MS Bleu de France
Encyclopedia
MS Bleu de France is a cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
owned and operated by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
cruise line, CDF Croisières de France
CDF Croisières de France
CDF Croisières de France is a France-based, Norwegian-American-owned cruise line which caters to the French cruise market, with French as the only language used onboard their ships. CDF will offer cruises on the Mediterranean and the Caribbean....
. It was originally built in 1981 by Bremer Vulkan
Bremer Vulkan
Bremer Vulkan AG was a great German shipbuilding company located at the Weser river in Bremen-Vegesack. It was founded in 1893 and closed in 1997 because of financial problems and mismanagement....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises as MS Europa. In 1999 Europa was sold to Star Cruises
Star Cruises
Star Cruises , a member of Genting Hong Kong, is the sixth largest cruise line in the world behind companies such as Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises...
and it was renamed MS SuperStar Europe and year later MS Superstar Aries. In 2004 she was sold to Pullmantur Cruises
Pullmantur Cruises
Pullmantur Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Spain. It began operations in the late 1990s as an offshoot of the Madrid-based travel agency Pullmantur. Pullmantur Cruises, through its parent company, was purchased by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. in 2006.- Overview :Pullmantur Cruises is the...
and renamed MS Holiday Dream. In May 2008 she was transferred to the fleet of CDF Croisières de France
CDF Croisières de France
CDF Croisières de France is a France-based, Norwegian-American-owned cruise line which caters to the French cruise market, with French as the only language used onboard their ships. CDF will offer cruises on the Mediterranean and the Caribbean....
and was renamed Bleu de France.
Concept and construction
Since its formation in 1970, Hapag-LloydHapag-Lloyd
Hapag-Lloyd is a German transportation company comprising a cargo container shipping line, Hapag-Lloyd AG, which in turn owns other subsidiaries such as Hapag-Lloyd Ships and a cruise line, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises which is now integrated into TUI AG, Hanover...
operated the former North German Lloyd liner Europa (originally Swedish American Line
Swedish American Line
Swedish American Line was a passenger and cargo shipping line. It was founded in December 1914 under the name Rederiaktiebolaget Sverige-Nordamerika, beginning ocean liner service from Gothenburg to New York in 1915...
's Kungsholm
MS Kungsholm (1953)
MS Kungsholm was a combined ocean liner / cruise ship built in 1953 by the De Schelde shipyard in Vlissingen, The Netherlands for the Swedish American Line. Between 1965 and 1981 she sailed for the North German Lloyd and their successor Hapag-Lloyd as MS Europa...
) as the flagship of their cruise services. By the late 1970s the decision was made to replace the then-current Europa with a new state-of-the-art ship tailored specifically for the German cruise market, also to be called Europa. The new Europa would be the third ship to bear the name in the North German Lloyd/Hapag-Lloyd fleet. Designed before the advent of the mega cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
, at 33,000 gross register tons the new Europa was to be amongst the largest passenger ships in the world at the time, surpassed only by the ocean liner
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2
Queen Elizabeth 2, often referred to simply as the QE2, is an ocean liner that was operated by Cunard from 1969 to 2008. Following her retirement from cruising, she is now owned by Istithmar...
and the cruise ship SS Norway (also originally an ocean liner).
The order for the new Europa was placed with the Bremer Vulkan
Bremer Vulkan
Bremer Vulkan AG was a great German shipbuilding company located at the Weser river in Bremen-Vegesack. It was founded in 1893 and closed in 1997 because of financial problems and mismanagement....
shipyard in Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, the home city of North German Lloyd. The ship was launched on 22 December 1980, and delivered to her owners on 5 December 1981.
During her subsequent career the former Europa has undergone two notable rebuildings. First in 1999, in preparation for entering service with Star Cruises
Star Cruises
Star Cruises , a member of Genting Hong Kong, is the sixth largest cruise line in the world behind companies such as Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises...
as SuperStar Europe, the ship was docked at Sembawang
Sembawang
Sembawang is an area in the Northern-most portion of Singapore, encompassing the largest land mass within the Sembawang Group Representation Constituency. The incumbent Member of Parliament for the Sembawang Constituency is Khaw Boon Wan. The constituency jurisdiction extends into the Woodlands...
shipyard in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
for a $15 million refit. The most notable external change was the addition of new balconies to the suites under the bridge wings. In 2004 she was rebuilt again, this time in preparation for entering service with Pullmantur Cruises
Pullmantur Cruises
Pullmantur Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Spain. It began operations in the late 1990s as an offshoot of the Madrid-based travel agency Pullmantur. Pullmantur Cruises, through its parent company, was purchased by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. in 2006.- Overview :Pullmantur Cruises is the...
as Holiday Dream, but then the rebuilding was mostly limited to redecorations of the public spaces. She has recently gone through a 30 million € refit in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
during the spring of 2008 to prepare for her transfer to the fleet of CDF Croisières de France
CDF Croisières de France
CDF Croisières de France is a France-based, Norwegian-American-owned cruise line which caters to the French cruise market, with French as the only language used onboard their ships. CDF will offer cruises on the Mediterranean and the Caribbean....
