Looking at The Canyon Ranch Spa on QM2

Part of the Cunard heritage is a reputation for luxury. Queen Elizabeth 2 in her heyday was particularly synonymous with luxury and deluxe style with such things as the first seagoing Harrods and other amenities that drew celebrity studded passenger lists on her transatlantic voyages. Since tradition and heritage are watchwords at Cunard, when the time came to build Queen Mary 2, she was designed to be superlative not just in her size but also in her amenities.

This is particularly evident in the ship’s spa complex. It covers 20,000 square feet over portions of two decks. The facilities are well-laid out and impressive. Moreover, Cunard arranged to have one of the most prestigious resorts in America, Canyon Ranch, operate the spa complex.

Canyon Ranch began in the 1970s with a resort in Tucson, Arizona. This ranch in the Sonoran Desert combined luxury with a total approach to healthy living encompassing fitness activities, outdoor sports, education in health and preventive medicine and award winning cuisine. The winner of numerous awards, it has built a second resort at Lenox Massachusetts, a hotel and condominium complex in Miami Beach Florida and has opened smaller facilities called SpaClubs at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas and the Gaylord Palms resort in Florida.

The spa operation on the Queen Mary 2 is another SpaClub. However, it is not part of a chain of seagoing Canyon Ranch spas. It is the only one of its kind. It encompasses the spa itself, the ship’s fitness center, the beauty salon, its own lecture program and is involved with the dining.

One thing I wondered about was how much is Canyon Ranch actually involved in operating the spa on QM2? However, in talking with the spa’s director, I came to the conclusion that this is not a Canyon Ranch spa in name only. There is a specific Canyon Ranch philosophy and the operation at sea is linked to the land.

My article about the QM2 Canyon Ranch SpaClub along with a series of photos of the spa are at: http://beyondships.com/QM2-CanyonRanch.html

Norwegian Spirit Revisited

When I started Beyondships.com, one of the first ships that I profiled was Norwegian Spirit. The profile included some basic information, an article that I had written about the ship when she first came to New York and a page of photos. Since then the profiles on the site have become much more extensive and contain much more information. Consequently, I felt that I had to go back and redo Spirit’s profile.

Spirit is a charming ship. She was built as Superstar Leo for the Asian market by Star Cruises. Not long after Star bought Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), the ship was transferred to NCL. She still retains an Asian flavor with an extensive collection of Asian art and a clear Asian influence in the décor of her public rooms. This unifying theme helps to give the feeling that the ship is a coherent whole rather than a polyglot conglomerate of rooms.

In addition, the public rooms were done to a high standard and are well-maintained. This gives the ship an upscale and sophisticated feel.

One thing that particularly impressed me on this visit was the friendliness and attitude of the crew. Quite frankly, I did not remember the ship that way. The staff did their jobs but I do not recall them being particularly open. This time, however, everyone appeared happy and eager to please. Not surprisingly, the passengers seemed to respond to this attitude and the ship had a happy atmosphere.

Since coming to NCL, Spirit mostly has been sailing from New York. For a time, it was all year but more recently, she has been spending time sailing from southern ports such as New Orleans. Next year, she will be taking over the itineraries that had been done by Norwegian Dream, which is leaving the fleet, and will be sailing out of Boston.

The new photo tour of Spirit is consistent with the other photo tours on the site and much more in keeping with what this good ship deserves. It is six pages and documents her public areas as well as some of the staterooms. http://www.beyondships.com/NCLSpirit-Tour.html In addition, on the profile page there are now menus from the main dining room as well as the popular Cagney’s and Le Bistro restaurants. There are also copies of daily programs including children’s programs and a sports program. http://www.beyondships.com/NCLSpirit.html

Queen Victoria Hotel Manager Interview

Last month, I wrote about Queen Victoria and my interview with Captain Chris Rynd. I am returning again to that ship as the subject of this week’s blog and am posting an interview that I did with her Hotel Manager Jacqueline (Jackie) Hodgson. My reason for focusing again on Queen Victoria is that she is such a pivotal ship in Cunard’s history.

In the late 1990s, Cunard consisted of a polyglot fleet with ships of various sizes, origins and ages. These ships appealed to different market segments - - some were ultra-luxury, some were premium ships, and some were mass market. This was not the result of a carefully designed plan to diversify but rather reflected changes in the various changes in the company’s direction over the last quarter century. Furthermore, not only did the company lack cohesion and direction but it was owned by a corporation that did not want to be in the passenger ship business. Cunard did not appear to have much of a long-term future.

Then, in 1998, Carnival Corporation stepped in and purchased Cunard. They recognized that the real value of Cunard lay in its ocean liner heritage. Accordingly, they stripped away all of the accretions that had grown up around that core and focused the company on developing around that heritage.

The first step was to build a new ocean liner for the 21st Century. Accordingly, they built the largest ocean liner ever built, the Queen Mary 2. While QM2 borrowed extensively from Cunard’s existing ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2, QM2 has developed her own style and atmosphere that is much different than her famous predecessor.

