Skip to main content

Thank You 500,000 readers

Cruise - PULLMANTUR ceases CROISIÈRES DE FRANCE a Conundrum or Fait accompli?


CDF is a 100% subsidiary of PULMANTUR and was catering the French cruise market with French styled and with French cuisine offering cruises. 
by Earl of Cruise

HORIZON of CROISIÈRES DE FRANCE - courtesy CROISIÈRES DE FRANCE

You can´t serve a French anything else than French cuisine, as good quality food is one of the most essential needs for French. When money saving is needed the last will be food in France!
CDF reported an average of 100,000 cruisers on board their ships HORIZON and ZENITH. CDF was in 3rd place in the French cruise market after COSTA (CARNIVAL subsidiary) and MSC (Italian, based in Switzerland). Both are surprisingly are everything but not French. Their food is acceptable Mediterranean. And the cruises are cheap.
When once, 2008, sailing on board the BLEU DE FRANCE, ex EUROPA V, 1991, now SAGA´s SAPPHIRE, I was amazed by the cusine and the really French atmosphere on board the former German vessel, who´s heritage was still to be seen. Back then I never ate that good on board a cruise vessel as on BLEU DE FRANCE who´s kitchen was organized by Françis Lévêuque who was then running the Michelin rated LE MARCHÉ in Paris, now he is cocking in the "Chez Lévêque". The last time that I ate that good was on board FRANCE.

ZENITH of CROISIÈRES DE FRANCE - courtesy CROISIÈRES DE FRANCE

But I heard too back then that the Spanish PULLMANTUR never really understood what the French really wished. So the first CEO of CDF told me in an interview, when he explained to me his plans or ideas with the BLEU DE FRENCE which was to upgrade her to the former standard when she was he EUROPA. He was removed by a guy that was more akting to the whims of PULLMANTUR and ROYAL CARIBBEAN, the mother company of the Spanish tour operator.
With the financial crisis of 2007 the Spanish cruise market nearly perished and PULLLMANTUR got in real trouble, as the winter season sailings in South American waters hadn´t been that successful in the end. The old ROYAL CARIBBEAN  vessels had been send to PULLMANTUR for further deployment, or end use. And revenues came from France. This I got to learn from a PULLMANTUR lady in confidence.
Prior both companies tried to get a foot into the French market on their own, but never had been successful - no French language and cuisine on board the vessels. And they had the wrong drapeau at their sterns.

BLEU DE FRANCE in Palermo - Source: Wikipedia

The BLEU DE FRANCE, homeported in La Valetta, Malta, was an imediate success in the French market and in the first year CDF sailed on BLEU DE FRANCE 35,000 French passengers across the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas. The formers CEO wish was a similar sized vessel to accompany the BLEU DE FRANCE.

Earl of Cruise in front of BLEU DE FRANCE in Ajaccio 2008 - own picture

Back then the adverts and film ad´s had been very stylish and reflected a modern styled not too luxurious atmosphere. The actual advert similarities reflect a reality show atmosphere of no class.

CDF Mediterranean Cruise on youtube, unfortunately I no longer posses the original video from 2008 of CDF

SAGA SAPPHIRE, ex BLEU DE FRANCE, ex HOLIDAY DREAM, ex MAGASTAR SRIES, ex EUROPA, 1991 - Source:Wikipedia

