Celebrity Millennium - - Profile and Photo Tour

The first time I saw Celebrity Millennium, I was standing on the walls of Fort Morro in the old section of San Juan. Looking out at the approach to the harbor, I could see a sleek looking ship moving rapidly towards the island. Her shape was reminiscent of an arrow and like the old SS United States, she seemed to have a determined look about her. Even though she must have been slowing to enter the harbor, she still maintained a look of motion as she passed the rocky coast below the fortress - - a fine sight on a sunny early winter morning.




As the name hints, Millennium entered service in 2000. She was the first of four 91,000 gross ton ships built for Celebrity. While they would now fall into the mid-size category, they were considered large when they were built. They also were technologically advanced with azipod propulsion systems and gas turbine engines.



Inside, Millennium was elegant and sophisticated. Although Celebrity was now owned by Royal Caribbean, the ship continued the Celebrity tradition of having an extensive collection of contemporary art.



Millennium was also to host Celebrity’s first true alternative restaurant - - the Olympic Specialty Restaurant. For those interested in nautical history, this venue was and is particularly exciting as it includes carved wood panels from the White Star Liner SS Olympic - - the sister ship to the Titanic.



The Millennium class ships are in the process of going through a transformation. In 2009, Millennium had a $10 million revitalization in which the accommodations were redone and various changes were made to the public areas. Shortly thereafter, Celebrity decided that it would incorporate some of the popular features of its new Solstice class ships into the Millenniums. It began this Solsticization in 2010, with a major refit of Celebrity Constellation. Later this year, it will do an even more extensive revitalization of Celebrity Infinity. Summit and Millennium are to follow. It seems likely that new ideas will flow from each refit and thus the four ships will continue to differ slightly in their features for some time to come.



The refits of Millennium and of Constellation underscore the robustness of this design. It can incorporate new features without losing the sophisticated atmosphere which has made these ships so popular.



The Beyondships profile of Celebrity Millennium with copies of programs and menus is at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Millennium-Profile.html The multi-page photo tour and commentary begins at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Millennium-Tour-1.html

Photo Guide to Bermuda; Review of Portofino Restaurant; Inside Shore Excursions

The Bermuda cruising season has begun and is actually well underway. Although Bermuda is sometimes grouped together with the Caribbean islands, it is actually much further north - - about on the same latitude as North Carolina. Consequently, it is not a winter cruise destination. But, during the Spring and Summer months, it does not get as hot as the islands further south. This is one reason why it is a great summer cruise destination.

Another reason is the beauty of the island. It has a bevy of world class beaches - - many with pink sand and artistic looking rock formations. In addition, the landscape is charming with brightly painted houses nestled in amongst the sub-tropical foliage.

A Bermuda cruise is a short cruise from the US East Coast - - there are ships that leave regularly from Boston, New York and Baltimore. The first day is a lazy sail as the ships have to travel at a slow speed to avoid arriving too quickly. Then, most ships spend at least a couple of days in Bermuda. Not only does this allow guests to see the sights during the day but one can sample the island’s culture in the evening.

The culture of the islands - - Bermuda is actually a chain of small islands linked together by bridges and causeways - - is a unique mix. For example, there is the traditional business attire of a suit jacket, tie and shorts. One can see British influences and African influences.

Bermuda is an international business center. As a result, although the island is tourist friendly it is not as commercialized as some of the Caribbean ports. Most shops have a Bermuda flavor and the chain stores that one sees in every Caribbean port are conspicuous by their absence.

Bermuda is home to a sizeable number of billionaires and film stars. Their mansions are sometimes visible perched along the shore. Similarly, there are resorts such as the Elbow Beach Club that cater to the rich and famous. Perhaps it is the romance of the islands combined with its scenic beauty and easy lifestyle that attract them. In any case, it is a good recommendation for Bermuda that people who could spend their time anywhere in the world choose to spend time in Bermuda.

