Aruba Cruise Destination Photo Guide/ Today's Fast Cruise Ships

As I sit here, there is approximately a foot of snow covering the ground and weighing down the trees, most of which still have green leaves on them. Although the storm that did this was an unusual one for the New York area, it underscored that it is not too early to think about the Caribbean.




In Aruba, the temperature has been in the mid to upper eighties the last week. Instead of white snow, Aruba has gorgeous fine white sand beaches that lead up to the clearest turquoise blue water that I have encountered in the Caribbean. With the palm trees and the divi-divi trees that border the sand, these are immensely attractive beaches.



While it is tempting to spend all of ones stay in Aruba on the beaches, there is more to the island. There is very little rainfall on Aruba and so the area away from the resorts of the west coast beaches is quite dessert-like. However, intermixed with the cacti and other dessert vegetation are some intriguing natural phenomena such as the Casibari Rock Formations with its mountains of boulders. They have been sculpted by the wind and with the vegetation it is like an other-worldly garden.



In complete contrast to the tranquility of the western beaches is the rugged northern coast. There, giant waves roll in and crash against the limestone shore in an explosive spray. Until 2005, there was a large natural bridge that had been carved out of the shore by the waves. However, the force of the sea became too much for it and it collapsed. The ruins of the bridge are still popular and next to it, the smaller “Baby Bridge” is spectacular in its own right.



For shoppers, there is the island’s capital Oranjestad. Along its main street, you can find all of the chain stores that populate all the popular Caribbean ports. In addition, there are high end luxury boutiques and stalls where local craftsmen and entrepaneurs offer their wares.



Beyondships’ cruise destination photo guide for Aruba is at http://www.beyondships.com/Ports-Aruba.html



I have also posted an article about today’s fast cruise ships. Traditionally, cruise ships have been relatively slow ships. However, in recent years quite a few ships have been built capable of doing a respectable speed.  Cunard, Norwegian (NCL), and Royal Caribbean, all have fast ships in their fleets.



Often when I interview cruise ship captains, I ask them how fast their ship can go. The answer is sometimes higher than the published speed. While they typically point out that in order to concerv fuel, ships today rarely travel at full speed, there are times when speed is quite useful. 



In any event, a fast ship is sort of neat regardless of whether the full speed is ever used. It is like a fine sports car - - having a Ferrari is cool regardless of the fact that you’ll probably never drive it at a speed that you could not do in a Volkswagen Beetle.



The article is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/the-need-for-speed-----todays-fast-cruise-ships.html

Carnival Liberty Photos; Luxury Cruising on NCL; and a New Look for Beyondships

This week there is a new look and some new features on Beyondships. While one is mindful of the adage that “if it isn’t broke don’t fix it,” I hope these changes will make for a better experience in using the site.



First, I am shifting the list of new articles and items from the home page to a separate page. This will make the home page less crowded while at the same time making it easier for viewers to find some of the permanent items. There are also various technical advantages in doing it this way.



Second, I am adding a Beyondships Cruise FAQ section. Often when I am cruising people ask questions about the ships and the way they operate. Since the questions are often similar, it follows that they must be topics that are on a lot of people’s minds. Despite a friend’s warning that I won’t have anything to talk about at dinner if I did so, I have posted some answers to some of the questions that often come up. My intent is to keep expanding this section over time. The section index is at http://www.beyondships2.com/beyondships-cruise-faqs.html



In addition to the aforementioned changes to the site, this week Beyondships is featuring two new items. The first is a photo essay about Carnival Liberty. This essay shows the Liberty returning to her homeport of Miami just as dawn is breaking. It is at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalLiberty-photoessay1.html



Finally, there is a new illustrated article about luxury cruising on NCL. Most people know NCL as a mass market cruise line. However, when I have been on NCL’s more recent ships, I have been struck by the fact that there is also quite a good luxury operation going on side by side with the mass market operation. The facilities are quite lavish and the service is excellent. Heretofore, NCL has seemed almost reluctant to talk about it. However, in connection with Project Breakaway - - the two new ships NCL has on order - - the line has turned the spotlight on its ship-within-a-ship luxury operation and even given it a name - - The Haven By Norwegian. Accordingly, I have put together an article discussing NCL’s luxury operation along with some photos of the existing ships and some artist renderings that NCL has provided of the new ships. It is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/ncl-luxury-cruising.html

Norwegian Cruise Line Profile

For the latest issue of The Log, the official journal of the Navy League of the United States, New York Council, I wrote an article profiling Norwegian Cruise Lines (“NCL”) with a focus on its operations in New York. A copy of that article is posted at http://beyondships.com/NCL-Freestyle.html

In the article I looked at NCL’s history, which grew out of a partnership between Ted Arison, who would go on to found Carnival Cruise Line and Norwegian marine businessman Knut Kloster. The venture proved a success but the personalities apparently did not mix and the two went their separate ways in a not very amicable split.

Kloster kept NCL and for a time, it was the top cruise line. One of its most innovative moves was refurbishing the majestic ocean liner, the SS France, into the largest cruise ship seen up to that point, the SS Norway. This step not only vastly increased NCL’s passenger capacity but paved the way for the mega-cruise ships that we see today.

By the turn of the millennium, however, NCL had lost its former position in the industry and appeared to be headed downwards. A new owner, Star Cruises, was able to inject fresh capital into the line and also new management ideas. The line realized that in order to compete, it could not simply follow the model that all of the other cruise lines used. Accordingly, it abandoned the traditional model and introduced Freestyle Cruising, which is best known for replacing the traditional assigned time and place dining system with a system that allows guests to decide when and where to eat. It has been so successful that the other lines have or are introducing similar systems.

Another innovation was homeporting its ships in ports outside of the traditional Florida cruise ports. One such port is New York, which had been all but abandoned by the cruise lines in the winter months until NCL deployed a ship there on a year-round basis. Once again, it proved a success and other lines have followed suit.

My article also describes the three ships that NCL has been using in New York recently, Norwegian Gem, Norwegian Spirit and Norwegian Dawn. Each of these ships is profiled on the site complete with photo tours. The profiles can be accessed from my NCL page http://www.beyondships.com/NCL.html