National Geographic Explorer - - a different cruise experience

This week I thought I would do something slightly different and look at a small cruise ship, i.e., one that is less than 50,000 gross tons. In order to compete with the large ships with all their features and amenities, small cruise ships have to offer something different such as unique itineraries and/or different levels of luxury and personal attention.

The National Geographic Explorer differentiates itself by offering expedition voyages. It goes to remote, out-of-the-way places such as the Arctic and Antarctic. The ship is a former Norwegian coastal ferry that was re-built earlier this year, equipped with stabilizers and strengthened with a reinforced steel ice belt so that she now qualifies as an “Ice-class 1A Expedition Ship.”

National Geographic Explorer is operated as a partnership by Lindblad Expeditions and the National Geographic Society. Lindblad has been taking passengers to remote places like the Galapagos Islands since 1979. The well-known National Geographic Society has been promoting exploration since the 1880s. Thus, the partners have a common bond and the National Geographic Society’s scientists, photographers and exploration technology enhance the travel experience on the Linblad voyages.

Given the two organizations’ backgrounds, it is natural that the focus of the voyages is on exploration and learning about the natural world. Zodiac rigid inflatable boats are used to take passengers ashore at places that rarely, if ever, see outsiders from the Information Age. Passengers can paddle along shorelines and amongst wildlife in a fleet of kayaks kept onboard. Images from the ship’s remote controlled submersible are shown on the ship’s high definition televisions. Naturalists, historians, undersea specialists and photographers interact with the passengers and convey their enthusiasm for conservation and preserving the environment.

While the focus is on exploration of the wild, the passengers do not rough it like the explorers of old. When the ship was rebuilt, the existing passenger accommodations were gutted and replaced with large well-appointed suites and staterooms. A small but nice spa complex was added. There is a large lounge with a bar and plasma television screens, a 600 volume library, an Internet center, an intimate piano bar and bistro to name a few of the ship’s amenities.

Thus, the National Geographic Explorer is a way to explore places well off the beaten track in comfort. My profile of the ship with menus and daily programs appears at http://www.beyondships.com/NG-Explorer-Profile.html The photo tour and commentary begins at http://www.beyondships.com/NG-Explorer-Photo-Tour.html

Looking at The Canyon Ranch Spa on QM2

Part of the Cunard heritage is a reputation for luxury. Queen Elizabeth 2 in her heyday was particularly synonymous with luxury and deluxe style with such things as the first seagoing Harrods and other amenities that drew celebrity studded passenger lists on her transatlantic voyages. Since tradition and heritage are watchwords at Cunard, when the time came to build Queen Mary 2, she was designed to be superlative not just in her size but also in her amenities.

This is particularly evident in the ship’s spa complex. It covers 20,000 square feet over portions of two decks. The facilities are well-laid out and impressive. Moreover, Cunard arranged to have one of the most prestigious resorts in America, Canyon Ranch, operate the spa complex.

Canyon Ranch began in the 1970s with a resort in Tucson, Arizona. This ranch in the Sonoran Desert combined luxury with a total approach to healthy living encompassing fitness activities, outdoor sports, education in health and preventive medicine and award winning cuisine. The winner of numerous awards, it has built a second resort at Lenox Massachusetts, a hotel and condominium complex in Miami Beach Florida and has opened smaller facilities called SpaClubs at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas and the Gaylord Palms resort in Florida.

The spa operation on the Queen Mary 2 is another SpaClub. However, it is not part of a chain of seagoing Canyon Ranch spas. It is the only one of its kind. It encompasses the spa itself, the ship’s fitness center, the beauty salon, its own lecture program and is involved with the dining.

One thing I wondered about was how much is Canyon Ranch actually involved in operating the spa on QM2? However, in talking with the spa’s director, I came to the conclusion that this is not a Canyon Ranch spa in name only. There is a specific Canyon Ranch philosophy and the operation at sea is linked to the land.

My article about the QM2 Canyon Ranch SpaClub along with a series of photos of the spa are at: http://beyondships.com/QM2-CanyonRanch.html

Norwegian Spirit Revisited

When I started Beyondships.com, one of the first ships that I profiled was Norwegian Spirit. The profile included some basic information, an article that I had written about the ship when she first came to New York and a page of photos. Since then the profiles on the site have become much more extensive and contain much more information. Consequently, I felt that I had to go back and redo Spirit’s profile.

