Queen Mary 2 Photo Tour and Other Cruise News

I recently completed my 18th voyage on Queen Mary 2. In part, all of these voyages are the result of the fact that QM2 goes to a variety of places. Not only does she do transatlantic crossings but she cruises to Canada/New England, the Caribbean, Norway, Germany, and to other places. In other words, one voyage on QM2 is not going to be exactly like the one before it and the one after.

Another factor that I like about QM2 is her nautical properties. She was designed to cross the North Atlantic and during the design process simulations were done to test her against the worst Atlantic storms on record. As a result, even though she towers over the water, she is remarkably stable in bad weather. Even with waves washing over the dining room windows some 30 feet above the waterline, I have noticed that most of the passengers are out and about in the public rooms. She also manages to plow through the waves at a good speed even when other ships are heaved to.

The third factor that draws me back to QM2 is the atmosphere. The programming onboard tends toward the cultural and the intellectual. Thus, she is stimulating as well as relaxing. There is also the sophistication of the bars and restaurants as well as the traditional formal receptions. While I enjoy the less formal ships as well, QM2’s style is more closely attuned to my personality.

One result of all this is that the QM2 section of Beyondships is one of the largest on the site. I have done interviews with several of her captains, senior officers and managers in an attempt to give people a behind-the-scenes look at the workings of this historic ship. In addition, there are pages of photos, menus, daily programmes and other information. At about this time last year, I updated the section to reflect some of the additional information that I had accumulated over that year. So too, I have done an extensive update of the QM2 pages on the site this year adding dozens of new photos and information collected this year.

The QM2 section of the site is at http://www.beyondships.com/QM2.html
and the photo tour begins at http://www.beyondships.com/QM2tour1.html

Turning to other items in the news. . . .

Celebrity has announced that the name of the fourth ship in its Solstice class will be Celebrity Silhouette. These are beautiful ships. I was recently on the second ship of the class, Celebrity Equinox, and was impressed by the grace of her contemporary design. In addition, Celebrity has created numerous options for guests to choose from in the activities and in the dining. The third ship in the class, Celebrity Eclipse, is being built at the Meyer Werft yard in Pappenberg, Germany and is scheduled to enter service in April 2010.

Speaking of new-builds, the Silver Spirit of Silversea Cruises entered service on 23 December. The ship is aimed at the luxury end of the market, carrying just 540 passengers. This is the line’s first new ship in several years and while a small ship, 36,000 gross tons, she is considerably larger than the other ships in the Silver sea fleet.

Photo Tour and Guide to Carnival Dream

After much consideration, I think the best way to describe Carnival Dream is that she has gravitas. The ship is confident, substantial and important.

For nearly a decade Carnival Cruise Lines has been developing the design that first debuted with Carnival Destiny. With each ship, new features were added and the size of the ships grew somewhat.

With Carnival Dream, the line took a substantial step up in size. Its previous ship, Carnival Splendor, is 113,000 gross tons while Carnival Dream is 130,000 gross tons.

This difference in size gives the ship better proportions and makes her more substantial from her predecessors. It is like everything that had gone before was leading up to this.

This is so not just with the ship’s physical size but also with what Carnival is doing onboard. For example, the line has been moving steadily away from its origins as a party venue for young people towards being a family vacation experience. With 19,000 square feet devoted to children - - not placed off in some out-of-the-way corner of the ship but right in the center - - Carnival line is making clear that it is a family vacation experience.

One can also see that the line is increasing the overall quality of its product. Carnival has always been good value for money but it has been pushing upwards, offering items that with the Dream are the equivalent of those found on premium market cruises. A clear example is the multi-deck spa.

Carnival has also taken a step upward with the new shows it is featuring in the ship’s theater. These are not just musical revues but rather more akin to Broadway productions. While they still rely primarily on popular tunes, they are packaged in a more thought-provoking production.

The Dream is not just a good development of some old ideas. The Carnival experience is enhanced by the addition of several new features. One of these is the transformation of the outdoor promenade into the Lanai. In the past, the outdoor promenade was the gloomy area under the lifeboats where only a few souls went primarily to have a smoke. The Lanai is a much wider area that is protected from the wind and which is sunlit due to the fact that the lifeboats have been placed underneath it. There are also whirlpools, nice padded furniture and an area of tables where one can bring drinks and/or food.

The Lanai opens into the Ocean Plaza, which includes a bar, the specialty coffee bar, seating and a stage for live performances. This area gives the public rooms a centerpiece that was lacking on prior Carnival ships. It is a user-friendly place for the ship’s programmed activities as well as a crossroads.

Beyondships profile of Carnival Dream is at and the photo tour and commentary begins at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalDream-Profile.html and the photo tour and commentary starts at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalDream-Tour-1.html

Turning to the news, Carnival Corporation, the parent company of Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Cunard, Costa and several other lines, announced that it earned $193 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. This was better than what Wall Street analysts had been expecting and indicates that even in poor economic times, people are reluctant to sacrifice their vacation and that the public recognizes that cruising is a very economical way to vacation.

Winter has commenced early in the northeast and Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 managed to arrive in New York on schedule during the first blizard of the season. The ship encountered 30 foot waves coming up the coast from the Caribbean and managed to maintain a speed of approximately 25 knots. The ship is doing a series of Caribbean cruises from New York before beginning her world cruise.

Meanwhile, NCL’s Norwegian Gem returned to New York on December 12 for a season of winter cruises to the Bahamas and the Caribbean. The Gem is the only ship sailing from Manhattan this winter. On the other side of the harbor, however, Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas will be sailing again this winter from Bayonne, New Jersey.

Interview with Captain Ian McNuaght and Other Cruise News.

I recently had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Captain Ian McNaught of Cunard Line. This was indeed an enjoyable experience as I have known Captain McNaught since he was a young officer on Queen Elizabeth 2 in the 1990s. Captain McNaught is perhaps best known for being the last Cunard captain of the QE2 and his vibrant personality has made him a great favorite of regular Cunard passengers.

Our conversation touched upon a number of topics but the primary focus was on Captain McNaught’s latest command Cunard’s Queen Victoria. The ship is the second largest Cunarder ever built and was designed to bring the Cunard transatlantic crossing style to cruising. Cunard has had cruise ships in the past but their style was always different than its transatlantic liners. Some were mass market, some were luxury, and some reflected the Norwegian style of their previous owners.

