Azamara Quest in Helsinki, 11 August 2015

Azamara Quest

IMO 9210218
Name history: R Seven, Delphin Renaissance, Blue Moon, Azamara Quest
Built 2000, Chantiers de l'Atlantique St. Nazaire, France
Tonnage 30 277 GT
Length 181,00 m
Width 25,46 m
Draugth 5,80 m
777 passengers (maximum)
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 13 500 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 18 knots

Finally this blog returns to the scheduled content. And equally finally we feature shots of the current Azamara Club Cruises livery in decent weather; the Azamara Quest was already featured in the current livery once (the entry also includes a history of the ship for those interested), but those shots were taken in pouring rain.

So, the photos below show the Azamara Quest departing from Helsinki Eteläsatama (South Harbour) in the afternoon of 11 August 2015, photographed from Kustaanmiekka. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

Foreground rowan!

A dark hull does make the ship look very good. She's look even better with a dark funnel, though - just take a look at this shot of her sister sailing as the Minerva II.

Posing for cruise ship passage in the foreground.

Azamara Quest passes a teen party.

Next time: As the Silja Serenade is currently in drydock for interior refreshment (and a slight adjustment of her livery), I think it's safe to say she will be the next ship featured. Whether it will be in the form of pictures is her current livery, the upcoming livery or even interiors... well, that remains to be seen.

Azamara Quest in Helsinki, 17 June 2013

Azamara Quest

IMO 9210218
Name history: R Seven, Delphin Renaissance, Blue Moon
Built 2000, Chantiers de l'Atlantique St. Nazaire, France
Tonnage 30 277 GT
Length 181,00 m
Width 25,46 m
Draugth 5,80 m
777 passengers (maximum)
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 13 500 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 18 knots

Some of you might remember how last year I looked at the liveries of different R-class ships operating for different owners in The R Week. Maybe someone in a decision-making position was reading it, as since then Azamara Club Cruises have alreated their livery to a dark-hulled one that stands out better from the general crowd of white-hulled ships (although they did ignore my main advice about funnel colours). Okay, so maybe they didn't change their livery because I wrote about it. But change their livery they did, which of course gives new, interesting photo opportunities.

The Azamara Quest has been featured in this blog previously as the Blue Moon, but let's look at her history for a bit anyway:

Originally the Azamara Quest was Renaissance Cruises' R Seven, penultimate ship of the R class. When Renaissance Cruises went under in 2001, the R Seven was arrested in Tilbury in September, a month before the rest of the Renaissance fleet was arrested and the company declared bankrupt. In December of the same year the ship was sold to Cruiseinvest Eight and moved to lay-up in Marseilles, alongside her sisters R One, R Two, R Five, R Six and R Eight. The R Seven was reactivated in May 2003 when she was chartered to Germany's Delphin Seereisen as the Delphin Renaissance.

After three years the Delphin Renaissance left the Delphin Seereisen fleet in May 2006 when she was sold to Pullmantur Cruises of Spain. Pullmantur was at the time a notable operator of the R-class ships, having used the R Five/Nautica under the marketing name "Blue Dream" in 2002-2005 and at the time still used the ex-R Six (that had been marketed as the "Blue Star") under the name Blue Dream. The Delphin Renaissance was renamed Blue Moon and repainted in the black-hulled livery used by Pullmantur on their R-class ships (essentially the same livery as the ships had had with Renaissance Cruises), having been white-hulled as the Delphin Renaissance. Interestingly, the rest of the Pullmantur fleet were white-hulled at time.

In 2007 Pullmantur Cruises' new owner Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. transferred the Blue Dream and Blue Moon to the new Azamara Cruises brand (originally they had been slated to transfer to Celebrity Cruises instead). The Blue Dream became the Azamara Journey in May 2007, while the Blue Moon followed six months later as the Azamara Quest. Since then the Azamara Quest has remained in service with Azamara Cruises. The company was rebranded Azamara Club Cruises in 2010. In 2013 the originally white-hulled Azamara ships were repainted with dark hulls, essentially identical to their original Renaissance Cruises livery.