Spirit is a charming ship. She was built as Superstar Leo for the Asian market by Star Cruises. Not long after Star bought Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), the ship was transferred to NCL. She still retains an Asian flavor with an extensive collection of Asian art and a clear Asian influence in the décor of her public rooms. This unifying theme helps to give the feeling that the ship is a coherent whole rather than a polyglot conglomerate of rooms.

In addition, the public rooms were done to a high standard and are well-maintained. This gives the ship an upscale and sophisticated feel.

One thing that particularly impressed me on this visit was the friendliness and attitude of the crew. Quite frankly, I did not remember the ship that way. The staff did their jobs but I do not recall them being particularly open. This time, however, everyone appeared happy and eager to please. Not surprisingly, the passengers seemed to respond to this attitude and the ship had a happy atmosphere.

Since coming to NCL, Spirit mostly has been sailing from New York. For a time, it was all year but more recently, she has been spending time sailing from southern ports such as New Orleans. Next year, she will be taking over the itineraries that had been done by Norwegian Dream, which is leaving the fleet, and will be sailing out of Boston.

The new photo tour of Spirit is consistent with the other photo tours on the site and much more in keeping with what this good ship deserves. It is six pages and documents her public areas as well as some of the staterooms. http://www.beyondships.com/NCLSpirit-Tour.html In addition, on the profile page there are now menus from the main dining room as well as the popular Cagney’s and Le Bistro restaurants. There are also copies of daily programs including children’s programs and a sports program. http://www.beyondships.com/NCLSpirit.html

Queen Victoria Hotel Manager Interview

Last month, I wrote about Queen Victoria and my interview with Captain Chris Rynd. I am returning again to that ship as the subject of this week’s blog and am posting an interview that I did with her Hotel Manager Jacqueline (Jackie) Hodgson. My reason for focusing again on Queen Victoria is that she is such a pivotal ship in Cunard’s history.

In the late 1990s, Cunard consisted of a polyglot fleet with ships of various sizes, origins and ages. These ships appealed to different market segments - - some were ultra-luxury, some were premium ships, and some were mass market. This was not the result of a carefully designed plan to diversify but rather reflected changes in the various changes in the company’s direction over the last quarter century. Furthermore, not only did the company lack cohesion and direction but it was owned by a corporation that did not want to be in the passenger ship business. Cunard did not appear to have much of a long-term future.

Then, in 1998, Carnival Corporation stepped in and purchased Cunard. They recognized that the real value of Cunard lay in its ocean liner heritage. Accordingly, they stripped away all of the accretions that had grown up around that core and focused the company on developing around that heritage.

The first step was to build a new ocean liner for the 21st Century. Accordingly, they built the largest ocean liner ever built, the Queen Mary 2. While QM2 borrowed extensively from Cunard’s existing ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2, QM2 has developed her own style and atmosphere that is much different than her famous predecessor.

The next question was how to expand the line and grow the business. As above, the value of the company lay in its ocean liner heritage. However, there did not appear to be enough of a market for transatlantic crossings to support building another true ocean liner. Indeed, even QE2 which is much more suited to transatlantic crossings than to cruising had to be relegated to a cruising itinerary.

The solution to this quandary was to take the style and atmosphere of a traditional ocean liner and put it into ships designed for cruising. Queen Victoria is the first ship based on this strategy. Thus, Queen Victoria is a pivotal ship for Cunard because she is central to Cunard’s strategy for growing the business.

Since the success of this strategy depends upon transplanting style and atmosphere so that the guests feel that they are on a traditional ocean liner, much depends upon how the hotel operation on the ship is handled. Therefore, while the hotel manager is a key player on any passenger ship, it is an absolutely critical position on Queen Victoria.

One of the people selected for this position was Jacqueline Hodgson. (Just as captains are rotated because a person cannot work on a ship all year long, hotel managers are also rotated). Jackie is well-qualified for this position, having spent 16 years on QE2 and having been Hotel Manager on QM2. She also knows about modern cruising, having spent 4 years on secondment to Princess Cruises.

During a recent voyage on Queen Victoria, I spoke with her about the ship’s hotel operation both in concept and in practice. My conversation with Ms. Hodgson is posted at http://beyondships.com/QV-Hodgson.html.