Captain McNaught sees the Queen Victoria as carrying through the Cunard experience of QE2 and more recently Queen Mary 2. There are differences but then each ship is different. He attributes much of Cunard’s success in carrying over the Cunard style to his crew and their Cunard training. He is also very impressed by the technology on Queen Victoria, which he feels enhances the product.

My conversation with Captain McNaught is posted at: http://beyondships.com/QV-McNaught-1.html

Turning to the week’s other news:

Princess Cruises has announced that in 2011, it will transfer the Royal Princess to sister company P&O Cruises. Royal Princess is one of Princess’ small ships (see our profile and photo tour at http://beyondships.com/Princess-RP-Profile.html ) She will be following in the footsteps of the previous Royal Princess, which became P&O’s Artemis (http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Artemis-Profile.html). Artemis will be leaving the P&O fleet and thus the addition of Royal Princess to P&O will allow that line to maintain its presence in small ship cruising. The ship is to be renamed Adonia.

Meanwhile, life is changing for some of Royal Princess’ sisters. Royal Princess is one of eight nearly identical ships that were built for Renaissance Cruises. Following the demise of Renaissance, three of these ships went to Princess, three to Oceania Cruises and two to Azamara Cruises.

This week Azamara announced that it was changing its name to Azamara Club Cruises. Its new president, Larry Pimintel, explained that the new name was more in keeping with the club-like atmosphere onboard its up-market ships. The line is also changing its approach to become more destination focused with longer stays in port including more overnights. I’ll be writing more about Azamara’s plans in the near future.

I recently heard from two of the officers who have been interviewed on Beyondships. Trevor Lane, who had been Staff Captain on Queen Mary 2, has been promoted to captain and is the master of the Pacific Sun of P&O Cruises Australia. Meanwhile, Captain Francesco La Fauci, who I interviewed on Carnival Triumph, is now in command of Carnival Conquest.

Photo Tour of Fred.Olsen's Balmoral and Cruise News

Balmoral is the newest and largest ship in the Fred.Olsen Cruise Line’s fleet. However, veteran cruisers will remember her first appearance as the Crown Odyssey of Royal Cruise Line in 1988. More cruisers will remember her as the popular Norwegian Crown of Norwegian Cruise Line as she spent most of her prior career with that line.

After purchasing her from NCL, Fred.Olsen sent her to Germany to have an additional section inserted. This increased her passenger capacity as well as the public space. However, the ship still retains a small ship atmosphere.

At 40,000 gross tons, Balmoral is not a yacht. However, the atmosphere onboard is much different than the megacruise ships coming out of the shipyards today. In many ways, it has the flavor of late 20th Century cruising when the emphasis was more on relaxation in comfortable surroundings than on the number and variety of onboard experiences that a ship can provide. In my view, both styles of cruising have merit and thus it is good that someone is still offering the old style as an option for travelers.

Balmoral is primarily geared toward the British market. The line is well known in the UK and for most of the year, Balmoral operates from Dover, England.

Beyondships new profile page for Balmoral appears at http://beyondships.com/FOL-Balmoral-Profile.html and the photo tour and commentary starts at http://beyondships.com/FOL-Balmoral-Tour-1.html

Turning to the events of the last week, Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas was officially named in a ceremony in Fort Lauderdale on 30 November. The ship has already achieved notoriety as the world’s largest passenger ship. At 225,282 gross tons and capable of serving 5,400 passengers at double occupancy (that means she can carry even more if the upper berths are used), Oasis is not just a little larger than the previous record holder of the but almost half again larger. (The previous holders were RCI’s three Freedom class ships of 158,000 gross tons. Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 is a bigger physical object than these ships but has less gross tonnage).

RCI had seven godmothers for Oasis - - one each for each of the “neighborhoods” on the ship. The neighborhoods are sections of the ship geared toward different concepts or interests. For example, there is an entertainment neighborhood. This allows “guests with the opportunity to seek out relevant experiences based on their personal style, preference or mood.”

Not to be outdone, Princess Cruises is inviting everyone to be a virtual godmother for the former Tahitian Princess, which has been renamed Ocean Princess. The ceremony will be conducted entirely on line during Ocean Princess’s current cruise. People can log into Princess’ site at http://www.princess.com/oceanvirtualchristening until 18 December to participate.

When I was on Carnival Dream last month, I ran into Gerry Cahill, President of Carnival Cruise Lines, who mentioned that he was onboard talking to some people about plans for Carnival’s next ship. This struck me as odd as Carnival’s next ship, Carnival Magic (a sister to Carnival Dream), is already under construction and is scheduled to join the fleet in 2011. The mystery was cleared-up last week when Carnival announced that it will be building a third ship based upon the design of Carnival Dream. As such, the new ship will be 130,000 gross tons and will accommodate 3,690 passengers double occupancy. She will be built at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy and is scheduled to enter service in 2012.

One of the nice things about the Carnival ships is that they are not mere clones of each other. Even when they are part of the same class, there are differences such as distinct interiors and often new features. This makes going aboard each ship more interesting as it is an exploration. It looks like this trend will continue as Carnival says that the new ship “will offer many of the same innovations featured on the recently launched Carnival Dream, as well as some exciting new elements to be announced at a later date.”

Queen Mary 2 - - Behind-the-scenes looks at Entertainment and Dining

This week, Beyondships continues its behind-the-scenes look at the workings of Queen Mary 2 with two interviews.

The first is with Entertainment Director Paul O’Loughlin. Paul is relatively new to QM2 but is no novice to the world of cruise ship programming. He has been a cruise director for 30 years on some 27 ships including many of the major P&O and Princess ships. Considering the prestige of Queen Mary 2, one would expect that anyone assuming such an important would be highly qualified.

The Entertainment Director is in charge of the programming for the ship - - all of the entertainment including production shows, musicians, movies, and visiting entertainers as well as all of the activities ranging from guest lecturers to trivia contests. He also acts as the primary interface between the passengers and the ship’s management, introducing performers, hosting parties and receptions and appearing on the onboard television. It is a highly visible position.

