Photo Tour and Profile of Carnival Destiny

Last time, I noted that Beyondships now profiles all of the Carnival Cruise Lines ships that were derived from the design of Carnival Destiny. However, cruise ships like people, change over time and so one has to revisit them every so often in order to keep up to date. What better place to start than the ship that started it all - - Carnival Destiny.

Destiny was the first cruise ship larger than 100,000 gross tons. This size enabled Carnival to offer features not found in other cruise ships including Carnival’s own ships. In addition, the economies of scale allowed Carnival to offer good quality at an affordable price.

Destiny has not stood still. Over time new features have been added to her. Most recently this has included a 270 square foot LCD screen over the main pool area and the addition of a mini-golf course. Thus, while Destiny is no longer the world’s largest cruise ship, she remains a viable competitor doing four and five-day cruises out of Miami.

Beyondships profile of Carnival Destiny is at: http://beyondships.com/CarnivalDestiny-profile.html and the photo tour begins at http://beyondships.com/CarnivalDestiny-Tour-1.html

Profile and Photo Tour of Carnival Liberty

With the addition of Carnival Liberty, Beyondships now has profiles of all of Carnival Cruise Lines’ ships that have grown out of the design first introduced with Carnival Destiny. This includes the Destiny, Triumph, Conquest, Splendor and Dream classes - - 10 ships in all

I did not plan for Carnival Liberty to be the last, it just worked out that way. Liberty was just the last one I encountered.

She entered service in 2005 and was the fourth of the Conquest-class. It is a good design that has worked well for Carnival and for its guests. There is a variety of public rooms and facilities, which offer guests real options on where to go and what to do.

While the general layout of the Conquest class ships is the same, they are not cookie cutters. Architect Joe Farcus always develops the interiors of the Carnival ships around a unifying idea. The idea is unique to each ship. For Carnival Liberty, he decided to pay tribute to “great artisans and their works.” This is a broad theme and so the theme is not as apparent as one walks through Liberty. However, the result is an interior that is perhaps more subtle than some of her fleetmates.

One of the things that stands out in my mind about Carnival Liberty was the friendliness of the crew. Of course, it all depends upon who you encounter as well as the circumstances but on Carnival Liberty, everyone I spoke with seemed nice and was helpful. The friendliness of the crew helps to create a ship’s personality but the ship’s personality also affects whether a crew is friendly.

Beyondships’ profile of Carnival Liberty is at: http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalLiberty-Profile.html The multi-page photo tour and commentary begins at: http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalLiberty-Tour-1.html

NCL's Great Stirrup Cay Photo Tour

Great Stirrup Cay is Norwegian Cruise Line’s private island in the Bahamas. It acts as a port of call for NCL ships on Caribbean and Bahamas itineraries.

This island was one of the first private islands developed by the major cruise lines and it has a unique atmosphere. One gets the feeling that this is what it must be like to be on an island that someone owns rather than being at a Bahamian resort. It is more of a beachcomber style.

A day at Grand Stirrup begins with a ride from the ship to the island in a landing craft that once served as a tender for the legendary SS Norway. Upon arriving at the island, the front ramp drop down and one steps onto the beach as in a John Wayne movie.

Of course, there are no enemy bullets flying. Rather, there is the friendly crew to greet you. They have come over from the ship earlier to set up the beach barbeque and the various bars.

Not far away is the beach area and many passengers dash there to secure a deck chair in a prime location. The beach is sandy and the water is sheltered by a rocky spit of land.

Sitting by the beach is not the only thing to do. There are some hammocks in amongst the palm trees and some deck chairs in the shade. For the more active, there is snorkeling, parasailing and a giant inflatable water slide. One can also get away from the crowd by following the nature trail into some of the undeveloped parts of the island. (Be careful, the rocks can be slippery). There is also an eco-boat tour during which naturalists talk about the island’s environment and point out examples of the wildlife.

Then, as mentioned earlier, one can enjoy a barbeque lunch - - hamburgers, hot dos, pizza, salads, desserts etc. - - at a picnic table under the palms. Or one can sit on the deck of the main bar and watch the sea lap onto the rocky shore. .

Recently, NCL has announced plans to revitalize Great Stirrup. Several of these new improvement projects are already underway and some have even been completed. At the end of the project the island will be more resort-like and have more facilities for passengers. For example, there will be a new marina with boats and jet skis as well as a place for tenders to dock.

Beyondships’ multi-page photo tour of Great Stirrup Cay begins at: http://www.beyondships.com/NCL-GreatStirrupCay.html

Photo tour and Profile of Carnival Sensation

Carnival has made the decision to keep its Fantasy-class ships viable. These eight ships were built in the early 1990s and have served the company well. Offering good quality amenities and facilities at an affordable price, these 70,000 gross ton ships were in no small measure an important factor in making Carnival the world’s most popular cruise line.

Today, the fleets of the major cruise lines, including Carnival, are dominated by much larger ships with more features than the Fantasy class chips. As a result, most pf the major lines have sold or are transferring ships of the same age to their subsidiaries in the secondary market. From a nautical and technological standpoint, there is nothing wrong with these ships. The problem is that they do not have all the features that the new ships have.

