Cruising in 2015

 At this time of year, it is customary to look ahead to the New Year. Therefore, I thought I would take a look ahead to see what may be in store for cruising in 2015. My conclusion is that 2015 promises to be an exciting time for several reasons.

First, 2015 will see an array of important new cruise ships go into service. Each of the top three cruise families will have at least one significant new ship.

In the Carnival family, P&O Cruises will receive its largest ship ever, the 140,000 gross ton Britannia. This ship will be a sister to Princess Cruises' innovative Royal Princess and Regal Princess. As such, Britannia will present British cruisers with dining and entertainment options never before offered on a P&O Cruises ship.

Britannia will be facing some tough competition as Royal Caribbean's new Anthem of the Seas will be based in Southampton for part of the year. This is the 167,000 gross ton sister ship to Quantum of the Seas. Anthem too will be offering Royal's new Dynamic Dining concept and will feature the advanced 270 entertainment center as well as an upmarket sophisticated interior like on Quantum. Oh yes, there will also be the bumper cars, the sky diving simulator, and the North Star observation capsule. However, do not let such items cause you to think that Anthem is not a serious ship.

Not to be left out, Norwegian Cruise Line will be bringing out Norwegian Escape later in the year. At 163,000 gross tons, Escape will be a bigger and improved version of Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway. The Breakaway class embodies a new model of cruising where the passenger has multiple quality options with regard to both dining and entertainment. It will be interesting to see how Norwegian enhances this concept on the ships of the Breakaway-Plus class.

The German cruise market will be greeting AIDAprima. At 120,000 tons, she will be a quantum leap larger than previous AIDA ships. Meanwhile, rival TUI Cruises will be receiving the second ship to be built especially for TUI, the rather unimaginatively named Mein Schiff 4 (98,000 tons).

In the luxury segment of the industry, Viking Cruises will begin ocean cruising with the 48,000 ton Viking Star. The common wisdom in the industry has been that river cruising and ocean cruising are two different businesses and so none of the major ocean cruise lines has ventured into river cruising. Viking, the most successful of the river cruise lines, will test the common wisdom and demonstrate whether a river cruise line can break into the ocean cruise market.

The drop in the price of oil in the last part of 2014 bodes well for the cruise industry. Fuel is the chief cost of operation for the cruise lines. In addition, with consumers paying less at the pump and to heat their homes, they will have more money to spend on discretionary items like cruise vacations. The only cloud on the horizon would be a collapse of the economy of one of the oil exporting states, which could have an adverse impact on the world economy.

Another unexpected gift this fall was President Obama's overture on normalizing relations between the United States and Cuba. The cruise lines are always looking for new destinations for their expanding fleets and Cuba, 90 miles from Florida, is an ideal location. However, before the cruise ships can start calling there, the lines will have to explore such things as whether the port facilities are adequate to handle modern cruise ships, the ability of the Cuban infrastructure to handle shore excursions and whether it would be safe for passengers to go ashore in Cuba. It may take awhile to get all of the ducks in order and so even if the diplomatic questions are resolved quickly, it may be beyond 2015 before the cruise ships come to Cuba in large numbers.

But with all of this happening, it is an exciting time in the cruise world.

On Beyondships this week, we have a new profile of cruise destination Ocho Rios, Jamaica. http://www.beyondships3.com/ocho-rios-cruise-destination.html This includes a review/photo feature on Ocho Rio's top attraction - - Dunn's River Falls http://www.beyondships3.com/ocho-rios-attractions-dunns-river-falls.html and a review of Prospect Plantation.http://www.beyondships3.com/caribbean-great-houses-4.html We also have a new photo and video feature in which Caribbean Princess disappears and magically reappears. http://www.beyondships2.com/caribbean-princess-rain-sun-shadow.html

Economics and small ship cruising

Last month it was announced that Princess Cruises was selling Ocean Princess to Oceania Cruises. Ocean Princess is a small ship by today's standards, coming in at just over 32,000 gross tons.

Originally, this ship was the R4 of Renaissance Cruises. She was one of eight nearly identical ships. When Renaissance went out of business, the eight ships were scattered and ended up in the fleets of Azamara, Oceania, Princess and P&O Cruises. Interestingly, although the eight ships have different they are still nearly identical.

Azamara and Oceania sell cruises on their ships as luxury crusing. Princess and P&O Cruises characterize their ships as offering the same main stream cruise experience as the rest of the ships in their fleet.