The photographs below show the Azamara Quest departing Helsinki on the afternoon of 17 June 2013. The weather, as you can see, was atrocious. but as this was the Azamara Quest's first visit to Helsinki in the new livery I was there anyway.

At the cruise quay on Katajanokka. It wasn'r raining yet, but the clouds sure are threathening...

Two Helsinki landmarks in the background: Helsinki Cathedral (left) and Uspensky Cathedral (right), lutheran and orthodox respectively.

At Suomenlinna when the ship was departing. By this point the rain was pouring down heavily, as you can see from the full-size image.

More rainy Quest.

Notice the near-horizontal raindrops. Fred. Olsen's Boudicca was also in port on this day, but as the rain showed no sign of abating I decided not to stay out to photograph her.

Next time: Carnival Legend.

The R Week - Colour My Ship

As those following the blog undoubtedly observed, last week's entries were dedicated to ships of the R-class. Since the R ships are operated by numerous different companies, the photographs of R-class ships give a good opportunity to look at how different liveries look on ships of the same design.

Before we go further, here are links to all R-class ships featured on this blog:

Columbus 2 (ex-R One)
Regatta (ex-R Two)
Ocean Princess (ex-R Four)
Nautica (ex-R Five)
Azamara Journey (ex-R Six)
Blue Moon (ex-R Seven)

Originally all the R-class ships were, of course, painted in Renaissance Cruises' livery with a dark hull and a white funnel (which, looking at it now, looked very 80s). Alas, I do not have any photos of the original livery, but when Pullmantur Cruises used three of the R ships in the mid-00s they only did basic modifications to the livery, so our example here will be the Blue Moon.

Now just mentally block out the Pullmantur Cruises hull text and replace the globe logo on the funnel with the letter R and you essentially have the original livery. Blue Moon in Helsinki, 29 July 2007.

Now I must admit that I'm not a huge fan of the original livery. The black comes very high on the hull and makes the ship look quite unbalanced. For their subsequent owners all the R ships have been repainted with white hulls, but with subtle differences to the exact liveries. Let us start from the ship with the most basic livery, the Ocean Princess.

Admittedly this photo does not nescessarily do the ship justice due to the poor lighting, but it will have to do. Ocean Princess in Helsinki, 12 June 1012.

Princess Cruises' ships are traditionally all-white. This worked (relatively) well back in the days of the ships like the Island Princess (present-day Discovery) which had shape and detail on themselves. But on ships like the Ocean Princess... well, let us compare her with her sister ships and you can judge for yourselves. Or more to the point, read my judgement.

Nautica in Helsinki, 20 June 1012.

Oceania Cruises' Nautica is not all that different from the Ocean Princess. Both ships are predominantly white and both have white funnels with blue logos. The major difference is the simple addition of a blue stripe along the top of the hull (and the ship's name painted in a different location on the bow). A small change, but a large improvement in the ship's appearance.

Azamara Journey in Helsinki, 15 June 2012.

Azamara Cruises was originally extablished in essence to compete with Oceania Cruises and originally the company livery was almost indistinguishable from that of Oceania. However, in 2010 Azamara Cruises was rebranded as Azamara Club Cruises and given a new, more colourful logo as seen in the photo above. Again, the changes from the Nautica to Azamara Journey are not extensive. The hull stripe is a lighter shade, but more importantly the Azamara logo is more colourful, which improves the appearance of the funnel immensely. Furthermore the company name and logo are also painted on the hull, giving a further, refreshing splash of colour. As a final improved touch, the frames of the bridge windows have been painted black, making the ship look more modern and linking the bridge structure betetr to the decks above it. Certainly of the trio Ocean Princess, Nautica and Azamara Journey the latter is (in my opinion) by far the best-looking one. But there is still one more ship to look at: the Columbus 2.

Again, the lighting is not perhaps entirely fair in comparison with the other ships. Columbus 2 in Helsinki, 27 June 2012.

