Photo tour and guide to P&O's cruise ship Oceana

P&O Cruises’ Oceana is the twin sister of Princess Cruises’ Sea Princess. Back in 2002 when Princess was a subsidiary of P&O, Ocean Princess and Sea Princess were transferred from the primarily American market aimed subsidiary to the British market aimed parent company. Both were then modified to suit British tastes. Subsequently, Sea Princess was returned to Princess but Ocean Princess continues to sail on as Oceana for P&O.

What makes this intra-corporate exchange interesting is how it affected the atmospheres on the two ships. Both have nearly identical facilities and amenities but the two ships have much different styles. Even after returning to Princess, Sea Princess continued to sail out of the UK carrying primarily British passengers. However, the atmosphere onboard was one of an American ship serving Britain. Indeed, in her advertising, the British were told that she provided “American-style luxury.”

Meanwhile Oceana has a distinctly British feel. Yes, one can see traces of her American past but she is now firmly a British ship. This manifests itself in the attitude of the crew, the style of service and in other more indefinable ways. As has been said, it is Britain for the British.

In relation to other cruise ships, Oceana is mid-sized at approximately 77,000 gross tons. She is in her element doing warm-weather cruising and so she spends the winters in the Caribbean, only coming home for the summer months. She attracts a substantial number of families with children and has a sizeable children’s area.

My profile of Oceana is at http://beyondships.com/PO-Oceana-Profile.html and the photo tour and commentary begins at http://beyondships.com/PO-Oceana-Tour-1.html

Talking with the Captain and Hotel Director of Grandeur of the Seas

One of the nicest things about Grandeur of the Seas is the friendliness of her crew and that extends all the way up through to the senior management of the ship.

Captain Rune Johnsen lives outside of Trondheim in Norway when he is not at sea. It is far enough away from the city so that he does not have to worry about crime and being on guard all of the time. This fits with his open, people-friendly personality.

I spoke with Captain Johnsen about the nautical aspects of Grandeur of the Seas - - her seakeeping qualities, propulsion etc. However, we also discussed the type of atmosphere that he seeks to create not only on the bridge but in managing the entire ship. His thoughts appear at: http://www.beyondships.com/RCI-GOS-Johnsen.html

Sanjay Kumar is the Hotel Director on Grandeur. When he was growing up, he had a great passion for cooking and that led him to the hospitality industry. After obtaining his degree, he worked in five star restaurants in India and then came to Royal Caribbean as a chef. Then he switched over to hotel management.

Sanjay took on the tough question of how does Grandeur remain popular in a line that is known for its mega-sized ships with all of their facilities and amenities. His answer appears at http://www.beyondships.com/RCI-GOS-Kumar.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

Joe Farcus Talks About the New Carnival Dream

Later this month, Carnival Dream will enter service. At 130,000 gross tons, she will be the largest ship yet built for Carnival Cruise Lines. She utilizes an underlying design that Carnival first introduced with Carnival Destiny and has been developing with each mega-cruise ship (100,000 plus tons) that it has introduced over the course of the last decade. This has been a very successful and popular design and thus passengers can be assured of finding on Carnival Dream the features that they have enjoyed on earlier Carnival ships.

Yet, Carnival Dream is not just a bigger version of past Carnival ships. Amongst the features being introduced on this ship is a wrap-around outdoor promenade with hot tubs cantilevered over the side. Linking this area to the indoor public spaces will be a new plaza that will be part entertainment venue, part dining area, and part lounge.

Of course, no two Carnival ships are the same. Carnival’s architect Joe Farcus ensures that each ship has its own interior design, each reflecting a different central idea. These creative designs help to give each Carnival ship its own identity and enhance the guests’ vacation experience by both challenging them intellectually and dazzling them visually.

Consequently, who better to talk about what Carnival is trying to achieve with Carnival Dream than Mr. Farcus? My interview with Mr. Farcus appears at: http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalDream-art-Farcus.html

The Big Red Boat and Norwegian Dawn

At one time, Oceanic was one of the most popular cruise ships sailing from New York. Built for Home Lines at the end of the ocean liner period, she had a sleek design and an elegant interior. When she was older and no longer competitive with the first tier of new cruise ships, she was sold to Premier Cruises, and once again achieved great popularity doing family-oriented cruises as the Big Red Boat. When Premier went bankrupt, Oceanic once again rose from the ashes and became very popular in Spain cruising for Pullmantur.