Beyondships’ new photo guide to Bermuda is at http://www.beyondships.com/Ports-Bermuda-1.html

One ship that is a regular visitor to Bermuda is Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas. The specialty restaurant onboard her is the elegant Italian-style Portofino. My review of this specialty restaurant is at http://www.beyondships.com/Explorer-Review-Portofino.html

Finally, most people who cruise take a shore excursion purchased through the ship’s shore excursion office. Accordingly, I spoke with Beatrix Bense, the Tour Office Manager on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 about how a tour office works and how shore excursions are arranged. That interview is at http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-art-Bense.html

Inside Nieuw Amsterdam - Captain and Hotel Interviews, Dining Guide, Le Cirque Review

This week we go beyond the facts and figures about Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam and take a look at life onboard.

To begin, I spoke with Captain Edward G. van Zaane, the man who brought Nieuw Amsterdam into service. Captain van Zaane has been with Holland America for 30 years and has commanded some of its most notable ships, including the ocean liner Rotterdam (v), which is now a hotel/museum in its namesake city. I asked Captain van Zaane to contrast his prior commands against his latest command from a mariner’s viewpoint. In so doing, he not only highlighted the radical changes that have taken place in cruise ships during this period but gave an assessment of the current ship’s capabilities.

We also spoke about what it takes to transform “a piece of steel” into something with “a heart.” Thus, he provided some insight into his style of command.

The final topic we discussed was why people from the Netherlands are rediscovering Holland America and the line’s response. My conversation with Captain van Zaane is at http://www.beyondships.com/HAL-Nieuw-Captain.html


I also spoke with Mark Zeller, who is a second generation Hotel Manager for Holland America. I asked him to speak about the type of cruise experience that passengers should expect on Nieuw Amsterdam and what makes Holland America a premium cruise experience. The interview is at http://www.beyondships.com/HAL-Nieuw-HM.html

I first encountered Mr. Zeller when he was the head of culinary operations aboard the Noordam. In his role as Hotel Manager, his present responsibilities the culinary operations are within his area of responsibility. Accordingly, in putting together the dining guide to Nieuw Amsterdam, I have included his commentary on each of the dining venues onboard. The dining guide is at http://www.beyondships.com/HAL-Nieuw-dining.html

One unique concept that Holland America has recently implemented onboard its ships is “Le Cirque Evening.” Once a cruise, the Pinnacle Grill specialty restaurant is transformed into a seagoing version of te famed New York City restaurant. HAL has worked with Le Cirque’s founder Sirio Maccioni and the chefs at Le Crique to give HAL passengers a concise taste of Le Cirque. This includes not only preparing menu items according to Le Cirque recipes but also presentation of the meal in Le Cirque style. My review of the Le Cirque evenings on Nieuw Amsterdam and on Zuiderdam is at http://www.beyondships.com/HAL-LeCirque.html

Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam - Profile and Photo Tour

Nieuw Amsterdam is Holland America’s latest ship. The sister ship to Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam entered service last summer. She is enlarged version of the line’s Vista class ships - - Zuiderdam, Oosterdam, Westerdam and Noordam.

The ship’s name is the Dutch name for New York City, which was founded as a Dutch colony in the 1600s. Accordingly, there are quite a few references to New York in the ship’s artwork and décor. Furthermore, although the ship has a good collection of traditional European and Asian art, the overall atmosphere has a modern sleekness that calls to mind Manhattan.

Nieuw Amsterdam was also the name of one of Holland America’s most beloved ocean liners. Built in the late 1930s, the earlier Nieuw Amsterdam was designed to complement the World’s Fair of 1939. More modern than her contemporaries, she was considered to be one of the most elegant and attractive ships of that period. Unfortunately, only 15 months after her maiden voyage, the Netherlands was invaded as part of the Nazi blitzkrieg. The ship, in New York at the time, was converted into an Allied troop ship and transported thousands of soldiers. After the war, she was restored to her former state and served until 1971 with Holland America, first on the transatlantic service and later as a cruise ship. Thus, today’s Nieuw Amsterdam has a proud heritage.

