Photo Tour of the Refurbished Celebrity Summit

When a cruise line builds a new class of ships, particularly one that is innovative and has all sorts of new features, one of the consequences is that its existing fleet pales by comparison.  The existing ships may still be seaworthy and capable of providing a good cruise experience but the public perceives them as less attractive than their new fleetmates.

            Thus, when Celebrity Cruises brought out the Celebrity Solstice, the first ship in a new innovative five ship class, and that ship was acclaimed by both critics and passengers alike, it quickly announced that it would be spending $140 million to upgrade its four existing Millennium class ships.  Those ships were the workhorses of the Celebrity fleet and still had plenty of life left in them.  The idea was to transplant some of the popular features of the Solstice into the four Millenniums and thus keep them representative of the Celebrity brand.

            It would have been disruptive and difficult to find the shipyard space to refurbish all of the ships at once.  Therefore, the Solstization process, as Celebrity calls it, was to be spread out over several years.  The process began with Celebrity Constellation in 2010.  However, each time Celebrity has done one of these refurbishments, it has come up with new ideas for enhancing the Millenniums.  As a result, when all of her sister ships have been Solsticized, Constellation will have to return to the shipyard for another round of enhancements.

            Celebrity Summit was the third ship to be Solsticized.  Originally, she was planned to be the second but Celebrity decided to have Celebrity Infinity go ahead of her.   The work was done on Summit in Freeport in the Bahamas in January 2012.

            What did Summit get?  Part of one of the balconies overlooking the Normandie main dining room was enclosed and turned into a Blu restaurant.  This is the dining room for guests staying in the Aqua class cabins that were also added during the refit.  The area that had been the flower conservatory became a specialty restaurant.  Not the Tuscan Grill as on Constellation but Qsine, the non-traditional venue that premiered on Celebrity Eclipse.  Yet another new dining venue is Bistro on Five, a creperie

There were also new bars and lounges added including the sophisticated Martini Bar from the Solstice class ships and the Cellar Masters wine bar.

Several of the existing public areas were spruced up.  The magnificent grand staircase was given a lighter look.  Revelations, the ship’s forward observation lounge also received a new look.

While the changes gave Summit many of the features of the Solstice class ships, they did not take away her identity.   The Millennium class ships have a considerable following and realizing this Celebrity has not tried to make them into a somewhat smaller version of the Solstice.  The Solsticized Summit is still the Summit, only better.

Beyondships photo tour of the refurbished Summit begins at http://beyondships.com/Celebrity-Summit-Tour-1.html

Carnival Fascination Profile and Photo Review

           

Carnival Fascination is the 17^th Carnival Cruise Lines ship to be profiled on Beyondships.  A member of the Fantasy class, she is in outward appearance very similar to her seven sisters.  However, no two Carnival ships are exactly alike.

            One reason you can make such a sweeping statement is that interior designer Joe Farcus, who has had a hand in designing all of the ships now in service, used a different theme for each ship.  As a result, although the interiors of each class have a similar layout, the public rooms look different.

            On Fascination, the theme was Hollywood.  This inspired the elegant look of the Tara Library, the glamour of the Beverly Hills Bar and the imaginative Passage to India Lounge.

            Fascination entered service in 1994 and over the years, there have been a lot of changes.  Carnival has recognized that there is a market for good quality cruises at an affordable price.  So it keeps investing in the Fantasy-class ships, adding new features and modifying the experience they present so as to keep them vital and consistent with the overall brand image. 

            Today, Carnival Fascination is based in Jacksonville, Florida.  She sails down the Florida coast to that unique American port of call, Key West.  Then it is over to the Bahamas for a day in Nassau and then back home.  Sometimes Freeport or the private island Half Moon Cay is substituted for Key West.  In any case, it is a pleasant fun-in-the-sun itinerary.  It is something Carnival has a lot of experience doing.

            The home page for our profile of Carnival Fascination, which includes copies of daily programs and deck plans, is at http://beyondships.com/CarnivalFascination-Profile.html.   The multi-page photo tour and review of the ship begins at http://beyondships.com/CarnivalFascination-Tour-1.html   

Talking with the Captain, Hotel Director, Cruise Director and Maitre d' of Island Princess

It takes more than great hardware to make a great cruise.  You can have the finest ship in the world but if the officers and crew aren’t good, it is going to be at best a mediocre cruise.  So too, if you have a really good team running the ship, it can be the difference between a good cruise and a great cruise.

            There was a very good team in charge when I was on Island Princess recently.  I liked the ship and its layout quite a bit.  However, the quality of service, the programming and the dining made it a cruise to remember.  All of these are hallmarks of a good management team.

