Serenade of the Seas Photo Tour and Commentary

At the turn of the Millennium, Royal Caribbean had come up with two rather excellent but quite different designs for cruise ships. The first was the Voyager design, which premiered in late 1999. It was for a megacruise ship of more than 130,000 tons, which have the line the space to include amenities such as the Royal Promenade and the ice skating rink, which had never been seen on a cruise ship before. Its large size also lent itself to economies of scale as the design could accommodate large numbers of guests.

The other design was the Radiance class design, which first saw service in 2001. This design was also for a large ship but at 90,000 tons, much smaller than the Voyager design. At the same time, capable of doing 25 knots, it was a much faster ship. It was more traditional in its interior but very well laid out with the use of large amounts of glass enhancing the public spaces. In sum, it was an eloquent design that pointed in something of a different direction than the Voyager design.

Serenade of the Seas is the third of four Radiance class ships built for RCI between 2001 and 2004. Her modern sleek lines are immediately appealing. Her interior is delightful. In many ways, she is a significant milestone in the development of the traditional cruise ship design. Although she has many of the signature Royal Caribbean amenities, it is a different experience.

Recently, Royal Caribbean has focused its attention on developing the Voyager class, which gave rise to the Freedom class and which is the ancestor of the forthcoming Oasis class. Thankfully the Radiance design has not been abandoned. RCI’s sister company Celebrity Cruises is developing the Radiance design with its Solstice class ships.

My profile of Serenade of the Seas is at http://beyondships.com/RCI-SOS-Profile.html. and the photo tour and commentary begins at http://beyondships.com/RCI-SOS--tour-1.html.

Talking with the Captain of Carnival Pride

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with Captain Alessandro Galotto, the master of Carnival Pride. We spoke first informally during a dinner with his senior officer team in the Pride’s main dining room. Later, on a bright sunny day in Freeport in the Bahamas, we spoke in his office. On both occasions, Captain Galotto was personable and open in discussing his ship, his professional and cruising in general.

Captain Galotto was an officer on Carnival’s first ship and has seen the line change quite a bit over the years. As a result, he explained, people who assume that Carnival ships are just party boats are mistaken. Fun is still the objective but it isn’t the same type of fun as in the old days.

A cruise ship captain wears many hats. It isn’t just about being on the bridge. So, we spoke about what the job entails and how one learns this trade.

Carnival Pride has recently begun cruising from Baltimore, Maryland, where she will be based all year-round. With many people anxious to avoid the rigors of flying, basing a cruise ship in a place that is a convenient drive for literally millions of potential passengers makes a lot of sense. However, there is also some risk. Carnival has never based a ship so far north in the winter. Captain Galottos spoke about why Pride is the right ship to face the challenges of this market.

My conversation with Captain Galotto is at: http://beyondships.com/CarnivalPride-art-Galotto.html

A Profile and Photo Tour of Carnival Valor

One of the interesting things about going aboard a Carnival Cruise ship is discovering the interior. Designer Joe Farcus creates a different décor for each ship. Often they are bold and unrestrained like a theme park. In other places, they are elegant and full of details taken from old master paintings or literature. They are never dull.

The theme of Carnival Valor is “heroes and heroic acts.” This gave Farcus a wide spectrum to draw from as the public rooms celebrate such diverse personalities as George Washington, Josephine Baker and Lou Gehrig. Other rooms are dedicated to characters from the movies, novels or mythology. It is fun just to explore the ship to see the various design interpretations.

Of course, Carnival Valor offers other things to do. She is a megacruise ship and thus can contain a wide array of amenities, entertainment and sports facilities as well as several dining alternatives.

My profile of Carnival Valor appears at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalValor-Profile.html and the photo tour and commentary starts at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalValor-Profile.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.

Norwegian Gem Photo Tour and Commentary

I recently went aboard Norwegian Gem again and as a result, I have taken the Norwegian Gem section of Beyondships in for a refit. I’ve added new photos, including quite a few of the ship underway, and new programs and other material that I obtained onboard. Consequently, the Norwegian Gem profile and photo tour has been updated and expanded.

Norwegian Gem is the newest ship in the NCL fleet. She is 93,000 tons and can carry 2,380 passengers double occupancy. Gem was built in Germany and entered service in 2007. During the winter months, she has been sailing out of New York to the Caribbean. However, she spends her summers in Europe - - this year the Mediterranean.

As the newest ship in the fleet, she has all of the most recent Freestyle Cruising amenities. This includes a multitude of dining venues ranging from a sophisticated French Restaurant to a 24-hour venue that provides hamburgers and light fare. Of course, she has two large main dining rooms but under the Freestyle system, guests only have to make use of them if they want to.

In addition to an array of dining venues, Gem has quite a variety of accommodations. These range from the ultra-luxurious Garden Villas to rather utilitarian interior cabins. The top suites also have access not just to a concierge lounge but to an entire exclusive area on the ship.

When I last was aboard Gem, she had just entered service. I was pleased to see that the intervening time has treated her well. She still looks like a new ship. The only difference that I noticed was that the original Claude Monet masterpiece that was behind the Reception Desk has now been replaced by an original Marc Chagal.

The Norwegian Gem Profile Page, which includes the photos of the ship underway, is at http://www.beyondships.com/NCLGem-Profile.html. The expanded photo tour begins at http://www.beyondships.com/NCLGem-Tour-1.html

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.

Cruise ship specialty restaurants

During my various cruises, I have tired a number of the various specialty restaurants aboard the ships. These are venues that offer an alternative, usually luxury, dining experience for a cover charge above the price of the cruise.

Since they are becoming increasing popular, the cruise lines are putting more of these alternative restaurants on the ships. As such, they are an important part of the cruise experience the various lines are trying to present. Consequently, the topic of specialty restaurants often comes up in the interviews that I do with the ship’s officers.

This week, I thought I would put together an article that focuses on the specialty restaurants and which talks about why the cruise lines have incorporated them into their cruise program. To this end, I have drawn upon my interviews and have included comments by various officers. In addition, I thought I would go a step further and talk about some of the specialty restaurants that I have tried and liked during the last year. These include restaurants on Ruby Princess, Emerald Princess, Queen Mary 2, Carnival Splendor and Celebrity Solstice.

I also thought it would be an idea to have links in the article to the menus of these restaurants. That way, if a restaurant sounds interesting the reader can click and see what that restaurant actually offers.My article on cruise ship specialty restaurants appears at http://beyondships.com/Cruise-articles-specialty-restaurants.html