Looking at Pullmantur's Empress and Celbrity Constellation

When I was cruising the Baltic in July, two rather interesting ships were with us in a number of the ports. They both are under the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. umbrella - - Empress of the Pullmantur brand and Celebrity Constellation of their Celebrity Cruises brand. Despite their common ownership, the two ships are quite different.

Empress began life in 1990 as the Nordic Empress of Royal Caribbean International. After a major refit in 2004, she was re-named Empress of the Seas and sailed under that name for Royal Caribbean until March of this year. At that point, the “of the Seas” was painted out and she was re-born as Pullmantur’s Empress, serving the Spanish market.

The story of the Empress illustrates a relatively new phenomenon in the cruise industry. From a technological viewpoint, modern cruise ships are built with a useful life of 30 or 40 years. However, in the primary cruise markets, very few ships can remain viable businesses ventures for that long. As bigger ships with more amenities and luxuries enter the market, customers’ expectations grow. As a result, as ships grow older they tend to lose their followings. This process can be delayed somewhat by periodically refurbishing the ship and adding new amenities. However, as most ships become teenagers, they are no longer viable in the most competitive markets.

Until recently, ships that were no longer viable in the primary market were sold off to smaller cruise lines operating in the secondary market of discount cruises and the like. However, now, the major cruise lines are using their older ships to satisfy the growing demand for cruises in Europe. Many of the European countries have no tradition of cruising and while demand is growing rapidly, it would be risky to build new ships for those markets until they have become more established. The perfect solution is to use existing ships that still have plenty of life in them to develop the market.

Empress is a good illustration. The ship was quite popular in America, doing cruises to The Bahamas, the Caribbean and to Bermuda. However, as time went on, Royal Caribbean customers came to expect the balconies, the Royal Promenades and the other features of the larger new RCI mega-cruise ships. Consequently, Empress of the Seas no longer fit in with the rest of the fleet. She was capable of providing a good cruise experience but it was no longer a Royal Caribbean cruise experience. Consequently, when Royal Caribbean acquired Pullmantur, it made sense to transfer the ship to that brand.

Celebrity Constellation is a ship in her prime. At six years old, her art-deco influenced interior provides the setting for a premium cruise experience. She is technologically state-of-the-art with azipod propulsion and gas turbine engines. Her arrow-like lines give her a sleeker appearance than most modern cruise ships.

In the last few years, Constellation’s itinerary has been winter/spring in the Caribbean, summer in Northern Europe, and in the fall she has done Canada/New England cruises out of New York (Bayonne, New Jersey). Last Spring, I did a photo essay of her in the Caribbean. This summer, I was able to photograph her in Denmark, Poland, and Russia. It is always a pleasure to see the Constellation.

My photo essay and tribute to Empress as she begins her new life is at http://www.beyondships.com/Pull-Empress-essay.html The photo essay on Constellation in Europe is at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-Europe.html I have also added several new entries to the Beyondships Small Cruise Ship Gallery. http://www.beyondships.com/smallcruisephotogallery.html

Ventura - - Designed to be British

For ten years, ships of the Grand Princess-class have been the mainstay of the Princess Cruises fleet. There are now eight Princess ships based on this design in service and another one will join the fleet in the fall. They have proved very popular and conducive to Princess’ objective of providing passengers with “American-style luxury.”

This year, for the first time, a ship built on the Grand Princess design went into service for a line other than Princess Cruises. The other line was Princess’ one time parent company and now sister company under the Carnival Corporation umbrella, P&O Cruises. Moreover, while the previous ships have been used to provide American style cruising, Ventura was built specifically for the British market.

What exactly does designing a ship for Britain mean? Is it posting a picture of the Queen in the atrium and having everything else remain the same as on the Princess ships? Is it decorating the public rooms in British cliches like an English gentleman’s club or a Cockney pub? Neither.

Instead, it means creating an atmosphere that appeals to British tastes. The interior design is done in a contemporary style but there is no neon or theme park-type decoration. Some seven thousand works of art done by British artists or artists living and working in Britain adorn the ship. Thus, the atmosphere is more restrained and intellectual.

The themes of the public rooms reflect places British people like to go. For example, many U.K. residents like to holiday in Spain. Accordingly, there is a large Spanish-style restaurant and bar. British cruisers are not as interested in casinos as their American cousins, so the casino is smaller and more low-key.

Differences in the climate are also taken into account. It is normally cooler and rainier in Britain than in America. Therefore, it makes sense for a cruise ship operating in British waters to have a retractable glass dome over one of the swimming pools. For the same reason, a large movies-under-the-stars screen is not as attractive for such a ship as for a ship operating in American waters.

Walking around Ventura, I was continually struck by the differences between this ship and her American sisters. Yes, the floor plan is much the same. However, P&O have successfully taken that floor plan and geared it toward the market it serves, i.e., the British cruise market. Thus, while Ventura is a sister to the other Grand class ships, she is not a mere clone. Rather, she is a ship with a distinct personality.

My photo tour of Ventura is at http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-Tour-1.html and the ship profile is at http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Ventura-Profile.html

Captain Chris Wells of Queen Mary 2

I was quite pleased to find that Captain Christopher Wells was going to be the master of Queen Mary 2 during my transatlantic crossing last month. Chris had been an officer on Queen Elizabeth 2 during the 1990s and from numerous voyages on QE2, I knew him to be an intelligent and articulate officer. After QE2, he went on to stand-by Queen Mary 2 while she was being constructed and then, after a brief time at Princess Cruises, he was given command of P&O Cruises Oriana. This year, he has been dividing his time between relieving Commodore Bernard Warner on QM2 when he is on leave and being master of P&O’s Oceana.