On most ships, this position is called cruise director. However, considering the type of experience that Cunard seeks to present with Queen Mary 2 that title does not really seem appropriate. Indeed, having sailed with Paul on Emerald Princess, which is a very nice up-market cruise ship, I can see a difference between what he did there and what he does on QM2.

My conversation with Paul is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-art-Oloughlin.html

The second interview posted this week is with Jamie Firth, the maitre d’ hotel of the Britannia Restaurant on QM2. Cunard regulars will remember Jamie from Queen Elizabeth 2 where he was a mainstay in the restaurant operation for years.

Jamie is in charge of the largest and most spectacular dining room on QM2. Since he is a very articulate person, I thought it would be good if he described the dining system on Queen Mary 2, the Britannia Restaurant’s place in that system and the mechanics of the restaurant’s operation. Accordingly, Jamie talks about what the restaurant is all about and such topics as how tables are assigned, the various duties of the restaurant staff (more than one would think) and what happens after a passenger gives his or her order to a waiter.

My interview with Jamie Firth appears at: http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-art-Firth.html

Cunard also featured in the cruise ship news this week. On 23 November, the name Queen Elizabeth was welded onto the new Cunarder now being built by Fincantieri near Trieste in Italy. The new ship will join the Cunard fleet in October 2010. Meanwhile, Cunard came in first in the large cruise line category ahead of 22 other lines in a survey of travelers conducted by Zaggat’s.

Another Fincantieri ship, the Costa Deliziosa (92,600-tons) successfully completed her sea trials on 15 November. She is currently being fitted out at Fincantieri’s Marghera (Venice) shipyard and will be delivered on January 29, 2010.

While much attention was being paid to Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas’s arrival in the United States, her sister ship Allure of the Seas was floated out of her building dock at the STX shipyard in Turku, Finland.

Tahitian Princess is currently in drydock in Singapore being transformed into the Ocean Princess. Progress on the transformation can be followed on the Princess.com website.

Also in drydock, is Holland America’s flagship Rotterdam. I was able to take the attached photo of her during a port call in Freeport, Grand Bahamas last week.

The call in Freeport was on the new Carnival Dream. The Dream, sailing out of New York, was making the same port calls as fleetmate Carnival Pride, which was sailing out of Baltimore. As a result, the two ships formed a Fun Ship Flotilla, which included the two ships maneuvering closely around each other at sea in a similar fashion as when Queen Mary 2 and QE2 made tandem crossings. Dream was also accompanied for a time by the newly-commissioned USS New York (LPD 21).

NCL’s Norwegian Dawn experienced a power failure during a Caribbean cruise, which made her divert to San Juan, Puerto Rico for repairs rather than return to Miami where the cruise had begun. Dawn’s next cruise also had to be cancelled.

Celebrity Life, Photo Tour of Celebrity Constellation and a Talk with the Capatin Of Caribbean Princess

The cruise lines have come a long way from the days when it was the passengers’ responsibility to entertain themselves. The daily programs published by each ship have pages of information about what is going on around the ships and those are not even complete listings of all that one can do.

Celebrity Cruises has traditionally had a good program of onboard activities. It is a premium line whose target market tends to be interested in more sophisticated activities. They also are more demanding about cuisine, wine and the type of offerings in the ship’s spa. The line has received good marks in the past for its efforts to fulfill these demands.

Nonetheless, Celebrity is revamping its onboard programming. It is reorganizing its activities so that there are tracks of activities that are geared toward specific areas of passenger interest. It is also establishing hosts for each area who will help to guide passengers. The idea is to give the passenger a more valuable and meaningful experience at sea than he or she gets from having a cruise full of unrelated, albeit interesting, activities.

I recently had the opportunity to speak to Ms. Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations for Celebrity Cruises, about the new “Celebrity Life” program. The interview is posted at: http://beyondships.com/Celebrity-art-Lutoff-Perlo.html. It can also be accessed through Beyondships new Celebrity Cruises page. http://beyondships.com/Celebrity.html

I spoke with Ms. Lutoff-Perlo onboard Celebrity Constellation, a ship that I have always found particularly photogenic. She has nice exterior lines that give her a sleek look and the appearance of cutting through the water like an arrow, to use a mixed metaphor. Inside, the ship has a splendid contemporary design with an interesting art collection woven into it. Accordingly, I have updated and expanded the Celebrity Constellation section of Beyondships with quite a few new photos as well as with new menus, recipes and other information. The profile page for Constellation is at http://beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-Profile.html and the photo tour begins at http://beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-Tour-1a.html

Last month, I published an article about the revitalization of Caribbean Princess based in part upon my interviews with Captain Marco Fortezze. During the voyage from which that article arose, I had several talks with Captain Fortezze in which we talked about his career, his style of command and what it is like to drive a ship like Caribbean Princess. Since he is an articulate and intelligent man who has had an interesting career - - he was promoted to captain at the young age of 40 - - I thought I would do a second article specifically about Captain Fortezze. This article should also be of interest to those of you who are interested in the way a ship likes Caribbean Princess operates. It can be found at: http://beyondships.com/Princess-CB-art-Fortezze.html

Naming Carnival Dream and Talking with the President of Costa Cruises

Carnival Dream came to New York this week for her official naming ceremony and I had the good fortune to attend. The ship is Carnival Cruise Lines’ largest ship to date and while she is ultimately based upon the Carnival Destiny design, the increase in size gives the ship more-eye pleasing proportions than her predecessors. Inside, the design is more restrained than earlier ships but still with the distinctive style of architect Joe Farcus.

The ceremony was held in the ship’s theater, which was indeed fortunate because outdoors NewYork was in the grips of a pre-winter cold snap and there was a steady rain. Carnival’s Senior Cruise Director and master blogger John Heald conducted the ceremony with his typical charm and good humor. He emphasized that a goal was to get away from the traditional stuffiness of ship naming ceremonies and it was kept fast-paced and light-hearted. Carnival President and CEO Gerry Cahill spoke, Dr. Henry Belin delivered the benediction and Marcia Gay Harden acted as godmother to the ship. I have put together some photos along with excerpts from the various speakers and posted it at: http://beyondships.com/CarnivalDream-art-naming.html
Following up on last week’s story about Costa Atlantica, I was able to ask Maurice Zarmati, President and CEO of Costa Cruises North America, a series of questions about Costa. Costa is a relatively old line and very well known in Europe but in recent years, its North American operations have been primarily in the Caribbean. Now that Costa is offering cruises in and around Canada and New England, I thought it would be a good to give the line the opportunity to re-introduce itself and talk about its cruising style. My interview with Mr. Zarmati appears at: http://beyondships.com/CostaAtlantica-art-Zarmati.html

Returning to Carnival, the line featured prominently in the news this week.

