All Leisure cuts its losses and sells cruise ship Discovery for $5m

The cruise ship Discovery – one of the original locations for filming TV series Love Boat – has been sold for $5 million.

On paper, owners All Leisure Group have made a substantial loss on the deal, because the 43-year-old vessel was valued at £9.9 million.

But they made a loss of £3 million operating the 710-passenger ship in 2013. After sailing the ship under their Voyages of Discovery brand, All Leisure chartered it to Cruise & Maritime Voyages two years ago, and ran it as a joint venture.

A company statement said: "Although the consideration received is less than the current book value of the vessel, the board's decision to sell MV Discovery also took into account the absence of the future liabilities and other uncertainties associated with many other bids."

The ship’s future under new owners Liberty Resources, of Nassau, Bahamas, is unclear. Discovery left Avonmouth for the last time on October 9. It was handed over to a new Indian crew in Falmouth the next day, and was reportedly re-named Amen. It is currently in the Mediterranean, heading east, although its AIS automated tracking system has not been updated to show its next port of call.

UPDATE: According to its AIS, Discovery, now named Amen, has been re-classified as a cargo ship and is expected to reach Dubai before the end of the month.

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A Day On MV Discovery

Recently,  I had the pleasure of spending a few hours on the Cruise & Maritime Voyages ship MV Discovery - and what a most pleasant time it was!

We met as usual in the passenger terminal at Port of Tyne and were escorted on board at around 11am. The gangway was located at the aft of the ship, literally straight on to her open deck. I have never boarded a ship in this way before but have seen it done on many of the smaller vessels. It was a much nicer way to board and far more relaxed than the hustle-bustle you sometimes get from the larger ships.

I really could imagine myself boarding after having spent a long day ashore on a wonderful tropical island. I am met within a few moments by a chair and the bar, where I can grab a nice chilled Diet Coke, drop everything at my feet and relax. This is what I am beginning to fall in love with when it comes to smaller ships.

Daydream over, back to the blog…

We had a short welcome introduction and a brief 'Hello' from the Captain in the Discovery Lounge before heading to one of her show lounges for a small treat from the singers and dancers on board. I have never come across an ‘entertainment preview’ on any other day ship visits so it was something nice to add to the tour. It lasted around 20 minutes and was a flash preview of various songs they do throughout Discovery’s cruises. I was allowed to video the performance, so have added a section to YouTube. Go on, have a look - just be sure to come back and read the rest!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PmIi3KSPWM&feature=share&list=UUlE0Qt5FUNCdhMYOL2HMfOA

After the show, it was time to tour the ship. She is relatively small, only 168 metres in length and just 20,186 tons, but she is pleasantly spacious. We explored numerous areas, including her bars and other lounges, the buffet area, which also has a swimming pool at one end and a retractable roof.

 

We passed through the small gym and then landed the Spa area, where I took one of the 'menus’ with to see what is usually on offer. 

 

They do Honey Massage, Shiatsu, Exfoliating Body Polish, Mineral Mud Wrap, Teen Facial, Swedish Classic Massage and more, with prices quite reasonable. For example, a 45-minute Exfoliating Body Polish is just £45, as I am sure I have seen the same treatment on other vessels for £60.

After peeking into a few other areas, we doubled back through the Discovery Lounge and out on to the sun deck. I absolutely adored this space. I am a huge fan of the open decks on any ship, as this is where I spend the majority of my time whilst cruising, so I always go in for a closer inspection. On offer was a deck the width of the ship with a small bar on the port side and a swimming pool in the middle. What a swimming pool, too! The one midships was just under 6ft in depth but this one must have easily been 8 or 9 feet deep. I have never seen such a pool on a ship before and, had it been filled with water, I would have been tempted to jump in. This was my kind of chill-out area.

We managed to have a peek inside two cabins during the visit. Both outside but one was a disabled cabin. They were both spacious considering the size of the ship. Nicely furnished and the disabled cabin offered three lovely little port holes. I did notice the cabin doors are the good old key-in-the-lock-system. No electronic door cards on this ship! Not sure how I would cope with that as I’m so used to a card.

Once the tour ended, we made our way to the Seven Continents Restaurant for lunch. It is a good-sized restaurant, airy and with all tables spaced perfectly.

 

I dislike nothing more than feeling like people are sitting on top of me whilst I am eating but the space worked well. The lunch selection was quite good. I opted for chicken tikka to start as I was intrigued to see how they could make such a dish into a starter. It was delicious. 

 

For the main course, I decided on the vegetarian option, which was oven baked Cannelloni. I have to say it was possibly the nicest Cannelloni I have ever tasted and I’m pretty fussy with pasta. Dessert came in the shape of a Strawberry Gateaux, which was light but just a little too moist for my liking. Sadly, lunch marked the end of our visit but what a pleasant one it had been.

MV Discovery was something new for me, the oldest ship by far I have ever explored and, in some areas, she was showing her age. But would she be a ship I would cruise on? Without question. She offered everything I would look for in a cruise experience, plus there’s the added bonus of boarding like she were a grand yacht.

I can now also say I have visited one of the ships featured in The Love Boat TV series, although then she was known as Island Princess.

See more on my photo album on this link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.657308720963332.1073741836.342074555820085&type=3&uploaded=74

Love, Danielle

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When Bloggers Meet!!

It was a surprise for two of our regular bloggers when our arch-contributor Steve Newman met guest blogger Danielle Fear, aka Cruise Miss, for lunch on Cruise and Maritime Voyages' MV Discovery yesterday when the ship was berthed at Newcastle-upon-Tyne prior to leaving on her latest cruise to Norway and the North Cape.

That's the joy of cruising - you never know who you're going to meet and where. Steve and Danielle seem to be gripping on the stairway, even though the ship is docked. Only Lisa Donohoe from the  Port of Tyne Cruise Terminal seems to have her sea legs!