            At the top was Captain Nicolo Bommarco.  Born by the sea in Venice, Italy, Captain Bommarco has been sailing passenger ships since 1984.  He has served on nearly every ship in the Princess fleet.

            Hotel General Manager Emilio Mazzi, first went to sea in 1968.  He is a true gentleman and reminded me of the managers of the grand hotels that we used to stay in when I was a teen.  Mazzi is relaxed and friendly but he knows how to make guests comfortable like those old school experts did.

            Another cruise industry veteran is Cruise Director Rick Joseph.  His first job at sea was at age 15 on Carnival Cruise Line’s first ship the Mardi Gras.  He went on to Holland America and then to become the youngest cruise director in the industry for Chandris.  Subsequently, he was closely involved in bringing out all eight of the R class ships for Renaissance.  Thus, he brought a great deal of experience with him when he joined Princess in 2002.  Moreover, with this background, his onboard lecture about ocean liners and cruise ships is not to be missed.

            I met with these three leaders and asked them to talk about Island Princess.  My goal was to have the people who actually run the ship tell about the ship and the cruise experience that they provide onboard.  The interview is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/island-princess-interview.html

            But what about the dining on board Island Princess?  For this I turned to Maitre d’Hotel Ignazio D’Agostino.  Ignazio is seemingly everywhere - - the main dining rooms, the specialty restaurants, the galley etc.  As he said to me: “This job you can’t do it just because you have to do it, you have to love it.   You have to love it in the sense to be accommodating, be smiling, be friendly to the customer.”

            This was most evident at the Chef’s Table event.  Together with Executive Chef Klaus Baumgarten, Ignazio hosted a small group of guests in an evening that began with a visit to the ship’s main galley when it was in full operation.  This was followed by a multi-course dinner that was literally a feast.  The evening was enhanced by the commentaries by the Maitre d and the Chef about cooking and restaurant operations.  All the time, Ignazio was ensuring that the service was beyond perfect.     

            I asked Ignazio to give us some insights into the various dining venues on Island Princess.  They are incorporated into the dining guise that is posted at  http://www.beyondships2.com/island-princess-dining-guide.html

                         

Island Princess: Profile and Photo Tour and Review

This week, we are adding a profile of Princess Cruises’ Island Princess to Beyondships.


Island Princess may be Princess’ best kept secret. Not that many people seem to be familiar with her. She is not one of the large Grand class ships that are the mainstay of the Princess fleet. Nor is she one of Princess’ small R-class ships. And she isn’t one of the Sun class ships that primarily serve the Australian market these days.

Island Princess, along with her sister ship Coral Princess, are in a class by themselves. They are bigger than the Sun class but smaller than the Grand class. At 91,000 gross tons, they have the space for everything you would expect from a modern cruise ship but at the same time they are not overwhelming.

Furthermore, Princess has not packed them full of passengers. They have the best passenger space ratios in the Princess fleet and so you have plenty of elbow room in their large spacious public rooms.

I also was delighted by the service on Island Princess. When I was aboard her, she had the quality of service that you used to find only in European grand hotels. I have nothing but good memories of my cruise on Island Princess.

So why then is Island and her sister relatively unknown/ I think that it is because they were built to do two types of itineraries - - the Panama Canal and Alaska. Thus, they do not get around to the more popular cruising areas as often as other ships. As a result, they tend to attract more seasoned travelers who want a different cruise experience.

The profile of Island Princess, with programs, menus and other information about the ship, is at http://beyondships.com/Princess-IP-Profile.html. Our multi-page photo review of the ship is at http://beyondships.com/Princess-IP-Tour-1.html. Also, we have a review of Island Princess’ specialty restaurant the Bayou Café http://www.beyondships2.com/island-princess-bayou-cafe-review.html

Titanic Anniversary Cruise; Azamara Journey Profile and Photo Review

This month marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of RMS Titanic. To commemorate this event, a British travel agency, Miles Morgan Travel chartered two cruise ships to bring guests to the wreck site in the North Atlantic on the anniversary night. One ship, the Fred Olsen Line’s Balmoral sailed from Southampton, England. The other the Azamara Journey, sailed from New York.




There was a great potential for these cruises to turn out badly. They could have been a tasteless attempt to commercialize a tragedy. Nonetheless, I felt this was too significant an event to miss and so I booked passage on Azamara Journey.



As it turned out, the cruise was a very worthwhile experience. The days were mostly spent listening to an impressive battery of maritime historians and Titanic experts discuss various aspects of the Titanic story. When there wasn’t a lecture or event, you had the amenities of Azamara Journey.