Carnival’s oldest ship, the Holiday, has now left the fleet. She is to be replaced as the Carnival ship sailing out of Mobile, Alabama by the Carnival Fantasy. Taking the Fantasy’s spot in New Orleans will be the Carnival Triumph. Both ships inaugural cruises from their new homeports were delayed a day due to the approach of Hurricane Ida. (As she moved north, the remains of Ida closed the port of Baltimore thus preventing Grandeur of the Seas from returning as scheduled).

Carnival also announced that Carnival Fantasy will be homeported year-round in Charleston, South Carolina beginning in May 2010. She will be replaced in Mobile by sister ship Carnival Elation.

Two other Fantasy-class ships, Carnival Ecstasy and Carnival Fascination, will be going in for major refurbishments, which will include the addition of 98 balconies and the installation of water parks and adults-only retreats. These ships will be the fifth and sixth Fantasy-class ships to be so retro-fitted.

Meanwhile, Oasis of the Seas arrived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, her new homeport, on November 13, 2009. The giant ship was delayed two days on her crossing from Finland due to hurricane-force winds and 80-foot seas. Her next milestone will be her naming ceremony on November 30.

Costa Atlantica Cruise ship photo tour and commentary

This week Beyondships presents its first profile and photo tour of a Costa Cruises ship. She is Costa Atlantica, which was built to the same design as the Carnival Spirit and which is the forerunner of quite a few cruise ships sailing for a number of different lines. It is a good design from a seagoing perspective - - she goes fairly fast and her seakeeping qualities mean that she is not confined to just going around calm seas. This design is also popular with passengers, carrying an array of features and amenities in a good layout. At nearly 86,000 gross tons, she is big but not gargantuan.

What distinguishes Costa Atlantica from her sisters and cousins that sail for other lines is her Italian-style of cruising. While some other lines try to de-emphasize their national origin in hopes of attracting an international clientele, Costa emphasizes its Italian origins and succeeds in attracting an international clientele. In fact, it is the most popular cruise line in Europe and even when the ship is sailing in North America, there are substantial numbers of European guests.

As a result, Costa Atlantica has a cosmopolitan and international feel. This should not be confused with being stuffy - - the bold colors and designs of the interior are too light hearted for that. Rather, it means that one is likely to encounter people with different backgrounds and tastes, which is a broadening experience.

The profile of Costa Atlantica appears at: http://beyondships.com/CostaAtlarntica-Profile.html and the photo tour and commentary begins at: http://beyondships.com/CostaAtlantica-Tour-1.html

Turning to some items in the news - -

On 1 November Oasis of the Seas passed under the Great Belt Fixed Link bridge in Denmark while making her way from the shipyard where she was built in Finland out to the Atlantic. Even with her telescopic funnels lowered, there was only 2 feet of clearance between the bridge and the ship. Traffic on the bridge was halted for 15 minutes while the ship passed. I think that incidents such as this underscore just how big this ship is in a way that the gross tonnage figures do not.

Unfortunately, the ship then encountered high winds and rough seas, which caused RCI to announce that her arrival in Fort Lauderdale will be delayed two days to November 13. This should not be seen as a black mark on the new ship’s record. The North Atlantic can be difficult in November. Building in the ability to withstand such seas and make fast crossings is the reason why Queen Mary 2 cost a third more to build than a comparable sized cruise ship. Since such crossings are not what Oasis is intended to do, there was no reason to build such a capability into her. Her test will be how well she entertains guests while sailing the calm waters of the Caribbean.

Meanwhile, Carnival Cruise Lines’ largest ship yet, Carnival Dream (130,000 tons) will be named in a ceremony in New York on November 12. Carnival has announced that the godmother will be actress Marcia Gay Harden. The naming ceremony will also include the unveiling of the world’s largest children’s book signifying a multi-year partnership between Carnival and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Princess announced that it is going fully digital with its pre-cruise documents. In the past, passengers have received a rather dauntingly large envelope in the mail containing such things as information about shore excursions and a booklet designed to answer questions about the upcoming voyage. For voyages departing after January 21, 2010, passengers will be receiving a series of e-mails giving them information about their upcoming cruise. Amongst other things, these e-mails will be more personalized to the ship, the itinerary and the passenger’s status in Princess’ repeat passenger program. At least in theory, this should save a few trees.

Going behind the scenes on Queen Mary 2

This week we continue with our new series of behind-the-scenes looks at Queen Mary 2.

The first is a conversation with Chief Engineer Brian Watling about how QM2 works from a technical perspective. Brian has served on Cunard ships for 27 years including being Chief Engineer on Queen Elizabeth 2. He also “stood-by” at the shipyard as QM2 was being built o he is uniquely qualified to talk about how the ship works.

In our conversation we talked about everything from the propulsion plant to the azipods and about other areas of the Technical Department’s far-flung responsibilities. The article appears at: http://beyondships.com/QM2-art-Watling.html

To balance this technical discussion, this week I am also presenting an interview with Carol Summers who is the Dance Captain on QM2. This is not the dance team that gives dance lessons in the Queens Room but rather the Royal Cunard Singers and Dancers who perform the production shows in the ship’s theater.

Carol is a professional dancer who performed during QM2’s maiden voyage and subsequently on Queen Victoria and QE2. We talked about how the production shows on passenger ships are put together and what it is like for a team of professional singers and dancers to live aboard a passenger ship. The interview appears at: http://beyondships.com/QM2-art-Summers.html

Royal Caribbean took delivery of Oasis of the Seas on October 30 in a ceremony in a conference room in the shipyard where she was built in Finland. This does not mean that she will go into service yet. Royal Caribbean is taking the approach of using the ship’s transatlantic crossing between Finland and Fort Lauderdale to hone her crew and get them used to operating this colossal vessel. For example, each day during the crossing, a new dining or entertainment venue will be “officially” opened and brought on line. This is an approach that works quite well and is frequently credited as a reason that Ruby Princess opened to such good reviews last year. Oasis will reach Fort Lauderdale on November 11 after which there will be a naming ceremony with seven godmothers cutting the ribbon that will cause a bottle of wine to smash against the ship’s side.