When SAGA was in need of a new second hand vessel, the BLEU DE FRANCE was sold, and the ZENITH entered with minimal changes as the new CDF vessel the market. The passenger numbers still rose and the HORIZON went into the French market too. While PULLMANTUR sold its no longer market compatible vessels for scrap. Amoung them the OCEANIC. To me it locked like squeezing out the last drop of the RCI vessels. With numbers declining in Spain, the French market was a source of funds for PULLMANTUR as the subsidiaries from ROYAL CARIBBEAN. Finally the Spanish investment company SPRINGWATER situated in Switzerland, Nyon, purchased a 51% stake in PULLMANTUR from ROYAL CARIBBEAN, but without the vessels, which stayed in possession of ROYAL CARIBBEAN and had to be chartered by PULLMANTUR. For PULLMANTUR a new CEO was found with RICHARD VOGEL, who luckily was on the right place in the hotel operation of the Rahe family, amoung them the LOUIS C. JACOB (5star luxury) situated on the Elbchaussee. When Mr. Rahe inaugurated the AIDA brand in the 90s and later Mr. Vogel changed to TUI CRUISES, after bidding battle for P&O which CARNIVAL did win, as the first CEO of the joint venture of ROYAL CARIBBEAN and TUI GROUP. AIDA once started as a brand for the tour and cruise operator SEETOURS, owned by the Rahe family, which is still owning the Hotel and did purchase in 1991 the GDR fleet, DEUTSCHE SEEREEDEREI, amoung them the then ARCONA, now in the fleet of SAGA. The following, 2nd, ARCONA is now with Mr. Katsoufis cruise line: Cruise & Maritime Voyages and the German TRANSOCEAN Kreuzfahrten.

I am not the only one wondering "whether abandoning the French concept which had made CDF successful is more a ‘political’ move by RCI, particularly since “considering how nationalistic the French tend to be”, why should our Gaelic cousins wish to cruise Spanish-style….or Italian for that matter?"
Alan Dumelow

ASTORIA sailing in charter for RIVAGES DU MONDE - courtesy RIVAGES DU MONDE


CDF’s departure leaves Paris-based RIVAGES DU MONDE as the only company offering French-based cruise options on the chartered vintage Astoria which, amazingly, in September/October 2017, has two transatlantic cruises including one to the Amazon and Caribbean. Other than that, French-based PLEIN CAP are marketing cruises on the German FTI BERLIN and Plantours’ HAMBURG, from which latter company PLEIN CAP had (in the past) chartered in the former VISTAMAR for French-biased cruises. VISTAMAR is now sailing for the Lebanese shipowner Abu Mehri. There is also, of course, the French company PONANT - but they now primarily market to an International (most US American) clientele and, besides, their prices are out of reach of most French - catering the 5star expedition market.

LE BOREAL of PONANT, flying the drapeau Francais - courtesy PONANT


LESVOYAGES DE TMR : Croisieres & Tour du Monde is owning this brand name now.

Back to not only my wondering - Mr. Vogel is not known as French friendly and the SPRINGWATER INVESTMENT is divided in a Spanish, Swiss, French and Luxemburg branch. And I learned from a board member that Luxemburg and Spain had been involved in the purchase deal. The founder of SPRINGWATER, in 2002, is Mr. Martin Gruschka. So saving the fur of the Spanish investment seems to be the driving factor for ceasing CROISIÈRES DE FRANCE, despite success.

This will bring a backlash into the French cruise market for years to come - new investors will have to fight for acceptance and must show confidence and standing in the French market. The ceasing of successful CDF will make it hard, if not impossible, for new cruise ventures. Listening to bean counting MBA´s may be not a good move.


Reiseberichte - CROISIÈRE DE FRANCE, La France sur la mer

 

 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

ss NORMANDIE 1935 - 1942 IX

s s / te NORMANDIE starting from cold Owners: COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE BUILDERS: PENH Ö ET, St. Nazaire, France   by Stephen Carey © , editing by Earl of Cruise   This document is almost exclusively about the engineering aspects of NORMANDIE , mainly on how to start her up from cold. If you are looking for photos of the passenger spaces, there is a plethora of them on the web, in Facebook groups - Admirers of the ss Normandie , ss Normandie photographic file , The French Ocean Liners / Les Paquebots Fran ç ais , ss Normandie , GREAT LINERS OF THE PAST & PRESENT , and others, Pinterest and in articles about NORMANDIE here in the blog, please see at the end of the article. Using "ss" for NORMANDIE is quite incorrect, as NORMANDIE was a Turbo Electric vessel and not a steamship, therefore NORMANDIE should be adressed as "te".   by Earl of Cruise te / ss NORMANDIE berthed in Le Havre, Gare Maritime May 29th, 1935 - colouring courtesy