The sale of Ocean Princess is not surprising. It is difficult for a main stream cruise line to offer a small ship experience. The cost per passenger of running a small ship is greater than the cost per passenger of running a large ship because of the economies of scale. It thus follows that if you are charging the same or similar fares as you do for a large ship, you are not going to make as much money. (Bear in mind that the cruise lines are businesses with fiduciary responsibilities to their investors).

A luxury cruise line is able to charge more per ticket. Thus, the additional cost of providing a small ship experience is not as significant an issue.

People often ask me why isn't anyone building small cruise ships anymore? In fact, there are small cruise ships being built. To illustrate, Regent Seven Seas has one on order now and Viking Cruises is building a series of ocean going small cruise ships. Seabourn and other luxury brands have also added new small ships to their fleets in recent years.

The question then becomes why aren't the major cruise lines building any small cruise ships? The answer lies in the same econimcs discussed above. Looked at on a per passenger basis, small ships cost more to build and more to operate because they lack economies of scale. Thus, if you can only charge the same price for a cruise on a small ship as you can for a cruise on a large ship, it does not make sense to invest in building a small ship.

This week on Beyondships, we return to Princess Cays, Princess Cruises' private resort in the Bahamas. Our section on Princess Cays has been re-done http://beyondships.com/Princess-PrincessCays.html and a new video of Princess Cays has been added. http://www.beyondships3.com/princess-cays-6.html

Observations on Norwegian Cruise Line

Continuing our look at the various cruise lines, this week I thought I would talk about Norwegian Cruise Line.

Not all that long ago, Norwegian was in a bad way. The top management had some clever ideas but somehow the line was unable to turn these concepts into reality. As a result, Norwegian developed a reputation for poor service. My observation at that time was that the line had some interesting ships but the people operating the ships were unhappy and so service and execution suffered.

Then Kevin Sheehan became CEO and everything started to turn around. Energetic and charismatic, Sheehan was able to revive employee morale and unleash the pent up talents of management and employees. Whereas no one seemed to care before, now everyone is enthusiastic.

Norwegian is at the forefront of the new model of cruising. Long known for its Freestyle diing concept, the new Norwegian ships - - Epic, Breakaway and Getaway - - not only give passengers good quality options with regard to dining but also with regard to entertainment. Thus, guests have a great amount of freedom to decide how they will spend their time onboard.

There is also a wide variety of accommodations on the Norwegian ships - - again, especially on the newer ships. Cabins range from budget-concious interior cabins to the luxury of the suites located in the exclusive Haven area. The newer ships also led the way in providing cabins for solo travelers at a reasonable rate.

Passengers on Norwegian tend to be middle class. Most are interested in relaxing in the sun, using the sports facilities and in the evening being entertained in the bars, casinos and other entertainment venues. Lectures and cultural activities are not a high priority.

Norwegian is a family-fiendly line with a strong youth program and a large amount of space dedicated to children. Of course, the number of children onboard decreases when school is open.

The line bases its ships on a long term basis in certain home ports. For example, Breakaway and Gem are based all year in New York while Norwegain Dawn spends each summer in Boston. As a result, the ships tend to develop a local following who return to their local ship again and again.

Most of the ships in the Norwegian fleet were built at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany. This shipayrd is known for its attention to detail and the high quality of the ships that it builds. The Norwegian ships are no exception.

Norwegian is the thrid largest cruise company. Recently, Norwegian purchased Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises. This move makes a lot of business sense as it will allow Norwegain to become a multi-diemnsional cruise conglomerate like its competitors Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. My only concern, however, is whether the new lines will distract Mr. Sheehan from continuing the great work he has done in turning Norwegian around.

This week Beyondships has new photo and video features of Norwegian Gem http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-gem-coming-and-going.html and Norwegain Dawn. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-dawn-photo-feature.html

Observations on Princess Cruises

Because I cruise so often, people often ask me which is the best cruise line. I always answer that it depends upon your lifestyle and tastes. Each of the major cruise lines sets out to present a different cruise experience. At the extremes, some seek to present a lively party atmosphere while others seek to present a refined cultural experience. If you want a party experience, you are not going to be happy on a culturally-orientated ship no matter how well the cruise line presents its concerts and lectures.

With that caveat, I thought I would do a series of postings offering some general observations about the various cruise lines. Hopefully, this will give you some indication of whether a particular cruise line is for you.