Meanwhile, on 31 October, in Venice Italy, Holland America’s latest ship, the Nieu Amsterdam was floated out of the dry dock in which she was created. The float-out is an important step in a ship’s life equivalent to the traditional practice of sliding the ship down the ways into the water. After the float-out, the ship goes to a fitting out dock where the remainder of the work needed to bring her into service will be done. Nieu Amsterdam is the second Signature-class (Super-Vista) ship to be built and is scheduled to join the HAL fleet on 4 July 2010.

Disney has announced that one f the features on its forthcoming Disney Dream will be a 725-foot long roller coaster. While the new 128,000-ton ship is supposed to be done in keeping with Disney’s existing ships, this feature does not seem at this distance to harmonize with the tasteful (albeit somewhat whimsical) style of those ships. However, Disney is not about to sacrifice its reputation for quality and so it will be interesting to see how they bring this off.

The Revitalization of Caribbean Princess

Although I had greatly enjoyed my last cruise on Caribbean Princess, I was somewhat skeptical about going back. In 2008, she was a nice ship with good food and lots of things to do. However, in January 2009, she went through a major refit project. Why mess with a good thing?

The aim of this project was to give Caribbean Princess some of the same features as her younger sisters Crown Princess, Emerald Princess and Ruby Princess. I was familiar with these ships and the features that were to be transplanted to Caribbean Princess such as the Crown Grill specialty restaurant and the adults-only Sanctuary are indeed very nice but would their importation spoil the character of Caribbean Princess. I am a believer that every ship has its own character and thus attempts to make one ship the same as another are misguided and bound to fail.

Fortunately, Princess was able to defy the rule. The new features do indeed enhance the cruise experience on Caribbean Princess. Plus, due to physical constraints and some wise thinking, the new additions are slightly different than on the other ships. Thus, Caribbean Princess has the advantages of the new features while still retaining her own character.

The changes to Caribbean Princess touched many areas and as a result, I have extensively revised my photo tour and commentary for the ship. It now starts at http://www.beyondships.com/Princess-CB-Tour-1a.html. In addition, I was able to sit down with Captain Marco Fortezze and Passenger Services Director Peter Hollinson to find out their inside views of the project. http://www.beyondships.com/Princess-CB-art-Revitalizing.html I have also added new menus, Princess Patters, deck plans and other information to the Caribbean Princess profile page. http://beyondships.com/Princess-CB-Profile.html

Turning to items in the news, Cunard announced this week that filmmakers Griffin Dunne and Gary Winick will be lecturing on Queen Mary 2’s 11 November transatlantic crossing. Dunne will discuss “Practical Magic,” starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock; Winick will screen his feature film, “13 Going on 30,” starring Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo. Such discussions are often quite interesting, not only for film buffs, but also for people who are interested in hearing beyond-the-scenes insights. I was on a transatlantic crossing this summer in which film director Baz Luhrmann screened his “Moulin Rouge” and enjoyed the lecture perhaps more than the film.

Cunard has always been quite good about attracting Hollywood stars and other celebrities to its transatlantic crossings. Quite a few have been there to give a talk about some project they were involved with but others have been there just as passengers. I recall exercising in the gym and noticing that the fellow at the next machine was Rod Stewart. He walked about the public areas and most people respected his privacy.

On another voyage on QE2, there was a man who everyone agreed looked like David Bowie. Oddly enough, no one said: “That is David Bowie.” Rather, he would be seen here and there about the ship and it was a running joke amongst the passengers that “there is the Bowie-guy again.” Later, a senior officer confided to me that the supposed look-alike was indeed the man himself. I have often wondered what would have happened if the “Bowie-guy” had entered the karaoke contest in the Golden Lion Pub. Probably, everybody would have agreed that he did not sound a bit like him.

Princess has released the results of a study that concluded most Americans do not lead balanced lives, i.e., they do not balance the demands and stresses of everyday life with free time. Residents of Chicago were determined to have the least balance in their lives while residents of Miami had the most balance. Interestingly, there is a direct correlation between these findings and the number of ocean-going cruise ships homeported in each city - - a lesson there for city-planners.

In New York this week was Fred. Olsen Cruises’ Balmoral, the former Norwegian Crown and Crown Odyessey. She had been visiting Canada and was about to head back across the Atlantic to England. While she has been stretched and refurbished since leaving NCL, she retains much of her original attractiveness. I will be adding a section to Beyondships about the Balmoral in the not too distant future.

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

Captain James MacDonald was Jewel of the Seas first captain and has spent most of the last five years with the ship. Hotel Director Robert Taggart has only been with the ship for more than a year. Still, talking to both men one quickly sees that they regard Jewel as a special ship.

As a master mariner, Captain MacDonald’s focus was naturally on what makes Jewel special from a nautical perspective. Amongst other things, he pointed out her unique environmentally-friendly power plant and talked about her state-of-the-art propulsion that gives the ship the ability to obtain speeds rare for a cruise ship.

Mr. Taggart started his career on the Canadian Pacific liner Princess Patricia, which ship buffs will recall was the first ship sailed by Princess Cruises. His prior experience also includes time with Carnival and on the big Royal Caribbean ships including Adventure of the Seas. Thus, he has seen a great deal of the cruise industry. Yet, he sees Jewel’s spacious and elegant style as something unusual.

My interview with Captain McDonald appears at http://beyondships.com/RCI-JOS-MacDonald.html while my talk with Mr. Taggart is at http://beyondships.com/RCI-JOS-Taggart.html

Some items in the news that caught my eye which I thought I would pass on:

Star Princess and Sun Princess delivered relief supplies to tsunami victims in Apia, Samoa and Pago Pago, American Samoa. Princess Cruises Community Foundation is also donating $10,000 to the Red Cross for relief efforts in Samoa and American Samoa. Captain Edward Perrin, who I interviewed when he was on Grand Princess http://beyondships.com/GrandPrincess-Perrin.html , was in command of the Star Princess’ efforts.

