Carnival Breeze Photo Tour and Profile

Carnival Breeze is Carnival Cruise Lines latest ship. Although the line includes 23 other ships, Breeze is not merely more of the same.

Carnival describes the Breeze as evolutionary rather than revolutionary. If you are familiar with Carnival's last two ships, Carnival Dream and Carnival Magic, the Breeze represents a logical step in a progression, albeit a big step. However, if your familiarity with Carnival only extends as far as the Conquest class, it is remarkable how much of change has taken place.

The tone is set by Breeze's appearance. Whereas the interiors of Carnival ships used to stun the visitor and transport him or her to a fantasy land, the interior of Breeze is restrained. It is intended to take the guest to a relaxing resort at sea. There are plenty of other changes but more on that next week.

Carnival is the world's largest and most popular cruise line. So why is it changing its formula? The answer seems to me that it is a move dictated by the laws of competition. Royal Caribbean with Oasis of the Seas and Allure ofthe Seas and Norwegian Cruise Line with Norwegian Epic have introduced revolutionary ships that have changed people's expectations with regard to cruising. The success of these ships is confirmed by the fact that Royal has ordered yet another Oasis class ship and that Norwegian has ordered a series of ships that will be enhanced versions of Epic. In the face of such competition, even the industry leader can't sit still.

Beyondship's profile of Carnival Breeze with photos, copies of menus and daily programs and more is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalBreeze-Profile.html

Our photo tour of Carnival Breeze begins at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalBreeze-Tour-1.html

St Maarten Profile and Photo Guide

 Of all the islands in the Caribbean, I think that St. Maarten has changed the most since I first visited there back in the 1990s. That visit was on one of Queen Elizabeth 2's semi-annual Caribbean cruises. Big ships like QE2 could not dock in St. Maarten and so we were anchored just beyond the Great Bay and had to take a tender into Phillipsburg, the capital of the Dutch side of the island. There wasn't much when you got there. Just a narrow strand of beach and a couple of streets that ran parallel to the beach with a few stores on them.

Now it is all different. A huge cruise ship complex has been constructed and the world's largest cruise ships dock there on a regular basis. Not only are there shops at the cruise ship complex but the recently beautified streets of Philipsburg are alive with upscale shops. It competes with St. Thomas as the shopping capital of the Caribbean. And the strand of sand by the bay that used to periodically wash away has been replaced by a wide expanse of white sand, beach facilities and a boardwalk.

The island's infastructure has developed in a tourist friendly way. It is an easy and pleasant walk to downtown from the cruise complex. Or you can do like most people and take the frequent water taxis that run to and from the complex. If you are looking to go to the beach at Orient Bay or Maigot, the capital of the French side of the island, there are plenty of taxis as well as private tours in addition to the ships' shore excursions. Beware that when there are four or five really big ships in, the road traffic on the island can get a little heavy.

Our profile of cruise destination St. Maarten, including photos and links, is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/cruise-destination---st-maarten.html

In addition, when I was last in St. MaartenI decided to try one of its many water-related activities. This was the Sea Trek helmet dive where you don a helmet and then climb down 20 feet below the waves and walk along the sea floor. It is an altogether different world down there and it is a much different experience than swimming or exploring via an excursion submarine or semi-submersible. The report on my adventure is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/cruise-article---a-walk-along-the-sea-floor.html

Norwegian Epic Photos and Video

Continuing to shine the spotlight on Norwegian Epic, this week we take a look at the outside of the ship.

The venue where these photos were taken is Nassau in the Bahamas. If you like to watch and/or photograph ships, Nassau is a good place to be. The port is quite busy, often with several ships calling on the same day. In addition, the port is laid out so that you can get good shots of the ships when they are underway as well as when they are docked.

Nassau is a regular port of call for Norwegian Epic during her winter season. The ship generally arrives mid-morning and so if you are on one of the ships that arrived early in the morning, you will have the opportunity to see Epic enter the harbor and dock.

It was a beautiful clear morning when this photo essay was shot. We see Epic enter the harbor and then make a 180 degree turn before backing into her berth. As a result, we get to see Epic from pretty much all sides. The photo essay is posted at http://beyondships.com/NCLEpic-Photos-Nassau.html

In addition to still photos, I was also taking video. I confess that I have not made up my mind which medium tells the story best - - a series of still photos or a video showing the action. I'll let you be the judge. The video is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-epic-video.html

For those who are also interested in what goes on inside Epic, we have a new page of menus from various restaurants on the ship http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-epic-menus.html plus a new page of daily programs (Freestyle Daily) and other information distributed onboard the ship. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-epic-daily-programs.html

Norwegian Epic Revisted

 Norwegian Epic is one of three ships that are bringing cruising to a new level. (The other two are Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas). This is not because these ships are bigger than any that have gone before but because of the new concepts that have been introduced onboard.

Focusing on Epic, the entertainment has been brought to a new level. Pre-Epic, the industry standard had been (and still is to a large extent) to have the nightly entertainment revolve around what was happening in the theater in the front of the ship. This could be a production show where a dozen young performers would sing and dance to a collection of popular tunes or a show by a stand-up comic or magician who makes a living jumping from ship to ship. Many of these are quite good but it is not first tier entertainment.

On Epic, the entertainment features acts who have already made a name ashore such as the Blue Man Group, Legends in Concert, Second City, and Cirque Dreams. To use an analogy, the difference in the experience is like the difference between drinking a house wine and drinking a name brand. Moreover, the entertainment is not limited to the ship's theater. Each night, there are shows by the name performers taking place in different venues around the ship.

Another innovative concept on Epic is its studio cabins. At one time, all passenger ships had single occupancy cabins reflecting the fact that for a variety of reasons some people want or need to travel alone. Based upon some flawed assumptions revolving around the sophistry that it is more profitable to have two people in a cabin than one, the industry abandoned single cabins. Consequently, solo travelers have to pay a single supplement for a cabin which can often be as much as 200 percent of the per person double occupancy rate.

Norwegian recognized that this left an unserved market of people who are predisposed toward cruising. Therefore, it built Epic with a large number of single occupancy cabins. In addition, in order to ensure that these people did not feel left out, it has strived to create a community of solo travelers on Epic.

Epic also premiered with a number of other innovative concepts. And while I was impressed by all these innovative concepts when the ship entered service in 2010, I began to wonder how they were working out in practice. So I returned to Epic to have another look around.

To get some insight on what Epic is all about now, I spoke with her hotel director Richard Janicki. That interview is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-epic-hotel-director.html

Focusing on the entertainment, I spoke with the Second City comedy troupe and through an unusual coincidence, ended up on stage with them. My article about that is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-epic-second-city.html

I also experienced what it is like to sail in Epic's studio cabins. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-epic-sailing-solo.html

Norwegian is well known for all of the dining options onboard its ships. Epic takes this even further with a collection of Norwegian classics and several new dining concepts. My reviews of six of these dining venues can be found at http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-epic-restaurant-reviews.html