When I was cruising the Baltic in July, two rather interesting ships were with us in a number of the ports. They both are under the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. umbrella - - Empress of the Pullmantur brand and Celebrity Constellation of their Celebrity Cruises brand. Despite their common ownership, the two ships are quite different.
Empress began life in 1990 as the Nordic Empress of Royal Caribbean International. After a major refit in 2004, she was re-named Empress of the Seas and sailed under that name for Royal Caribbean until March of this year. At that point, the “of the Seas” was painted out and she was re-born as Pullmantur’s Empress, serving the Spanish market.
The story of the Empress illustrates a relatively new phenomenon in the cruise industry. From a technological viewpoint, modern cruise ships are built with a useful life of 30 or 40 years. However, in the primary cruise markets, very few ships can remain viable businesses ventures for that long. As bigger ships with more amenities and luxuries enter the market, customers’ expectations grow. As a result, as ships grow older they tend to lose their followings. This process can be delayed somewhat by periodically refurbishing the ship and adding new amenities. However, as most ships become teenagers, they are no longer viable in the most competitive markets.
Until recently, ships that were no longer viable in the primary market were sold off to smaller cruise lines operating in the secondary market of discount cruises and the like. However, now, the major cruise lines are using their older ships to satisfy the growing demand for cruises in Europe. Many of the European countries have no tradition of cruising and while demand is growing rapidly, it would be risky to build new ships for those markets until they have become more established. The perfect solution is to use existing ships that still have plenty of life in them to develop the market.
Empress is a good illustration. The ship was quite popular in America, doing cruises to The Bahamas, the Caribbean and to Bermuda. However, as time went on, Royal Caribbean customers came to expect the balconies, the Royal Promenades and the other features of the larger new RCI mega-cruise ships. Consequently, Empress of the Seas no longer fit in with the rest of the fleet. She was capable of providing a good cruise experience but it was no longer a Royal Caribbean cruise experience. Consequently, when Royal Caribbean acquired Pullmantur, it made sense to transfer the ship to that brand.
Celebrity Constellation is a ship in her prime. At six years old, her art-deco influenced interior provides the setting for a premium cruise experience. She is technologically state-of-the-art with azipod propulsion and gas turbine engines. Her arrow-like lines give her a sleeker appearance than most modern cruise ships.
In the last few years, Constellation’s itinerary has been winter/spring in the Caribbean, summer in Northern Europe, and in the fall she has done Canada/New England cruises out of New York (Bayonne, New Jersey). Last Spring, I did a photo essay of her in the Caribbean. This summer, I was able to photograph her in Denmark, Poland, and Russia. It is always a pleasure to see the Constellation.
My photo essay and tribute to Empress as she begins her new life is at http://www.beyondships.com/Pull-Empress-essay.html The photo essay on Constellation in Europe is at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-Europe.html I have also added several new entries to the Beyondships Small Cruise Ship Gallery. http://www.beyondships.com/smallcruisephotogallery.html
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