Celebrity Summit - - new photos and interview

This summer Celebrity Cruises has Celebrity Summit doing cruises from New York to Bermuda. To a certain extent, one could say that Celebrity really got its start doing this run with its first two ships the Horizon and the Zenith back in the 1990s. However, it has been a number of years since Celebrity has done these cruises on a regular basis.

Bermuda is a natural destination for Celebrity. Like Bermuda, Celebrity is sophisticated but relaxed and traditional but not old-fashioned. Given this affinity, I booked onto the Summit for one of her week long cruises.

Summit is a Millennium class ship, which means that she is big but not quite a mega-cruise ship. She has nice modern lines but done in a way that suggest motion so that she always looks like she is speeding along. (That was a trick that the designers of the great ocean liners also used; the SS United States is a good example - - she conveys a feeling of motion even while sitting still). Inside, she has an elegant, contemporary atmosphere.

My cruise on Summit enabled me to obtain more material for the Celebrity Summit section of Beyondships. As a result, I have posted new menus, daily programs and other information about the ship at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Summit-Profile.html In addition, I have added about 50 new photos to the photo tour of the ship. http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Summit-Tour-1.html

Most cruise lines rank their ships based upon the results they obtain from the questionnaires that they ask passengers to fill out at the end of each cruise. Summit usually ranks first or second each time the results are tabulated. In addition, she does well in ticket sales both on her Bermuda cruises and on the Caribbean cruises she does out of San Juan in the winter.

Nonetheless, Celebrity is investing some $16 million in enhancements to Summit. The idea is to add some of the features that guests have found popular on Celebrity’s new Solstice class of ships. This "Solsticizing" of the Summit will be done during a refit next Spring.

I had the opportunity to talk with Julian Brackenbury, Summit’s Hotel Director, about this project. Julian is already working planning for the refit and preparing the ship to go into dry dock. I asked him to outline what will be done to Summit, how the officers and crew are preparing for the refit, and the role of the crew in doing the work. Our conversation is at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Summit-art-Solsticizing.html

There will be more about Summit next time, as I also did an interview with Captain Frantzis. I will also be posting a review of the Normandie, the specialty restaurant on Summit.

I would also like to mention two unrelated items.

First, Captain Nick Bates of Queen Mary 2 retired this week. I have had the privilege of knowing Nick for nearly 20 years and he has had a very interesting career including commanding the legendary Queen Elizabeth 2. (See my interview with Captain Bates http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-art-Bates.html ) He has a delightful sense of humor that anhances any occasion. This was reflected in his noon day announcements on QM2 and in his book “A Pinch of Salt.” All the best to him in his new life.

Second, ship enthusiasts in the New York area may be interested that on September 12, there will be six passenger ships in the harbor - - QM2, Celebrity Summit, Carnival Miracle, Norwegian Dawn, Veendam (HAL) and P&O Cruises’ Aurora. All of these are of significant size and from major cruise lines. While six ships is a weekly occurrence in ports like Fort Lauderdale and Miami, it has been a long time since so many ships called in New York on a single day. In fact, one might have to go back to the ocean liner era to find so many first-tier ships in the harbor.

Photo Tour of Bermuda; Cunard President Part II; and cruising with Charles Darwin

This time, we have three new items.

First, there is Part II of my interview with Peter Shanks, President and Managing Director of Cunard Line. We began this part of the conversation by talking about the new Cunard ship Queen Elizabeth, which is now in the last phases of construction in Italy. Mr. Shanks talked about the design of the ship, its interior décor and features as well as answered the question whether the ship is actually an ocean liner. The topic then moved to what type of ships Cunard might build after the Queen Elizabeth. Finally, Mr. Shanks talked about Cunard Line’s position in the Carnival Corporation family of companies.

