Photo tour of Royal Caribbean's Labadee

Happy New Year!

With all of the snow in North America and Europe, I thought I would begin the year by focusing on a destination with a much more pleasant climate, Royal Caribbean’s private resort Labadee.

While Labadee is in the northern hemisphere, it is in the Caribbean and thus the winter weather there is warm but not unpleasantly hot. Refreshing cool water laps against the protected beaches on the south side of the Labadee peninsula while one can watch impressive waves roll in from the white sand beach on the northern side.

There is considerable natural beauty at Labadee. Rolling hills covered in tropical vegetation overlook the peninsula and provide a nice back drop to the resort. There are also rock outcroppings on the peninsula that create a contrast to the vegetation and to the white sand. At the tip of the peninsula the coast is rocky and the waves coming in from the sea crash against the rocks in an awesome spectacle.

Labadee is a frequent port of call for Royal Caribbean ships doing Caribbean cruises. The ships arrive early in the day and leave as darkness starts to descend.

Royal Caribbean has done much to make Labadee into a tropical paradise for its guests. It has built dining and drinking facilities as well as populated the area with sun loungers, hammocks, wave runners, kayaks, and other watercraft. It has built attractions such as a 2,800 foot zip line, a roller coaster, an aqua park, and a kids park. There is also a luxury section for the guests staying in the suites on the ships.

Labadee is in Haiti and Royal Caribbean has done much to help that troubled country. In addition to employing local people and making a significant contribution to the local economy, its ships carried over a million dollars worth of relief supplies to Haiti after the recent earthquake. In addition, Royal highlights Haitian culture at the resort, offering a venue for local performers and a place for local artisans to sell their works.

Unlike most cruise line private destinations, guests do not have to tender in the ship’s boats to reach the resort. Rather, Royal Caribbean has constructed a pier at the resort so that guests can just walk ashore. This creates a unique situation whereby guests can easily go to and from the ship during the course of the day. As a result, a guest can go ashore for awhile, come back to the ship for an activity and then return to the resort.

My photo essay on Labadee appears at http://www.beyondships.com/RCI-Labadee.html

Profile and Photo Tour of Carnival Glory

My subject this time is Carnival Glory. Glory is a large cruise ship - - one of Carnival Cruise Lines’ Conquest class. She is not the biggest ship Carnival has but not the smallest by any means. Rather, she is one of five 110,000 gross ton ships which are the real backbone of the Carnival fleet.

In putting together a new profile and photo tour of the Glory, I was struck by just how a large ship gives guests so many choices. Take the open decks for instance. Following her most recent re-fit, Glory now has an adults only retreat area with premium deck chairs, hammocks, a hot tub and a bar. If luxuriating relaxation does not interest you, you can ride down a three deck high waterslide, plunge into a nearby pool or unwind in another hot tub which is adjacent to this pool. If that is not appealing, how about relaxing in a deck chair and watching a movie, concert or sports event on a 12 by 22 foot LED outdoor screen. There is also another pool and two more hot tubs near by as well as a bar and a Mongolian Wok buffet station. People looking to be more active can use the jogging trail, the basket ball court, the volleyball court, the mini-golf course, the golf practice net or play shuffleboard. Then there is another pool with two more hot tubs that is under a retractable glass roof. It also has deck chairs, a bar, a grill and the ship’s pizzeria. If none of this is appealing, there are also the indoor facilities including a large spa, restaurants, bars, theaters etc.

One could go through a similar list for all the dining options. However, the point is that a ship of this size gives one considerable latitude in designing ones vacation.

Of course, there are more people on a large ship than a small ship assuming that both ships are in the same market category. (A large premium ship can have less passengers than a smaller mass market ship). But then on a smaller ship, there is less space and less facilities and so there is more concentration of the people.

Carnival Glory is a mass market ship. In fact, the original vision behind Carnival was to open up cruising to everyman. To this end, the line aims to provide good quality facilities and service at a reasonable price. Over time, it has evolved from being a party oriented line to being a family focused line, although there is still considerable emphasis on having fun.