.
Hapag-Lloyd
Europa left on her maiden voyage from GenoaGenoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
on 8 January 1982, to destinations in Africa. Subsequently she was used for luxury cruising all over the world, including on the Amazon River
Amazon River
The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...
. On 3 August 1985, Europa ran aground off the coast of Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
. She was refloated three days later.
On 30 April 1992 Europa collided with the Greece-registered container ship Inchon Glory outside Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. No passengers on board Europa were injured. Initially she was towed to Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung is a city located in southwestern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on the west. Kaohsiung, officially named Kaohsiung City, is divided into thirty-eight districts. The city is one of five special municipalities of the Republic of China...
, Taiwan, where passengers were evacuated. Subsequently the ship was towed to Singapore for repairs. After lengthy repairs Europa re-entered service on 7 July 1992.
In the mid-1990s Hapag-Lloyd decided to order a replacement for Europa (again, also named Europa
MS Europa (1999)
The MS Europa is a cruise ship owned and operated by the German company Hapag-Lloyd. It is the 4th ship to be named Europa in the company's history...
). In preparation for delivery of the new Europa, the 1981 Europa was sold to Star Cruises
Star Cruises
Star Cruises , a member of Genting Hong Kong, is the sixth largest cruise line in the world behind companies such as Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises...
on 5 April 1998, but chartered back to Hapag-Lloyd until 30 June 1999.
Star Cruises
Star CruisesStar Cruises
Star Cruises , a member of Genting Hong Kong, is the sixth largest cruise line in the world behind companies such as Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises...
took over Europa in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
on 1 July 1999. On the same date she was renamed SuperStar Europe, and five days later left Hamburg for Singapore, where she arrived on 31 July 1999. After rebuilding at Sembawang
Sembawang
Sembawang is an area in the Northern-most portion of Singapore, encompassing the largest land mass within the Sembawang Group Representation Constituency. The incumbent Member of Parliament for the Sembawang Constituency is Khaw Boon Wan. The constituency jurisdiction extends into the Woodlands...
shipyard, SuperStar Europe entered service for Star Cruises in October 1999, initially with Laem Chabang
Laem Chabang
Laem Chabang is a city in Chonburi Province, Thailand. It covers the tambon Bang Lamung of Bang Lamung district, and the complete tambon Bueng, Sura Sak, Thung Su Khla and parts of Nong Kham of Si Racha district...
as her port of departure. After just five months of service as SuperStar Europe, the ship was renamed Superstar Aries in February 2000.
In March 2001 Star Cruises announced that SuperStar Aries would be transferred to the fleet of their subsidiary Orient Lines
Orient Lines
Orient Lines was a cruise line specialising in exotic destinations that was in operation 1993—2008. The brand was founded in 1993 by Gerry Herrod, who had previously owned Ocean Cruise Lines. Orient Lines was sold to Norwegian Cruise Line in 1998, and ceased operations in March 2008.The brand was...
in 2002 as the Ocean Voyager. However, the plans were shelved following the drop in passenger numbers caused by the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
. As a result the SuperStar Aries was transferred to cruising from Thailand and China. She stayed in Star Cruises fleet until March 2004, when she was sold to the Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
-based Pullmantur Cruises
Pullmantur Cruises
Pullmantur Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Spain. It began operations in the late 1990s as an offshoot of the Madrid-based travel agency Pullmantur. Pullmantur Cruises, through its parent company, was purchased by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. in 2006.- Overview :Pullmantur Cruises is the...
.
Pullmantur Cruises
Pullmantur Cruises renamed the ship Holiday Dream, and she was used for cruises aimed at a SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
-speaking clientele. She regularly operated cruises in the Caribbean.
Croisières de France
In September 2007 Royal Caribbean InternationalRoyal Caribbean International
Royal Caribbean International is a Norwegian and American cruise line brand based in Miami, Florida and owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.. With 42 ships in service under 5 different brands and one more under construction, it controls a 25.6% share of the world cruise market...
, the new owner of Pullmantur Cruises, made public their plans for Croisières de France, a new cruise line aimed at the French market. Holiday Dream was given a 30 million € refit at Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
by the Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
MML Shipbuilding in spring 2008, with her interiors refurbished to suit French cultural tastes. Following the refit the ship was renamed Bleu de France and has entered service as the first ship of the Croisières de France brand. During the north hemisphere summer season she will operate cruises in the Mediterranean out of Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, while for the winter season she will offer cruises on the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, from La Romana, Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
.
