Cunard's Royal Rendezvous Photos and Norwegian Epic Interview

The most spectacular event this week in the cruise industry was the Cunard Royal Rendezvous in New York. All three of Cunard’s Queens - - Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth - - were in port for the day and Cunard orchestrated numerous events including ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange, bathing the Empire State Building in lights that matched the traditional Cunard funnel colours and culminating in a giant fireworks display as the three ships left the harbour.

The arrival of three ships from one cruise line in New York Harbour is not all that unusual and certainly not enough to turn the heads of most New Yorkers. Furthermore, while the three Cunarders are big ships, they are not the biggest ships afloat. Why then was the Royal Rendezvous something to note?

The reason is two-fold. First, Cunard has a relationship with New York that goes back over a century. Shortly after the line was founded in 1840, New York became the western terminus for Cunard’s transatlantic crossings. Over the years, the City grew and Cunard grew. Indeed, walking around the City one can still see the Cunard name on buildings and on piers, which testifies to the fact that the line has played a not insignificant role in the story of the City.

Second, New Yorkers admire those who are the best at what they do and for many years, Cunard was the undeniable champion of the passenger ship industry. Even today, the names Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and QE2 summon up images of grandeur and grace. This mystique has been inherited by today’s Cunarders.

This year’s Royal Rendezvous almost did not happen. A severe blizzard struck the City the day before the event. If it had been a day later, the event could not have happened. Moreover, had the lingering winds stayed above 25 knots, the authorities would not have let the events go forward. As it turned out, the day was beautifully clear although bitterly cold.

I managed to skate across the snow and ice that remained on New York’s sidewalks and streets to photograph all three of the ships at their various berths in Brooklyn and Manhattan. In addition, I attended the press conference held by Cunard at Pier 88 where the line was showcasing the new Queen Elizabeth, which entered service last October. Also seen around the pier were such Cunard celebrities as Commodore Bernard Warner, Commodore Ronald Warwick (ret.), Captain Ray Heath (ret.), Captain Inger Olsen, Captain Julian Burgess and Carnival Corporation CEO Micky Arison.

As darkness fell, I took my Nikon to the 14th floor of the Ritz Carlton Hotel overlooking Battery Park at the tip of Manhattan island. There on the open balcony amongst the television crews and the people directing the fireworks display, I was treated to the sight of the giant ships proceeding in stately procession through the harbor as fireworks illuminated the Statue of Liberty. It was an unforgettable sight that made standing in the icy wind worthwhile.

My photo essay of the 2011 Royal Rendezvous begins at http://www.beyondships.com/Cunard-Royal-Rendezvous.html and the remarks of Cunard President and Managing Director Peter Shanks at the press conference are reported at http://www.beyondships.com/Cunard-Royal-Rendezvous-Shanks.htm.

Changing topics. I have also added a brief interview with Hotel Director Denis Prguda and Entertainment Director Julie Valeriote of Norwegian Epic. I first met Denis and Julie on Norwegian Pearl and know them to be true professionals. Consequently, I was very much impressed by the sincere enthusiasm with which they speak about Epic. The interview is at http://www.beyondships.com/NCLEpic-HD.html

Talking with the Captain and Hotel Director of Norwegian Pearl

Continuing on with Norwegian Pearl, this week I have posted interviews with the captain of the Pearl and her hotel director. The idea here is to let the people who run the ship talk about what they are trying to do with the ship and get their inside view about what the ship is like.

Not surprisingly, when one asks Captain Lars Bengtsson and Hotel Director Denis Prguda about the experience on Norwegian Pearl, the first thing they talk about is Freestyle Cruising. It is not surprising because Freestyle is the concept that Norwegian Cruise Line’s (NCL) uses to distinguish itself from the other major cruise lines.

Freestyle is all about letting the guest decide what to do and when. As Captain Bengtsson noted there are limits, one cannot do anything one wants but the NCL ships are designed and operated to give the passengers a variety of choices in deciding what to do.

Although the concept is not limited to dining, that is the context in which Freestyle is most often mentioned. Under the traditional cruise ship system, a guest is assigned a specific time and table in the main dining room for dinner. On Norwegian Pearl and her fleetmates, there are no assigned times and the guest is free to dine in any of the dozen or so different dining venues.

The concept does give the guests greater freedom of choice. There can be problems, however. If everybody arrives at the same dining venue at the same time, there is going to be a wait for tables. However, this seems to work itself out after the first day or so as the passengers get used to the idea that there are a number of places to go and get used to the reservation system.

The Freestyle concept has proven so popular that the other major lines have been incorporating parts of it on their ships. Nearly all now have a flexible dining option under which a guest can decide when to dine in the flexible dining section of the main dining room. Also, the newer ships coming out of the shipyards have more and more alternative specialty restaurants.

Oddly enough, the trend toward incorporating parts of the Freestyle concept at other lines has undermined the traditional dining system. One of the prime virtues of that system is that one sits down at a table full of strangers the first night and within a day or so, it becomes a table full of friends as everyone gets to know each other over the course of several meals. However, with all of the alternatives available now, people do not come to the assigned table every night.

That is not NCL’s problem, however. In fact, under the Freestyle system, one can ask to share a table in the main dining rooms and thus be assured of meeting people each night.

Freestyle is across the board on all NCL ships. Thus, it is not the only thing that makes Norwegian Pearl work so well. Thus Captain Bengtsson and Mr. Prguda also spoke about other aspects of the Norwegian Pearl experience.

My interview with Captain Bengtsson http://www.beyondships.com/NCLPearl-captain.html is at and my interview with Mr. Prguda is at http://www.beyondships.com/NCLPearl-HD.html The photo tour and commentary on Norwegian Pearl begins at http://www.beyondships.com/NCLPearl-Tour-1.html (My apologies for posting the link to the photo tour of Norwegian Jewel last week).

Commenting on some items in the news . . .

Carnival Corp CEO Micky Arison has indicated that the firm will probably not place any more orders for new ships this year beyond the two it recently placed for its Princess Cruises subsidiary. (The two Princess ships will be 139,000 gross tons and carry 3,600 passengers). This indication is not entirely unexpected, the pace with which the major lines were building new ships could not continue forever. There is a lot of capacity out there.

One thing that has resulted from all of the newbuilds over the last decade is the public has come to view cruise ships like new cars. If a ship is a few years old, it starts to lose its attractiveness. People begin to think of it as an old ship and are less likely to sail on it. However, ships are built to last 40 years or so. While they may not have that new car smell, a five or ten year old ship is not an old ship. It will be interesting to see if the public adjusts its perception or whether the industry needs a torrent of new ships in order to keep up the excitement about cruising.

What does one do with ships that are still perfectly good but which the public no longer considers new? The industry’s answer is often to send them to new and growing markets, away from the traditional cruise market. It was recently announced that Sea Princess, which is a very nice mid-sized ship, will be joining fleetmates Dawn Princess and Sun Princess cruising out of Australia next winter. Holland America and Royal Caribbean have also announced recently that they will be sending ships to this market.

The industry also sends older ships in for major overhauls so that they will have more of the features that are found on the ships just coming out of the shipyards. HAL’s Ryndam, for example, just completed a $17 million overhaul in which additions were made to her public spaces and the accommodations re-done.