Carnival Glory is currently winding up her first summer season homeported in New York, where she was sailing to Canada and New England. In the next few weeks she will move down the East Coast doing cruises from Norfolk, Virginia and then Charleston, South Carolina before taking up residence in Miami for the winter. Next Spring, she will follow the same route in the reverse direction.

Beyondships new and updated profile of Carnival Glory is at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalGlory-profile.html and the photo tour with dozens of new photos is at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalGlory-Tour-1.html

Grandeur of the Seas Profile and Photo Tour

I confess that I was somewhat skeptical when I booked my cruise on Grandeur of the Seas. Because she is much smaller than Royal Caribbean’s more recent ships, she would not have all the features and amenities that make a cruise on a Voyager or Freedom class ship so entertaining. Then, there was the fact that she was 13 years old. Ships such as the QE2 sailed on much longer than that but I wondered how well Grandeur had been kept up.

Boy, was I pleasantly surprised. It is true that Grandeur does not have a Royal Promenade or an ice rink but what she lacks in hardware she more than makes up in software. The officers and crew seemed to put an extra amount of energy into everything that they did. As a result, the service was very friendly and the entertainment/activities very good.

The ship has also been well-maintained. She was re-furbished in 2007 and was clean with no visible signs of wear. The public spaces were well-laid out and decorated in a tasteful contemporary manner.

As a result, I was very pleased with my cruise on Grandeur. To get a feel for her yourself, the new Grandeur of the Seas section of Beyondships starts at http://beyondships.com/RCI-GOS-Profile.html The photo tour and commentary begins at http://beyondships.com/RCI-GOS--tour-1.html

Emerald Princess Photo Tour and Commentary

Emerald Princess is one of three virtually identical ships. I am not speaking here about the fact that she is a member of the Grand-class, all of which stem from the design of the Grand Princess - - there are about a dozen such ships now in service. Rather, I am speaking of the fact that she has the same layout, amenities and décor as Crown Princess and Ruby Princess.

The three ships entered service over a period of three and a half years beginning in May 2006. They reflect all that Princess Cruises had learned about the highly successful Grand-class over the course of decade. Thus, it is not surprising that they are so similar - - why change a winning formula?

So, if the three ships are identical, it follows that they must be fungible, right? Not exactly. While on a superficial level the ships may seem the same, the atmosphere on each is subtlety different. Different sets of people have manned the different ships, leaving their marks which persist even after they have gone on to other things. Also, like people, the ships’ characters have been molded by their different life experiences.

Crown Princess was the first of three and sent a shock wave through the industry with her beautiful Italian-influenced décor. She was also an innovator with the adult-spa retreat called “The Sanctuary” and the sophisticated New York-style steakhouse “The Crown Grill.” Also, the fact that she spent her first two summer seasons based in New York helped to hone her more cosmopolitan atmosphere.

Ruby Princess is the latest of the three. When she emerged on the market in November 2008, it was with a great deal of energy and a “can-do” attitude. Her reviews and high scores on the guest comment cards demonstrated that this was not just bluster. Her innovations such as the “Ultimate Ship Tour” proved successful and have been passed on to her sisters. A schedule of seven-day cruises added to her more fast-paced atmosphere.

Emerald Princess is the middle child. She did not emerge with as much fanfare as her sisters. However, she has all the same features that they do. Moreover, she goes about performing her job extremely well - - just quietly. Perhaps because she does relatively longer cruises, the atmosphere is more relaxed. Perhaps it has something to do with beginning her career in the sunny Mediterranean. It certainly has something to do with the friendliness of her crew.