NCL has announced that Captain Trygve Vorren, currently of Norwegian Jade, and Captain Hakan Svedung, currently of Norwegian Dawn, will be the captains of the forthcoming 4,200 passenger Norwegian Epic. In addition, the Hotel Directors will be Klaus Lugmaier and Sean Wurmhoeringer. The ship is currently under construction in France and will be undergoing sea trials in January. Her inaugural cruises are scheduled for June and July.

NCL also took the opportunity to highlight some features of the new ship. Among these will be performances by the Blue Man group and a restaurant where cirque acrobats will perform during dinner. There will also be an ice bar where guests will don faux fur coats and drink at a bar made of ice. Outside, the Aqua Park will feature a giant water slide in which guests will slide down a tube into a basin, whirl around and then drop through another tube. It is a long way from the days when shuffleboard was the main outdoor entertainment on ships.

Speaking of innovation, Celebrity Cruises hosted an event this week to highlight its new Celebrity Life program. Traditionally, onboard activities have been an array of offerings each of which bore only a slight relation to the other. Under Celebrity Life, the onboard activities are grouped into unified concepts. In addition, there are members of the activities staff with specific responsibilities for the discovery (i.e. enrichment) activities, savor (culinary-related) activities and renew (spa and health-related) activities. Activities relating to each program are indicated by icons on the daily program and guests can choose to participate in as many or as few as they want. I’ll be having more on this in November, when Beyondships presents an interview with Celebrity Senior VP for Hotel Operations Lisa Lutoff-Perlo along with an update of the Celebrity Constellation section of the site.

Costa Cruises was in New York showcasing its new Canada-New England cruises with Costa Atlantica. We’ll be adding a section to Beyondships dedicated to Costa Atlantica soon.

Also in New York recently was Cunard’s Queen Victoria. The ship was doing a New York-New England-Canada cruise from the U.K. and did an overnight in New York. This gave me the opportunity to do an interview with my old friend Captain Ian McNaught while the ship was here. Cunard used Queen Victoria’s calls in the U.S. and Canada to emphasize how important it regards this market. QV will return in 2011 with a series of U.S. cruises, mostly on the west coast.

Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas (photos and guide)

I believe I have discovered yet another Royal Caribbean. There is, of course, the vacation experience offered on the giant mega-cruise ships that the line has become particularly noted for. On those ships, there is a vast variety of amenities and features as well as almost non-stop entertainment. Then, as I wrote about last month, there are the relatively smaller ships such as Grandeur of the Seas. They do not have all the features of the bigger ships but, at least on Grandeur, the crew really knock themselves out to ensure that the passengers have a good vacation. Both the large ships and the smaller ships have a Royal Caribbean flavor but they are much different vacation experiences.

What is surprising is that there is yet another type of vacation experience under the RCI Crown and Anchor emblem. Jewel of the Seas is one of four Radiance class ships built for Royal Caribbean in Pappenberg, Germany. Most of RCIs ships were built in Finland and they are very good quality ships but the craftsmanship on he Radiance class ships is impressive. This is true not only in the ship’s interior but also extends to her hydrodynamic hull and advanced propulsions system. She can move along at more than 25 knots, which is quite fast for a cruise ship.

At 90,000 gross tons they are larger than the Vision class but also significantly smaller than the line’s giant ships such as Voyager of the Seas. It would be wrong, however, to think of Jewel as a mini-Voyager class ship or as a large Vision class ship.

What makes the Jewel experience unique is the refinement of the product. Yes, she has the trademark Viking Crown Lounge and rock climbing wall. However, she also has a beautiful covered pool area, touches of marble and wooden inlays. Moreover, even though she is larger than the largest Vision-class ship, Enchantment of the Seas, she carries fewer passengers. This means more space per passenger.

Jewel is a quieter, more cosmopolitan Royal Caribbean. In some ways, she is reminiscent of the style of Royal Caribbean’s sister company Celebrity Cruises. Indeed, Celebrity’s Solstice class is derived from the Radiance class. Still, her style is distinctly her own.

The Beyondships Jewel of the Seas profile page with copies of menus and daily programs from the ship is at http://beyondships.com/RCI-JOS-Profile.html The comprehensive photo tour and commentary begins at http://beyondships.com/RCI-JOS-Tour-1.html


Next week, Captain James MacDonald and Hotel Director Robert Taggart will add some inside views on Jewel of the Seas.

Handling Emergencies on Queen Mary 2

When I was on Queen Mary 2 last month I started a new series of interviews with the officers and staff. These interviews are designed to give a behind-the-scenes look at specific aspects of life and operations on the great liner. My intention is to post them over the next couple of months.

In the first of these interviews I talk with Staff Captain Robert Camby about handling emergencies on QM2. Robert has had a meteoric rise through the ranks of Cunard and P&O Cruises and reached the level of second in command while still in his early thirties. This speaks volumes about his abilities as a sailor.

Just as impressive is his non-maritime background. A talented musician, who received scholarships to study the piano and violin, Robert is a familiar figure in the world of West End and Broadway theater. Moreover, he has been made a Freeman of London and is a Chevalier of the Grand Order of Champagne.

This interview focuses on what happens when a passenger must be evacuated by helicopter from an ocean liner. As you can imagine, it does not just involve placing a call to the Coast Guard and saying “Come pick-up one of my passengers.” Instead, it involves planning, co-ordination and communication. Furthermore, it is an expensive operation that is not without risk.

My interview with Captain Camby appears at http://beyondships.com/QM2-Camby-1.html

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

Carnival Triumph Photo Tour and Hotel Director Interview

Some ships just have a good feel about them. I immediately noticed such a feeling when I went aboard Carnival Triumph a couple of years ago to get the material to create a Carnival Triumph section for the website. I am happy to say that that feeling was still there this year when I went back to Triumph this summer.

Triumph was one of the first Destiny class ships. It has been a very successful design and has been used for a flock of ships for both Carnival Cruise Lines and Costa Cruises since then. Of course, the design has developed in the ten years since Triumph went into service. However, Triumph has been upgraded over the years so that she has most but not all of the features of the most recent Destiny class ships.

What gives Triumph a good feeling is not so much the amenities but rather the crew. I spoke with Hotel Director Stewart Howard who is a Triumph veteran and he immediately attributed Triumph’s continued success to the team that has developed over the years on the ship. Friendliness and competence is what I found.