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On The Frankincense Trail With Voyages of Discovery

Join Voyages of Discovery’s luxury small ship MV Discovery on two new itineraries for 2012 - The Frankincense Trail and Oman to the Holy Land.

Explore the ‘Desert Kingdom’, the Lost City of Ubar and Lawrence of Arabia’s Petra on The Frankincense Trail from just £899 per person, based on a March 23 departure (two people sharing an inside cabin). The price includes return flights from London, transfers and a 13-day voyage departing from Muscat (Oman, overnight) and calling at Salalah (Oman), Sharm-el-Sheikh (Egypt), Aqaba (Jordan) and the final port of Safaga (Egypt, overnight).

Oman to the Holy Land is an extended version of the Frankincense Trail, cruising along to other major historical hotspots such as Israel, Cyprus and Turkey and costs from just £1,399 per person (based on a March 23 departure and two people sharing an inside cabin). The full voyage lasts 25 days and, after 2 overnights in Safaga, continues to Sharm-el-Sheikh (Egypt), Sokhna (Egypt), Ashdod (Israel), Haifa (Israel), Limassol (Cyprus), Fethiye (Turkey), Kusadasi (Turkey) and the final port of Istanbul (overnight).

The price for both cruises includes all meals, entertainment and gratuities on board and all relevant cruise taxes/fees, plus onboard lectures from a team of renowned Guest Speakers.

For booking details, be sure to check this link with the UK's leading cruise agents, The Cruise Line Ltd.

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Voyages of Discovery ‘Cruise Party’ to Celebrate Royal Wedding

Millions of Britons are expected to hold street parties to celebrate Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton this year – and guests on board Voyages of Discovery’s 'French and Spanish Sojourn' cruise will be joining in the royal fun, but at a street party with a twist – on a ship! Guests needn’t worry about missing the event as Voyages of Discovery will be televising the wedding onboard the MV Discovery for all to see. Revellers will be commemorating the marital union whilst cruising the picturesque borders of Spain and France from as little as £499 per person.

Price includes a 7-night cruise departing from Portsmouth and calling at Ferrol/La Coruna, Bilbao, Le Verdon, Nantes and St Peter Port, Guernsey, before eturning to Portsmouth; all meals, entertainment and gratuities on board and all relevant cruise taxes/fees - no hidden extras, plus accompanied by expert guest speakers. Price is based on April 23 departure.

For more info, visit www.voyagesofdiscovery.co.uk or the specialist cruise agents of The Cruise Line Ltd.

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Voyage to Murmansk

No sooner, it seems, do we put our focus on adventure-style cruising than all kinds of exciting opportunities for this more offbeat voyaging crop up.

We have already detailed some of them on here at Time Spent At Sea (notably the amazing Chilean Patagonia voyages of Nomads of the Seas), but the latest press release to hit my Inbox highlights yet another aspect of this trend.

Voyages of Discovery have been around for a few years now, using their boutique little MV Discovery (the former Island Princess and 'Love Boat' of Princess Cruises) to explore some of the lesser-known parts of the cruise world.

But the announcement of one special cruise for 2011 really caught my attention, especially for the huge slice of World War II history it represents. Voyage to the White Sea and Archangel is a fabulous-looking opportunity to travel in the wake of the great Northern convoys that played such a big part in winning the War.

It is probably one of the more unusual itineraries, even by Voyages of Discovery standards, and it is certainly one that would pique my interest (if ever I could afford to take 18 days off!). Not only does it include a terrific sequence of ports of call, VoD will also have a superb range of guest speakers to accompany the voyage, including Enigma machine expert Mark Baldwin.

Here is the full press release:

‘Voyage to the White Sea and Archangel’, a new 18 day cruise from Voyages of Discovery departing 15^th June 2011 has sold 10% of its cabins within the first few days of release. For the majority of passengers the cruise represents a journey to the unknown so this is a remarkable feat in the current market. Tellingly, it is one of the best sold cruises from the summer 2011 programme, despite being one of Discovery’s most expensive cruises with prices from £1,899.

In an industry dominated by ever larger ships and crowds, the team at Voyages of Discovery has taken a bold view on the future of cruising which is paying dividends. It has returned to its grass roots by putting product at the heart of its marketing strategy by offering some of the most fascinating, spectacular and unusual destinations available anywhere on the cruise market.

While other brands build ever larger ships, resulting in compromises on destinations, Voyages of Discovery has capitalised on the benefits of a small ship by visiting new, off the beaten track destinations which will appeal to an increasingly sophisticated and well travelled cruise market. While others have cut corners or added hidden charges in order to woo customers with discounts, Voyages of Discovery has focused on providing unique, great-value travel experiences which are planned meticulously to offer more time on shore.

Voyage to the White Sea and Archangel will see Discovery travelling to the lesser-visited Solovestky Islands, a symbol of Russia’s spiritual past; historic Trondheim, Norway’s ’coronation city’; Archangel, where revolution, war and communism have all left indelible marks; and Murmansk, terminus for the most perilous and infamous of the World War II Allied convoys.

On route, passengers will witness the spectacular view of the midnight sun from the North Cape accompanied by experts including Mark Baldwin from Bletchley Park, who will be bringing one of the few original, working 1944 Enigma machines on board. The guest speakers also include a celebrated historian and natural scientist who will unlock the mysteries of wartime espionage, the legacy of revolution and the Soviet Union.

Voyage to the White Sea and Archangel follows the success of Discovery’s ambitious Winter 2010/11 programme which includes a 79-day complete circumnavigation of South America, with opportunities to explore landscapes such as the Amazon, the Orinoco, the Falklands and the magnificent Galapagos.

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