When I was in St. Maarten on a cruise
last month, there were five other ships in port with us. By itself,
there is nothing unusual about that as there are often six ships in
St. Maarten on a single day during the high season. What struck me
as unusual about this particular gathering was that all but one of
the ships was in the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd family. There were
two ships from Royal Caribbean, two from Celebrity Cruises and one
from TUI Cruises, Royal's German brand. The only non-family member
in attendance was Norwegian Epic.
I thought this underscored the growing
strength of the Royal Caribbean family. While RCCL is still the
second largest cruise company behind Carnival Corporation, the fact
that it so dominated one of the most important Caribbean ports at the
height of the season shows that it is quite a fromidible competitor.
The variety of the ships was also
interesting. From the core brand, Royal Caribbean International,
there was Independence of the Seas and Vision of the Seas. These two
ships illustrate the two styles within Royal Caribbean. Independence
is one of the largest ships in the world (number 4 at the moment) and
offers a vast array of activities and facilities. Vision is a more
intimate version of the Royal Caribbean cruise experience.
Celebrity was represented by two of
its Solstice class ships. These are beautiful ships. Built by Meyer
Werft, they are impressive from a technological perspective. I
particularly like the hull design that has the bow tapering back for
a relatively long way at the waterline making for a more efficient
attack through the waves. The bow area above the waterline flares up
to give the ships the withth (and thus the space) of a traditional
cruise ship. Very clever.
Inside the Solstice ships are also
impressive. Each is done in a contemporary style but there has been
considerable attention to detail and visual appeal. They are
sophisticated and elegant.
On this particular day, Celebrity
Eclipse (my favorite of the five Solstices, just nudging out
Celebrity Silhouette by a hair) and Celebrity Reflection were in
port. Next week, we will add a profile of Reflection to Beyondships.
Mein Schiff I, the former Celebrity
Galaxy, was there from TUI. RCCL has been using its older ships to
develop the cruise market in Europe. The fleets of Pullmantur
(Spain), Croiseres de France and TUI conatin many profiles familiar
to North American cruisers. This development strategy has been so
successful that a brand new ship has been ordered for TUI.
In any event, this day was a great day
for photographing ships and so we present a photo essay showing each
of the six ships. It is at
http://www.beyondships2.com/royal-reunion.html
There is also a slideshow focusing
just on Independence of the Seas.
http://www.beyondships2.com/independence-in-st-maarten.html
We also have a short video of
Celebrity Eclipse both leaving the pier and at sea.
http://www.beyondships2.com/eclipse-sails.html
In addition, we also have a going
ashore article about visiting the “great houses” of the
Caribbean. These are mansions that were built by the European
plantation owners. Most of them disappeared along with the
plantations. However, a number of Caribbean nations have recognized
that this is part of their heritage and several have been or are
being restored. A number of shore excursions now take you to them. We discuss our visits to three of them at
http://www.beyondships2.com/caribbean-great-houses.html
