Astoria being retired

mexicoruss

Lovin it in RP!
The old girl is running her last year of service and will be retired at the end of 2020.

The company that said it would do cruises starting in Puerto Peñasco and tour the sea of Cortes has done just that. Right now she is in the middle of her second cruise and the 3rd one is on deck for the 30th of January. After that she returns to Europe for a summer of touring there. After the summer touring is over she will no longer be used By Cruise and Maritime Voyages.

I am glad we had an opportunity to tour this boat and all of the history that she held...now adding to that legacy the first boat to cruise the Sea of Cortes. My hope is that CMV will have a different ship to bring to Peñasco next season. Will it happen? We do not know but if they do .... Naomi and I will be on board.
 
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Roberto

Well Known Member
I will wave from the dock !! I'm betting the Vidanta (Mayan) boat now cruising down south a bit, comes up to steal the thunder and disembarks from the Palace. They got the airport,they got the hotel, They can get a disembarking small pier in a short time, they run busses, they like a flow of folks to sell their time shares. They will cut the town out of the process completely. Time frame withing 6 months of last announced Vidanta cruse. . I bet one cold one at Bryans. first taker gets the position. Any takers??
 

joanC

Well Known Member
It seems some folks don't understand much about the cruise industry. The folks who are running the 3 tours out of Penasco only lease the ship, and it appears their lease extends to late 2020. When they say they are retiring the ship does not mean the ship is going out of service.
 

audsley

Well Known Member
JoanC, you’re probably right that a lot of us don’t know much about cruises. That’s partly why we know so much about Rocky Point.

Maybe you can tell us what significance, if any, retiring the ship has for the future of SOC cruises going out of Rocky Point.

I was interested enough to do a little research on CMV. They’re a relatively new cruise company having taken over from a German company that went bankrupt in 2009. CMV is operated by the British and several of their departures are from the British coast. They advertise “no fly” cruises meaning you don’t have to deal with any airline travel. Their ships tend to be older with a mix of sizes, the Astoria being among the smallest. Whereas some the competition draws an older and richer clientele, uses larger ships and emphasizes the luxury and comfort of the cruise ship itself, CMV attracts a more mixed aged crowd by being cheaper and emphasizing the destinations (a much better fit for Rocky Point and SOC, in my opinion.) They are retiring the Astoria in October and plan to add two more ships for 2021 which will get them a total of seven.

What I did not learn was whether they’re making any money on the 2020 SOC cruises. That’s what would tell us if they’re likely to send another ship over next year.
 

Roberto

Well Known Member
What I did not learn was whether they’re making any money on the 2020 SOC cruises. That’s what would tell us if they’re likely to send another ship over next year.
I was wondering what it cost to bring it all the way from England. I thought the Panama canal passage is expensive??

Anyone know where they reprovisioned after the first trip?? How much time passed between the return to Penasco and the embarkation for the second cruise??
 

brokenwave

Well Known Member
They returned to Penasco on Sunday and thought it left Tuesday.
Here's a pic I took at the Sunday RCPM show at The Wrecked with it in the background as it came back.ScreenShot_20200127102703.png
 
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