As a result of my recent cruise on Triumph, I was able to completely redo the photo tour of Triumph on the site. It has many new photos and a page showing some of the areas that have changed on the ship. It begins at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalTriumph-Tour-1a.html In addition, I have added my interview with Mr. Howard to the site. http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalTriumph-art-HD.html
Finally, there are copies of new Carnival Capers and new menus as well as other information about the ship on the Triumph Profile Page. http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalTriumph-profile.html

The Captain of Carnival Triumph and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Speak

Carnival Triumph has been around for nearly a decade. She was one of the first mega-cruise ships of over 100,000 gross tons. The ship has been tremendously popular with passengers as hundreds of thousands of guests have sailed on her.

But how is she as a ship? I decided to go straight to the top for the answer to that question and ask Captain Francesco La Fauci. One of Carnival Cruise Lines longest serving captains, he has commanded Triumph for several years. From a seagoing family, Captain La Fauci not only had his formal education at a maritime academy, he has more than 30 years experience at sea.

As one would expect, Captain La Fauci gave his candid assessment of Triumph, comparing her to other ships in the Carnival fleet. In addition, he discussed how Carnival keeps the ship up-to-date. My conversation with Captain La Facui is posted at http://beyondships.com/CarnivalTriumph-art-captain.html

On the military side of the site, I’ve posted an article reporting Admiral Mike Muillen’s recent remarks at the Cornell Club of New York. Admiral Mullen is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - - essentially, the number one uniformed person in the American military.

Admiral Mullen spoke about areas of concern to the United States. It was a wide-ranging discussion covering the state of the American military to the United States’ role in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as US relations with China, Russia and North Korea. The article is posted at: http://beyondships.com/ssp1-Mullen-09.html

Carnival Imagination Photo Tour and Commentary

Between 1990 and 1998, Carnival Cruise Lines built eight nearly-identical ships known as the Fantasy class. When these ships entered service, they were among the largest and most modern cruise ships in service and were often referred to as “superliners.” As time has gone on, however, cruise ships have become much larger and have added more and more features. Consequently, the Fantasy-class ships are now often referred to as the “small ships” in Carnival’s fleet.
One by-product of the rapid evolution of cruise ships in recent years is that ships start to become outdated in the eyes of the cruising public before they reach the end of their useful lives as ships. This creates a dilemma for the major cruise lines. Do you sell these ships to other companies that operate in the secondary market or do you make the investment to upgrade them so that they remain competitive in the first tier of the market? On the one hand, these are perfectly good ships that could sail for another decade or more. On the other hand, even an upgraded middle-aged ship is not really competitive with a brand new ship.
Carnival Cruise Lines has chosen to upgrade. In a $235 million program called Evolutions of Fun - - much less than the cost of building one new ship - - it is upgrading the amenities, décor and features of its eight Fantasy class ships. While it may not make them the equal of the competition’s latest ships, they are in the same league. Moreover, it allows Carnival to be present in more markets including serving cities not served by other major cruise lines and to provide types of cruises such as short three or four day cruises which would not make economic sense for a new ship.
Carnival Imagination is one of the Fantasy class ships that has undergone the Evolutions of Fun upgrade. The result is a fresh looking ship with interesting features. Thus, while she may not have everything that one would find on the newer Carnival ships, the ship is able to offer a Carnival-style cruise. This makes her well-suited for providing an economical first taste cruise for newcomers and a good vehicle for short low-cost getaways for Carnival regulars.
My profile of Carnival Imagination is at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalImagination-Profile.htmland the photo tour and commentary begins at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalImagination-Tour-1.html

Inside Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas

Independence of the Seas has a lot going for it. She is currently the largest cruise ship in the world, a title she holds along with her sister ships Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas. She is full of entertainment and dining venues and has both traditional and innovative outdoor facilities such as a surfing simulator. Just as importantly, the crew is engaged in a near constant effort to entertain the passengers with parades, singing and dancing waiters as well as the usual set of shipboard activities such as trivia contests and bingo.

The ship follows Royal Caribbean’s style of cruising. This style was developed serving the American market. Consequently, the décor, the informality and the emphasis on activity all reflect the country where Royal Caribbean first achieved success.

Recently, however, Royal Caribbean announced that Independence of the Seas’ first summer season sailing out of Southampton, England had been so successful that the ship would be homeported there all year in 2010. What makes this so surprising is that the vast majority of passengers traveling on Independence have not been vacationing Americans but rather British.

When I was onboard Independence, I had the opportunity to talk with Captain Arnolf Remo, Hotel Director Darren Budden and Cruise Director Allan Brooks about Independence and her success in Britain. The resulting article appears at: http://beyondships.com/RCI-IOS-article-UK.html Also, to see what Independence of the Seas looks like, there is the photo tour beginning at http://beyondships.com/RCI-IOS-tour.html

Carnival Pride Photo Tour and Commentary

Carnival Pride and her three Spirit-class sister ships are like the high performance sports cars of the Carnival fleet. Longer but yet smaller than Carnival’s Destiny-class megacruise ships, Pride can whip through the water at 24 knots. Her azipod propulsion system makes her highly maneuverable although I must admit that the Destiny-class ships are surprisingly maneuverable with their traditional propeller system. In any event, her technological prowess carries over and gives the ship something of the same feeling of superiority that comes with owning a performance car.

While Pride is smaller than the Destiny-class ships, especially the latest evolutions of that design such as Carnival Splendor, she offers many of the passenger choices that Carnival features. Indeed, there is even a specialty steakhouse and a flexible dining option in the main restaurant.

Inside, Pride is flamboyant. Carnival designer Joe Farcus has made use of numerous reproductions of Old Master artworks in a tribute to the “icons of beauty.” There is probably not another ship afloat that makes such extensive use of the works of Raphael, Van Gough, Michelangelo, and other renowned painters. These are not lined up one after another as in a museum but rather are blown-up to giant proportions or blended into the décor in interesting ways. Not only does it create a fun, Pop-style environment but it leads one to look around at the detail work and say “Hey, isn’t that from . . . .”

Aside from the hardware, I was impressed by the friendliness of the crew during my recent voyage on Pride. Everyone was friendly and confident in what they were doing.