Recently, I have been cruising on a number of the Princess Cruises ships. Therefore, I thought I would start this series with Princess Cruises.

In the U.K. a few years ago, Princess ran an advertising campaign that characterized the line as “American luxury.” I think that was a good description. To me, the Princess cruise experience is one of relaxed sophistication. It is upmarket but not stuffy.

Based on my observations rather than on any scientific study, people who travel on Princess tend to be educated and what used to be called upper middle class. Their tastes are correspondingly sophisiticated but they also like to relax in the sun by the pools or in the adults-only Sanctuary area. Hairy legs competitions and throw the cruise director in the pool are not for this crowd.

While Americans and Canadians dominate, there is usually a good mix of nationalities with the U.K. well-represented.

The passengers range in age from young families to retired people. Of course, the mix of ages depends upon the time of year (less children when school is in session) and the itinerary (some routes attract a more mature crowd). As is true throughout the industry, the average age goes up along with the length of the voyage.

I often meet experienced cruisers on Princess ships. The line has a very strong loyalty program and a devoted following. But, I find that experienced cruisers who travel on Princess also seem to like Celebrity Cruises.

Inside, the public spaces of the Princess ships are eye-catching but at the same time they avoid being glitzy or garish. The interiors of the two latest Princess ships, Royal Princess and Regal Princess, are spectacular. Over several ships, Princess' interior designer Teresa Anderson developed an elegant signature style for Princess. Beacuse the line's new ships are so much bigger than the other ships in the Princess fleet, the designers were able to combine space with the traditional Princess style making for a grand result.

I have always found the food on the Princess ships to be to my taste. This is particularly true of the line's Italian offerings. Early on, Princess merged with the Italian cruise line Sitmar and that Italian heritage is still reflected in the culinary operations on the Princess ships. The Alfredo's Pizzerias serve the best gourmet pizza at sea - - and it is complimentary.

An important part of Beyondships is our interviews with the people who operate the various cruise ships. I have been impressed with the captains, hotel managers, maitre d's and cruise directors who I have interviewed at Princess. The people that I have met have been intelligent and able to see the big picture. I believe that this benefits the passengers through increased innovation and efficiency.

They also seem able to motivate the crews to provide good service. Princess calls itself the consumate host and my experience has been that the crew understand that they should act like the passengers are guests, not just customers. Of course, in any business you have some people who just don't get it but overall the morale and therefore the service level is quite high on Princess.

Overall, Princess is a very strong cruise line.

This week on Beyondships, we have an update on Royal Princess. We have a new photo http://www.beyondships2.com/royal-princess-photo-feature.html and video feature showing the ship in various ports. http://www.beyondships2.com/royal-princess-video.html There is an interview with Hotel General Manager Martin Bristow. http://www.beyondships2.com/royal-princess-hotel-manager-ii.html We also review the Crab Shack dining event http://www.beyondships2.com/royal-princess-crab-shack.html and the Gelatto ice cream parlor. http://www.beyondships2.com/royal-princess-gelato.html

More and more cruise ships; Seven Seas Navigator and Voyager

 Recently, Carnival Corporation issued a press release pointing out that by 2016, it will have increased the capacity of its fleet by 10 percent. Considering that there are over 100 ships sailing for the various Carnival brands, this will be a considerable achievement. Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean is building a sister to Quantum of the Seas and a third Oasis class ship. Not to be left out, Norwegian Cruise Line is building a series of ships that will be a bigger version of its revolutionary Breakaway class.

Back in the last decade, many in the cruise industry thought that the boom in cruise ship construction would eventually end and the various lines would use the ships that they had built to serve the market for 20 to 40 years. However, during the boom, the public became addicted to new ships. I have heard passengers describe five year old ships as old. Passengers want new ships. Also, as new cruising concepts are conceived, there is a need to create new platforms to implement them. Thus, the industry is forced to build more ships.

The question then becomes what are you going to do with all these ships? They are built to last 40 years or longer and so this is not a case of the new ships replacing ships that are no longer fit for service.

Traditionally in the cruise industry, when a cruise ship started to become long in the tooth and no longer capable of attracting passengers in the primary cruise market (i.e. North America), it was moved to the secondary market (i.e., Europe or Australia). When it became to old to be viable in the secondary market, it became a gambling ship in Asia.

The traditional hierarchy of markets, however, no longer exists. As the popularity of cruises has developed in Europe, Australia and Asia, those parts of the globe have become primary markets. Consequently, you see more and more first tier cruise ships deployed to those markets. The deployment of the new Quantum of the Seas to China is but one example.