My profile of Emerald Princess is posted at: http://beyondships.com/Princess-EP-Profile.html The photo tour and commentary begins at: http://beyondships.com/Princess-EP-Tour-1.html

Interview with Celebrity Solstice Hotel Director

When I was on Celebrity Solstice, I had the opportunity to talk with Simon Weir, who is the Hotel Director that brought the ship into service. The hotel director on a ship is one of three senior officers that reports directly to the captain. He is in charge of the ship’s hotel operation - - essentially everything that has to do with the guests including food, accommodations and entertainment.

I was particularly fortunate that Mr. Weir was the one who brought the ship into service because the atmosphere and character of a ship is influenced by its original senior officers long after they have moved on. They establish the way things are done and while that evolves over time, the direction is set by the original officers. Since Solstice is the first ship in a class of five, she will also serve as the model for her later sisters.

Accordingly, I asked Mr. Weir about the thinking underlying Solstice. She is bigger than anything Celebrity Cruises has done before with more space for passengers and for amenities. Weir was clear that the new ship will not simply be a bigger version of what Celebrity has done before.

I also asked Weir about how they brought Solstice into service. As he explained, this is a process that starts when the ship is still in the shipyard and is a lesson in team building.

My interview with Simon Weir is at http://beyondships.com/Celebrity-Solstice-art-weir.html.

For those interested in military ships, I have put together a photo gallery on the Canadian Navy. http://www.beyondships.com/Naval-photo-Canada.html This includes photos of ships that I have come across in recent years and I believe the ships shown represent all the classes of ships now in that navy. Similarly, I have put together a photo gallery that shows some of the frigates in the Royal Dutch Navy.

Independence of the Seas Photo Tour and Commentary

I found Independence of the Seas to be an exciting ship. She is packed with things to do and the entertainment and activities are non-stop. Thus, even for a person like me who is not particular oriented toward sports and physical activity, I found that there was a lot to do.

Independence is Royal Caribbean’s newest ship. Royal Caribbean likes to build them big and reap the benefits of economies of scale. For the moment, Independence is the world’s largest cruise ship, a title she will hold along with her two sister ships until Royal Caribbean brings out Oasis of the Seas later this year.

Although she is big and carries a lot of people, I never felt over crowded. Yes, there are parts of the ship that can get busy - - the buffet, for example - - but there are also parts where one can be by oneself. This is probably due to the fact that there are so many amenities on the ship that the passengers are well-distributed. It is also a credit to management for planning the activities with good passenger flow in mind.

Independence is based most of the year in Southampton, England although she spends the colder months in the Caribbean. As a result, for most of the year, most of her passengers are British. While the overall experience remains the American-style cruise that Royal Caribbean is famous for, there have been a few alterations to the menu and to the entertainment to make the British guests feel more at home.

In the final analysis, the reason Independence appeals to different cultures is because it provides an entertaining cruise experience. With rock climbing walls, a skating rink and an indoor shopping/dining/entertainment boulevard (complete with a parked car), it is not a traditional cruise experience. However, it is fun.

My profile of Independence is at http://beyondships.com/RCI-IOS-Profile.html and the photo tour and commentary starts at http://beyondships.com/RCI-IOS-tour.html.

Cruising on Carnival Splendor

Carnival Splendor is an evolutionary ship. Nautically, she is a refinement on a design that has been developed in a series of ships from Carnival Destiny (1996) to the Costa Serena (2007). Over this period the ships have grown larger, with more decks and more features. At the moment, Splendor is the largest of this series but will be surpassed by the Carnival Dream in September of this year.

Splendor also reflects the evolution of Carnival Cruise Lines. With the development of the cruise industry, the cruising public has become more demanding. Consequently, in order to remain competitive, Carnival has striven to improve the food quality, the variety of activities and the level of service. In addition, the ships have had more and more features. Splendor, for example, has an expanded spa complex incorporating new amenities and with associated spa staterooms. The midsection of the ship has a retractable glass dome so that the main pool can be used and movies shown on the giant LED screen no matter what the weather. The children’s play area has been expanded and an outdoor water park added.

