Norwegian Epic’s Inaugural Schedule

6/15/2010 Delivered France
6/16/2010 sea Repo from France to Rotterdam
6/17/2010 sea-or-Rotterdam
6/18/2010 sea-or-Rotterdam
6/19/2010 Rotterdam 2-Night cruise
6/20/2010 Sea
6/21/2010 Rotterdam 1 night
6/22/2010 Southampton 2-Night cruise
6/23/2010 sea
6/24/2010 Southampton 7-Night Transatlantic
6/25/ – 6/30/2010 (6 days)sea
7/1/2010 New York Inspections. First time she is in a U.S. Port
7/2/2010 New York Christening 3-Night 4th of July Cruise
7/3 -7/4/2010 (2 days) sea
7/5/2010 New York Non-Passenger cruise
7/6/ 7/7/2010 (2 days) sea
7/8/2010 Miami 2-Night cruise
7/9/2010 sea
7/10/2010 Miami Eastern Caribbean Maiden Voyage

Captain Wright Answers Questions about Oasis

Malcolm says: An excellent video!

Douglas Ward Does Oasis

Douglas Ward has reviewed Oasis of the Seas for his ‘Berlitz cruise Guide’. See menu right.

The Battle of Toytown

In the battle of the family friendly newbuilds, the front line is being reinforced with some new foot soldiers. In P&O Ventura’s case it is ‘Noddy’ and friends, in NCL ‘Norwegian Epic’s case it is ‘Spongebob’ and friends.

That's not what I call formal dress!

NCL has recently announced a partnership with ‘Nickelodeon’ in which ‘Norwegian Epic’ (and other ships in their fleet) will feature Nickelodeon-themed family entertainment. Nickelodeon and NCL experiences for the entire family will include character meet and greets, interactive game shows and more.

That icon of British culture ‘Noddy’  features in the children’s area of Ventura, for two to four-year-olds to emphasise the ship’s family-friendly facilities.  Noddy makes periodic appearances at character breakfasts and during playtime. This is claimed to be the first time a British cruise line has forged a relationship with a recognisable children’s character.

Let’s not forget that the ‘Disney’ ships know a thing or two about children’s characters too.  I hear Micky and Minnie are regular passenger on their fleet.

Now Royal Caribbean have taken a different approach to kids entertainment and are not using rubber suits, (sorry, I mean children’s characters) on board.  Instead the ‘Oasis of the Seas’ is relying on it spectacular children’s facilities such as the water-park, rock wall and flow-rider to keep the kids amused.

Without doubt Disney, Royal Caribbean and NCL are the market leaders for family cruising, so let the battle of Toytown begin!

Malcolm Oliver

Norwegian Epic to cruise the Med in 2011

(from www.shipspotting.com )

NCL Freestyle Cruising is bringing its largest and most innovative ship to date to Europe for summer 2011. Debuting in June this year, Norwegian Epic will spend summer in the Mediterranean as part of her 2011 / 2012 deployment.

The 153,000 tonne ship will sail a seven-day Western Mediterranean itinerary from Barcelona, Spain from May until October 2011. Ports of call include: Florence/Pisa (Livorno); Rome (Civitavecchia); Naples, Italy; and Palma, Majorca, Spain, along with two full days at sea.

“By bringing the ship to Europe during her second season, we are combining the excitement of Norwegian Epic with a very popular European itinerary,” says Kevin Sheehan, NCL’s chief executive officer.

(NCL Press Release)

Malcolm says: Good news, but I wonder if ‘Oasis’ or ‘Allur’ will follow suit?

Norwegian Epic Interiors Revealed

I have discovered some unseen images of NCL’s forthcoming leviathan, ‘Norwegian Epic’. See Below:

Aquapark ©Tilberg

Now that’s got to be one of the best water slides afloat. The kids will love it.

Lobby ©Tilberg

Lobby ©Tilberg

The Atrium/Lobby looks not dis-similar in concept to the lobby’s on the existing newer NCL ships, in the sense that it is NOT a ten story glitzy atrium. they are   more modest affair a two to three decks high. Of course the space saved is used for extra accommodation and dining rooms.

Ultra Lounge ©Tilberg

The ‘Ultra Lounge’ looks rather hip and trendy.  I like the big things which look like big springs (probably lights).

Elevators ©Tilberg

 The elevator area looks, errr…like an elevator area on any modern cruise ship.

Photo Gallery ©Tilberg

The Photo gallery looks high-tech, with plasma monitors, probably displaying images digitally, not unlike the one on ‘Oasis of the Seas’.  There are clearly islands representing the passengers of each deck.