Part II of the interview with Mr. Shanks is posted at: http://www.beyondships.com/Cunard-Shanks-2.html

Second, I had lunch recently with Jorge Rodriguez, the North American representative of Cruceros Australis, which is an expedition cruise line operating at the extreme southern tip of South America. With him was author John Worman, who has written a number of books about Charles Darwin. The topic of the luncheon was two cruises that Cruceros Australis will be offering this fall, which will explore some of the places in Patagonia and Tierra Del Fuego that were visited by Darwin. According to Mr. Worman, Darwin largely formulated his ideas about the origin of species will visiting this still largely pristine area. My article about these cruises is at: http://www.beyondships.com/Cruise-articles-CA-Darwin.html

Third, once again going beyond the ships and onto the shore, I have posted a photo essay on Bermuda from a cruise passenger’s perspective. This little chain of islands in the Atlantic is a frequent cruise destination from a number of North American ports. It was once a tourist destination just for the rich and famous and while there still are quite a few mansions and yachts to be seen around the islands, now the pink sand beaches are enjoyed by the general public. Still the islands have not been ruined by commercialization and maintain a charming lifestyle. The multi-page photo essay begins at: http://www.beyondships.com/Ports-Bermuda-1.html

Talking with the President of Cunard and Reviewing the Steakhouse on Carnival Glory

Cunard Line is perhaps the most famous name in the history of the passenger ship business. Not only has it been carrying passengers across the Atlantic on a regular basis since 1840, but its fleet has included an array of ships that were not only famous in their day but which are still recognized as being great ships - - Mauretania, Lusitania, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2).

Today, Cunard is no longer the biggest name in the passenger business. It fell on hard times during the second half of the 20th Century and really only survived because the QE2 was such a fabulous ship both technologically and in the atmosphere that was created onboard.

In 1997, the cavalry arrived in the form of Carnival Corporation, which has invested heavily in the venerable line; building the largest ocean liner ever built, the Queen Mary 2, and two large cruise ships that are designed to evoke the feel of the great ocean liners. It also re-focused the line. The succession of owners that Cunard had prior to Carnival were never able to decide what to do with Cunard and so the company tried to do mass market cruising, luxury yachts, Norwegian-style cruise ships and various other strategies. Carnival shifted the focus back to the ocean liner experience.

A year ago July, Peter Shanks became the President and Managing Director of Cunard Line. I had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Shanks about Cunard at its headquarters when I was in Southampton. Because that conversation produced so much material that I would like to share, I am presenting it in two parts. The first part focuses on Mr. Shanks’ vision for Cunard and what he views as differentiating the onboard experience on the Cunard ships from Cunard’s competitor. It is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/Cunard-Shanks-1.html

In part II, we discussed the new Cunard ship, Queen Elizabeth, which will go into service in October, as well as some thoughts about ships that may follow the Elizabeth. In addition, we talked about Cunard’s position in the Carnival family of companies. Part II will be posted next time.

This week I’ve also posted a restaurant review. For the most part, I have tried to avoid explicitly stating opinions about the various ships on Beyondships. There are a lot of other sites that do feature reviews and which do that very well. Beyondships rather is designed to present information that you can use in making up your mind about the ships.

One area that has not received much attention on the web is the specialty restaurants that are now proliferating across the cruise ship fleets. These are dining venues that are an alternative to the ships’ main dining rooms. They often specialize in one style of food and are intended to be a premium experience over and above the main dining room. There is usually a cover charge for these dining venues.

When I cruise, I usually enjoy a visit to the specialty restaurants. Sometimes I am accompanied by one of the ship officers who I have interviewed who often have a uniquer perspective about the restaurant. Thus, I thought it might be helpful to post some on my experiences.