My profile of Carnival Pride is at: http://beyondships.com/CarnivalPride-Profile.html and the multi-page photo tour and commentary begins at: http://beyondships.com/CarnivalPride-Tour-1.html.

Pride is the 50th ship that I have profiled on Beyondships.com including 10 other Carnival ships, 8 Royal Caribbean ships, 8 Holland America ships, 7 Princess ships, four NCL ships, three each from Cunard, P&O Cruises, and Celebrity Cruises as well as individual ships from three other lines. There is a dedicated section on the website for each ship with a photo tour, copies of menus and daily programs and in many cases interviews with the captain and/or other officers.

Inside Emerald Princess --Talking with the Hotel Director

The senior officer with the most direct responsibility for the things that most directly affect a passenger’s cruise experience is the hotel director (also called the hotel manager or passenger services director). He has responsibility for the accommodations, the dining, the entertainment, the activities, the shore excursions and much more. Therefore, the hotel manager is in a unique position to discuss the type of cruise experience that one will encounter on a particular ship.

Tony Becker is a Passenger Services Director for Princess Cruises. He is from Australia and has had experience with major land-based hotels as well as with other cruise lines, NCL being one of them. Thus, he is able to see the style of vacation experience that Princess offers in perspective.

When I spoke with Tony, he was Passenger Services Director of Emerald Princess. She is one of Princess’ newest ships (2007) and is practically identical to Princess’ newest ship. As Tony said, she is “a beautiful piece of hardware.” But a cruise is not just about interacting with the hardware. What type of cruise experience does a passenger encounter on Emerald Princess? Who does the ship attract? What enables Emerald Princess to sail full even in difficult economic times?

Tony is a very straightforward person and he answered these questions. In addition, he pointed out some features of Emerald Princess that often fail to appear on guest’s radar screens. My conversation with Tony Becker appears at: http://beyondships.com/Princess-EP-art-Becker.html

Photo Tour of Holland America's Prinsendam

In the mid to late 1990s, the one irrefutable question what else is there to Cunard besides Queen Elizabeth 2 was Royal Viking Sun. Yes, Cunard had several other ships, some of which were well-loved by their regular passengers and crew, but Royal Viking Sun was the only one recognized throughout the induistry and the cruising public as a first-class cruise ship.

Acquired from Royal Viking Line in 1994, Royal Viking Sun had little in common with QE2. She was half the size, she was a cruise ship and her officers and cruising style were preimarily Norwegian rather than British. Still she was successful offering luxurious long voyages to destinations around the world.

Proof that Royal Viking Sun was a cut above her contemporaries is the fact that she is still sailing for a major cruise line today as Holland Americ's Prinsendam. Built in 1988, many ships of that era are now serving the secondary market or are now Asian gambling ships. However, Prinsendam coontinues to do long voyages to exotic locales providing intimate, elegant cruises in keeping with Holland America's premium standards.

My profile of Prinsendam appears at http://beyondships.com/HAL-Prinsendam.html and the extensive photo tour and commentary begins at http://beyondships.com/HAL-Prinsendam-Tour1.html .

Talking with the Cruise Director of Carnival Triumph

One of the best things about cruising is the interesting people that you meet. Jorge Salano is the cruise director on Carnival Triumph. He is popular with the guests and is an excellent onstage performer. However, what makes Salano particularly interesting is that he is a man who is following his dream.

After years of hard work, Salano had achieved what most people would consider a successful management-level position in the fast food industry. It was good money but it did not make him happy. Then, he experienced a life-threatening illness.

While he was ill, he realized that what he wanted to be was a stand-up comedian. So, when he recovered, he left the fast food industry and started over at the bottom as a comedian. This took him across the country playing comedy clubs and eventually onto cruise ships as a visiting entertainer.

He found that he particularly enjoyed playing the Carnival cruise ships and so when an opening appeared for a cruise director, he applied and was given the job. Now, he combines his love of comedy with a life at sea.

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with Mr. Salano about his career, how he is able to use his comedic skills in his work as a cruise director and about the role of a cruise director on Carnival Triumph. My conversation with Mr. Salano appears at: http://beyondships.com/CarnivalTriumph-art-Salano.html.

Emerald Princess Photo Tour and Commentary

Emerald Princess is one of three virtually identical ships. I am not speaking here about the fact that she is a member of the Grand-class, all of which stem from the design of the Grand Princess - - there are about a dozen such ships now in service. Rather, I am speaking of the fact that she has the same layout, amenities and décor as Crown Princess and Ruby Princess.

The three ships entered service over a period of three and a half years beginning in May 2006. They reflect all that Princess Cruises had learned about the highly successful Grand-class over the course of decade. Thus, it is not surprising that they are so similar - - why change a winning formula?

So, if the three ships are identical, it follows that they must be fungible, right? Not exactly. While on a superficial level the ships may seem the same, the atmosphere on each is subtlety different. Different sets of people have manned the different ships, leaving their marks which persist even after they have gone on to other things. Also, like people, the ships’ characters have been molded by their different life experiences.

Crown Princess was the first of three and sent a shock wave through the industry with her beautiful Italian-influenced décor. She was also an innovator with the adult-spa retreat called “The Sanctuary” and the sophisticated New York-style steakhouse “The Crown Grill.” Also, the fact that she spent her first two summer seasons based in New York helped to hone her more cosmopolitan atmosphere.

Ruby Princess is the latest of the three. When she emerged on the market in November 2008, it was with a great deal of energy and a “can-do” attitude. Her reviews and high scores on the guest comment cards demonstrated that this was not just bluster. Her innovations such as the “Ultimate Ship Tour” proved successful and have been passed on to her sisters. A schedule of seven-day cruises added to her more fast-paced atmosphere.

Emerald Princess is the middle child. She did not emerge with as much fanfare as her sisters. However, she has all the same features that they do. Moreover, she goes about performing her job extremely well - - just quietly. Perhaps because she does relatively longer cruises, the atmosphere is more relaxed. Perhaps it has something to do with beginning her career in the sunny Mediterranean. It certainly has something to do with the friendliness of her crew.

My profile of Emerald Princess is posted at: http://beyondships.com/Princess-EP-Profile.html The photo tour and commentary begins at: http://beyondships.com/Princess-EP-Tour-1.html