The Manhattan Room ©Tilberg

This rendering of the ‘Manhattan Dining Room’ makes it look a bit smaller than the original rendering did. However I like the simplicity of this Art Deco style  room.  I always love to see double height rooms on any ship.  I bet it will be my favourite rooom.

So in conclusion, Epic’s decor looks rather ‘classy’ to me compared to the more upbeat ‘fun ship’ like decor of NCL other recent newbuilds. In fact some of the decore is  not unlike  Celebrities ‘Solstice class’ decore, in a sense that it is modern/retro.  I particyularly like the ‘Manhatten Room’. 

I  like what I see very much.

Images from: www.meremaid.com (There are more to view – follow this link)

How Cruise brochures have Changed

Continuing my look at how cruising is portrayed in advertising, the image below comes from a 1979-80  Fred Olsen “Cruise this Winter” brochure. (I love the font and the orange background).

Now the image clearly could not be more different from NCL’s ‘ ‘Beautiful virtual people’, could it? It is clearly of real ‘Fred Olsen’ customers  giving their opinions. Now no disrespect is intended to the people featured, but they certainly do not have model looks, and why should they?

 

I am fairly confident that in this modern media-driven world, no cruise brochure would now carry images like that. In fact images of models are now normally featured on the decks and public rooms, in most cruise brochures. There is never anybody overweight or bald, or disabled, for example! 

A recent Fred Olsen publicity image.

 As you can see the recent image above is quite different from the 79-80 one.  Even when the people (models)  in the images are mature, they are slim, fit and defying their years. 

Maybe cruising and the sea air just keeps you young? 

Malcolm Oliver

The Norwegian Cruise Lines Beautiful people

Has any else out there noticed how ‘hot’ the girls (and guys) are in the renderings of ‘Norwegian Epic’s public rooms and decks?   There is not an elderly, bald or overweight person in sight. 

I think the ’Epic’  people are probably more beautiful in my opinion than those in the renderings of ‘Oasis of the seas’ public areas.  However they also look a little more ‘real’  and not all like models.

Now I do appreciate that the people in the NCL renderings are probably ‘virtual’ and don’t exist, so I wonder if the real ship will be full of equally pretty people? 

The picture above appeared in the 2004 ‘Ocean Village’ brochure.  As they say, “sex sells” (even cruises).  I don’t think anybody since has tried to sex-up cruising so blatantly, unless I’ve missed it.

Malcolm Oliver

Which Cabin? Can you get a free upgrade? Want to visit a ship?

Are you a ‘Cruise Virgin’? Are you confused about the vast array of cabin grades available on  today’s big ships? Do you wonder if it’s possible to get a cabin upgrade?  Do you want to visit a cruise ship?

The above questions are awnsered in my new ‘For Cruise Virgin’ pages – see menu right.

Malcolm

NCL Gains Epic Number of Single Cabins

A room with a view (O.K it's of the corridor)

Even before her maiden voyage NCL have re-thought one of Norwegian Epic’s most innovative features, the ‘Studio Cabins’ .  

The ‘Studios’, nick-named as ‘bed-sits’ by some commentators, are just 100 square feet with a window looking onto a corridor. (However NCL say the studio passengers can see out but passers by can’t see in).  They cabins were designed for couples and have exclusive access to a private bar/lounge originally called the ‘Living Room’, but now the ‘Studio Lounge’.

These cabins may well have been too small  in this modern age to be attractive.  Maybe they were just not  selling well to couples?  If so it’s not surprising as they were priced no cheaper than ’standard inside’ cabins which are bigger at 128 sq ft.

NCL has now decided to promote and sell the Studio Cabins as singles. There will be no single supplement for these cabins.  This is a record number of single cabins for any ship.

Although this is great news for single travellers,  It represents  a ‘U – Turn’ for NCL. The 128 studio cabins, designed for 256 couples will now just hold 128 people. That represents a reduction of the ships passenger  capacity of 128 passengers per week, or 6, 656 less passengers per year (assuming maximum occupancy).

Swing a cat, anyone?

The ‘Studio Lounge’, a private lounge exclusively for studio guests, will now be a ’singles Bar’ but will be more spacious with have half the potential number of clients.  I’m sure it will work well for the single passengers – plus they get a double bed each!;)

Formerly Known as "The Living Room", now a 'singles bar'

In summary, NCL have innovated again and tappend into a niche that most cruise lines ignor, the ’singles’ market.

