Independence of the Seas Photo Tour and Commentary

I found Independence of the Seas to be an exciting ship. She is packed with things to do and the entertainment and activities are non-stop. Thus, even for a person like me who is not particular oriented toward sports and physical activity, I found that there was a lot to do.

Independence is Royal Caribbean’s newest ship. Royal Caribbean likes to build them big and reap the benefits of economies of scale. For the moment, Independence is the world’s largest cruise ship, a title she will hold along with her two sister ships until Royal Caribbean brings out Oasis of the Seas later this year.

Although she is big and carries a lot of people, I never felt over crowded. Yes, there are parts of the ship that can get busy - - the buffet, for example - - but there are also parts where one can be by oneself. This is probably due to the fact that there are so many amenities on the ship that the passengers are well-distributed. It is also a credit to management for planning the activities with good passenger flow in mind.

Independence is based most of the year in Southampton, England although she spends the colder months in the Caribbean. As a result, for most of the year, most of her passengers are British. While the overall experience remains the American-style cruise that Royal Caribbean is famous for, there have been a few alterations to the menu and to the entertainment to make the British guests feel more at home.

In the final analysis, the reason Independence appeals to different cultures is because it provides an entertaining cruise experience. With rock climbing walls, a skating rink and an indoor shopping/dining/entertainment boulevard (complete with a parked car), it is not a traditional cruise experience. However, it is fun.

My profile of Independence is at http://beyondships.com/RCI-IOS-Profile.html and the photo tour and commentary starts at http://beyondships.com/RCI-IOS-tour.html.

Cruise ship specialty restaurants

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

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

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

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

Photo tour and guide to Celebrity Solstice

In the days of the great ocean liners, new ships were as eagerly awaited for their interior design as they were for their technological innovations. Celebrity Solstice revives this tradition. Her interior design is nothing short of spectacular. Not in the Las Vegas or shock and awe meaning of the term but rather in the sense that everywhere one looks one is impressed by what one sees.
The overall design is contemporary. In fact, it reminded me of the most recent Manhattan hotels. Lighting is used to great effect to create mood and visual beauty. For the most part, the lines of the rooms are clean and unbroken, punctuated occasionally with an elegant chandelier or a multi-story vista. There is a $6 million art collection spread unobtrusively around the ship. It is the overall effect that is intriguing, not any particular piece.

Solstice is also technologically interesting. Her 2 Azipods combined with a hydrodynamic hull can drive her at more than 25 knots through the water. That is not bad for a cruise ship, especially one of 122,000 gross tons.

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

In the near future, I will be supplementing the Solstice section of the site with interviews with Solstice’s Hotel Director Simon Weir and with Cruise Director Dru Pavlov. For the moment, however, I have included some thoughts from them in the Solstice Photo Tour and Commentary.

Captains Interviews: Carnival Splendor and Explorer of the Seas

The primary objective of Beyondships is to give people a feel for the various ships profiled on the site. To do this, I like to present the views of the people who actually run those ships in addition to the photo tour, menus, daily programs and other information presented on the site. I think it helps give more of the human element of the experience. This week we present conversations with the senior officers of two popular ships: Carnival Splendor and Explorer of the Seas.

I met with Captain Giorgio Pagano, Master of the Carnival Splendor, and seven of his senior officers in the ship’s Robusto Bar. It was a free-flowing exchange with the various officers supplementing what each other was saying. Since Splendor is a new ship, the conversation focused on the construction of the ship and how she was brought into service. On a ship that reportedly cost half a billion dollars, it was a much more involved process than simply turning up at the shipyard on the delivery date and taking the keys.

The second item is based on a conversation that I had with Captain Erik Standal (top photo above) when he was Captain of Explorer of the Seas. (He has since gone on to command Explorer’s sister ship Navigator of the Seas). Captain Erik is a great source of information and there is already interview with him on the site about Explorer and some of his comments are included in the photo tour of Navigator.

Explorer sails year-round from New York harbor (Bayonne, New Jersey) and in this conversation we discussed Explorer’s ability to handle the winter weather in the northeast. We also talked about his approach to actually driving one of the world’s largest ships. Finally, we discussed emergency rescues at sea.

My conversation with the officers of Splendor is at http://beyondships.com/CarnivalSplendor-interview.html. While the article about Explorer is at http://beyondships.com/Explorer-Standal-2.html.