The next question was how to expand the line and grow the business. As above, the value of the company lay in its ocean liner heritage. However, there did not appear to be enough of a market for transatlantic crossings to support building another true ocean liner. Indeed, even QE2 which is much more suited to transatlantic crossings than to cruising had to be relegated to a cruising itinerary.

The solution to this quandary was to take the style and atmosphere of a traditional ocean liner and put it into ships designed for cruising. Queen Victoria is the first ship based on this strategy. Thus, Queen Victoria is a pivotal ship for Cunard because she is central to Cunard’s strategy for growing the business.

Since the success of this strategy depends upon transplanting style and atmosphere so that the guests feel that they are on a traditional ocean liner, much depends upon how the hotel operation on the ship is handled. Therefore, while the hotel manager is a key player on any passenger ship, it is an absolutely critical position on Queen Victoria.

One of the people selected for this position was Jacqueline Hodgson. (Just as captains are rotated because a person cannot work on a ship all year long, hotel managers are also rotated). Jackie is well-qualified for this position, having spent 16 years on QE2 and having been Hotel Manager on QM2. She also knows about modern cruising, having spent 4 years on secondment to Princess Cruises.

During a recent voyage on Queen Victoria, I spoke with her about the ship’s hotel operation both in concept and in practice. My conversation with Ms. Hodgson is posted at http://beyondships.com/QV-Hodgson.html.

P&O's Aurora - - Attractive British sophistication

P&O Cruises’ Aurora is an attractive ship. On the outside, she has a relatively long bow for a modern cruise ship and she has a terraced stern that give her a pleasing sleek appearance, particularly evident when she is underway.

Yet, what I was more impressed by was her interior. Everything has been done with taste and refinement. The atmosphere of the public rooms is cosmopolitan and sophisticated. At the same time, even though she is a big ship, there is a welcoming feeling.

Aurora is based in Southampton, England. She specializes in longer cruises that take her to the Baltic, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, and even to America and Canada. The vast majority of passengers are British - - after all the ship was built with the British market in mind.

In many respects, Aurora reminds me of Celebrity Constellation. However, life onboard Aurora is more traditional and more formal than on most cruise lines. Dinner in the two main restaurants is done in two seatings with passengers having the same table and waiters for the length of the voyage. I like such a system because a camaraderie usually develops with ones table companions and with the staff over the course of several evenings. Aurora has alternative dining venues that are less formal if one needs a change. There are also tables hosted by the ship’s officers as was the custom in the days of the great liners.

I have posted a profile of Aurora http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Aurora-Profile.html and a photo tour of the ship. http://www.beyondships.com/PO-Aurora-Tour-1.html I hope you enjoy them.

Cunard's Queen Victoria as seen by Captain Chris Rynd

I always feel that I have learned something after talking with Captain Christopher Rynd. His career has coincided with the development of the modern cruise industry and his commands have included the original Pacific Princess (i.e., the Love Boat), Princess’s small R-class ships, mega-cruise ships such as Sapphire Princess, the Queen Elizabeth 2, the Queen Mary 2 and most recently Cunard’s new Queen Victoria. With such a resume, Captain Rynd has a wide variety of experiences to talk about. Moreover, he had to have had great seamanship skills and ability to command in order to have obtained those positions.

Captain Rynd is one of the most hands-on captains I have seen. Standing alone at the bridge wing console of QM2 with his hands on the controls, he maneuvered the great ship away from the pier like a mater musician working the keyboards and stops of a pipe organ.

He does not lecture, however. Rather, an interview with him is a conversation. His officers tell me that that is the way he trains young officers. He sets a problem or task for them to complete and then converses with them in Socratic-style to let them work through the issue themselves.

When I interviewed him last year, we spoke about his career at Princess and then his experiences commanding QE2 and QM2. We spoke briefly about Queen Victoria. It had been announced that Captain Paul Wright and he would be commanding the new ship during her first year but at that point, she was still in the builder’s yard. Subsequently, Captain Rynd took command of Queen Victoria for a large portion of her first world cruise and later during part of her regular summer itinerary. Naturally, I wanted to get his views on the new ship.

Queen Victoria grew from the design of the Vista-class cruise ships used by Holland America Line, P&O Cruises and other lines. However, she is not just another cruise ship. Cunard made certain modifications to the design which, Captain Rynd explained, have affected her sea-going properties. Thus, while she is not an ocean greyhound like QE2 or QM2 designed for heavy seas, she does have unique abilities which set her apart.

What is of greater importance to most passengers is that Queen Victoria’s public spaces capture the feel of the great ocean liners of the past. As Captain Rynd pointed out, that was what her interior designer set out to do and through attention to detail and at considerable cost, Cunard succeeded. Thus, while Queen Victoria’s character is still forming, she already has an atmosphere that while different from QM2 and QE2 is one that past Cunard passengers recognize and approve.

My interview with Captain Rynd appears at http://beyondships.com/QV-Rynd-1.html. I have also added new photos, daily programs and menus to the Queen Victoria section of the Beyondships site. http://beyondships.com/QV.html

The Quiet Elegance of Holland America's Rotterdam

Holland America’s Rotterdam is the sixth ship to bear that name for HAL. The fifth ship was a much-loved classic ocean liner. As a result, the current Rotterdam has been somewhat overshadowed by her predecessor. This is unfortunate because the current Rotterdam is a very good cruise ship in her own right.