Thank You 500,000 readers

HISTORY - The CUNARD - WHITE STAR Liner rms QUEEN ELIZABETH (1938-1972)

Over years, in my early youth, the QUEEN ELIZABETH was shaping my mind for the perfect ocean liner, despite having made my first experiences with a liner onboard the HANSEATIC (1), ex EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND, ex EMPRESS OF JAPAN. When leaning at the rail of HANSEATIC entering the port, my eyes where every where and I wished to by a camera, I took all in. And when seeing the QUEEN ELIZABETH with my own eyes, the nice behaving young boy turned into a tomboy, that my grandmére was no longer able to tame ... I did draw quite a lot of looks, back then. I found, while on research, this article and thought it interesting publishing in my blog: written and published by John Sheperd at liverpoolships.org editing and comments by Earl of Cruise I ( John Shepard ) joined the CUNARD LINE in March 1962 as an Assistant Purser and sailed the QUEEN ELIZABETH throughout that year, before transferring to the Liverpool-based CARINTHIA in November, where I remained as Crew Purser for the next five

HISTORY - Traveling with airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG was the most luxurious airtravel

The real airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG enabled the most luxurious airtravel for decades. Imagine, gliding through the air while the landscape or the sea below can be seen ... LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. On May 6, 1937, the story of civilian airship ended in a tragedy. In Lakehurst, New Jersey, the largest flying object and has been with the similar sized LZ 130 GRAF ZEPPELIN II the most luxurious of all time. How this came about can be reconstructed logically, a series of fatal physics concatenations . The airship LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. It was in its time the fastest and most exclusive traveling object between Europe and America. The challenges of the construction of the giant of the heaven were immense. by Earl of Cruise LZ 129 HINDENBURG, 1936, in Lakehurst - digital copy of a coloured cover photo, originally by Bill Schneider, published in Dan Grossman´s book ` ZEPPELIN HINDENBURG: AN ILLUSTRATED HI

Germany and HAPAG - A Journey through History

HAMBURG-AMERIKANISCHEPACKETFAHRT ACTIEN GESELLSCHAFT - HAPAG or HAMBURG AMERICA LINE is reflecting, as Germany, the LLOYD of Bremen, two times of rsing and two times of devasting downfall and a third rise. BORUSSIA , 1856, First Day Cover 1956 of Deutsche Bundespost - own collection Once Germany´s biggest shipping line HAPAG / HAMBURG-AMERIKANISCHE PACKETFAHRT ACTIEN GESELLSCHAFT-LLOYD, merged with it former old Hanseatic rival NORDDEUTSCHER LLOYD in 1970, to now HAPAG-LLOYD, had its peaks and downs, but rose each time on its own to new hights, without any state subsidies. As German mail subsidiaries did never cover the costs for purchasing or mainting the vessels ordered for the specific German mail lines.   by Earl of Cruise In this article I used most German Wikipedia links, as they proved to be mostly of better research quality, and surprisinf to me, some English lines and liners have only German written articles, for the others, English Wiki links are to find

HISTORY - PACIFIC MAIL STEAMSHIP COMPANY

The PACIFIC MAIL STEAMSHIP COMANY was existing for "just" one hundred years and was in her heydays a backbone for the development of the US West. The PACIFIC MAIL STEAMSHIP COMPANY was founded April 18, 1848, as a joint stock company under the laws of the State of New York by a group of New York City merchants, William H. Aspinwall , Edwin Bartlett, Henry Chauncey, Mr. Alsop, G.G. Howland and S.S. Howland. These merchants had acquired the right to transport mail under contract from the United States Government from the Isthmusof Panama to California awarded in 1847 to one Arnold Harris. The company was sold 1938 last to AMERICAN PRESIDENT LINES , existing only on the paper, was closed down in 1949.   by Earl of Cruise CALIFORNIA , PACIFIC MAIL's first ship - Source: Wikipedia   CALIFORNIAwas the first steamer built by the PACIFIC MAIL STEAMSHIP COMPANY and she was launched May 19, 1848. She sailed from New York for Panama, via Cape Horn, on October 6, 1848