(Images by NCL)

Introducing Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth

Malcolm says: I had a very good cruise on the ‘Queen Victoria’, but she’s not the breathtaking ‘QM2′ which is a one-off.  I  must admit that I find it difficult get excited about Queen Elizabeth. Firstly, like QV  she’s NOT an ‘Ocean Liner’. Secondly, whatever Cunard may claim, she is almost identical to ‘Queen Vic’.  In turn Queen Victoria is similar to many other vista-class ships (Carnival, Costa, HAL and P&O’s Arcadia).

Cunard say that the decor will be unique onbaord QE, but the renderings of the public rooms look extremely  similar to Queen Vic’s, to me.  That’s not to say that the new QE won’t provide an excellent cruise experience of course, but ‘clones’ are never as exciting as ‘originals’.

(See my Queen Vic review, menu right)

Happy New Year (2010)

Review of 2009

As another maritime year draws to a close, you could easily forget that we have been in a global recession given the number of new builds entering service and those on the drawing board.  From a mass media point of view, only one ship mattered in 2009, and that was Royal Caribbean’s ‘Oasis of the Seas’.  Given the fact that she is the biggest cruise ship ever built by a margin 40%, they should have just called her ‘Wow’ because that what everyone says when they see her.

Of course every ‘Goliath’ has his ‘David’ and in Oasis’s case the name was announced in January: ‘Norwegian Epic’.  A potentially exciting and innovative big ship on the inside, but surely the ugliest purpose built passenger ship ever, on the outside.  Whether Epic will actually do any giant slaying will be revealed in 2010 when she enters service.

Now my knowledge of pirates comes exclusively from ‘Disney movies’, but real modern day piracy reared its ugly head off the coast of Somalia in 2009 with some passenger ships being attacked.

In February the future of two old friends became more uncertain. The Queen Elizabeth 2 Dubai/Hotel project began to look unsteady and the greyhound of Ocean Liners, the SS United State currently rusting away, was put up for sale.  It would seem that promises have been broken in both cases.

In April it was announced that from 2010 Royal Caribbean’s ’independence of the Seas’ will sail from Southampton all year round. This is a ground breaking (and brave) deployment, given the fact that there are few winter cruises from UK ports, with fly-cruises dominating the market.  I can imagine the scene: sun loungers on the pool deck covered in snow.

In June, a small luxury ship (450 passengers) entered service, ‘Seabourn Odyssey’ their first newbuild in fifteen years and the first one of three.  Now unlike mega-ships which seem to almost promote themselves, ‘Odyssey’ slipped under the radar. However the quality of the onboard experience is likely much higher that onboard most of the big ships which gain most of the media coverage.

In July Celebrity Equinox entered service, the second of four sisters. These modern ships are very well designed, have remarkable décor and even feature a real lawn on the upper deck.

In September the largest river cruise ship (or is it a boat) ‘Victoria Jenna’ entered service carrying 416 passengers. I though I would mention this just to remind us that not all vacations afloat are on oceans.

In October, Fred Olsen’s tiny ‘Black Prince’ retired after 43 years of service. Probably no bigger than one of ‘Oasis of the Seas’ lifeboats, she provides further proof that not everybody wants to cruise on a floating theme park.

In November, the Carnival cruise line continue to make more money than they can count, but their new ship ‘Carnival Dream’ proved to be simply another variation of a tired design. Mind you, externally she’s ‘hot’.

So with more newbuilds due in 2010, cruise passengers are going to have more choice than ever. We now have the best of both worlds: the biggest cruise ship ever built and some intimate smaller vessels being built, plus lots in-between.  If you can’t find a ship to suit you in 2010, I’ll eat my lifejacket. 

A Happy New Year to all my blog readers.

Malcolm Oliver

Disney Dream’s Water Coaster

The Disney Dream™ is the majestic third ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet. Boasting 14 towering decks, a ship length of 1,115 feet and a maximum width of 125 feet, the 128,000-ton vessel includes 1,250 staterooms and has the capacity to comfortably accommodate 4,000 passengers—along with the over 1,458 Crew Members who tend to the needs of every cruise Guest each and every day. Disney Dream will enter service in 2011.

AquaDuck is the first water coaster on a Disney Cruise Line ship—or, for that matter, any cruise ship—setting the standard for height, length and excitement.

AquaDuck is a thrilling “water coaster,” whose entrance is on Deck 12, Aft aboard the Disney Dream. In a cruise industry first, Guests are propelled at high speeds from Deck 12, Aft through an acrylic tube on a breathtaking journey up, down, around and off the side of the ship, through the Forward Funnel and—following a mammoth drop—into a lazy river.