Life onboard today’s Nieuw Amsterdam follows Holland America’s sophisticated cruising style. There is more emphasis on the intellectual and cultural than on physical activity. However, the ship does have substantial spa as well as two large pool areas. It also has three specialty restaurants in addition to the main dining room and several casual venues.

Beyondships profile page for Nieuw Amsterdam is at http://www.beyondships.com/HAL-Nieuw.html It has deck plans, menus, daily programs, recipes and other information about the ship as well as acting as the home page for the Nieuw Amsterdam section of the site.

The multi-page photo tour of the ship begins at http://www.beyondships.com/HAL-Nieuw-Tour1.html

Half Moon Cay - - Photo Tour and Commentary

Half Moon Cay is a private island in the Bahamas that was purchased by Holland America Line in the late 1990s. The line has constructed a resort complex on this previously uninhabited island and it now serves as a port of call for Holland America ships and for the ships of sister company Carnival Cruise Lines.

Several of the major cruise lines have private island resorts that have been developed into tropical paradises. Half Moon Cay has been consistently rated highly by cruise ship passengers.

The most outstanding feature of Half Moon Cay is the nine-mile long crescent shaped beach. It is covered with white sand and crystal-clear water laps up on it Deck chairs, hammocks and cabanas lie under the shade of palm trees around the lifeguard-supervised swimming section. Further up the beach, there is just pristine sand.

Half Moon Cay is not just a beach, however. There are the usual beach-related playthings such as paddle boats and floats. But, there are other things to do such as a string ray encounter and riding horses along the beach. You can get a massage, renew wedding vows in the Bahamian church, snorkel, parasail or go for a guided tour on a jet ski, a kayak or a glass bottomed boat.

For the guests’ convenience, the crew of the ship that is visiting the island prepares a barbeque lunch in the restaurant pavilion. There are several bars but members of the bar staff also walk along the beach so that guests do not even have to leave their lounge chair.

Children can play either in the Aqua Park or in the separate Club Hal playground area.

Meanwhile, adults can indulge in shopping or have their hair braided in the Bahamian market area.

The resort is only a small portion of the island. Most of it has been left undeveloped as a wildlife sanctuary. There are guides and tours to instruct the intellectually curious about the island’s ecology.

Half Moon Cay is a fantasyland. It is an escape from the real world. But I think that everybody needs to do that once in a while. Beyondships’ photo tour and commentary is at http://www.beyondships.com/HAL-HalfMoon-1.html

Talking with the Captain and Key Players on Celebrity Constellation

The objective of Beyondships is to give readers a feel for the various ships profiled on the website. One of the ways that we do that is to let the people who run the ships talk about the ships and the kind of cruise experience that they seek to provide on their ships. I think that gives you a more personal perspective. This week, we present four interviews with key people on Celebrity Constellation.

As shown in the new photo tour of Constellation posted last week, the ship has come though a multi-million dollar refurbishment. Such refurbishments are often a turning point in a ship’s career.

Captain Gerry Larsson-Fedde took Constellation through the two week refit. In our interview, he describes what was done and how it was done. As Celebrity’s first non-Greek captain and as a veteran of Royal Caribbean, Captain Gerry has a unique perspective on Celebrity and the Constellation in particular. His interview is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-captain.html

The changes made to Constellation were made with a goal - - to make the cruise experience on Constellation more consistent with the cruise experience on Celebrity’s Solstice class ships. The Solstice class ships - - Celebrity Solstice, Equinox, Eclipse and coming this summer Silhouette - - are beautifully designed and innovative ships. While Celebrity’s Millennium class ships, which includes Constellation, have long had a reputation for providing a good premium cruise product, Celebrity has decided to upgrade them by taking features from the Solstice ships and incorporating them into the Millennium class ships. Celebrity calls this process “Solsticizing.”

