BLACK PRINCE farewell to Madeira

The cruise ship BLACK PRINCE pays farewell to Madeira Island today, 6 October 2009, following her final call in the port of Funchal. She made her inaugural call in Madeira on 10 May 1967...
She is now operating her final cruise for Fred. Olsen and will start a new career in Venezuela waters in November under the new name OLA ESMERALDA.
Photograph of the BLACK PRINCE leaving Funchal on 21 December 1988 by José Miguel Malho, LMC collection.
Copyright photograph from the Luís Miguel Correia collection

ROYAL ODYSSEY in Funchal

Another classic ship portrait by Vitor Rodrigues Faria with the Greek cruise steamer ROYAL ODYSSEY leaving Funchal, Madeira, on 8 December 1985, while doing her transatlantic positioning voyage westbound.
Copyright photograph from the Luís Miguel Correia collection

FEDOR SHALYAPIN in Madeira

Black Sea Shipping Company of Odessa operated the largest passenger liners and cruise ships under the flag of the URSS. In this Vitor Rodrigues Faria photograph the FEDOR SHALYAPIN has just arrived on 31 December 1985. A fomer Cunarder, she was the IVERNIA of 1955 renamed FRANCONIA in 1962. Photograph from the Luís Miguel Correia collection

DANAE in Funchal August 1985

Cruise ship DANAE arriving in Funchal on 31 August 1985 on a Summer cruise. Photograph by Vitor Rodrigues Faria. Luís Miguel Correia collection

MIKHAIL LERMONTOV arriving at Funchal

Soviet passenger liner MIKHAIL LERMONTOV arriving at Funchal, Madeira Island, late in her short career, already with the hull in white.
Soviet ships were very popular in Madeira waters in the 1970s and 1980s.
Copyright photograph by Luis Miguel Correia

SANTA MARIA berthed at Pontinha

The beautiful Portuguese passenger liner SANTA MARIA (1953-1973) photographed alongside the head of Pontinha Pier while doing a New Year's cruise from Lisbon.
Her distinctive bow and livery were unmistakable and very modern as a post war design developed in 1949 for Companhia Colonial de Navegação Lisbon - South America service.
In several ways she was a trend setter and ships built many years later reflected her style and good looks, still present in Saga Cruises SAGA ROSE and SAGA RUBY...
Photograph kindly sent by my dear friend Fernando Lemos Gomes.

VENUS at anchor in Funchal

Peaceful view of Funchal waterfront in the early 1950s showing VENUS anchored in the bay.
The Pontinha pier had not yet been extended to her present form...
Foto Perestrellos image from the Luís Miguel Correia collection

OSLOFJORD in Madeira

Another view of the Dutch-built motor ship OSLOFJORD of 1949 taken by Foto Figueiras in Funchal, Madeira in the 1950s.
In December 1969 she was chartered with an option to purchase by Costa Armatori, Genova and renamed FULVIA. Repainted white with the traditional Costa yellow and blue-green funnel, the FULVIA operated 10-day summer cruises from Genoa to Madeira and the Canary Islands.
She was lost on one of those cruises on 19 July 1970 while at sea sailing from Funchal to Tenerife. An engine room fire broke out and the ship sunk off Selvagens Islands. Her passengers and crew were rescued by the Paquet flagship ANCERVILLE. Her lifeboats and tenders were towed to Funchal and spent years ashore at the Eastern end of Pontinha pier.
Foto Figueiras photograph - Luís Miguel Correia collection

OSLOFJORD at Funchal

The Norwegian America Line passenger liner and cruise ship OSLOFJORD (1949-1970) was a frequent visitor to Madeira while on cruises.
This handsome ship was the early prototype of today's SAGA CRUISES near sisters SAGA ROSE (ex-SAGAFJORD) and SAGA RUBY (ex-VISTAFJORD) as the first of four passenger ships built to the order of NAL after WW2.
She was followed by the BERGENSFJORD of 1956, and then the SAGAFJORD in 1965 and the VISTAFJORD in 1973.
Photograph by Foto Figueiras (Luís Miguel Correia collection)

STELLA POLARIS in Funchal

The beautiful motor yacht STELLA POLARIS photographed in the Port of Funchal, Madeira island, while cruising in her original ownership by Bergenske, the famous Bergen Line.
Purpose built in Sweden in 1927, the STELLA POLARIS was designed in the same style as her older fleet mate METEOR built in 1904 for HAPAG and sold to the Norwegians after WW1.
Foto Figueiras photograph (Funchal) from the Luís Miguel Correia collection