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises took the Columbus 2 under charter earlier this year from Oceania Cruises (the ship was previously Oceania's Insignia). Hapag-Lloyd's traditional blue and orange hull stripes were archieved by simply painting an orange stripe below the existing Oceania Cruises blue one. That in itself is, in my opinion already an improvement over the Oceania livery. But where the Hapag-Lloyd livery really comes on it's own and tremendously improves the ship is the funnel. White funnels are a fetish to modern ship owners, but (in my opinion anyway) they almost always look bad. White is the colour you use if you're an unskilled graphic designer afraid of filling out the white paper in front of you. On the other hand, the Columbus 2 does lack the Azamara Journey's sleekening bridge windows paint.

So, what is the best livery of the ships featured here? My vote goes to either the Azamara Journey or the Columbus 2 - both are good but in slightly different ways. The former has more vibrant logos (plus a logo on the hull, an improvement in my opinion) and the painted window frames on the bridge, while the latter has a coloured funnel and more colour on the hull stripes. Add the dark bridge window frames to the Columbus 2 however, and you would have a definite winner.

Blue Moon in Helsinki, 29 July 2007

As the final image entry of The R Week (there will be a further more text-heavy entry next week), I give to you my earliest images of an R-class ship, the Blue Moon. Previously featured in this series were the Ocean Princess, Azamara Journey, Nautica and Columbus 2.

Blue Moon

IMO 9210218
Name history: R Seven, Delphin Renaissance, Blue Moon, Azamara Quest
Built 2000, Chantiers de l'Atlantique St. Nazaire, France
Tonnage 30 277 GT
Length 181,00 m
Width 25,46 m
Draugth 5,80 m
702 passengers (lower berths), 777 passengers (maximum)
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 13 500 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 18 knots

Originally this ship was Renaissance Cruises' R Seven, penultimate ship of the R class. According to Fakta om Fartyg, the R Seven was arrested in Tilbury in September 2001, a month before the rest of the Renaissance fleet was arrested and the company declared bankrupt. In December of the same year the ship was sold to Cruiseinvest Eight and moved to lay-up in Marseilles, alongside her sisters R One, R Two, R Five, R Six and R Eight. The R Seven was reactivated in May 2003 when she was chartered to Germany's Delphin Seereisen as the Delphin Renaissance. I do not know if she sailed alongside or in place of Delphin Seereisen's older Delphin.

After three years the Delphin Renaissance left the Delphin Seereisen fleet in May 2006 when she was sold to Pullmantur Cruises of Spain. Pullmantur had of course by this time a tradition of featuring R-class ships, having used the R Five/Nautica under the marketing name "Blue Dream" in 2002-2005 and still used the ex-R Six (that had previously been marketed as the "Blue Star") under the name Blue Dream. The Delphin Renaissance was renamed Blue Moon and repainted in the black-hulled livery used by Pullmantur on their R-class ships (essentially the same livery as the ships had had with Renaissance Cruises), having been white-hulled as the Delphin Renaissance. Of course, the rest of the Pullmantur fleet were white-hulled...

In 2007 Pullmantur Cruises' new owner Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. transferred the Blue Dream and Blue Moon to the new Azamara Cruises brand (originally they had been slated to transfer to Celebrity Cruises instead). The Blue Dream became the Azamara Journey in May 2007, while the Blue Moon followed six months later as the Azamara Quest. Since then the Azamara Quest has remained in service with Azamara Cruises. The company was rebranded Azamara Club Cruises in 2010 (and, if I may add, seem to have a very appealing onboard product).

The photographs below show the Blue Moon in Helsinki South Harbour, departing the port in the evening og 29 July 2007. There were taken with my old Olympus μ760 pocket camera. It's a sign that my current Canon EOS 350D is about to break down that the photos taken with the μ760 (which I thought took irritatingly unsharp images) are actually sharper than the ones taken with the 350D (before editing). Click on the images to see them in larger size.

Not very informative on how the ship looks, but just look at that lighting!