Developed by the Disney Imagineers, this elevated water coaster—the first of its kind at sea—travels 765 feet and features an exciting 4 deck drop. It was designed for Adults and Children at least 48″ or taller.

AquaDuck affords breathtaking views of the ocean and ship below—that is, if you’re brave enough to keep your eyes open during this exciting ride! It also offers a bird’s-eye view of the exciting new pools available to family, kids and adults on the Disney Dream.

(Disney)

New Norwegian Epic Image

Why the long face? (Image: BERNARD BIGER - STX FRANCE)

The Norwegian Epic soon will leave l’ estuary of the Loire for its first tests at sea. Her ‘exit’ is envisaged either during the second fortnight of January, or during the first fortnight of February. 

During her sea trials  engineers and technicians will test the propulsion of this giant, which is contracted to  reach 22.5 nots. The Norwegian Epic is the first ship of this size to being been driven by asynchronous motors (with induction), which offer a better output. The propulsion, diesel-electric, will develop a power of 24 MW on each of the two lines d’ trees.  Her  delivery for Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is envisaged on June 15, 2010.

(Translated from French – from www.meretmarine.com )

Malcolm Says: I’m still very excited about this ship, but she is no beauty queen, is she!

So How Big Is ‘Oasis of the Seas’?

Does my bum look big in this?

The image above is a web cam grab of ‘Oasis of the Seas’ at St. Thomas. She is docked next to ‘Costa Atlantica’ (85,700 gross tons) a Vista class ship like Cunard’s Queen Victoria and many others.  It’s not so long ago that a ship the size of ‘Atlantica’ would have been the worlds biggest cruise ship, but NOT now!

Carnival Bad-mouths Oasis of the Seas

 

The chief executive of Carnival cruises has criticised competitor Royal Caribbean’s new ship Oasis of the Seas.

Gerry Cahill made the comments while promoting his company’s new vessel Carnival Dream to the Florida newspaper the St Petersburg Times.

Gerry Cahill, Carnival

He told the news provider: “Anybody can spend an unlimited amount of money to come up with all sorts of innovations.

However, he said that these can lead to higher costs which will be passed on to passengers.

Oasis of the Seas has gained attention for many of its innovative features, including touch-screen information boards and special on-board mobile phones which allow passengers to stay in touch with each other at all times.

Carnival instead choose to focus on passengers’ experiences, he said, promoting the unique main show on board Carnival Dream, Dancin’ in the Streets, which avoids aping Broadway or Vegas in favour of high-energy entertainment.

 Malcolm Says: Cahill obviously feels threatened my RCI to be bad-mouthing them. Let’s not forget that Carnival had the biggest cruise ship in the world with ‘Destiny’ in 1996 and in 2003 with Cunard’s Queen Mary 2.

 Richard Fain (RCI CEO) once said if you want to be a top cruise line you need a ‘gimmick’. For RCI it is family-friendly floating resorts.  For Carnival it is their ‘Fun Ship’ branding and decor.  For ‘NCL’ it’s ‘Freestyle’. For Cunard it’s is ‘History & Tradition’. (Ask yourself why the QM2 was the first Cunarder with reto-décor)

 By the way, readers who have seen the interior decor of Carnival ships will know that each one is a ghastly ‘gimmick’ (Check out images online if you doubt me).

As for how big is too big. Every time a bigger ship comes along many say “it’s too big” then we get used to the idea and say the next biggest is too big. 90,000 gt (or bigger) is a pretty common size for new ships now and cab be regarded as medium sized, a few years ago that was unthinkable.

I appreciate that ‘Oasis’ will never be to everyones taste.  However, I have been lucky enough to cruise on some small/older ‘classic’ ships and some mega one.  Trust me, both have their advantages and disadvantage.

As for Carnival Dream and a new ‘Dream’ class ship in 2012:

It is interesting how Carnival cruises are clearly no longer competing in the race for size with RCI or NCL.   Carnival are playing it very safe in terms of ship design too. The 130,000 gt ‘Dream’ class is very similar to their ‘Destiny’ class (1996). Buy my reckoning that makes 19 Destiny-class ships, with more to come:

Carnival:
Destiny
Triumph
Victory
Conquest
Glory
Valor
Liberty
Freedom
Splendor
Dream
Magic
Newbuild (2012)

Costa:
Magica
Fortuna
Concordia
Serena
Pacifica
Newbuild (2011)
Newbuild (2012)

There are also 11 Grand-class ships (Princess & P&O) and 11 Vista-class (Carnival, HAL, Costa, P&O & Cunard) across the ‘Carnival’ brands, with more to come.