Now, after four decades of bringing people joy, Oceanic is sailing the world for the Japanese Peace Boat organization. She still carries paying passengers but her interior, while clean and well-maintained, looks like a time capsule of the late 20th Century. While in New York, she was detained by the Coast Guard because of a crack in her hull and other safety violations. It seems unlikely that Oceanic can stage another great come back in popularity.

Oceanic’s story is a classic illustration of the life cycle of a cruise ship - - first tier competitor; budget cruise ship; and then “foreign market” cruise ship. What makes it particularly interesting is the fact that Oceanic managed to achieve popularity at each stage. My article about Oceanic along with photos of her interior appears at: http://beyondships.com/Cruise-historic-Oceanic.html

One ship that is still competing in the first tier of the cruise industry is NCL’s Norwegian Dawn. Like Oceanic, Dawn has spent most of her early years sailing from New York. As a result, I have often been able to snap a photo of her at New York’s Passenger Ship Terminal or sailing the Hudson River. However, I have also encountered her smiling face while at sea and in other ports. Accordingly, I have put together a photo essay of Norwegian Dawn in New York and elsewhere. http://beyondships.com/NCLDawn-essay.html

Carnival Victory and P&O's Ventura

Periodically, cruise ships have to go in for a refit in which new features are added and the ship is given an overall sprucing up in order to bring her in line with the most recent ships in the line’s fleet. So too with the sections of the Beyondships website. Every so often they have to be updated to keep current with the ship that they are about and to keep them consistent with the profiles that have been added to the site recently.

This week, the Carnival Victory section of the Beyondships website has come out of a refit. Quite a few new photos have been added as well as a new set of Carnival Capers (daily programs) and a new set of menus. In addition, the Carnival Victory section has been re-organized along the lines of the other Carnival sections of the site. The new Carnival Victory section begins at: http://www.beyondships.com/CARNIVALVICTORY.html

I had a very interesting talk about the upcoming Carnival Dream with ship architect Joe Farcus recently. His interior design work on the other Carnival ships has been very creative and so I was interested in finding out what he is seeking to achieve on Carnival Dream. I’m putting our conversation into an article that will be posted in September in honor of Dream’s entry into service next month.

Meanwhile, I have posted a photo essay about P&O’s Ventura on the site. http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-Barbados.html Ventura is a mega-cruise ship built upon a design that can be traced back to Princess Cruises’ Grand Princess. Intended for the British market, Ventura spends most of her year sailing from Southampton, England. However, in the winter months, she sails from the former British colony Barbados It was there on a bright sunny day with puffy white clouds overhead that I found Ventura along with several other cruise ships including sister ship Emerald Princess. The essay shows Ventura from different angles alone and together with her companions.

Inside Carnival Pride - A conversation with Hotel Director Brian D'Souza

Carnival Pride has consistently received high marks from passengers on those comment cards that the cruise lines ask passengers to fill out at the end of every voyage. She received them on the West Coast when she was operating out of Los Angles and she is receiving them now that she is on the East Coast operating out of Baltimore.

The ship is a Spirit-class (also called a Vista-class) design. These ships have good speed and good seakeeping properties so that they perform well in rough weather. They also have a convenient interior layout. The major public areas are on three decks and so it is relatively simple to find ones way around. So, that could be one explanation for the high marks.

Baltimore is just developing as a cruise port. Yes, cruise ships have stopped there before but Pride is the first ship to sail year-round from Baltimore on a regular basis. Having a first-tier cruise ship within driving distance makes cruising a convenient option for many people. Perhaps the high marks just reflect the fact that they are happy to have such a ship based nearby. But then, the ship received high marks in Los Angles and on the cruises she did out of Miami in the process of repositioning to Baltimore.

To get an inside perspective as to why Carnival Pride has succeeded so well, I spoke with her hotel director Brian D’Souza. Brian has worked his way up the management chain on a number of Carnival ships and so is in a position to know why Carnival works even in these tough economic times. I also asked him about what it has been like taking Pride to a new home.

Our conversation is posted at: http://beyondships.com/CarnivalPride-art-Dsouza.html