1317. 🇬🇬 🇹🇹 Guernsey Post's 2018 Cruise Ship Post And Gos And More Trinidad Surcharges.

  🇬🇬 Post and Go collectors have 29 Collectors strips available this year if they have decided to purchase Guernsey Post's Visiting Cruise Ships issue. This number represents those strips dispensed on the first visits of the respective ships and does not include those produced on any subsequent visits a ship may have paid to Guernsey unless two ships visited on the same day in which case the inscriptions on the stamps named both ships even if one or both had previously visited the island during 2018. This has resulted in 174 more stamps being needed to be added to Guernsey Post's grand total for 2018.

  Though I like postal services which have nice conservative new issue policies I admit to rather liking these Cruise ship stamps as they serve a particular postal function - it's rather pleasing that the Cruise ship passengers have a postal souvenir available to buy if they so wish and can use them on mail to friends and family back home. I have not yet seen any dealer offering genuine tourist mail with these stamps applied and suspect that such items must be quite rare but highly collectible when they do turn up.

  The dates of issue were of course the dates on which the respective ships were in port in Guernsey:-

  18 May - Aurora,

  20 May - Princendam,

  21 May - Britannia,

  23 May - Aidaura,

  24 May - Queen Victoria, 

  26 May - Brilliance Of The Seas,

  30 May - Seven Seas Explorer,

  31 May - Silver Spirit,

  6 June - Crystal Serenity,

  7 June - Royal Princess and Queen Victoria,

  10 June - Azamara Journey and Magellan,

  14 June - Ventura,

  17 June - Celebrity Eclipse,

  19 June - Royal Princess,

  21 June - Saga Sapphire,

  22 June - Zuirdam,

  26 June - Marco Polo,

  28 June - Columbus,

  30 June - Queen Elizabeth,

  1 July - Royal Princess and Brill of the Seas (sic),

  12 July - Azamara Journey,

  16 July - Britannia and Crystal Serenity,

  18 July - Black Watch and Columbus,

  22 July - Oriana,

  25 July - Magellan and Royal Princess,

  19 August - Celebrity Silhouette,

  2 September - Arcadia and Magellan,

  18 September - Norwegian Jade,

  27 September - Nautica.

  

  🇹🇹 More surcharged stamps have emerged from the postal service of Trinidad And Tobago. Five miscellaneous previously issued stamps have been surcharged with various values as depicted below. See also Blogs 1273, 1309 and 1312. Rating:- ***.

1316. 🇿🇦 South Africa Commemorates Its New President.

  🇿🇦 The South African Post Office issued a single Self-adhesive stamp and 1 miniature sheet on 9 October 2018 to commemorate the country's new President, Cyril Ramaphosa, who had been sworn into office on 15 February 2018. Rating:- ****.

  🇸🇭 The postal service of Ascension will issue a delightful set of 4 stamps on 5 December 2018 as part of the Pobjoy Stamps/Creative Directions mini-omnibus on the subject of Migratory species of the South Atlantic and Antarctica. This set depicts migratory turtles. The issue was designed by Andrew Robinson and lithographed by Cartor and perforated 13.5. Rating:- *****. Thanks to Juliet Warner of Pobjoy Stamps for information about this issue.

  🇦🇺 In Blog 1311 I illustrated 2 of the 4 miniature sheets issued by Australia Post in extremely limited quantities at the Macao 2018 exhibition which were overprints on the Great Barrier Reef sheets issued originally without additional inscriptions for the exhibition. The overprinted sheet issued on the 3rd day of the exhibition is now illustrated below. Rating:- 0.

  🇲🇼 Malawi Post has issued a sheetlet containing 6 different stamps and 6 miniature sheets on the subject of 'Translocation of elephants'. This is an interesting set and of particular note is the fact that the miniature sheets are dated '2017' but their release seems to have been put back until this year. However Malawi Post seems to be issuing too many of these miniature sheets and I do hope that we see no more this year. Rating:- ***. The sheetlet and 2 of the miniature sheets are illustrated below:-

1315. 🇸🇬🇱🇰🇲🇲 Nursery Rhymes And Historic Post Offices.