Back in the mid-00s Pullmantur Cruises had delightfully mismatched liveries: most of the ships had a white hull and blue funnel, but the Pacific (ex-Pacific Princess) had a white hull and white funnel and the R-class ships were all painted as seen here, with Renaissance Cruises' black hull and white funnel, but with Pullmantur logos.

Columbus 2 in Helsinki, 27 June 2012

Continuing with the R week, we come to the most recent entry to the Hapag-Lloyd Cruises fleet, the Columbus 2. Previously featured were the Ocean Princess, Azamara Journey and Nautica. If I can find my 2007 photos of it, Blue Moon will be the next one to be featured.

Columbus 2

IMO 9156462
Former names: R One, Insignia
Built 1998, Chantiers de l'Atlantique St. Nazaire, France
Tonnage 30 277 GT
Length 180,45 m
Width 25,73 m
Draugth 5,80 m
698 passengers (lower berths), 824 passengers (maximum)
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 13 500 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 18,5 knots

The Columbus 2 was of course, originally, the very first ship of Renaissance Cruises R-class, the R One of 1998. Like all the other Renaissance Cruises ships, she was arrested and laid up at Gibraltar on October 2001. In December of the same year the ship's ownership passed to Cruiseinvest One and like the six other R-class ships in Europe she was moved to a further lay-up at Marseille. The R One spent a fairly long time laid up, activated for further cruising only in June 2003 when she was chartered to Oceania Cruises who renamed the ship Insignia, taking over the name from her sister, the ex-R Two, that had previously been named Insignia but now changed into Regatta.

In December 2006 the (second) Insignia was purchased by Oceania Cruises and remained in service for several years, until spring 2012 when she was withdrawn from service by Oceania (following the entry of service of the new Marina and in preparation for the upcoming arrival of the Riviera) and chartered to Hapag-Lloyd Cruises as the Columbus 2, replacing the earlier Columbus which passed on to Plantours as the Hamburg.

The photographs below show the Columbus 2 departing from her maiden visit to Helsinki (under that name) on 27 June 2012. In the city on the same day was her fleetmate Europa, but unfortunately there was no change of getting both ships in the same photograph. Click on the images to see in larger size.

The weather was not very good at all, so (almost) all these images have been heavily treated, with the ship and the background treated separately to get the ship to stand out from the white background (notice the difference in the bightness between the Columbus 2 and the JT Line ferry Amiraali behind it).

As you can perhaps notice, the Hapag-Lloyd hull stripes have been done by simply adding an orange stripe below the Oceania Cruises blue one - compare with the previous entry on Nautica. It improves the looks in my opinion, though I can't help thinking the stripes would be even better if they were maybe one deck or hlaf a deck lower on the hull.

And speaking of improvements in the looks of the ship compared to the other ships in the class, notice how much better the orange funnel looks compared to the other sister's white ones.

This is the only photo from the entire session that looked alright without treating the background and ship separately.

Unusual to see a Hapag-Lloyd ship with Majuro in the Marshall Islands as the port of registry (or homeport as it should be called, but the cruise industry has hijacked the term for a different use).

An upright photo for a change. This one turned out particularly well. Notice how the colour of the background changes from, the right side to the left side of the photo.

Nautica in Helsinki, 20 June 2012

Entry number three of the R Week features Oceania Cruises' Nautica. Previously featured were the Ocean Princess and Azamara Journey. To come is the Columbus 2 (and possibly the Blue Moon, presuming that I can find my old photographs of her somewhere).

Nautica

IMO 9200938
Former names: R Five
Built 2000, Chantiers de l'Atlantique St. Nazaire, France
Tonnage 30 277 GT
Length 181,00 m
Width 25,46 m
Draugth 5,80 m
824 passengers (maximum)
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 13 500 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 18 knots

As far as the R-class ships go the Nautica is slightly boring in the sense that her history is fairly straightforward, without a confusing array of former names and operators. She was built as the R Five for Renaissance Cruises and entered service in January 2000. Like all the other Renaissance ships she was laid up following the company's bankruptcy in October 2001, first in Gibraltar and later in Marseille. For the summer seasons 2002 and 2003 the R Five was chartered to Pullmantur Cruises for Mediterranean cruising under the marketing name "Blue Dream" (for the 2003 season she was joined by the R Six as the "Blue Star"). In 2004 the ship was renamed Nautica  - presumably preparation for the upcoming charter to Oceania Cruises - but stayed in service with Pullmantur under the marketing name "Blue Dream" until late 2005.