Future acquisition by Saga
It has been confirmed that British based cruise line Saga CruisesSaga Cruises
Saga Cruises, also known as Saga Holidays is a British based cruise line, a division of the Saga Group. Only passengers of 50 years of age or older are allowed on board Saga's vessels as they are designed specifically for this demographic's needs....
will acquire Bleu de France after she completes a two seasons of cruising with the Brazilian cruise operator CVC
CVC
- Science and Industry :*Compact Video Cassette - a quarter-inch video cassette format*Card Verification Code - a security feature on credit cards*Card Verifiable Certificate - a format for digital certificates usable by smart cards...
, joining Saga in 2012. Bleu de France would be converted to accommodate Saga's target demographic passenger age of 50 years and older. It was later announced the vessel would be renamed Saga Sapphire. The ship is to undergo a refit at Fincantieri
Fincantieri
Fincantieri - Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A. is a shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. It was formed in 1959 and is the largest shipbuilder in the Mediterranean, and one of the largest in Europe...
between November 2011 and February 2012 before entering the Saga fleet; work to be performed includes refurbishing the interior, adding new cabins, an overhaul of the machinery, repainting and maintenance of the hull.
Exterior
Although Hapag-Lloyd originally considered a traditional two-funnel design for the fourth Europa, they finally opted for a modern, balanced design. The superstructure is moderately streamlined, with the boat deck located relatively high. The rear decks are tiered to allow a large amount of outer deck space.The exterior design of Europa is very similar to the Astor of Hadag Cruise Line
HADAG Seetouristik und Fährdienst
The HADAG Seetouristik und Fährdienst AG is a local public transport company in Hamburg, Germany. It owns and operates the ferries across the Elbe river, overseen by the Hamburger Verkehrsverbund...
(as of 2008 sailing as Astoria for Transocean Tours
Transocean Tours
Transocean Tours is a Germany-based cruise line that operates three ocean-going cruise ships on the German and British markets, as well as five river cruise ships on the German market...
), built at the same time as Europa by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft at its yard at Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
.
Interior
For the interior of the ship, Hapag-Lloyd decided to adapt a design previously used in cruiseferriesCruiseferry
A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship with a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while others use the ships as means of...
such as Svea Corona
MS Svea Corona
MS Svea Corona was a car-passenger ferry built in 1975 by Dubegion-Normandie S.A., Nantes, France for Rederi AB Svea, Sweden for Silja Line traffic. She was later rebuilt as a cruiseship and known under names MS Sundancer and MS Pegasus...
of 1975 and Finnjet
GTS Finnjet
GTS Finnjet was a cruiseferry, built in 1977 by Wärtsilä Helsinki, Finland for Finnlines traffic between Finland and Germany. At the time of her delivery, Finnjet was the fastest, longest and largest car ferry in the world, and the only one powered by gas turbines...
of 1977, with the interiors divided vertically. Cabins are located to the front of the ship, furthest away from engine noise, while public spaces and various storages—where engine noise is not as big of an issue as in cabins—are located at the rear of the ship, above the engines. Most of the public spaces were built with higher than standard ceiling height.
The current public spaces include a main dining room spanning the entire width of the ship, a showlounge, a casino (originally a lounge), a buffet restaurant, tapas bar and several bars. There are two outdoor pools, the forward of which can be covered by a glass dome (magrodome) in poor weather. There is an additional indoor swimming pool, originally designed as a crew pool but taken into public use during one of the ship's refits.
Each cabin on the ship was completely pre-fabricated, with complete furnishing and soundproofing, and individually installed on board the ship. The ship was originally built with spacious cabins, all of which include illuminated closets, colour television and a VCR, with many cabins equipped with a bathtub. The 1999 refit added six suites in the place of former officers' cabins, while six balconies were added to the existing suites under the bridge wings. These are the only cabins with balconies on the ship.
Decks and facilities
Decks and facilities based on Croisières de France deck plans, which include only the decks accessible to passengers.- Unknown
- Lagon deck - saunaSaunaA sauna is a small room or house designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these and auxiliary facilities....
, beauty salon, spaSpaThe term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...
, swimming pool - Unknown
- Indigo deck - medical center, interior and exterior cabins
- Marine deck - interior and exterior cabins
- Cyan deck - interior and exterior cabins
- Saphir deck - interior and exterior cabins, reception, café, le Flamboyant dining room
- Cobalt deck - interior and exterior cabins, boutique, bar, le Grand Salon showroom, sundeck
- Turquoise deck - suites, exterior cabins, casino, discothèque, tapas bar, promenade deckPromenade deckThe promenade deck is a deck found on several types of passenger ships and riverboats. It usually extends from bow to stern, on both ddd,çsides, and includes areas open to the outside, resulting in a continuous outside walkway suitable for promenading, thus the name.On older passenger ships, the...
, sundeck, swimming pool - Horizon deck - bridgeBridge (ship)The bridge of a ship is the room or platform from which the ship can be commanded. When a ship is underway the bridge is manned by an OOW aided usually by an AB acting as lookout...
, suites, exterior cabins, officer's cabins, buffet restaurant, sundeck - Outremer deck - bars, lido café, sundeck, swimming pool
- Azur deck - sundeck, solarium