This week we continue with our new series of behind-the-scenes looks at Queen Mary 2.
The first is a conversation with Chief Engineer Brian Watling about how QM2 works from a technical perspective. Brian has served on Cunard ships for 27 years including being Chief Engineer on Queen Elizabeth 2. He also “stood-by” at the shipyard as QM2 was being built o he is uniquely qualified to talk about how the ship works.
In our conversation we talked about everything from the propulsion plant to the azipods and about other areas of the Technical Department’s far-flung responsibilities. The article appears at: http://beyondships.com/QM2-art-Watling.html
To balance this technical discussion, this week I am also presenting an interview with Carol Summers who is the Dance Captain on QM2. This is not the dance team that gives dance lessons in the Queens Room but rather the Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers who perform the production shows in the ship’s theater.
Carol is a professional dancer who performed during QM2’s maiden voyage and subsequently on Queen Victoria and QE2. We talked about how the production shows on passenger ships are put together and what it is like for a team of professional singers and dancers to live aboard a passenger ship. The interview appears at: http://beyondships.com/QM2-art-Summers.html
Royal Caribbean took delivery of Oasis of the Seas on October 30 in a ceremony in a conference room in the shipyard where she was built in Finland. This does not mean that she will go into service yet. Royal Caribbean is taking the approach of using the ship’s transatlantic crossing between Finland and Fort Lauderdale to hone her crew and get them used to operating this colossal vessel. For example, each day during the crossing, a new dining or entertainment venue will be “officially” opened and brought on line. This is an approach that works quite well and is frequently credited as a reason that Ruby Princess opened to such good reviews last year. Oasis will reach Fort Lauderdale on November 11 after which there will be a naming ceremony with seven godmothers cutting the ribbon that will cause a bottle of wine to smash against the ship’s side.
Meanwhile, on 31 October, in Venice Italy, Holland America’s latest ship, the Nieu Amsterdam was floated out of the dry dock in which she was created. The float-out is an important step in a ship’s life equivalent to the traditional practice of sliding the ship down the ways into the water. After the float-out, the ship goes to a fitting out dock where the remainder of the work needed to bring her into service will be done. Nieu Amsterdam is the second Signature-class (Super-Vista) ship to be built and is scheduled to join the HAL fleet on 4 July 2010.
Disney has announced that one f the features on its forthcoming Disney Dream will be a 725-foot long roller coaster. While the new 128,000-ton ship is supposed to be done in keeping with Disney’s existing ships, this feature does not seem at this distance to harmonize with the tasteful (albeit somewhat whimsical) style of those ships. However, Disney is not about to sacrifice its reputation for quality and so it will be interesting to see how they bring this off.
The first is a conversation with Chief Engineer Brian Watling about how QM2 works from a technical perspective. Brian has served on Cunard ships for 27 years including being Chief Engineer on Queen Elizabeth 2. He also “stood-by” at the shipyard as QM2 was being built o he is uniquely qualified to talk about how the ship works.
In our conversation we talked about everything from the propulsion plant to the azipods and about other areas of the Technical Department’s far-flung responsibilities. The article appears at: http://beyondships.com/QM2-art-Watling.html
To balance this technical discussion, this week I am also presenting an interview with Carol Summers who is the Dance Captain on QM2. This is not the dance team that gives dance lessons in the Queens Room but rather the Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers who perform the production shows in the ship’s theater.
Carol is a professional dancer who performed during QM2’s maiden voyage and subsequently on Queen Victoria and QE2. We talked about how the production shows on passenger ships are put together and what it is like for a team of professional singers and dancers to live aboard a passenger ship. The interview appears at: http://beyondships.com/QM2-art-Summers.html
Royal Caribbean took delivery of Oasis of the Seas on October 30 in a ceremony in a conference room in the shipyard where she was built in Finland. This does not mean that she will go into service yet. Royal Caribbean is taking the approach of using the ship’s transatlantic crossing between Finland and Fort Lauderdale to hone her crew and get them used to operating this colossal vessel. For example, each day during the crossing, a new dining or entertainment venue will be “officially” opened and brought on line. This is an approach that works quite well and is frequently credited as a reason that Ruby Princess opened to such good reviews last year. Oasis will reach Fort Lauderdale on November 11 after which there will be a naming ceremony with seven godmothers cutting the ribbon that will cause a bottle of wine to smash against the ship’s side.
Meanwhile, on 31 October, in Venice Italy, Holland America’s latest ship, the Nieu Amsterdam was floated out of the dry dock in which she was created. The float-out is an important step in a ship’s life equivalent to the traditional practice of sliding the ship down the ways into the water. After the float-out, the ship goes to a fitting out dock where the remainder of the work needed to bring her into service will be done. Nieu Amsterdam is the second Signature-class (Super-Vista) ship to be built and is scheduled to join the HAL fleet on 4 July 2010.
Disney has announced that one f the features on its forthcoming Disney Dream will be a 725-foot long roller coaster. While the new 128,000-ton ship is supposed to be done in keeping with Disney’s existing ships, this feature does not seem at this distance to harmonize with the tasteful (albeit somewhat whimsical) style of those ships. However, Disney is not about to sacrifice its reputation for quality and so it will be interesting to see how they bring this off.
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