In November 2005 the Nautica was chartered to Oceania Cruises (established in 2002 by Joe Watters and Frank del Rio, the latter being the former vice-president of Renaissance Cruises), joining her sisters Regatta (ex-R Two) and Insignia (ex-R One). Since then the ship has remained in service with Oceania Cruises. In November 2008 the Nautica was attacked by Somalian pirate skiffs on the Gulf of Aden. Rifle shots were fired at the ship but she managed to outrun the pirates and no harm came to either crew, passengers or the ship itself.

The photographs below show the Nautica on the afternoon of 20 June 2012, passing through the Kustaanmiekka strait shortly after departing Helsinki's South Harbour. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

Compare, if you will, to the Ocean Princess. Notice how much the simple addition of a blue stripe on the hull improves the ship's looks.

Panoramic fiddling. Haven't done that in a while, now it the perfect time.

Compare, if you will, this time with the Azamara Journey. Notice how much the more colourful logos and added paint around the bridge windows improve the ship's look.

Panoramic fiddling, part 2. I rather like this particular shot myself.

Taking advantage of what is there in our long-running series of "crap in the foreground".

Less crap in the foreground - but notice the spray at the bow.

Azamara Journey in Helsinki, 15 June 2012

We continue "The R Week" with Azamara Club Cruises' Azamara Journey. Previously featured in this series was the Ocean Princess, to come are (at least) the Nautica and Columbus 2.

Azamara Journey

IMO 9200940
Former names: R Six, Blue Dream
Built 2000, Chantiers de l'Atlantique St. Nazaire, France
Tonnage 30 277 GT
Length 181,00 m
Width 25,46 m
Draugth 5,80 m
826 passengers (maximum)
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 13 500 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 18 knots

Azamara Journey was originally built as the R Six (as is evident from the name), the sixth ship in Renaissance Cruises' eight-strong R-class. After Renaissance Cruises' brankruptcy in October 2001 the ship, like her sisters, was laid up; first in Gibraltar and then in Marseille. After almost two years of inactivity the ship was chartered in June 2003 to Pullmantur Cruises of Spain, joining her sister R Five. Both R Five and R Six retained their original names but were marketed as the "Blue Dream" and "Blue Star", respectively. In 2005 the R Six was (confusingly) renamed Blue Dream, the R Five "Blue Dream" having passed to Oceania Cruises as the Nautica. (Don't worry, this will get even more confusing...)

Pullmantur Cruises was acquired in 2005 by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. In 2006 Pullmantur purchased both the Blue Dream and her sister Delphin Renaissance (ex-R Seven), that was now renamed Blue Moon. However, soon after this the decision was made to transfer the Blue Dream and Blue Moon within the Royal Caribbean companies to Celebrity Cruises, to join the Celebrity Xpeditions sub-brand. Presumably the ships would have been renamed Celebrity Journey and Celebrity Quest, but this never came to pass as instead a new separate sub-brand of Celebrity Cruises, Azamara Cruises, was created for the two ships. Perhaps the decision to create a new brand was due to the success of Oceania Cruises, operating three other R-class ships, as many observers noted that early on the Azamara brand was essentially undistinguishable from the Oceania brand.

The Blue Dream left the Pullmantur fleet in May 2007, becoming Azamara Cruises' first ship Azamara Journey, cruising on world-wide itineraries. Six months later she was joined by Blue Moon, now renamed Azamara Quest. In 2010 Azamara Cruises got a new CEO, Larry Pimentel, and subsequently the company was rebranded as Azamara Club Cruises with a new logo and slightly altered livery. Internally the ships were partially refitted and the cruise product was made more distinct from that of Oceania Cruises. (For those interested, you can see the Azamara Journey in the original Azamara livery for instance here).

