Profile and Photo Tour - Celebrity Constellation

A problem that arises when a cruise line builds a series of new and innovative ships is the effect on the line’s existing ships. Your new ships make your competitors’ ships look less attractive. But without all of the new features of their new fleetmates, your existing ships are also going to look less attractive. The last thing you want is for a customer who has been attracted to your cruise line because of a great experience on your new ship to be disappointed when he or she cruises on one of the line’s older ships.

To avert this outcome, Celebrity Cruises is investing millions of dollars to “Solsticize” its existing fleet. This means taking features that have proven popular on its new Solstice class ships and putting versions of those features on its Millennium class ships. This includes new specialty restaurants, new bars and lounges as well as changes to the décor of the ships. At the same time, the line is refurbishing the ship’s accommodations.

Solsticizing the four Millennium class ships is a complicated undertaking. The Millenniums have always been popular in their own right and so Celebrity would like to maintain their character. However, while they are large ships (91,000 gross tons), they are not as large as the Solstice ships (122,000 gross tons) and they do not have larges areas of unused space. Thus, in order to add new features, some of the existing features would have to go.

Celebrity began this process last Spring with the youngest of the four Millenniums - - Celebrity Constellation. At least in my view, the line managed to carry out the Solsticization very well. The new features add to the cruise experience but at the same time what made Constellation a standout premium ship has been maintained. Constellation is still Constellation; not a mini-version of Solstice.

The best example of this is the addition of the Tuscan Grill specialty restaurant. This concept debuted on Celebrity Solstice and combines Italian cuisine and an American-style steakhouse - - two very popular types of dining. The atmosphere is upscale but not overly formal. On the Solstice ships, this restaurant occupies a large area along the stern of the ship. The comparable space on the Millennium class ships is occupied by the main dining rooms, which are spectacular. So, Celebrity could not simply transplant the Tuscan Grill concept as is to Constellation.

Looking around the Millenniums, Celebrity saw that an area at the top of the ship that had been used as a conservatory/florist shop was rarely used by passengers. Adding some space that had been used for ping pong tables and a lobby area, Celebrity saw there was enough space here for a restaurant. The conservatory’s tall glass windows bring in natural light just as the large windows in the Tuscan Grill on Solstice do. As a result, Celebrity was able to transplant the Tuscan Grill concept to Constellation.

The Beyondships’ photo tour of Constellation has been re-photographed to show the changes that have been made to Constellation. It begins at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-Tour-1a.html
In addition, the profile page has new menus, daily programs and other information about the ship. http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-Profile.html
Finally, we have added a new part II to our photo essay Constellation in the Caribbean showing the ship in more Caribbean ports of call. http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-Caribbean-2.html
Changing topics, this week Commodore Bernard Warner of Cunard Line retired. Commodore Warner’s firm hand did a great deal to shape Queen Mary 2. We wish him well in his future endeavors.

Cunard also announced that it had appointed Captain Christopher Rynd as its new commodore. Commodore Rynd brings with him a wealth of experience from his time at Princess Cruises and P&O. He is also one of the few masters who can claim to have commanded three of the Cunard Queens - - Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and the legendary Queen Elizabeth 2. For more information about Commodore Rynd’s career, see our interview at http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-Rynd-1.html

NCL's Great Stirrup Cay - - Photo tour

That competition in the cruise industry is alive and well can be seen not only in the fact that the cruise companies are continuing to invest millions in new ships with new features but also in the fact that the lines are also investing millions in upgrading their private destinations. For example, Royal Caribbean has recently upgraded both its private island at Coco Cay in the Bahamas and its private resort peninsula at Labadee, Haiti. Not to be out done, NCL is in the process of a radical transformation of its private island Great Stirrup Cay or GSC as it is sometimes called. NCL was the first cruise line to create a private destination.

In 1977, it purchased GSC, a small uninhabited island in The Bahamas atoll, in order to be another port of call for its ships doing Bahamas and Caribbean cruises. The idea made a great deal of sense for several reasons. First, the prevailing wisdom in the cruise industry is that most people will choose the cruise with the most ports of call all else being equal. GSC would provide an additional port of call. Second, the cost of going to this port would be much less than going to a port where the ship would have to use pilots and pay to dock. Third, almost all of the money spent by the passengers at this destination would go to the cruise line.

At first, these private islands were little more than beaches that were accessed by the ship’s boats. However, over time, bars and dining facilities were constructed, sports facilities added and facilities for various types of shore excursions constructed. Now, the private destinations are essentially private resorts.