These days, with the financial power of Carnival Corporation behind Cunard and Cunard’s focus on providing a sea experience that invokes the grand ocean liners of the past, it is easy to forget Cunard’s struggles during the 1990s. Cunard’s management then did not know what direction to take the company and as a result, tried many different, sometimes misguided, approaches to trying to survive in the new emerging cruise industry. At the same time, it was always questionable how much financial support the then-parent companies of Cunard could or would provide. QE2 and Cunard survived in large part due to good officers like Chris Wells who were able to manage the ship and evolve QE2’s unique character to fit the times.

I was also anxious to talk to Chris about his experiences during the construction of Queen Mary 2. Cunard had not built a ship since QE2, almost four decades earlier. Who made the decision to build the most expensive passenger ship ever built? Was Carnival Corporation just a reluctant financer or a partner in the enterprise? Chris was there. He would know.

Just after QM2 was built, Carnival Corporation merged with P&O Princess. This opened new opportunities for Cunard officers in the wider fleet. Having spent his entire passenger ship career with Cunard, what were his impressions of the other lines?

Leaving history aside, we also talked about his style of command and about the retirement of QE2 from the Cunard fleet.

Cunard is very proud that its ships are British registered and fly the red ensign of the British Merchant Navy rather than a flag of convenience. As an officer in the Royal Naval Reserve, Chris has a warrant to fly the even more prestigious blue ensign over any merchant ship that he is commanding. Consequently, the blue ensign has once again been flying on QM2.

This was not the first time that the blue ensign has appeared on QM2. When the ship was new, Commodore Ronald Warwick received a special warrant to fly the blue ensign even though he was no longer a serving member of the Royal Naval Reserve and he flew the blue ensign on QM2 for a short time. I am not aware of any other of the ship’s masters flying that ensign. Indeed, as I recall, the blue ensign has not been flown prior to that on the Cunard flagship since Commodore John Burton-Hall flew it on QE2 in the mid-1990s. It is a very rare thing.

My conversation with Captain Wells is at http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-Wells-1.html In addition, I have added some new items to the Queen Mary 2 section of the website including lunch and dinner menus from the Todd English Restaurant, a menu from Sir Samuel’s, and a recent daily programme. http://www.beyondships.com/QM2.html

During my journey, I encountered all three of the Cunard Queens. Accordingly, in the not too distant future, I will be adding a great deal of new Cunard material to the site including interviews, photos, menus and other items of interest.

Captain Attilio Guerini of Caribbean Princess

The stereotypical image of a cruise ship captain is of a man who spends the bulk of his time standing on the bridge of the ship navigating the ship from one port to the next. However, while the captain is ultimately responsible for the safety of the ship, he is not merely a ship driver. Instead, his role can be thought of as more like that of the CEO of a business with other executives reporting to him. As ships become bigger and bigger, this role becomes more and more akin to the management of larger and larger enterprises.

On most ships today, the captain is at the top of a pyramid composed of three departments. The hotel department, which provides services to the passengers including the accommodations, entertainment and dining, is headed by the hotel director (sometimes called the passenger services director or the hotel manager) and has the largest number of people in it. The engineering department is concerned with making the ship go and the technology involved. It is headed by the chief engineer. The staff captain is responsible for navigation and actually sailing the ship. In addition to heading the deck department, he is also the second in command. All three of these officers report directly to the captain.

Captains still rise up through the ranks of the deck department. As such, their expertise is in navigation and sailing and they take a particular interest in that area. Indeed, many captains like to have their hands on the controls of the ship when docking or leaving a berth. They do not have direct knowledge of how to cook a dinner for a thousand people or of fixing the ship’s fresh water system. However, in order to become a captain, a deck officer must keep his eyes open while coming up through the ranks so that he knows the problems and issues that arise in the hotel department and the engineering department.

When I was on Caribbean Princess recently Captain Attilio Guerini spoke to me about his approach to being a captain of a mega-cruise ship. Beginning with Sitmar Cruises, he has gone on to command ships for Princess and its affiliate Ocean Village Cruises. His style is relaxed, affable and low key. Our conversation is at http://www.beyondships.com/Princess-CB-Guerrini.html

Jorge Lynch, Hotel Director Explorer of the Seas

Jorge Lynch is a big man, towering over most of the people he meets. But then, he has a big job to do - - running the hotel on Explorer of the Seas, which means ensuring that more than 3,000 passengers a week have a quality vacation experience. This requires supervising the vast majority of the crew of Explorer as well as being in charge of the dining, staterooms and entertainment - - in short, everything that most directly affects the guests’ vacation experiences.

Mr. Lynch is well qualified for this role. He had a formal education in hotel administration and has held management positions at shoreside hotels and resorts. Moreover, he started as an assistant purser on Empress of the Seas and has worked in most of the management positions in the hotel operations on almost all of the classes of Royal Caribbean ships. As a result, he has a unique understanding of what Royal Caribbean guests want and what is required to fulfill those desires. It also helps in management, he says with a laugh, because the staff know they cannot BS him about the problems encountered in their positions.

I had the chance to speak with Mr. Lynch during my recent voyage on Explorer. We spoke about what it takes to motivate the hotel staff to give the excellent service displayed on Explorer during my cruise. Also, he gave me some thoughts on Royal Caribbean’s expansion into Europe, Asia and other new cruising markets. The interview is posted at: http://beyondships.com/Explorer-Lynch.html