Talking with the Captain of Brilliance of the Seas; Seaview Cafe Review

Captain Sorensen of Brilliance of the Seas

The objective of Beyondships.com is to give you a feel for the ships. Accordingly, I try to provide information about the ships in a number of ways including photographs, copies of daily programs, menus, items distributed onboard as well as my own writing. Another perspective I like to give you is that of the officers who actually operate the ships. They are the ones who are in charge of delivering the cruise experience to you so I think it is valuable to know what they are aiming to deliver.

As discussed in this blog last week, Brilliance of the Seas is a special ship. Thus, I wanted to get her officers' perspective about what makes her special. Accordingly, I spoke with Captain Henirk Loft Sorensen and Hotel Director Erik Speckenbrink about what makes Brilliance special. They emphasized the international atmosphere on board that gives it a more cosmopolitan feel than most ships. They also used words such as elegant, personal, and high quality. In addition, Captain Sorensen confirmed what I had heard from several other captains, Brilliance is a wonderful ship to drive. My interview with Captain Sorensen and Hotel Director Speckenbrink is at http://www.beyondships2.com/brilliance-of-the-seas-captain-interview.html

Another way of giving you a feel for the ships is through articles about the food on the ship. Dining is an important part of the cruise experience and so I like to do interviews with chefs and restaurant managers and to do restaurant reviews where possible.

Normally, I do not like to do a review of a restaurant that is going to be replaced with another venue in a future refit of the ship. However, I enjoyed the Seaview Cafe on Brilliance so much that I thought I would go ahead and write a review anyway. After all, the Seaview on Brilliance will be in operation for a few more months and the one on Jewel of the Seas should keep going even longer.

In April 2013, Brilliance is scheduled to have a major revitalization. This is part of a program where Royal Caribbean is bringing some of the more popular features that were developed for Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas to the rest of the fleet. The details of what will be done to Brilliance have not been announced but when her sister ship Radiance of the Seas went through a similar revitalization, the Seaview Cafe was replaced with another venue.

The Seaview is a casual venue in an out of the way location on the back of the ship. You can eat outside or in the charming little clubhouse. But what makes this venue so nice is that you have a world of choice in designing your meal. You select the combination of ingredients that you want on your pizza, pasta dish or panini and they make it for you fresh.

My review of the Seaview Cafe with photos is at http://www.beyondships2.com/brilliance-of-the-seas-seaview-cafe.html

Talking with the Captain and Hotel Director of Oasis of the Seas

Many ships have held the title of world’s largest cruise ship in recent years. With numerous new ships coming out of the shipyards, the title has changed hands seemingly every few years. However, it is unlikely that any ship will take the title away from Oasis of the Seas for some time. She is half again larger than the ships that held the title before her and aside from her sister ship Allure of the Seas now under construction in Finland, there is nothing being built that will come anywhere near to her in size.

However, for Captain Thore Thorolvsen, master of the Oasis, size is the wrong focus. A reflective man who has been with Royal Caribbean began, the Captain considers all the talk about Oasis’ size to be almost a distraction from what makes the ship unique. To him, the contents of the ship are what makes it great.

Having served with Royal Caribbean so long, Captain Thorolvsen was also able to place Oasis in context. Yes, Oasis is a revolutionary ship. However, that does not mean that the rest of the ships in Royal’s fleet are now obsolete.

My conversation with Captain Thrololvsen appears at: http://www.beyondships.com/RCI-OOS-art-captain.html

Raimund Gschaider, the Hotel Director of Oasis, was intimately involved in the construction of Oasis of the Seas. As a result, he is able to talk about what Royal Caribbean was seeking to achieve when it built this ship.

In addition, as the Hotel Director, he is involved in the actual operation of the ship. He knows who the ship appeals to. He can also explain how a ship that carries 6,000 passengers - - more than a thousand more than any other cruise ship - - is able to operate with no significant lines or crowding.

My conversation with Mr. Gschaider is at: http://www.beyondships.com/RCI-OOS-art-HD.html

Talking with QM2 Captain Nick Bates and Celebrity Summit HD Julian Brackenbury

Beyondships presents two inside interviews this week. One continues Beyondships in-depth coverage of Queen Mary 2 while the other adds to last week’s profile of Celebrity Summit.

My first memory of Nick Bates was of him being lowered down the side of the Queen Elizabeth 2 in the middle of the night. QE2 had just struck two submerged rocks off the coast of Massachusetts and Nick was being sent down to inspect the hull. It was a great relief to the passengers that he decided to come back to the ship rather than sail away. There was significant damage but as Nick correctly determined, it did not threaten the integrity of the hull.

At that time, Nick was Chief Officer of QE2. Not long after that, he became Staff Captain and in those positions had responsibility for maintaining the ship and seeing her through some of the major changes that ship underwent in the 1990s.

Nick was not the typical Cunard officer. He was not at all reserved. Rather, his Irish wit and love of a good laugh enlivened the tables he hosted at dinner and the various passenger receptions. At the same time, he was clearly proud of being a part of Cunard and had a justifiable pride in the legendary ship.

As time went on, Nick was given his own commands, first with the other Cunard ships, then Qe2, then a time with Princess Cruises. Most recently, Nick has been alternating with Commodore Bernard Warner as the master of Cunard’s flagship Queen Mary 2.
Captain Bates still combines the qualities he displayed when I first met him. He is still very serious when it comes to his command. However, he is also able to weave his lighthearted approach to life into relations with passengers. Indeed, he has compiled the stories that he tells during his noonday announcements into a popular book, the profits of which he donates to charity.