VENUS in Funchal, Madeira

Another Dixon post card with the reference NO. MDR.36.
The caption on the rear of the card reads "M.S. "Venus" in Port, Funchal, Madeira. Natural Colour Photograph.
VENUS can be seen in her best angle with her elegant, well balanced profile.
Arthur J. Dixon colour post card from the Luís Miguel Correia collection

VENUS in Funchal, Madeira

Some of the best post cards ever published in Madeira were produced by J. Arthur Dixon in the 1950s and 1960s, including five post cards of ships. In this card, with reference MDR 21, the Bergen Line m.s. VENUS can be seen clearly at anchor dressed overall.
Although VENUS was a very beautiful ship in the best traditional Scandinavian design with two funnels, the fore funnel being a dummy, she was not exactly a very good sea boat. Rough passages of the Biscay in and out of Madeira provided her with the unique nickname of VOMITING VENUS...
Arthur J. Dixon colour post card from the Luís Miguel Correia collection

Bergen Line's VENUS

Another view of the VENUS in Madeira. Photograph published by Foto Perestrellos.
In the fifties and sixties Foto Perestrellos had its office at Avenida Arriaga and those post card size photographs were always printed and available for purchase. As a boy I did buy many photos at PTE 1$50, the equivalent of €0,75. Over the years the cost of those post cards increased and in later years photos were no longer available in print for immediate delivery. We had to select the required images from an album. Photos turned more expensive while quality decreased a little.
Foto Perestrellos photograph (Madeira) from the Luís Miguel Correia collection

VENUS in Funchal, Madeira

The famous Bergen Line passenger liner and cruise ship VENUS at anchor in Madeira.
VENUS was of the utmost importance for the development of regular cruising to Madeira after WW2. From 1947 up to 1968 the VENUS cruised extensively between Southampton or Plymouth to Funchal, Madeira on off North Sea season weekly cruises bringing hundreds of tourist to the island. Most passengers traveled on a cruise and stay basis and were transferred by tender directly from the ship at anchor to the Reid's Hotel. When she was withdrawn and sold for scrap in 1968 the service was continued by Fred. Olsen Lines with the then new BLACK WATCH and BLACK PRINCE sisters also on a seasonal service operated between September and early May until 1986. A third ship, the BLENHEIM, was introduced in 1970.
Foto Figueiras (Funchal) photograph from the Luís Miguel Correia collection

AIDAdiva in full colours 2007-11-19

The AIDAdiva in Funchal 2007-11-19.
Copyright photos by Luís Miguel Correia - 2007

B&W DIVA

The AIDAdiva arriving Funchal 19-11-2007 on her regular winter Sunday calls, this time in a black & white register. Another way to see one of the more coloured new cruise ships of Europe...
Text and photos copyright Luís Miguel Correia-2007

CRUISES in MADEIRA

A new blog called CRUZEIROS NA MADEIRA has just started to present us with Luís Filipe Jardim excellent images and words about his beloved cruises ships and the port of Funchal. click here to have a first look and start your regular visits...
Text copyright L.M.Correia. Photo by Luís Filipe Jardim. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

AIDAdiva in Funchal 2007-11-18

The AIDAdiva replaced the AIDAblu on AIDA Cruises regular winter operation out of Tenerife with regular calls in Funchal, Madeira, every Sunday afternoon and Monday.
The AIDAdiva increased pax capacity helps boost the growing cruise passenger figures in Funchal.
Text and photos copyright Luís Miguel Correia - 2007

CLASSIC SHIPS IN MADEIRA

Cruise ships photographed in Funchal, Madeira, in 1978: from top to bottom, the ROYAL VIKING STAR, the MONTEREY (that particular photo from the early 1990s), the ACHILLE LAURO, ENRICO C, BLACK WATCH, BLENHEIM, UGANDA and CANBERRA. (Photographs by Luís Miguel Correia)

NEW YEAR'S EVE IN FUNCHAL

Funchal cruise ships gathering on 31st December 2005: ALBATROS, QUEEN ELIZABETH 2, VAN GOGH, AURORA and BLACK PRINCE, five of the twelve passenger ships that choose Funchal, Madeira Island as the main attraction port in their New Year cruises. Other passenger ships in port for the spectacular fireworks display where the ATHENA, COSTA MARINA, LILI MARLEEN, MAXIM GORKY, MSC OPERA, SAGA ROSE, and the cruise ferry LOBO MARINHO. Copyright photographs by Luís Miguel Correia