  🇸🇬 Singapore Post will issue a set of 8 gummed stamps, 1 miniature sheet and 4 self-adhesive stamps from sheetlets of 10 on 17 October 2018 on the subject of Nursery rhymes. The colourful issue was designed by Andy Koh and lithographed by Southern Colour Print and perforated 13.5. Rating:- ***.

  News of some excellent stamps which depict historic post offices:-

  🇱🇰 Sri Lanka Post issued an interesting single stamp on 9 October 2018 to commemorate World Post Day. The stamp was designed by Pulasthi Ediriweera and depicts Kandy Post Office which was built in 1897. Rating:- *****.

  🇲🇲 New issues from Myanma Post And Telecommunications are infrequent. A single stamp was issued on 20 September 2018 to commemorate the 110th anniversary of Yangon's fine Edwardian era General Post Office building.  The first day cover produced by the Myanmar Philatelic Society also features an excellent illustration of the building. Rating:- *****.

  🇭🇰 In Blog 1314 I mentioned the stamps issued by Hong Kong Post on the subject of Cantonese Opera and noted that a Prestige booklet containing 3 panes and costing $53 would accompany the issue. The booklet's cover is depicted below:-

1314. 🇫🇰 Falkland Islands Features The Road To Nowhere

  🇫🇰 Following on from an issue by the British Antarctic Territory postal service of a set on the same subject, the postal service of Falkland Islands will release a similar set of 4 depicting extraordinarily beautiful photographs of local Landscapes. The production of the set was co-ordinated by Creative Direction using photographs by 4 different photographers and printed in lithography by Cartor and perforated 13.5. This is a lovely set with one design depicting the romantically named 'Road to Nowhere'. Rating:- *****.

  Thanks to Juliet Warner of Pobjoy Stamps for information about this set.

  🇲🇺 Mauritius Post issued a pair of stamps on World Post Day, 9 October 2018, on the subject of local 'Rescue and Life Saving'. The Rs3 value is disappointingly dull though it commemorates an important subject - the St John Ambulance Service - but the Rs13 is rather more interesting featuring, as it does, the Mauritius Fire and Rescue Service in action at the scene of a fire. Rating:- ***.

  🇭🇰 Hong Kong Post issued a set of 6 stamps and a sheetlet containing 2 sets and a $53 Prestige booklet on 9 October 2018, again on World Post Day, on the subject of 'Cantonese Opera Repertory'. This is an exciting, delightful, colourful and interesting set, designed beautifully by Arde Lam and Martin Lau and lithographed by Enschedé and perforated 14 x 13.5. Rating:- *****. Perhaps Hong Kong Post could loan out its designers to Mauritius Post.

  🇬🇮 The Royal Gibraltar Post Office's Post and Go kiosk, GI05, dispensed stamps at the Macao 2018 Philatelic Exhibition which was held from 21 to 24 September 2018. Collectors' strips of 6 were produced by dispensing both the Year of The Dog stamps and the Commonwealth Postal Administration stamps with the additional inscription ' MACAO/2018' applied to them. Rating:- 0.

1313. 🇲🇾🇸🇭🇳🇿 World Post Day Stamps From Malaysia, Christmas From New Zealand And St Helena.

 🇲🇾 I do like the pair of stamps and miniature sheet which were issued by Pos Malaysia on 9 October 2018 to commemorate World Post Day. The issue was designed by Datuk Dr Mohammad Noor Awang. Rating:- *****.

  🇸🇭 No details yet that I have been able to find but I depict illustrations of a set of 4 stamps issued or about to be released by the St Helena postal service on the subject of the Festival of Lights which is hosted by Pilling Primary School as families, friends and schools come together to decorate floats so that they are covered in flashing lights. There is a parade through Georgetown which ends at the wharf where boats, lit up also, sail around the seafront. The local schoolchildren dress up like Christmas trees. Rating:- ****.

  🇳🇿 New Zealand Post will release its Christmas set on 7 November 2018. The rather unconvincing designs depict various characters from the Nativity and come as 5 gummed stamps, 1 miniature sheet containing all 5 stamps and 4 self-adhesive stamps of which the pair of $1.20c values are being sold from a box of 100 coil stamps as well as from booklets of 10 and the $2.40c and $3 values are sold from booklets of 10 both at a discounted price. The issue was designed by Saint Andrew Matautia and lithographed by Southern Colour Print and perforated 14. Rating:- ***.