Pitcairn Island issued in 2013 a set of $2 stamps and a first day cover depicting cruiseships.
The set shows the PACIFIC PRINCESS she is also depict on the first day cover, the MARINA, ARCADIA and COSTA NEOROMANTICA.
Below is given what the Pitcairn Island Post gives on the set.
The Guide to Pitcairn states that after Folger's discovery of the community in 1808, the pattern of communication was essentially one of irregular naval and merchant ship visits. The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 brought new life to the island and changed the connection with Pitcairn's neighbours with New Zealand becoming a more important link than Tahiti. Passenger services however via the New Zealand Shipping Company and the Shaw Savill and Albion Company were eventually withdrawn which left only cargo vessels to call en-route and this vital communication provided vital supplies for the Islanders. In recent years the worldwide increase in interest to cruise the world's oceans has led to a new vitality within the Pitcairn community.
The following commentary has been kindly provided courtesy of the Pitcairn Islands Tourism department:
"With the number of visiting cruise ships steadily increasing each year, Pitcairn's cruise ship season is always a busy time. Typically it starts around Oct/Nov and runs through to April the following year. The size and type of ship ranges from small expedition vessels, carrying 100 or so passengers, to huge ocean liners carrying up to 2500 - 3000 passengers. With this in mind, Pitcairners must find time to get into their studios and workshops to create their carvings, curios and artwork. These days there's a huge range of Pitcairn keepsakes available, from jewellery, to all types of wooden carvings, bowls and platters, caps & T. Shirts, hand-woven traditional baskets, Bounty and Longboat models, handmade soaps and, of course, Pitcairn Honey.
Most cruise ship companies confirm their booking to visit the island at least a year or so in advance. The booking is confirmed by the Island's Immigration Officer, an announcement of the pending visit made over the radio and the ship's name, arrival and departure times added to the Cruise Ship Bookings List which is ever present on the Public Notice Board at the Square.
As the day of arrival draws near the Immigration Officer, Tourism Coordinator, Mayor and Provisions Officer start corresponding, via email, with the ship to coordinate activities for the day. This varies depending on roles and whether the ship's Captain intends to land passengers or feels it's safer to have the Pitcairn Community go on-board to set up the Pitcairn Island Curio and Craft Market, deliver a lecture and mix and mingle with passengers for a few hours. These days approximately 35 - 45 Pitcairn residents might go out to visit a ship which is unable to land passengers. Those who are unwell or perhaps a little too frail to climb the Jacob's ladder to board the ship are encouraged to allow friends and family to take their goods on board for them - ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to trade and benefit from sales.
Landing cruise ship passengers is always at the Captain's discretion, depending on weather and sea conditions on the day. This means that everyone must be ready to either get themselves and their curio and crafts to the landing in time to go out to the ship or to set up their goods and trading tables along the main road or at the Square in Adamstown. Either way it's always a happy and exciting time with no one really sure which way it will go until the Captain has made his or her final decision.
If the decision is to land passengers, the Captain will opt to use either the ship's own tenders or the Pitcairn Longboats to ferry passengers ashore. And, with the first arrivals everything falls into place. Tourism staff welcome the passengers as they arrive at the Bounty Bay landing, providing them with walking maps and general visitor information. A handful of local Quad Bike Operators provide taxi services up the Hill of Difficulty to the Square and later, once everyone's ashore, guided tours of the island. Frequently though, after several days at sea, many passengers prefer to 'walk the island' taking in Pitcairn's natural and built attractions at their own pace. And, for such a small island, there is a lot to see – including the Church where the Bounty Bible is on display, the Pitcairn Islands Museum, the cemetery and the local market. Those who are fit and healthy wander up over the hill to the top of the island and beyond, visiting St. Paul's Pool, Highest Point, Ship's Landing Point and if they're lucky, the island's one and only Galapagos Tortoise Miz.T
For many cruise ship passengers, getting to Pitcairn is the highlight of their trip. Whether they are able to land or not most convey that having the opportunity to personally meet the descendants of the Bounty Mutineers and learn about their day to day lives is what really makes their time at Pitcairn so truly memorable. And it's a mutual experience. Over generations Pitcairners have forged lifelong friendships with passengers, captains and crew who have visited via cruise ships. At the close of a typical visit both visitors and locals are refreshed and revitalised - satisfied with the day's events, sights seen and friends made".
