Serenade of the Seas Photo Tour and Commentary

At the turn of the Millennium, Royal Caribbean had come up with two rather excellent but quite different designs for cruise ships. The first was the Voyager design, which premiered in late 1999. It was for a megacruise ship of more than 130,000 tons, which have the line the space to include amenities such as the Royal Promenade and the ice skating rink, which had never been seen on a cruise ship before. Its large size also lent itself to economies of scale as the design could accommodate large numbers of guests.

The other design was the Radiance class design, which first saw service in 2001. This design was also for a large ship but at 90,000 tons, much smaller than the Voyager design. At the same time, capable of doing 25 knots, it was a much faster ship. It was more traditional in its interior but very well laid out with the use of large amounts of glass enhancing the public spaces. In sum, it was an eloquent design that pointed in something of a different direction than the Voyager design.

Serenade of the Seas is the third of four Radiance class ships built for RCI between 2001 and 2004. Her modern sleek lines are immediately appealing. Her interior is delightful. In many ways, she is a significant milestone in the development of the traditional cruise ship design. Although she has many of the signature Royal Caribbean amenities, it is a different experience.

Recently, Royal Caribbean has focused its attention on developing the Voyager class, which gave rise to the Freedom class and which is the ancestor of the forthcoming Oasis class. Thankfully the Radiance design has not been abandoned. RCI’s sister company Celebrity Cruises is developing the Radiance design with its Solstice class ships.

My profile of Serenade of the Seas is at http://beyondships.com/RCI-SOS-Profile.html. and the photo tour and commentary begins at http://beyondships.com/RCI-SOS--tour-1.html.

Talking with the Captain of Carnival Pride

Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with Captain Alessandro Galotto, the master of Carnival Pride. We spoke first informally during a dinner with his senior officer team in the Pride’s main dining room. Later, on a bright sunny day in Freeport in the Bahamas, we spoke in his office. On both occasions, Captain Galotto was personable and open in discussing his ship, his professional and cruising in general.

Captain Galotto was an officer on Carnival’s first ship and has seen the line change quite a bit over the years. As a result, he explained, people who assume that Carnival ships are just party boats are mistaken. Fun is still the objective but it isn’t the same type of fun as in the old days.

A cruise ship captain wears many hats. It isn’t just about being on the bridge. So, we spoke about what the job entails and how one learns this trade.

Carnival Pride has recently begun cruising from Baltimore, Maryland, where she will be based all year-round. With many people anxious to avoid the rigors of flying, basing a cruise ship in a place that is a convenient drive for literally millions of potential passengers makes a lot of sense. However, there is also some risk. Carnival has never based a ship so far north in the winter. Captain Galottos spoke about why Pride is the right ship to face the challenges of this market.

My conversation with Captain Galotto is at: http://beyondships.com/CarnivalPride-art-Galotto.html

A Profile and Photo Tour of Carnival Valor

One of the interesting things about going aboard a Carnival Cruise ship is discovering the interior. Designer Joe Farcus creates a different décor for each ship. Often they are bold and unrestrained like a theme park. In other places, they are elegant and full of details taken from old master paintings or literature. They are never dull.

The theme of Carnival Valor is “heroes and heroic acts.” This gave Farcus a wide spectrum to draw from as the public rooms celebrate such diverse personalities as George Washington, Josephine Baker and Lou Gehrig. Other rooms are dedicated to characters from the movies, novels or mythology. It is fun just to explore the ship to see the various design interpretations.

Of course, Carnival Valor offers other things to do. She is a megacruise ship and thus can contain a wide array of amenities, entertainment and sports facilities as well as several dining alternatives.

My profile of Carnival Valor appears at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalValor-Profile.html and the photo tour and commentary starts at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalValor-Profile.html

Interview with Celebrity Solstice Hotel Director

When I was on Celebrity Solstice, I had the opportunity to talk with Simon Weir, who is the Hotel Director that brought the ship into service. The hotel director on a ship is one of three senior officers that reports directly to the captain. He is in charge of the ship’s hotel operation - - essentially everything that has to do with the guests including food, accommodations and entertainment.

I was particularly fortunate that Mr. Weir was the one who brought the ship into service because the atmosphere and character of a ship is influenced by its original senior officers long after they have moved on. They establish the way things are done and while that evolves over time, the direction is set by the original officers. Since Solstice is the first ship in a class of five, she will also serve as the model for her later sisters.

Accordingly, I asked Mr. Weir about the thinking underlying Solstice. She is bigger than anything Celebrity Cruises has done before with more space for passengers and for amenities. Weir was clear that the new ship will not simply be a bigger version of what Celebrity has done before.

I also asked Weir about how they brought Solstice into service. As he explained, this is a process that starts when the ship is still in the shipyard and is a lesson in team building.

My interview with Simon Weir is at http://beyondships.com/Celebrity-Solstice-art-weir.html.

For those interested in military ships, I have put together a photo gallery on the Canadian Navy. http://www.beyondships.com/Naval-photo-Canada.html This includes photos of ships that I have come across in recent years and I believe the ships shown represent all the classes of ships now in that navy. Similarly, I have put together a photo gallery that shows some of the frigates in the Royal Dutch Navy.

Norwegian Gem Photo Tour and Commentary

I recently went aboard Norwegian Gem again and as a result, I have taken the Norwegian Gem section of Beyondships in for a refit. I’ve added new photos, including quite a few of the ship underway, and new programs and other material that I obtained onboard. Consequently, the Norwegian Gem profile and photo tour has been updated and expanded.

Norwegian Gem is the newest ship in the NCL fleet. She is 93,000 tons and can carry 2,380 passengers double occupancy. Gem was built in Germany and entered service in 2007. During the winter months, she has been sailing out of New York to the Caribbean. However, she spends her summers in Europe - - this year the Mediterranean.

As the newest ship in the fleet, she has all of the most recent Freestyle Cruising amenities. This includes a multitude of dining venues ranging from a sophisticated French Restaurant to a 24-hour venue that provides hamburgers and light fare. Of course, she has two large main dining rooms but under the Freestyle system, guests only have to make use of them if they want to.

In addition to an array of dining venues, Gem has quite a variety of accommodations. These range from the ultra-luxurious Garden Villas to rather utilitarian interior cabins. The top suites also have access not just to a concierge lounge but to an entire exclusive area on the ship.

When I last was aboard Gem, she had just entered service. I was pleased to see that the intervening time has treated her well. She still looks like a new ship. The only difference that I noticed was that the original Claude Monet masterpiece that was behind the Reception Desk has now been replaced by an original Marc Chagal.

The Norwegian Gem Profile Page, which includes the photos of the ship underway, is at http://www.beyondships.com/NCLGem-Profile.html. The expanded photo tour begins at http://www.beyondships.com/NCLGem-Tour-1.html