However, what made the cruise special was being at the wreck site on the anniversary night. We had had poor weather for most of the cruise but that evening it cleared and the conditions became like they were 100 years before. It was a cold, dark moonless night. The sea was relatively calm. Overhead were a multitude of stars. Whether you looked out into the blackness or at the lights of the Balmoral nearby, you could not help but feel moved.



I have posted a full account of the cruise at http://www.beyondships2.com/titanic-anniversary-cruise-preface.html



In addition, I have added a profile of Azamara Journey to Beyondships. Journey is one of the eight R-class ships built for Renaissance Cruises. Thankfully, Azamara Club Cruises has retained much of the ship’s original décor and so she still has the feel of an upper class English country house.



The profile of Journey is posted at http://beyondships.com/Azamara-Journey-Profile.html. It has copies of daily programs, menus and information about the ship. The multi-page photo review of the ship begins at http://beyondships.com/Azamara-Journey-Tour-1.html.



In addition, I’ve posted an interview with Edie Bronstein, Azamara’s Senior Vice President, in which she talks about the cruise experience Azamara aims to provide on its ships. http://www.beyondships2.com/azamara-svp-interview.html.

Norwegian Gem Update: Talking with the Captain and Hotel Director; Restaurant Reviews

Norwegian Gem continues to be one of the most popular ships sailing out of New York.  Indeed, I am told that she is one of the most popular ships in the Norwegian Cruise Lines fleet.

Norwegian, however, has never been one to rest on its laurels.  Thus, when I went on Gem in March, I was not surprised to find that the ship had continued to evolve.  Yes, there still were such familiar things as the beautiful Grand Pacific Dining Room and the sleek but cozy Cagney’s Steakhouse.  But there were also a bevy of new things going on.

I had heard of some of these things beforehand such as the new Moderno Churrascaria, which has replaced the ship’s Tex/Mex restaurant.  I had also heard that the Nickelodeon characters were now aboard.  But there were also many other things as well.

Accordingly, I sat down with Hotel Director Steve Knott to discuss what is new on Norwegian Gem.  The interview is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-gem-hotel-director-interview.html.

When I boarded the Gem, I intended to write a review only of the new restaurant, the Moderno.  However, I had such good meals at the Orchid Garden Asian fusion restaurant and Le Bistro, that I decided to share those experiences with you as well.  Thus, there is a review of the Moderno at  http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-gem-moderno-review.html.   The review of Le Bistro is at http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-gem-le-bistro-review.html  and the review of the Orchid Garden is at http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-gem-orchid-garden-review.html

Also, since the Costa Concordia tragedy, a number of people have asked me about cruise ship safety in general.  Therefore, I thought it might be reassuring to have an accomplished mariner talk about the approach to safety on his ship.  Accordingly, I spoke with Gem’s Captain Hakan Svedung about safety on Norwegian Gem.  That interview is posted at http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-gem-captain-interview.html        

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            In addition, new daily programs (Freestyle Daily); menus and other information has been added to the Norwegian Gem profile page http://www.beyondships.com/NCLGem-Profile.html and new photos to the Gem photo tour and review http://www.beyondships.com/NCLGem-Tour-1.html.   

Carnival Fantasy Profile and Photo Review

One is tempted to talk about Carnival Fantasy from a historical perspective.  When she entered service, she was the largest ship yet built by Carnival Cruise Lines and represented Carnival’s answer to Royal Caribbean’s Sovereign class.  These ships were as large as such great ocean liners as the Queen Elizabeth 2 and thus mark the coming of age of cruise ships.

In addition, Carnival Fantasy was the first of eight nearly identical ships.  These ships allowed Carnival to expand to become the world’s most popular cruise line.  They also introduced many, many people to cruising.

Still, it is wrong to just talk about what Carnival Fantasy has done in the past because she continues to provide a quality cruise experience.  She may not be as large as Carnival’s latest ships but the cruise experience that she provides is based upon the same model used throughout the Carnival fleet.  It should also be noted that Carnival has invested large sums over the years to add new features and to keep the ship viable.  

Today, Carnival Fantasy is based in Charleston, South Carolina.  As such, she gives people who live in the southeastern United States the option of driving to rather than flying to the ship.

Our profile of Carnival Fantasy, including copies of menus, daily programs and other information, is at http://beyondships.com/CarnivalFantasy-Profile.html   The multi-page photo review of the ship begins at http://beyondships.com/CarnivalFantasy-Tour-1.html