Although she shares the honor of being co-flagship with the Amsterdam, Rotterdam is not the newest or largest ship in the HAL fleet. The ship went into service in 1997 and is just under 60,000 gross tons whereas HAL’s latest ship, the Eurodam, is 86,700 tons. The fact that she retains her flagship status while the rest of the industry has been emphasizing larger and larger ships underscores HAL’s dedication to medium-size ships.

Rotterdam has a varied itinerary, traveling to the Baltic, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, as well as on a world cruise. These voyages are often longer than the typical cruise. As a result, the ship attracts well-educated travelers who can take the time to do long voyages.

Inside Rotterdam is quiet sophistication. There is extensive use of wood paneling and soft lighting in the public rooms. While there is an extensive museum-quality art collection, it is blended with the décor instead of being set apart from the living space. This gives the ship more of a relaxed feel. In addition, HAL keeps the number of passengers below what a ship of this size could carry, which results in more space per passenger. The result is clearly a premium product with a cosmopolitan atmosphere.

My profile of the Rotterdam with ship information, menus, and daily programs, is at http://beyondships.com/HAL-Rotterdam.html and my photo tour starts at http://beyondships.com/HAL-Rotterdam-Tour1.html

QE2 revisited - - Three photo essays

This week, I thought I would take another look at Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) seeing as how she is the world’s most famous ship and will be leaving service this year. My own connection to the ship began in 1969, not long after the ship went into service, on a ship visit in New York. Since then I have sailed on QE2 some 70-odd times. I did not really set out to make so many voyages; I just enjoyed being on the ship and it just followed naturally that it was the place to be during those times when one has a choice of where to be.

During her service life, QE2 has garnered a long list of achievements. For many years, the ship was synonymous with luxury and numerous celebrities were included in the passenger list. Although for a long times, QE2 was the largest ship in service, she is considerably smaller than many of today’s mega-cruise ships. As a result, passengers often had direct contact with these celebrities, which made for some interesting experiences.

There was also QE2’s wartime experience as a troopship during the Falklands War. Without QE2 and P&O’s Canberra, Britain could never have transported an army half way around the world to the war zone. Thus, it is not too much to say that QE2 played a vital role in winning that war, which was important not only in the re-vitalization of Britain but in the Cold War because the Soviets were watching to see what kind of response the West would and could make to such a provocation.

QE2 evolved and grew during the course of her lifetime. The original concept was for a ship that could do both the transatlantic service between the US and Britain as well as cruising. Accordingly, she was built in a very technologically advanced manner but also in such a way as to allow her to be constantly up-graded. For example, the hull, accommodations and public spaces were such that it made sense nearly 20 years after she was built to remove completely her old steam engines and replace them with a diesel-electric plant - - a massive undertaking. QE2’s evolution also saw the addition of cabins, the addition and subsequent removal of a retractable glass roof, the lengthening of decks, the addition of new public areas and the modification of others, as well as various paint schemes. It is possible to look at a photograph of the ship and deduce the date the photo was taken give or take a year or two.

There was an evolution in the style of the ship as well. QE2 was built to replace Cunard’s original Queen ships: Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. For all practical purposes, the coming of the commercial jet in the late 1950s put an end to the use of ships as a means of transporting people from Europe to America. However, another factor in the demise of the old ocean liners was that the public viewed them as old-fashioned and dull. Therefore, QE2 was designed to be a hip venue reflecting the Swinging England of the 1960s. Her public rooms used abstract shapes, naugahyde, and spaceage lighting. Outside her curving lines of her bow and superstructure were a break from the past. She was not a traditional liner.

Over the years, as the pendulum of public taste swung back towards tradition, QE2’s interior gradually became more like that of the older liners. In addition, with new cruise ships entering the market which were even a more radical departure from the ships of the past, QE2 started to look more like a traditional ship.

This was tremendously fortuitous because by the late 1990s, Cunard was barely surviving and it was a good bet that the company and its flagship would soon expire. However, the Hollywood blockbuster Titanic, rekindled public interest in traditional ocean liners and seeing a market opportunity, Carnival Corporation stepped in and saved Cunard. QE2 would sail on for another decade.

On my website this week, I have posted three photo essays of the ship during her last year. Each of them shows the ship in a characteristic situation. The first shows QE2 in New York during her final world cruise. http://beyondships.com/QE2-WC-NY.html. We see the ship at the Passenger Ship Terminal in Manhattan and sailing down the North River (a.k.a. the Hudson River) like she did so many times when she was Cunard’s flagship. The second shows QE2 on a ceremonial occasion - - the last meeting with fleetmate Queen Victoria, Cunard’s newest ship. http://beyondships.com/QE2-QV.html Finally, the third shows QE2 in her homeport of Southampton, England preparing for a cruise. http://beyondships.com/QE2-hythe.html All of these photos are exterior photos. There is a comprehensive interior tour of the ship at http://www.beyondships.com/QE2Tour.html