The feature that impressed me the most on my recent cruise on Splendor was the alternative specialty restaurant, the Pinnacle Steakhouse. Having one or more alternative specialty restaurants on new ships has become standard throughout the industry. However, the level of service and the quality of the food at the Pinnacle was outstanding. In addition, a very pleasant ambiance is created by the live music and large dance floor. It was comparable, if not better, than the equivalent venues on some of the premium lines.

My profile of Carnival Splendor is at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalSplendor-Profile.html and the photo tour and commentary begins at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalSplendor-Tour-1.html.

The Unique Experience of M/S Fram

M/S Fram is a small expedition cruise ship operated by Hurtigruten, the former Norwegian Coastal Voyages. The ship’s itinerary takes her to Greenland in the summer and then to the Antarctic in the winter. In between, she does “world cruises” that take her from the top to the bottom of the globe and vice versa, visiting interesting places along the way. The company says that it offers “unique experiences” on “authentic voyages to pristine lands.”

This is not the typical cruise. Fram goes to places that are rarely seen. The focus is on nature and the scenery of these remote places. Taking Zodiac rigid inflatable boats ashore to see penguins or polar bears, walk on glaciers, drive a dog team, or talk with people from different cultures is the type of thing that passengers do.

It is an adventure holiday that typically appeals to those who have done a great deal of traveling and who have the money and time to get away for the time it takes to travel to these distant places. Even within this demographic, a person should be capable of enjoying cold weather and rough seas. While Fram was designed and built for these regions, cruising there can be more challenging than cruising the Caribbean.

Since the focus of the voyage is on nature and what is happening outside the ship, the organized activities onboard are mostly limited to the lectures given by the staff. However, there are hot tubs, saunas, a fitness center, a library, an internet café, bars and places both inside and out to relax and watch the scenery.

My profile of Fram with information, photos, a copy of a menu and a daily program, is at http://beyondships.com/HUR-Fram-Profile.html and the photographic tour and commentary begins at http://beyondships.com/HUR-Fram-Tour.html

Norwegian Jewel Cruise Ship Profile

Norwegian Jewel is one of the most recent class of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) ships and one of the largest. Since she was the first one of this class, she does not have quite all of the features that are on the most recent ship, Norwegian Gem, but she is pretty much state-of-the-art Freestyle cruising.

Freestyle cruising is all about giving the guests options to design their own vacation. There are two large dining rooms, seven specialty restaurants, a buffet and several places for a light snack. There are bars, nightclubs, a large casino and a theater for production shows. Similarly, there are pools, a spa, a fitness center and various other sports facilities for daytime entertainment. The accommodations range from lavish luxury to comfortable but utilitarian. The idea is that you decide what is best for you.

Of course, with freedom comes responsibility. For example, the guest must make his or her own dinner arrangements. If they fail to do so, they may end up dining in a venue that they did not really want while the production show that they did want to see in the theater is taking place.

Jewel is somewhat similar in décor to the slightly smaller Norwegian Dawn. Both make use of bold colors but not overwhelmingly so. For the most part, the style is upscale contemporary. I was somewhat disappointed that Jewel does not have the amazing art collection that is on Dawn, but then one can’t really expect NCL to have Monets and Reniors on every ship. There are some very good Asian paintings, however, if one keeps an eye out.

Outside, Jewel is painted white with a festive mural on her bow and sides. It is not like a traditional ocean liner but then NCL is all about breaking with tradition. Jewel is a big happy-looking ship.

It should be noted that this ship is no slouch technologically. She is capable of 25 knots, making her one of the fastest passenger ships in service. Also, with her two azipods and three bow thrusters, she is highly maneuverable.

This ship is based out of Britain during the summer months, doing cruises to Northern Europe. Although the style is distinctly American, she has developed a substantial European following. Freedom of choice has an appeal that transcends national boundaries.

My profile of Norwegian Jewel with information, copies of menus and daily programs, is at http://beyondships.com/NCLJewel.html and the photographic tour and commentary begins at http://beyondships.com/NCLJewel-Tour.html