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history OCEAN VIEW
“Black Prince was
duringtheferrycrossings. Southampton, Tilbury and lately
In 1968, Fred. Olsen and the Bergen Doverkept Black Prince occupiedfor
constructed at the
Steamship Company (BDS) entered anumberofyears.Inthattime Black
LUBECKER
into an agreement where BDS Princecruisedtovariousdestinations
boughtapartinterestin Black Prince as far afield as the Amazon and
FLENDER
withaviewtooperatingherontheir aroundAfrica.In2003,itwasdecided
North Sea routes in the summer toexperimentwithpositioning Black
WERK
months. Black Prince was renamed Prince in Leith for a series of cruises
SHIPYARD in
VenuswhilstonBDSferryduties.This to the Baltic, Scandinavia and
interchanging of ship’s name was to Norway. The popularity of these
Germany and
continueuntil1987. cruisesledtothepositioningofBlack
With the arrival of slightly larger Prince away from the southern
launched on 14th
sister-ship Blenheim in 1971, Black counties to Liverpool, Dublin,
May 1966 by Lady
Prince inauguratedroundtripstothe Greenock and Belfast on a full time
Canary Islands departing from basis.
Doris Denny, the
Rotterdam.These round trips took a Herfarewellcruiseseasonvisitsports
more leisurely route with calls at familiar to her both during her two
wife of the Lord Casablanca, Lisbon and the Canary
careersasadualpurposevesseland
Mayor of
Islands. afulltimecruisevessel.‘TheFarewell
ThefirstcharterofBlack Princebythe Cruise’ is a traditional cruise to the
London.”
NationalTrustforScotlandtookplace Canaries, visiting ports which have
in1984.Thesecharters,overaperiod had a long association with Black
of twenty-three years, started and Prince since her maiden voyage in
endedinScottishwatersandcovered 1966.
awidevarietyofdestinationsranging It is hoped that the original artwork
from exploring the islands that were onboard Black Prince will find a new
inTrust ownership such as Fair Isle homeamongstthefleetandthather
and St Kilda to visiting destinations figurehead of Hanne Skram can
as far afield as Spitsbergen and finally find a place to put her feet
Oporto. firmly on the ground. Forty three
At the end of the 1986 summer yearsofdancingthewavesdeserves
season, Fred. Olsen bought out awellplacedretirement!
Bergen Line’s share in Black Prince
and became the sole owner. During
thewinterof1986/87,Black Princeun-
derwentamajortransformationfrom
a dual purpose car ferry/
passenger cruise vessel to a solely
full-timecruiseship.
The transformation of Black Prince
into a full time cruise-ship involved
the redesigning of the Neptune
Lounge into a two deck lounge
encompassing the area originally
covered by the indoor swimming
pool and the creation of an outdoor
swimming pool aft of the Lido
Lounge. Perhaps the most dramatic
change of Black Prince was the
inclusion of a ‘Marina Park’ situated
attheopeningoftheship’sstern.
A series of cruises departing from
AUTUMN2009 PAGE54
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