Thus, the industry has to count on the continued growth of cruising to absorb all of the ships. In addition, to attract guests, the ships are going places and doing things that were never envisioned when cruising was confined to the Caribbean. And speaking of the Caribbean, the change in the quality and quantity of the attractions and things to do in the popular cruise ports over the last decade has been amazing. A Caribbean cruise is not like it used to be.

Furthermore, the cruise line's existing ships have to be continually upgraded to remain viable. For example, after Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas entered service, Royal Caribbean undertook a fleet-wide revitalization program to bring some of the popular features of those revolutionary ships to the rest of its fleet. Along the same lines, Carnival so extensively re-did Carnival Destiny to create a platform for Fun Ship 2.0 that they re-named the ship (Carnival Sunshine).

All of this new building seems to be great for consumers. You have new ships and revitalized ships with new offerings. Ships are going to new places. There is more to do in traditional cruise ports as the desire to attract cruise dollars feeds development. Also, unless the laws of economics have been suspended, increased capacity (supply) should place downward pressure on prices.

On Beyondships this week we look at two ships of luxury cruise line Regent Seven Seas Cruises. We have a new mini-profile of Seven Seas Voyager http://www.beyondships2.com/seven-seas-voyager-mini-profile.html. And we have expanded our coverage of Seven Seas Navigator with a new photo feature http://www.beyondships2.com/seven-seas-navigator-photos.html and videos showing the ship in The Bahamas http://www.beyondships2.com/seven-seas-navigator-video.html and in Canada. http://www.beyondships2.com/seven-seas-navigator-video-2.html

Quantum of the Seas and the Revolution in Cruising

Quantum of the Seas is part of a revolution in cruising. For more than a decade, the watchword in the cruise industry has been “choice.” All of the lines have wanted to give guests more options with regard to what to do while aboard their ships. But, for the most part, the new options brought forward just embroidered the traditional model of cruising. Then, about five years ago, ships started to enter service that offered a new model of cruising with real choice. Quantum carries that model to a new level.

Under the traditional model of cruising, an evening on a cruise ship revolved around the two seatings in the dining room and the two shows in the ship's theater. There was not much choice. Each guest was assigned to one of the seatings for dinner and, as a practical matter, that dictated which of the two shows in the theater you attended. The evening was pretty well mapped out. Yes, you could sit in one of the bars and listen to the piano player instead of going to the show but the majority of the passengers went to the show in the theater after dinner.

Norwegian Cruise Line broke with the traditional model when it introduced Freestyle dining. Guests were no longer assigned a dining time or a table in the main dining room but could dine when and where they liked. Most of the other cruise lines followed suit with their own versions of flexible dining. Still, because the main entertainment offering onboard was the two shows in the ship's theater, your dining time had to be scheduled around the show times. Thus, the choices as to when and what to do were still somewhat limited.

Then, in late 2009, Royal Caribbean introduced Oasis of the Seas and a few months later Norwegian Cruise Line introduced Norwegian Epic. These two ships broke completely with the traditional model of cruising. They offered not only choice in dining but also choice in entertainment. The shows in the theater were no longer the only high quality entertainment option. Thus, under this new model of cruising, guests had real freedom to plan their evenings aboard ship.

Royal Caribbean subsequently refined its version of the new model with Allure of the Seas while Norwegian refined its version with Norwegian Breakaway and Norwegian Getaway.

With Quantum, Royal has taken the new model even further. It has eliminated the main dining room altogether. In its place are five complimentary restaurants each with a different theme and menu. This is in addition to seven specialty restaurants where there is a cover charge. Thus, it is no longer a choice between dining in a general restaurant (i.e. a main dining room) or going to a specialty restaurant. In effect, the choice is now between an array of specialized restaurants some of which have a cover charge and some of which are complimentary. As a result, Quantum presents guests with a better set of choices.

Of course, there are practical limitations on this freedom of choice. If a couple of thousand people decide they want Asian food at 7 o'clock and descend upon a venue that has capacity for a few hundred, someone is not going to get what they wanted. To guard against such possibilities the lines that have implemented the new model of cruising encourage guests to make dining reservations just like they would on land. Some guests feel that this is an imposition on their freedom of choice but most appear to accept it.