2013 will see eight cruise ships visit with eleven expected in 2014. These ships are often very large and like the Queen Victoria and those in this stamp issue, carry passengers and crew totalling over 2,000 people which is over 40 times the population of Pitcairn!
Built as a cruise passenger ship under yard No 6194 by Fincantiere Cantiere Navali Italiani S.p.A., Genoa for Marina New Build LLC. at Doral, Florida.
18 June 2007 ordered.
10 March 2009 laid down.
04 April 2010 floated out as the MARINA.
Tonnage 66,084 grt, 29.151 nrt, 7,662 dwt, dim. 239.3 x 32.19 x 37.07m., length bpp. 213.36, draught 7.6m.
Powered: Diesel electric by four Wärtsilä diesel engines,32,608 hp (24,000 kW), the electric motors have a output of 12,000 kW. each, twin shafts, speed 19.5 knots.
Accommodation for 1,258 passengers.
18 January 2011 delivered to owners, Marshall Islands flag and registry. Homeport Majuo. Managed by Oceania Cruises.
Building cost about 600 million USA Dollar.
MS MARINA is an Oceania-class cruise ship, which was constructed at Fincantieri's Sestri Ponente yards in Italy for Oceania Cruises. The MARINA is the first in a duo of cruise ships, and was followed by the MS RIVIERA May 2012, the option for the third ship was declined. The ship was named in Miami by Mary Hart on February 5, 2011.
The finalization of contract for the construction of MARINA and her sister ship, plus an option for a third, was reached on 18 June 2007. The MARINA is a mid-sized ship, at 66,000 tons and was designed by the Yran & Storbratten (Y&S) architectural firm The keel of Marina was laid on 10 March 2009 and included the welding of a U.S. silver dollar coin and a pre-Castro Cuban peso coin in the keel and is believed to bring fortune to the ship, its passengers and crew during their seagoing life.
MARINA has nine dining venues. The Grand Dining Room, more casual Terraces, and poolside Waves Grill are open seating, no-charge and open daily. Four specialty dining restaurants require reservations (typically up to two per stateroom) are available at no added charge: the cruise line's signature Polo Grill, Toscana, the new French Bistro Jacques and the Pan Asian restaurant Red Ginger. Two additional venues are available at an added charge: Privee private dining and La Reserve. MARINA has a diesel-electric powerplant with a pair of controllable pitch propellers. The ship's interior is decorated with rich woods, Italian marble, granite, wool carpets...
Greyhound displaced 1,350 long tons (1,370 t) at standard load and 1,883 long tons (1,913 t) at deep load. The ship had an overall length of 323 feet (98.5 m), a beam of 33 feet (10.1 m) and a draught of 12 feet 5 inches (3.8 m). She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of 34,000 shaft horsepower (25,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers. Greyhound carried a maximum of 470 long tons (480 t) of fuel oil that gave her a range of 5,530 nautical miles (10,240 km; 6,360 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ship's complement was 137 officers and men in peacetime, but in increased to 146 in wartime.
The ship mounted four 45-calibre 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark IX guns in single mounts. For anti-aircraft defence Greyhound had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the 0.5 inch Vickers Mark III machine gun. She was fitted with two above-water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes. One depth charge rail and two throwers were fitted; 20 depth charges were originally carried, but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began.
Greyhound was laid down by Vickers Armstrong Naval Construction Works at Barrow-in-Furness on 20 September 1934, launched on 15 August 1935 and completed on 31 January 1936. Excluding government-furnished equipment like the armament, the ship cost £248,768. Aside from a brief period when she was assigned to the 20th Destroyer Flotilla after her commissioning, Greyhound spent the prewar period assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla with the Mediterranean Fleet. She was refitted at Portsmouth Dockyard between 7 June and 23 July 1938 and escorted the ocean liner SS Strathnaver between Malta and Alexandria during the Munich Crisis in September 1938. She then escorted the light cruiser HMS Arethusa on her voyage to Aden.
