Photo Tour and Profile of Celebrity Mercury

This week, Beyondships focuses on Celebrity Mercury. When she entered service in 1997, Mercury was considered a large ship. Since then ships have become increasingly bigger and thus Mercury is now on the smaller size of the large ship category. While

First, some people do not feel comfortable on a mega-cruise ship. A ship like Mercury is appealing to those people because she has a more intimate feel. Also, I have noticed that the crews of these smaller ships try especially hard to please perhaps in order to make up for the fact that they do not have all of the features that their bigger fleetmates have.

Second, ships like Mercury can get into ports that some of the bigger ships cannot. For example, Mercury has only a few feet of clearance going under some of the bridges that she must pass under in order to get to Baltimore, Maryland. A significantly larger ship could not pass under those bridges. Thus, in order to serve a port such as Baltimore, a cruise line needs a ship the size of Mercury. Since there are a lot of people who would much rather drive to a local port such as Baltimore rather than fly a thousand miles or so to take a cruise, such a ship allows the line to meet the demands of the market.

Mercury in particular is a pretty ship. She has a nice understated décor. Also, as alluded to her earlier, she has a very friendly crew.

Beyondships’ profile of Celebrity mercury is at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Mercury-Profile.html and the multi-page photo tour begins at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Mercury-Tour-1.html

Talking with the Cruise Director and Restaurant Manager of Celebrity Equinox and the Designer of the Carnival Ships

Last week, I wrote about all of Celebrity Equinox’s physical attributes. However, a ship is only the platform for the cruise experience. What the crew does with that platform makes or breaks the guests’ cruise experience. Accordingly, this week I wanted to highlight two interviews in which the crew talks about what they are doing with Celebrity Equinox.

In the first interview, Cruise Director Gary Walker talks about the lifestyle and the entertainment onboard Equinox. My interview with Mr. Walker is at: http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Equinox-art-Walker.html

The second interview is with Restaurant Manager Fatih Korkmaz in which he describes the various dining options on the Equinox. This interview appears at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Equinox-art-Korkmaz.html

Switching from Celebrity Cruises to Carnival Cruise Lines, guests on the Carnival ships are familiar with their unique interior designs. They are not like what one would typically encounter in a hotel. Rather, they are bold, imaginative and creative.

The man responsible for these designs is architect Joe Farcus. I asked him about the thinking behind these designs, his influences and what he seeks to achieve with his designs. I found his answers thoughtful and interesting. My interview with Mr. Farcus is at http://www.beyondships.com/Carnival-art-Farcus.html

Photo Tour and Profile of Celebrity Equinox

Celebrity Equinox is an impressive ship from every angle. From a nautical perspective, she has a nice sleek hull and a state of the art azipod propulsion system. Thus, she is relatively fast and can maneuver quite well. Her interior is tastefully decorated with an excellent use of lighting and attention to detail. She has an array of dining options ranging from formal up-market venues to casual eateries. Similarly, she has numerous entertainment venues.

My only disappointment about Equinox is that she looks too much like her sister ship Celebrity Solstice. However, the resemblance is understandable - - when you are onto a good thing, why change it? Moreover, as one looks around, one starts to notice some subtle differences.

Beyondships profile of Celebrity Equinox is at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Equinox-Profile.html. The multi-page photo tour and commentary begins at: http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Equinox-Tour-1.html

Talking with the Captain and Hotel Director of Carnival Dream

This week we return to Carnival Dream to speak with two of her officers who were instrumental in shaping Carnival’s newest and largest ship. Captain Carlo Queirolo was the first master of Carnival Dream and Hotel Director Donato Becce was the first man in charge of the ship’s hotel operations (i.e. just about everything a guest comes into contact with). Both men started working on the hip when she was still in the shipyard and continued through her entry into service and her first cruising season. Thus, they know the ship well and have shaped the vacation experience that guests encounter on the Dream.

I spoke with Captain Queirolo about the ship from a nautical perspective. After serving in the Italian Navy and on cargo ships, Queirolo came to Carnival in the early 1990s. He has since served on almost all of the Carnival ships and has had the responsibility for bringing four ships into service.

Mr. Becce served with both Cunard and Renaissance Cruises before coming to Carnival. He also managed land-based hotels and has taught in the field. I asked him to focus on some of the highlights of Carnival Dream that make her different than previous Carnival ships.

My interview with Captain Queirolo is at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalDream-art-captain.html

The conversation with Mr. Becce is at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalDream-art-HD.html

A couple of items in the news . . . .

Carnival Fascination has emerged from the drydock after a multi-million dollar refurbishment. She is the sixth of Carnival’s Fantasy-class ships to go through the “Evolution of Fun” process. From a nautical perspective, these ships have many years of useful life in them and it is nice to see a major line up-grading their hotels so as to remain competitive in the first tier of the market.

Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean has announced that Grandeur of the Seas will be deployed to Palma de Mallorca in Spain in May 2011. The idea is to serve British and Irish guests who like to take their holidays in Spain. This is another indication of the British and Irish attachment to Royal Caribbean that has been developing over the last few years. It all began with the idea of trying to market Legend of the Seas to the British market during a deployment in Southampton several summers ago. To the surprise of many, this very American-style product was accepted by the British. So, Royal decided to deploy the larger Navigator of the Seas there. She too was accepted and so Royal substituted the even larger Independence of the Seas for Navigator when Independence entered service. This was so successful that Royal is going to base her in England all year next year. Now, a second ship will be sent to the Med to serve the British/Irish fly-cruise market.