This time the review is of the Emerald Steakhouse on Carnival Glory. Carnival has a reputation for serving good food. However, it is not usually thought of as a premium cruise line. Thus, the question that comes to mind is can a Carnival ship have a good premium restaurant? Helping me explore this question was Jorge Solano, Cruise Director on the Glory. The review is posted at: http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalGlory-Review-Emerald.html

Talking about Single Cabins and Talking with the Senior Officers of Ventura

When I sat down with Captain Alistair Clark, Executive Purser David Sheperd and Cruise Director Leon de Ste. Croix, and asked them to talk about Ventura, the word that kept coming up was “choice.” Ventura is designed to offer guests choices so that the guests can shape the cruise experience so that it suits their needs and tastes. This “choice factor” cuts across entertainment, dining, accommodations and activities. The ship is not based upon the principle “one size fits all.”

One also sees this choice factor across the P&O fleet. While some of the major cruise lines seek to have each of their ships resemble each other as closely as possible so as to maintain brand continuity, P&O has a markedly different set of ships. It is not just that the fleet has large, small and medium sized ships, but there are adults-only and family-friendly ships, traditional/more formal ships and contemporary/more casual ships. Again, this allows the passenger to select the cruise experience that is most suited to him or her.

Unifying all of this is an overall P&O flavor and way of doing things. When you step aboard a P&O ship, you know it is a P&O ship.
Our discussion about Ventura is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-interview.html

Because Ventura does present an array of dining choices, I thought it would be helpful to write an article that gives an overview of the various dining venues on the ship. To help me on this, I asked Food and Beverage Manager Alasdair Ross to give a brief introduction to each of the venues. That article appears at http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-dining.html

Changing topics, this year’s crop of new ships includes two ships that have single-occupancy cabins. For the last decade or so, the prevailing attitude in the industry was that single-occupancy cabins were uneconomical and had no place on a modern cruise ship. Every cabin had to accommodate at least two people. As a result, solo travelers had to pay a single supplement that was sometimes twice the per person rate for a double-occupancy cabin.

Now, however, going against this common-wisdom both P&O’s Azura and Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Epic have included some single-occupancy cabins in addition to the typical mix of suites and double-occupancy cabins. Neither line is charging a single supplement for these cabins.

Why did these lines do this and is this the start of something new? I asked several cruise line executives to comment including Carol Marlow, Managing Director of P&O, Dan Hanrahan, President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises and Peter Shanks, Managing Director of Cunard. The article is posted at: http://www.beyondships.com/Cruise-articles-singles.html

New Photos and Information about P&O Cruises' Ventura

When I was in England, I had the opportunity to revisit P&O’s Ventura. This ship went into service in 2008 and was at the time the largest cruise ship dedicated specifically for the British market. The onboard atmosphere is designed to appeal to contemporary British tastes in the décor, entertainment dining and activities. Accordingly, Ventura attracts primarily British passengers and those who enjoy the British lifestyle.

The ship itself is a sister ship to Princess Cruises’ Grand class ships and is the fulfillment of a long-held desire for the line. P&O used to be the owner of Princess Cruises and seeing how successful the Grand Princess was for its subsidiary, P&O long planned to add one to its fleet. It even went so far as to place an order for one with Fincantieri but it always made more sense strategically to allocate these ships to Princess. Indeed, the one that was first ordered for P&O became Caribbean Princess.

Now with two years of service under her belt, Ventura has shown that the Grand-class works in the British market. As a large ship, she is able to give holidaymakers an array of choices in activities, dining and entertainment. While she has many of the features of her Princess sisters, she is not a mere clone. The décor, while contemporary, is slightly more subdued. The specialty restaurants are geared more toward the British palate.

I took Ventura from Southampton up into the Norwegian fjords. The scenery there is most spectacular with tall mountains rising thousands of feet up from the water’s edge. It is also a varied cruise involving calls in remote villages and calls in cities. I have posted a photo essay showing Ventura in some of these spots. http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-Norway.html

I have also updated and expanded the Beyondships’ profile and photo tour of Ventura. In addition to numerous new photos, there are new daily programs, menus, and more information about the ship. The profile page is at http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-Profile.html and the photo tour begins at http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-Tour-1.html There is also a new page of photo tour that focuses on the ship’s main galley. http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-galley.html