Carnival, however, has seen that there is still a place for these ships. There are ports that serve areas where there is an untapped demand for cruising but which may not be big enough to justify deploying a new mega-cruise ship to that area. In addition, there is a market for short cruises that are an economical vacation or a good short break. Again, it probably would not be an efficient deployment of resources to have new mega-cruise ships doing short cruises but it would work with a smaller ship.

Therefore, Carnival is investing millions on its Evolutions of Fun re-vitalization program for its Fantasy class ships. For Carnival Sensation, the third of the Fantasy-class ships, this revitalization took place in two parts. In 2007, her interior public spaces and staterooms received a facelift. Then, in 2009, she went in for a second refit.

This time, the big changes to Sensation were to the open decks. The main pool area has been redecorated so as to give it a more upscale feel. In addition, the spiral water slide and the children’s Water Wars equipment have been removed. Similarly, the children’s pool, which was located at the stern on the promenade deck, has been replaced by an adults-only retreat.

Sensation, however, is still family-friendly. Replacing the aforementioned children’s facilities is a new aqua park called Water Works. This large area has a giant spiral water slide, racing slides, and fountains spraying streams of water.

In addition to the changes to the open decks, Carnival added three sections of balcony staterooms to the ship. Balconies are incredibly popular in the cruise business. Consequently, ships built without balconies have to have balconies added if they are to remain viable in the primary market.

The new Beyondships profile and photo tour of Sensation shows the finished product. In addition, I have added a page to the photo tour to show what the ship looked like before the most recent changes were made. The profile is at http://beyondships.com/CarnivalSensation-Profile.html and the photo tour begins at http://beyondships.com/CarnivalSensation-Tour-1.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

Profile and Photo Tour of Oasis of the Seas

Oasis of the Seas is a historic ship. The mere fact that she is so much larger than any passenger ship before her by itself is enough to ensure her a place in history. However, what is more important about her is that she brings a revolutionary approach to cruising.

With regard to size, she is 220,000 gross tons. Before Oasis entered service, the largest cruise ships were approximately 150,000 gross tons. Thus she is about half again larger than her biggest predecessor. She is not much longer or taller than other ships and thus the difference in size is primarily due to the fact that she is much wider than previous ships.

The cruise experience on Oasis is something new and different. It builds upon what Royal Caribbean has done with its Voyager and Freedom class ships but is a quantum beyond that. By organizing the ship into sections, each with a unifying theme, Royal allows passengers to have several different experiences. One can stay in one of these “neighborhoods” and soak up that experience or one can move between them having several different experiences a day. In some ways it reminded me more of Disney’s Epcot theme park than the experience on other ships. Moreover, like the Disney park, it is operated efficiently and with sophistication, making good use of technology.

This is not to say that Royal has done away with everything that made cruising a good fun experience. The daily program still contains many traditional cruise ship activities - - those that are not only fun but which afford an opportunity to get to know your fellow passengers. In addition, management has placed an emphasis on personal service and the crew is friendly.

Oasis was not built to be a transatlantic express liner. However, her nautical qualities are too often overlooked. When you look at her bow on, one sees that at the waterline she has a slim bow that tapers back rather slowly. This is an efficient form for cutting through the waves. She also has a relatively deep draft - - 30 feet, which when combined with her width and low center of gravity makes her rather stable. Indeed, if one is in the Central Park area of the ship, much of the time it is easy to forget one is on a ship inasmuch as there is so little movement.

I had the experience of sailing on Oasis in the morning and then on another modern ship in the afternoon and was surprised at the amount of motion in the afternoon sailing. Oasis had disguised the fact that the sea was actually rather rough.

Beyondships’ profile of Oasis of the Seas is at http://www.beyondships.com/RCI-OOS-Profile.html : The multi-page photo tour begins at: http://www.beyondships.com/RCI-OOS-1-tour.html
Next week, we talk with the captain and hotel director of Oasis.

Talking with the Captain of Celebrity Mercury

This week we take another look at Celebrity Mercury and who better to speak about her than her captain?

Captain Komstantinos Patsoulas, a veteran of the Greek Navy, joined Celebrity Cruises in 1997. “Everything has changed - - the ships, the people, the opportunities for careers. Everything has changed for the better.”

However, as Captain Patsoulas pointed out to me, there is still a place in Celebrity for the 12-year old Celebrity Mercury. According to the captain, she is a “real ship.” Moreover, her crew tries hard to achieve an atmosphere of hospitality and friendliness. As a result, many guests still prefer this medium sized ship. My interview with Captain Pastsoulas is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Mercury-art-captain.html

In a second article, we go onto the Mercury’s bridge to take a look at the ship from a nautical point of view. While there, I spoke with the ship’s navigator, Irene Cop, about how they drive the ship, the equipment on the bridge, the bow thrusters, the stabilizers and the engines. This article appears at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Mercury-art-bridge.html