Last year, NCL began a $20 million dollar transformation of GSC. The first step was to build a marina where the tenders that bring the passengers to the shore could dock. Heretofore, passengers came ashore in landing craft, which lowered their ramps onto the beach itself. This was inconvenient for less fit passengers and it also meant that a large part of the beach could not be used for swimming or sunbathing.

Another part of the transformation is the new dining facilities. Gone are the old wooden structures and in their place are more substantial and more spacious places where the food is prepared and where it is consumed.

The sports facilities have also been expanded and NCL now offers jet ski and kayak tours of the area around the island. The transformation process is ongoing. Standing on the deck of a cruise ship anchored offshore one can see that other areas of the island are under construction. These will result in new beach areas and facilities such as a sting ray experience.

Beyondships’ updated and expanded photo tour of Great Stirrup Cay is at http://www.beyondships.com/NCL-GreatStirrupCay.html I have also included a page to show what the island looked like before the current transformation.

Majesty of the Seas - - Profile and Photo Tour

All cruises are not the same. At one extreme, there are 100 day around the world voyages. On the other hand, there are short get-away cruises touching at a few not to distant ports. The former tend to attract experienced cruisers who are more mature and more affluent. The latter is primarily the province of young people who are often sampling cruising for the first time.

For the major cruise lines that focus on a younger crowd, the short cruise market presents a not insignificant opportunity. If young first time cruisers like the experience, they will probably come back and try a longer cruise.

In recognition of this, Royal Caribbean spent some $36 million re-vitalizing Majesty of the Seas in 2007. Majesty was one of a trio of cruise ships that revolutionized the industry in the early 1990s. These ships were the first purpose built cruise ships to rival in size the great ocean liners of the past. After that, the door was open to bigger and bigger cruise ships.

By today’s standards, Majesty is a relatively intimate cruise ship. However, I was impressed when I went aboard her at how nice she looks. Her interior design is no longer revolutionary but it is not dated either. In fact, the central atrium still seems to shine. In addition, Royal Caribbean has added an array of casual dining venues including a Windjammers Marketplace, a Sorrento Pizza, a Johnny Rockets and a Compass Deli. These allow the guests to have choices like on the newer RCI ships, albeit on a smaller scale.

Not surprisingly, Royal has deployed Majesty to do short cruises to the Bahamas from Miami. Having made such an investment in her, it only makes sense to put her in one of the most competitive short cruise markets.

Beyondships profile of Majesty of the Seas is at http://www.beyondships.com/RCI-MJOS-Profile.html and the multi-page photo tour and commentary is at http://www.beyondships.com/RCI-MJOS--Tour-1.html

Cunard's Queen Elizabeth - - Profile and Photo Tour

This week we focus on the new Cunard Line ship Queen Elizabeth. At approximately, 91,000 gross tons, she is the second largest Cunarder ever built although she is still much smaller than fleetmate Queen Mary 2. However, size is not what makes this ship special.

The new Queen Elizabeth is the third Cunard ship bear the name. First, there was the giant ocean liner that was built as a running mate for the original Queen Mary. This ship was named after Queen Elizabeth, the consort to King George VI, who after her daughter came to the throne was known as the Queen Mother. The ship was considered the height of luxury and elegance for her time. She remained the largest ocean liner ever built until Queen Mary 2 entered service in 2004.

In the 1960s when Cunard was building a ship to replace the original Queen Elizabeth, the plan was to name the replacement ship Queen Elizabeth. However, at the naming ceremony in 1967, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II proclaimed “I name this ship Queen Elizabeth the Second.” Whether Her Majesty meant to name the ship after herself or merely was memorializing the fact that there had already been a ship called Queen Elizabeth is something only she knows. However, in order to distinguish the ship from the monarch, Cunard put an Arabic 2 rather than a Roman numeral in the name. The Queen Elizabeth 2 or QE2 as she came to be known was the most famous ship in the world during a service life that lasted nearly 40 years.

The new Queen Elizabeth was named by Her Majesty last October. The name honors the two earlier ships. However, as Cunard has pointed out, it also carries the Queen’s name and is “her ship.”

All of this is a long way of saying that the new ship has a special name with a unique heritage. Tradition matters very much at Cunard.

The name is not the only thing that is special about the ship. She is based on the design that was used for Cunard’s Queen Victoria. However, she is not a mere clone of her fleetmate. Whereas the Victoria’s interior was art nouveau inspired, the Elizabeth is art deco. Moreover, it is a sumptuous interior that speaks of elegance, sophistication and luxury.

The Queen Elizabeth profile page is at http://www.beyondships.com/QE.html The multi-page photo tour and commentary, done largely with my new Nikon, begins at http://www.beyondships.com/QE-Tour-1.html