Hotel Director Ryan Kingston worked on the Solsticizing of Constellation and is slated to work on the Solsticizing of sister ship Celebrity Infinity. In his interview, we discussed how the changes made to Constellation relate to each other and how they make the cruise experience more like the experience you have on the Solstice class ships. It is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-HD.html

Leaving aside what changes have been made to Constellation and why they were made, there is still the question of what type of cruise experience is being offered on the Constellation today. To answer this we have interviews with two more key players.

Cruise Director Rich Clesen describes Celebrity’s new emphasis on entertainment and gives examples of how this has affected the programming onboard. http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-CD.html

Finally, with all of the additions to Constellation, the ship now has quite a few dining venues. Executive Chef Andy Bouchard discusses what to expect from each of these venues including some of his favorite dishes. http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-CD.html

Profile and Photo Tour - Celebrity Constellation

A problem that arises when a cruise line builds a series of new and innovative ships is the effect on the line’s existing ships. Your new ships make your competitors’ ships look less attractive. But without all of the new features of their new fleetmates, your existing ships are also going to look less attractive. The last thing you want is for a customer who has been attracted to your cruise line because of a great experience on your new ship to be disappointed when he or she cruises on one of the line’s older ships.

To avert this outcome, Celebrity Cruises is investing millions of dollars to “Solsticize” its existing fleet. This means taking features that have proven popular on its new Solstice class ships and putting versions of those features on its Millennium class ships. This includes new specialty restaurants, new bars and lounges as well as changes to the décor of the ships. At the same time, the line is refurbishing the ship’s accommodations.

Solsticizing the four Millennium class ships is a complicated undertaking. The Millenniums have always been popular in their own right and so Celebrity would like to maintain their character. However, while they are large ships (91,000 gross tons), they are not as large as the Solstice ships (122,000 gross tons) and they do not have larges areas of unused space. Thus, in order to add new features, some of the existing features would have to go.

Celebrity began this process last Spring with the youngest of the four Millenniums - - Celebrity Constellation. At least in my view, the line managed to carry out the Solsticization very well. The new features add to the cruise experience but at the same time what made Constellation a standout premium ship has been maintained. Constellation is still Constellation; not a mini-version of Solstice.

The best example of this is the addition of the Tuscan Grill specialty restaurant. This concept debuted on Celebrity Solstice and combines Italian cuisine and an American-style steakhouse - - two very popular types of dining. The atmosphere is upscale but not overly formal. On the Solstice ships, this restaurant occupies a large area along the stern of the ship. The comparable space on the Millennium class ships is occupied by the main dining rooms, which are spectacular. So, Celebrity could not simply transplant the Tuscan Grill concept as is to Constellation.

Looking around the Millenniums, Celebrity saw that an area at the top of the ship that had been used as a conservatory/florist shop was rarely used by passengers. Adding some space that had been used for ping pong tables and a lobby area, Celebrity saw there was enough space here for a restaurant. The conservatory’s tall glass windows bring in natural light just as the large windows in the Tuscan Grill on Solstice do. As a result, Celebrity was able to transplant the Tuscan Grill concept to Constellation.

The Beyondships’ photo tour of Constellation has been re-photographed to show the changes that have been made to Constellation. It begins at http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-Tour-1a.html
In addition, the profile page has new menus, daily programs and other information about the ship. http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-Profile.html
Finally, we have added a new part II to our photo essay Constellation in the Caribbean showing the ship in more Caribbean ports of call. http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Constellation-Caribbean-2.html
Changing topics, this week Commodore Bernard Warner of Cunard Line retired. Commodore Warner’s firm hand did a great deal to shape Queen Mary 2. We wish him well in his future endeavors.

Cunard also announced that it had appointed Captain Christopher Rynd as its new commodore. Commodore Rynd brings with him a wealth of experience from his time at Princess Cruises and P&O. He is also one of the few masters who can claim to have commanded three of the Cunard Queens - - Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and the legendary Queen Elizabeth 2. For more information about Commodore Rynd’s career, see our interview at http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-Rynd-1.html