset used to generate revenue. The same return on investment calculation that is done on a manufacturing plant or mutual fund, is also run on a ship.

5
Shipping News and information / Re: Carnival ship sales
« on: October 16, 2020, 07:14:11 AM »
@Angelgreat you are right with the Pacific Explorer/Pacific Aria. Thanks for the corrections.

So they won't have to repaint, but all the other costs will still be there.

6
Shipping News and information / Re: Carnival ship sales
« on: October 15, 2020, 05:04:35 PM »
Honestly, I think it's best if Carnival dissolves P&O Cruises Australia, cancel the transfers of the Golden Princess and Star Princess, and transfer the Pacific Explorer back to Princess Cruises.

I assure you, these decisions are not made on what someone "thinks". Very extensive comparisons are done by very smart people with access to data we will never have. This analysis does not include feelings, but rather hard facts, like financial comparisons, operating costs, marketing projections, opportunity cost for removing the ship from other markets, crewing costs, taxes and fees in the operational area, countries likely to open first, etc.

Assuming they cancel the transfers on your recommendation, what difference does it make? Princess Cruises ships are idle and P&O Australia ships are idle. Whatever the brand, Carnival Corp has to pay the bills and they are struggling to do so. Why would they waste money on transfer costs, registration costs, paint, branding and signage on moving Pacific Explorer to Princess and have her be idle under a Princess name? Or why not just send her back to HAL? At least she is already painted dark blue and they have promotional material of her.

Also, companies tend to think a little longer term. Assuming Carnival survives, but dissolved P&O Australia. Five years from now they've then lost their market share to Royal Caribbean or some other competitor.

After all, having a cruise line only operate only one vessel during the pandemic is bound to fail.

In case you missed it, almost no-one is operating their ships. Why is having one (nearly or completely amortized) ship idle more risky than having twenty new ships (with financing attached to them) idle in the Caribbean? If getting a ship working again was as simple as sending it to another brand, we wouldn't have seen the cruise ships on the beach in Turkey.

7
If we can't save the vessels from further use, I propose that we buy both Empress of the Seas and Majesty of the Seas and exchange the Monarch for Empress of the Seas and tow her out of Aliaga while leaving Sovereign to her fate. This would mean Empress would be scrapped, but Monarch and Majesty would be ok. Then, we tow and scuttle them to a area that would be deep enough for other ships to pass through but not too deep so divers can access the sister wrecks. Then, they could survive being tourist diving destinations and artificial reefs. Plus, if people demand these vessels be restored, we can raise them and restore them. This should be how the vessels should end their sailing services.

You keep proposing all these weird and wonderful ideas. Do you have any idea of just how much USD 1 million is? Now consider that you need several multiples of that to buy a ship. Not to mention the expense of keeping a ship in operation, seaworthy and wages for the crew. All that when other major cruise lines are fighting to stay afloat and having ships idle.

As much as we all hate seeing a ship on the beach, that is the way it is. Let's face it the lock downs have brought economic hardships to all countries and luxury expenses like cruises are the first thing people cut on (assuming the feel safe to go on a cruise). So it is very likely that we will still see more ships on the beach, more cruise lines fail. And worst of all, more people without a job and families without an income. Let's try to keep that in perspective.

8
Oh no... Not my favourite cruise ship of all times!  I say, we shall convince someone into buying her. A some super rich businessman would be fine too, cause he can convert her into a nice looking yacht!

Dude, most of the vessel almost 30 years old and has a keel that's 40 years ago. She's technically older than Sovereign, Monarch, Fantasy, and Inspiration. I think the money should be better spent on saving Marco Polo and Astoria.

Now, I'm no expert, but I suspect Denis was being sarcastic...

9
Shipping News and information / Re: Ocean Countess- A Final Look
« on: February 17, 2015, 11:14:24 AM »
Thank you for posting.

I was on her in 2003 whilst she was owned by ROC. She looks so much better in your photos and I wish I could have seen her in her modernized state.

Best Regards,
Heinu

10
Shipping News and information / Re: ms Palm Beach Princess
« on: December 04, 2013, 07:54:01 PM »
PS Forgot to add this interesting link:
http://palmbeachprincess.fateback.com/

11
Shipping News and information / Re: ms Palm Beach Princess
« on: December 04, 2013, 07:48:50 PM »
Hi wogo,

The latest I can find is that she arrived in the Dominican Republic for scrapping. I can't find confirmation whether scrapping has started, but safe to assume it did.

Ola Esmeralda (ex Black Prince) is/was being scrapped at the same yard.

Best Regards,
Heinu

12
Hi All,

Does anyone know the status of the Cruise One (IMO 8708658) is? She was reportedly sold to Dubai interests in 2008 to be converted into a private yacht.

Has conversion started? Is she still in Dubai? What is/will be her new name?

Any help will be appreciated.

Best Regards,
Heinu Sch

13
Shipping News and information / Re: Rust Pattern on Bows
« on: May 15, 2012, 10:48:34 AM »
Thank you for the answers!

Based on your answers, I have one more question:

Why are the patterns in lines and not two long 'smudges' of rust either side of the bow? Surely the chain/wire scratched a bigger area the just where the lines patterns are.

Regards,
Heinu

14
Shipping News and information / Rust Pattern on Bows
« on: May 11, 2012, 12:51:42 PM »
Hello,

I have noted several ships that a certain pattern, made of what I assume is rust.

Here is an example:
http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/fullscreen.php?lid=465107

What causes these marks to form and why in a stripe-like pattern? On the photos it looks like the paint around these marks are undamaged.

Can anyone shed some light on this phenomena?

Kind Regards
Heinu

15
Shipping News and information / Re: Petition to save the MS PACIFIC
« on: March 13, 2012, 11:17:59 PM »
Hi Ralph,

Yes, I am sure she needs a lot of work done, lay-up for 3 years isn't kind to any ship.

Her appearance in the Love Boat series is what made her the symbol of the early years of cruising. The word cruise in the late 1970's and 80's brought the PACIFIC PRINCESS to mind. Just like the QUEEN MARY is symbol of the great inter war era liners, the PACIFIC is the symbol of the dawn of cruising.

I am all for preserving the QUEEN MARY and ROTTERDAM (even the QUEEN ELIZABETH 2), but what is wrong with having another ship preserved? As for rust and plumbing problems, the same can be said about the QUEEN MARY.

The only difference between the PACIFIC and the above mentioned liners, is that the PACIFIC still has a good chance of being a financial success.

Regards,
Heinu

Pages: [1] 2
SMF spam blocked by CleanTalk