Greyhound and her entire flotilla were transferred to the Western Approaches Command at Plymouth in October. On 12 November she collided with her sister ship, HMS Gipsy enroute to Harwich, and her new assignment with the 22nd Destroyer Flotilla, but she was only slightly damaged and her repairs were completed two days later. The ship rescued survivors on 18 November from the ocean liner SS Simon Bolivar, which had struck a mine and from SS Torchbearer the following day. Greyhound began escorting coastal convoys on 5 December when she was transferred back to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla. On 14 January she captured the German blockade runner Phaedra in the North Sea. The ship was refitted between 16 February and 18 March 1940 and later reassigned to the Home Fleet.
On 5 April Greyhound escorted the battlecruiser HMS Renown as she covered the minelayers preparing to implement Operation Wilfred, an operation to lay mines in the Vestfjord to prevent the transport of Swedish iron ore from Narvik to Germany. The ship was present during, but played no part in, Renown's brief engagement with the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau on 9 April. Greyhound remained in the Vestfjord when the five ships of the 2nd Destroyer Flotilla sailed into the Ofotfjord on 10 April to engage the German ships that had transported the invasion force to Narvik. She covered the withdrawal of the three surviving destroyers later that day. The ship was damaged by German bombers at Scapa Flow on 18 April and was repaired at Gravesend, Kent between 22 April and 19 May.
During the Siege of Calais, Greyhound and her sister HMS Grafton provided naval gunfire support for the 30th Motor Brigade on 25 and 26 May. On 28 and 29 May she evacuated 1360 men from Dunkirk before she was damaged by German bombers. The ship was towed out of the harbour by the Polish destroyer Błyskawica. After her repairs were completed at Chatham Dockyard on 17 June, Greyhound rejoined her flotilla at Dover. On 30 July the ship, and her sister HMS Gallant, escorted the aircraft carrier HMS Argus to Gibraltar and Greyhound was assigned to the 13th Destroyer Flotilla based there. The ship participated in Operations Hats at the end of August when the British reinforced the Mediterranean Fleet.
During the Battle of Dakar on 23 September, Greyhound, the destroyer HMS Fury, and the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia engaged the Vichy French destroyer L'Audacieux which was set on fire and forced to beach itself. The ship escorted the battleship HMS Barham and the cruisers HMS Berwick and HMS Glasgow during Operation Coat in early November as they joined the Mediterranean Fleet. Greyhound herself was transferred to the 14th Destroyer Flotilla in Alexandria. She participated in the inconclusive Battle of Cape Spartivento on 27 November during Operation Collar.
Greyhound participated in Operation Excess in January 1941 and then sank the Italian submarine Neghelli on 19 January while escorting a convoy to Piraeus. In late January, the ship, and the destroyers HMS Juno, HMS Jervis, and HMS Janus, escorted the badly damaged aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious from Malta to Alexandria. Greyhound sank the Italian submarine Anfitrite on 6 March as she attempted to attack Convoy GA.8 which was carrying British troops to Greece. The ship escorted the capital ships of the Mediterranean Fleet during the Battle of Cape Matapan on 28/29 March and initiated the night action when her searchlight illuminated an Italian cruiser. Greyhound and her sister, HMS Griffin, attacked some of the Italian destroyers, but lost them when they passed through their own smokescreen. She sank the Italian sailing ship Romagna on 17 April off Apollonia, Cyrenaica as she was conducting an anti-shipping sweep off the North African coast with the Australian destroyer HMAS Vendetta. The ship escorted the heavy units of the Mediterranean Fleet on 6 May as they provided cover for Operation Tiger, a convoy carrying reinforcements to Egypt. During the invasion of Crete, Greyhound escorted the battleship HMS Warspite west of Crete on 22 May as she covered the cruiser forces attempting to sink the German invasion convoys. The ships were en route to rendezvous with the cruisers when she was struck by three bombs dropped by Stukas of StG 2 and sank a few minutes afterwards. Her survivors were rescued by the destroyers HMS Kingston and HMS Kandahar, but six officers and 74 sailors were killed in the attack. The Germans later rescued four more sailors.
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