The photographs below show the Azamara Journey passing through the Kustaanmiekka Strait on 15 June 2012, shortly after departing Helsinki South Harbour. Click on the individual images to view in larger size.

Inbound to Kustaanmiekka on Kruunuvuorenselkä.

Compared to the Ocean Princess, the more colourful funnel symbol is definately an improvement. As is the company logo on the hull and the blue stripe demarking the hull from the superstructure.

I'm also a big, big fan of the black-painted window frames of the bridge, it gives the ship a much more sleek appearance.

Notice that the tenders have little blue stripes on them in the same hue as the stripe on the ship - a very neat little detail.

Outbound. Unfortunately I didn't get too many good photographs from this direction due to the Costa Voyager passing hot on the heels of the Azamara Journey - the Voyager was on her first Helsinki visit and hence naturally got a priority.

Ocean Princess in Helsinki, 12 June 2012

During June 2012 I had the chance to photograph, in the space of two weeks, four of the eight R-class ships that we originally built in 1998-2001 for the now long-defunct Renaissance Cruises. The ships have since spread to many other companies and it was very interesting seeing four identical ships in the liveries of different cruise lines; if nothing else this is very educational about how a colour scheme effects a ship.

Ocean Princess

IMO 9187899
Former names: R Four, Tahitian Princess
Built 1999, Chantiers de l'Atlantique St. Nazaire, France
Tonnage 30 277 GT
Length 181,00 m
Width 25,46 m
Draugth 5,80 m
826 passengers (maximum)
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 13 500 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 18 knots

Ocean Princess was originally built for Renaissance Cruises in 1999 as the R Four and she was used for cruising in the Pacific Ocean. Following the bankruptcy of Renaissance Cruises in 2001 the ship was arrested and laid up in Uturoa. A year later she was sold to Princess Cruises and renamed Tahitian Princess for continued Pacific cruising. In late 2009 the ship's name was changed into Ocean Princess to reflect her more world-wide itineraries. Not the most successful name change of all time if you ask me.

The photographs here show the Ocean Princess passing through the Kustaanmiekka strait on 12 June 2012, shortly after departing Helsinki South Harbour. Click on the images to see in larger size.

The lighting and sky were not perfect for photographing an all-white ship, but since I also want to do this as a counterpoint to later photographs of other ships of the class, I guess these will do.

All-white and all-white funnel = boring. The blue windows help a bit but the ship is still boring as fuck. Compare, for instance, with this early entry of the Regatta.

Notice the sexy clouds in the background.

No sexy clouds in this direction. The ship might need a little paint to the rear.

Regatta, 27 July 2010

Regatta

IMO 9156474
Built 1998, Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France
Tonnage 30 277 GT
Length 181,00 m
Width 25,46 m
Draught 5,80 m
824 passengers
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 13 500 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thruster
Speed 18 knots

Regatta was originally named R2, the second in a series of eight identical ships built for Renaissance Cruises (I think you can guess what the names of the other seven were). Following the bankruptcy of Renaissance Cruises in 2001 the R2 was auctioned to Cruiseinvest. After spending a year laid-up she was chartered to a new company, Oceania Cruises, which had been founded by Joe Watters and Frank del Rio (the latter having been the vice-president of Renaissance Cruises). For her service with her new owners the R2 was renamed Insignia. In 2003 the Insignia was briefly chartered to TMR, but returned to the fleet of Oceania Cruises after just two months. At this time she was renamed Regatta, the name Insignia having passed to her sister R1, which Oceania took under charter at the same time. Since 2003 the Regatta has remained in Oceania Cruises' service. Oceania itself passed under ownership of Apollo Management in 2007. The same company also owns Regent Seven Seas Cruises and 50% of Norwegian Cruise Line.

Regatta photographed at the Kustaanmiekka strait, departing Helsinki South Harbour on the evening of 27 July 2010. Pictures taken from the north-eastern shore of Kustaanmiekka.