HISTORY - ts / ss BREMEN and ts / ss EUROPA

Germany’s two luxury liners, BREMEN and EUROPA , have not only played an important part in their country’s mercantile revival, but have added also an immortal chapter to the history of transatlantic travel. Copy from Shipping Wonders of the World   From part 6 , published 17 March 1936 editing by Earl of Cruise ss / ts BREMEN in her early years - Source: Shipping Wonders of the World/Bundespresse Archiv The PRIDE OF A NATION - the NORDDEUTSCHER LLOYD quadruple-screw turbine express liner BREMEN . The keel of this ship was laid in June 1927. Her launch took place in August, 1928. In less than a year later, the Bremen made her first voyage to America, when she crossed the Atlantic from Cherbourg to New York in four days seventeen hours forty-two minutes, thus setting up a new record and gaining the coveted “Blue Riband”. During the passage the Bremen attained an average speed of 27.83 knots. ss / ts BREMEN in her early years - Source: W ikipedia For the populac

Ocean Liners in Movies or Films at Sea (updated Nov 2017)

For liners and the shipping companies movies and films had been a top marketing tool Movies or Films and liners at sea, had been intriguing me since I have read about in my youth in LUXUSLINER - BILDER EINER GROSSEN ZEIT by Lee Server ( THE GOLDEN AGE OF OCEAN LINERS ). But earlier, mot only since my first crossing, I was keen watching movies with liners in it, and disapointed, which was an understatement, when I realized the films have been made in a set ashore in some movie "factory". That was after my first crossing.   by Earl of Cruise an essay in progress `Sabrina´, Humphrey Bogart in the office, while LIBERTÉ is sailing out of New York harbor - screenshot Ocean liners, especially those of the luxury category, had been the location of dramas, love stories, thrillers, suspense and catastrophies sinde film was born, or nearly. In this list, the most descriptions are taken from Wikipedia, as I guess no one can expect having seen all these films ... otherwise I w

HISTORY - EUGENIO C. a masterpiece of Italian design and engineering

EUGENIO C., later EUGENIO COSTA, was a masterpiece of Italian design and is an example of beautifully integrated ship design. Her naval architect, Nicolò Costanzi, and her interior designer, Nino Zoncada, worked side by side, or hand in hand, to create a perfect balance and continuity between the vessel's interiors and the exterior profile. EUGENIO C. became a masterpiece of the 60s design and elegance. by Earl of Cruise Some readers had been asking for interior photographies ... here they are.   Eugenio C. Tourist Class A pool, looking aft into the wake line - own collection, copy from my LINEA  „ C ‟ broshure EUGENIO C. entered service a little more than 50 years ago in 1966. EUGENIO C. was a child of the swinging 60s, when we had the first jet setters, and still style and elegance. And travelling by jet in those days was still an expensive way to travel for few. I am not the only one wishing the same intent and sensibility would be a guide line for present shipown

Starting rms MAURETANIA from cold

rms MAURETANIA, 1907, Cold Starting CUNARD LINE Ltd., Builders: SWAN, HUNTER & WIGHAM RICHARDSON. Newcastle on Tyne by Stephen Carey, engineer, editing by Earl of Cruise rm s M AURETANIA © Stephen Carey 1 Overview of machinery spaces 1.1 Boiler rooms MAURETANIA is (or was) a quadruple screw Cunard liner fitted with 2 single-ended and 23 double-ended boilers, operating at 195lb/in2.   These boilers are arranged six in 3 boiler rooms (4,3   & 2; note that Cunard numbers forward to aft compared to White Star which numbers aft to forward), and five in No1 Boiler Room (the foremost one) where the fine lines of the ship only allow 2 abreast at the forward end of this boiler room. No1 Boiler Room also houses the two single ended boilers used for hotel services and auxiliary supplies in port.   The double-ended boilers are fired for transatlantic passages up to full speed and primarily used for main propulsion. Combustion air for the boilers is provided by forc