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Passenger services however via the New Zealand Shipping Company and the Shaw Savill and Albion Company were eventually withdrawn which left only cargo vessels to call en-route and this vital communication provided vital supplies for the Islanders.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...
1668 Launched as the LEOPOLDUS PRIMUS.
Tonnage 897 displacement, dim. 43.80 x 8.70 x 5.10m. (draught)
26 – 18pdr., 18 – 8 pdr., 4 – 6 pdr. and 6 – 4 pdr. guns.
The LEOPOLDUS PRIMUS, also called LEOPOLD I, was the first convoy ship commissioned to protect the free city of Hamburg. She was designed for use against piracy on the trade routes to Spain, Portugal, and West Africa and to accompany whalers to Greenland. Named in honor of the Roman Emperor Leopold I, she was put into service in 1668 and scrapped in 1705 after 34 major missions. She was probably identical with the Wapen von Hamburg, which went into service shortly after her.
In the 17th century, Hamburg was an important coastal town, well fortified but an attractive target to pirates. Particularly troubled by the corsairs of the Barbary Coast, and following the loss in June 1622 of eight fully laden cargo ships, the city determined that it needed to create a fleet of armed convoy ships to protect its interests, escorting merchant and other vessels.
The plans for the construction of LEOPOLDUS PRIMUS and the probably largely identical WAPEN VON HAMBURG started in 1663. The first mention of these plans can be found in the Minutes of the Admiralty of 4 June 1663. While previously they had relied for protection on converted merchant ships, Hamburg now looked to full-fledged warships. On 23 September, the council proposed to build two frigates, and the citizenry voted to enact the plan.
Not much is known about the construction of the LEOPOLDUS PRIMUS. Construction was delayed for unknown reasons, and for several years there were debates about who should take charge of funding the ships, but construction finally began, led by an unknown Dutch ship-master, in 1667. Builders of the period were secretive, so plans were not recorded or shared. The Hamburg sculptor Christian Precht, also known for his work in churches, was hired to create a representation of Leopold I for the stern. This figure is now on display at the Museum of Hamburg History.
The naming of such an important vessel after a strict Catholic Emperor in distant Vienna for a city like Hamburg, Lutheran and disinterested in imperial affairs, was quite unusual. A handwritten contemporary poem suggests that the ship was named for the association of Leopold with military success, perhaps against the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Saint Gotthard.
The ship was operational in 1668, at some point between April and September. Her first captain was Leopoldus M. Dreyer.
There are few records describing the size and appearance of LEOPOLDUS PRIMUS or her sister ship, WAPEN VON HAMBURG. Dimensions are unknown. What is known is that the ship was built on the model of leading Dutch design. Wolfgang Quinger, in WAPPEN VON HAMBURG I (1980), suggests that the pair may have been more or less replicas of the Dutch ship AEMILIA. If this is so, LEOPOLDUS PRIMUS would have had a length of about 40 metres (130 feet) and a width of almost 11 metres (36 feet). To get over the shoals in the river Elbe, the hull was probably built after the "Rotterdam form". The ship was elaborately decorated with Baroque carvings and sculptures.
The LEOPOLDUS had 54 guns. The heaviest caliber were on the lower gun deck with the lighter on the upper aft decks. When the ship was docked for a length time in Hamburg, the guns could be unloaded and moved to the ramparts of the city to protect it, as was done during a Danish attack on Hamburg in 1686.
LEOPOLDUS PRIMUS had a crew, depending on length and purpose of travel, from around 150 to 250 men, of which about 15 to 20 were officers, including the captain and his lieutenant as well as ministers and the commander of the soldiers. The crew was not stable, but employed for the duration of the trip. Voluntary recruits rather than being pressed into service, they were expected to equip themselves, and more died from diseases caused by unclean conditions on the ship than from battle, at as high a rate as four to one. The 40 to 60 soldiers aboard were better trained and disciplined, taken from the ranks of the city's soldiery or reassigned from other convoy ships.
The success of LEOPOLDUS PRIMUS is supported by many reports. Captain Berend Jacobsen Karpfanger took her through a number of successful battles against pirates. One highlight is Karpfanger's defense against five French ships in the Elbe estuary on 11 September 1678. Fifty whaling ships were returning to Hamburg from Greenland when the frigates attacked. After a 12 hour battle, two of the French frigates were sunk and the rest put to flight. None of the Hamburg ships were lost, although LEOPOLDUS PRIMUS sustained slight damages. Only two of the crew of LEOPOLDUS were killed, with one man injured. In other activities, the ship was used in 1686 to protect Hamburg from Denmark.
In 1702, LEOPOLDUS PRIMUS was the oldest of the three then existing Hamburg convoy ships when it was badly damaged in a storm. Her captain, Captain Schroeder, had to take port in Falmouth, and it was determined that she was not worth the expense of repair. Schroeder reported this to Hamburg, who rejected a proposal to sell the ship and instead brought her home. There, they determined that if repaired she might continue to sail for another decade. They repaired her at a cost of 3500 marks (1166 pounds) and she was back on the seas, voyaging to Greenland, in 1703.
Before her next trip, concerns that she was not seaworthy were raised, and although some felt she could still manage the voyage to England a few more times, others felt the cost of further repairs was a poor risk. Thirty-six years after embarking on her career as the first convoy ship, LEOPOLDUS PRIMUS was taken out of commission. In 1705, she seems to have been scrapped, probably in Hamburg.
Overall, LEOPOLDUS PRIMUS Primus undertook 22 trips to the Iberian Peninsula, three trips to England and nine trips to protect whalers to Greenland. Among the convoy ships of Hamburg, she had more missions than any other with the Admiralität von Hamburg, which had 32, as her closest rival.
Uganda 1989 250s sg775, scott?
Wikipedia.
