Five ships on the 6th June 2016, beginning with Navigator of the Seas returning from a Norwegian Fjords cruise. Seven Seas Voyager was back again for the first of a few cruises. Aurora and AIDAprima were regulars while we had a sort of debutante who had been here before in the form of cutie Astoria, who had been in Zeebrugge with Aurora the day before. Last time Astoria was in Southampton she was called Athena and chartered by Phoenix Reisen. After Classic International Cruises went bankrupt in 2010, she was bought with three others by Portuscale Cruises, who had an ambition plan to restore them all. Athena became Azores in 2013 and was chartered first by Ambiente Kreuzfahrten of Germany them Cruise and Maritime two years later, changing her name to Astoria from 2016 for a sub-charter to Rivages du Monde. It was lovely to see the little cutie again. Though we wondered where all these so-called ship lovers were or did they only come out for new things? There was only Stephen Brooke, my Facebook friend. After docking, I went to get photos of her in Ocean Terminal. It was a gorgeous day for late spring and very hot, though I'm sure that wouldn't last long as the summer solstice approached. |