My conversation with Captain Bates about his 35-year career and about his current command appears at: http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-art-Bates.html

The second interview that I have posted this week is with Julian Brackenbury, Hotel Director of the Celebrity Summit. Julian has also had an interesting career in the cruise ship industry but in this interview, I asked him to tell us about Summit. The goal was to round out the Beyondships’ profile of Summit with an insider’s perspective about the vacation experience that one can expect on Summit. The interview appears at: http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Summit-art-brackenbury.html

Turning to the news . . .

As I mentioned last week, Royal Caribbean has continued to have its ships call at the line’s private resort in Labadee, Haiti. In addition to helping maintain the local economy, the ships have brought supplies for the earthquake victims in Haiti. To my surprise, Royal has been criticized for this move on the grounds that people should not be vacationing and enjoying themselves on one part of the island when there is so much misery elsewhere in Haiti. This strikes me as an unfair criticism. The issue for Royal is whether to have the ships call in Haiti or go somewhere else. If the ships went somewhere else, people would still be vacationing and enjoying themselves despite the misery in Haiti. If the ships continue to call in Haiti, at least there will be some benefit to the people of Haiti in the form of jobs and supplies. Thus, in my opinion, Royal is doing the right thing.

Princess Cruises received a thank you from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for the weather observations made on Princess ships These observations help NOAA track weather patterns. The ships measure air temperature, humidity, wind direction and strength, sea waves and swells. They then send information at a minimum of every six hours when at sea to a database which is forwarded to NOAA. The Princess ships sent more observations to NOAA in 2009 than any other cruise line.

Captain Ian McNaught on Cunard Yesterday and Today, Larry Pimintel takes Aazamara In A New Direction

Happy New Year!

Beyondships begins the new year by taking a look back and a look forward.

When I spoke with Captain Ian McNaught of Cunard’s Queen Victoria, our conversation covered his career with Cunard going back to the 1980s. He is well known in ocean liner circles for his work as the last Cunard captain of the legendary Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2). However, before QE2, he commanded several other Cunard ships. These included the mass market Cunard cruise ships of the 1980s and 1990s as well as the ultra luxury Sea Goddess yachts.

In addition to talking about those ships, we also discussed how the acquisition of Cunard by Carnival Corporation saved Cunard.

Finally, we discussed the difference between Cunard and P&O Cruises, and how that affects the cruise experience on the two lines. In this connection, it is important to keep in mind that Captain McNaught also commands P&O ships from time to time.

My conversation with Captain McNaught is at http://www.beyondships.com/QV-McNaught-2.html

Larry Pimintel also was once associated with Cunard but these days he is the President of Azamara Club Cruises. In fact, Pimintel has only been the head of Azamara for less than a year but he is shaking things up and moving the company in a new direction.

Azamara is one of the Royal Caribbean family of companies. However, unlike the company’s sister cruise lines, Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises where the ships keep getting bigger, Azamara’s ships are small intimate ships. The line has been around for less than three years but in that time, it has become known as Royal’s luxury brand.

While the Azamara ships are popular, they are not producing the required return on capital. Accordingly, Pimintel is taking the bold step of raising prices in these harsh economic times. He is also changing the focus of the product, making the cruise experience more destination intensive and including more services within the fare price.

My article about the new Azamara appears at http://www.beyondships.com/Cruise-articles-azamara.html

Turning to the news,

On January 5, Cunard’s new Queen Elizabeth will be floated out. The floating out is an important event in a ship’s life. It is the equivalent of the moment when a ship would slide down the ways into the water for the first time. Nowadays, passenger ships are not built on ways but rather in dry docks. When the ship reaches a point where she can float, the drydock is flooded and its gates opened so that the ship can be completed at a fitting out dock. It is a much easier and safer way to build ships but not as dramatic. In any case, Queen Elizabeth will reach this milestone this week.

At the Helm of Ruby Princess

As I have mentioned previously in these pages, I was very impressed by the Ruby Princess when I cruised on her in November. The Grand Princess class ships offer a good variety of activities and amenities and I have found the service to be consistently good on those ships. However, everything seemed to come together particularly well on Ruby Princess, which is quite amazing for a new ship.

Much of the credit for this must go to the man at the top because the character of a ship is often influenced by her captain. In addition, since Ruby Princess may well be the last Grand Princess ship built for Princess (there is another Grand under construction but she has been earmarked for sister company P&O Lines), the person assigned to be her first master must be a special individual.

Accordingly, I was very pleased to be able to spend some time talking with Captain Tony Yeomans in his office near Ruby Princess’ bridge. Captain Yeomans is a soft-spoken native of Derby, England who is quick to smile. He takes an understated approach to command that reflects confidence. Indeed, Captain Yeomans has a wealth of experience to draw upon having commanded nine Princess ships and having served on such legendary ships as Canberra and the first Royal Princess.

I spoke with Captain Yeomans about his career and about bringing the Ruby Princess into service. My interview appears in the Ruby Princess section of my website at http://beyondships.com/Princess-RU-art-Yeomans.html.

For those who are interested in military ships, I have added an article to the website about the various naval attractions open to visitors to Portsmouth, England. http://www.beyondships.com/sspi-RN-Ports.html