It is disappointing that Quantum will only be based in the Port of New York – New Jersey for one brief season. Originally, Quantum was going to be Royal Caribbean's New York ship, replacing Explorer of the Seas in that role. But then Royal decided to commit the ship to developing the Chinese market and so Quantum will be leaving in the Spring 2015.

The reason this is disappointing is that another new model cruise ship is based in New York - - Norwegian Breakaway. Thus, Quantum and Breakaway would have been competing on a long term basis. It could only have been good for cruisers to have these two innovative cruise lines go head-to-head with their first tier ships. But then Quantum's sister, Anthem of the Seas, is scheduled to take up residence in this port in the Fall 2015 so perhaps the grand contest will take place afterall.

This week in Beyondships, we have a new profile section on Quantum of the Seas. http://beyondships.com/RCI-Quantum-Profile.html This includes a nine page photo tour and commentary, which takes you through the public rooms and open decks. http://beyondships.com/RCI-Quantum-Tour-1.html

Quantum of the Seas First Impressions

 This week I had the opportunity to go aboard Royal Caribbean's new ship Quantum of the Seas. My reaction was that this is a bold and complex ship.

Quantum is bold because she is such a departure from previous Royal Caribbean ships. Royal is a very popular cruise line and the safe course for a business that is on a winning streak is to just keep doing what it has been doing in the past. But Royal has never been one for playing it safe. Just consider the giant investment it made in the Oasis class ships which were a significant departure from what Royal had done with the popular Freedom and Voyage class ships.

With Quantum, Royal has gone even further, jettisoning such popular signature features as the Viking Crown Lounge, the Royal Promenade, the ice skating rink and even the main dining room. Other popular features including the rock climbing wall and Johnny Rockets are different than on earlier ships. In place of the old are new features and new concepts, which Royal is betting will interest customers even more.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how there are at least three versions of the Royal Caribbean cruise experience, which roughly correspond to the various classes of ships in the Royal fleet. Because Quantum is so different than her predecessors, there is now a fourth version of the Royal Caribbean cruise experience. This comes in an industry, where in the name of branding, most of the cruise lines are attempting to make their fleets as homogenous as possible. As someone who believes that ships should be different from one another, I find Royal's approach much to my liking.

Quantum is complex because she has a multi-facted personality. Features such as bumper cars and the sky diving simulator may give the impression that this is a frivolous ship, just a floating amusement park. The giant red bear on the port side of the ship also appears to convey this impression as it looks like an even bigger version of the big red dinosaur in the children's playground on Norwegian Dawn.

However, when you go inside the ship, you find that the public areas are sleek and sophisticated. They have the atmosphere of Celebrity Cruises' Solstice class ships (see, e.g., Celebrity Eclipse). Decidedly up-market with stores such as Cartier and Bvlgari and elegant dining rooms to host Royal's new Dynamic Dining concept, there is nothing frivolous here.

Even the giant bear turns out not to be part of a playground but rather a work of art by British sculptor Lawrence Argent. The concept is that by making a polar bear 30 feet high and coloring it magenta, an intimidating creature is transformed into something whimsical. Apparently overlooked is the fact that a giant red bear has a rather intimidating symbolism to those who remember the not-so-good old days of the Soviet Union. In any event, the bear grows on you after awhile.

Thus, Quantum's personality has an element of whimsy and playfulness but primarily it is an intelligent and serious ship. She can casual and she can be elegant. For example, her complimentary dining venues and her specialty restaurants offer a range of food extending from hot dogs to healthy choices to grand fine dining. The entertainment offerings are similarly broad. Throughout the ship is the quality and attention to detail that I have come to expect in ships built by Meyer Werft.

Overall, I was quite impressed by Quantum. Whether this view will be shared by long-time Royal Caribbean fans remains to be seen as the ship is so different than what has gone before. I tend to think they will like it. However, those fans in Royal's home market will only have a short opportunity to see for themselves since when Spring comes the ship is off to blaze a new trail in China.

This week Beyondships begins its coverage of Quantum with four items: a video showing the ship sailing from the Port of New York-New Jersey http://www.beyondships2.com/quantum-of-the-seas-video.html ; a review of the North Star experience on Quantum http://www.beyondships2.com/quantum-of-the-seas-north-star.html ; a Quantum of the Seas menus page with menus from some of the dining venues on Quantum http://www.beyondships2.com/quantum-of-the-seas-menus.html ; and a Quantum of the Seas deck plans page http://www.beyondships2.com/quantum-of-the-seas-deck-plans.html. More about Quantum next week.