The next Queen gets her Name

For more than 70 years, Cunard ships graced with the name Queen Elizabeth have been a significant part of maritime history, British heritage and an unparallelled cruise liner experience. And now, with less than a year to go until her maiden voyage, the legendary letters that will identify the newest addition to Cunard’s regal fleet of Queens have been welded onto the bow of Queen Elizabeth at the Fincantieri yard in Trieste, Italy.

“It is a rare honour for any ship to bear the name Queen Elizabeth, and as I saw the famous name being welded to the bow, I was overcome by the historical significance,” said Peter Shanks, president of Cunard Line. “A milestone such as this only continues to build on the already wide anticipation of the debut of our gracious new Cunarder.”

Queen Elizabeth will depart on her Maiden Voyage from Southampton on 12 October 2010.

Malcolm say’s: It’s just a pity that Lizzy will be just another ‘Vista Class’ cruise ship like the ‘Queen Vic’ and many others, rather than a real Ocean Liner like the QM2.  Curiously two (of the three) ‘most famous ocean liners in the world’ (Cunard sales talk) will actually be cruise ships.

More Cunard News: The Queen Elizabeth’s top six Grill Suites will bear the names of six Commodores’ of the Cunard Fleet who have also all been knighted:

Commodore Sir James Bissit

Commodore Sir Edgar Britten

Commodore Sir James Charles

Commodore Sir Cyril Illngworth

Commodore Sir Arthur Roston

Commodore Sir Ivan Thomson

For Flag Spotters: Captain Christopher Wells has been appointed the master of the Queen Elizabeth. He has served on both the Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria.  Since 1986 Captain Wells has been involved in the Royal Navy Reserve, reaching the Rank of Lieutenant Commander in 1994. Therefore the Queen Elizabeth will not fly the red merchant ensign under his Captain Wells’s command; she will fly the blue ensign signifying that the Master holds a commission in the RNR.

(Cunard)

We Brits Hate Tips!

Brits and Tips Royal Caribbean International vice president and UK managing director Robin Shaw disclosed that the payment of gratuities to remunerate cruise ship employees had become a “significant issue”. Shaw said the company was experiencing a “huge cultural difference” between US passengers who are used to tipping for service and those from the UK who are not. He admitted that cruise ship staff received far less tips when British passengers are on board.

 

British cruise passengers have been complaining about the US tipping system on board cruise ships for years. I think this issue is coming to a head now we have more big US ships visiting UK ports each summer and ‘Independence of the Seas’ will be offering year-round ex-UK sailings from the end of next year.

Now our American friends may simply regard us Brits as ‘mean’.  However I think than many Brits feel that ‘Tips’ are a hidden cost. Many feel that the crew should be paid a living wage and the cruise fare should simply include their wages. Let’s not also forget us Brits (and Europeans) also pay much higher fares for our cruises than our American Friends often do. £100 per nigh, per person for an inside cabin is our norm and often on a ship that has hundreds of Balcony cabins.

Us Brits are not big tippers at home. For example we do not tip bar staff and we may not tip in cafés. When we do tip, 10% might well be our maximum. Therefore the employees of UK catering staff and bar staff have to pay a living wage. The employer cannot say “You will make your salary up in tips” because they probably won’t.

Cruise tipping is probably the most emotive subject on the nets many cruise forums. Here are some of the recent forum comments in response to Royal Caribbean’s review of their tipping policy:

“Well in my honest opinion all Brits and Aussies (and any others) should simply get a grip, tips are a fact of life”.

“In Britain a tip is something you add on afterwards as a reward for service over and above the call of duty.

One expects ‘normal service’ to be part of the included price”.

“Then they should not cruise on ships that cater to North Americans. When in Rome, do as the Romans do”

“If US based cruise lines are going to reposition their fleet to do cruises in regions where they know the bulk of the guests will be UK or AUS then they need to tailor their policies to minimize guest dissatisfaction.”

Celebrity Cruises were obviously well aware of the UK’s Cultural differences back in 1998. I did a Celebrity cruise to Alaska. Tips were included in the fare for Brits. I was given some vouchers to give to key crew members, which represented my tips. If I was not pleased with the service, I could simply not pass over the vouchers. American’s passengers on board tipped in the normal manner. I’m not sure how long this system was employed for Brits, but Celebrity does not use it now.

Personally I feel the system where the crew rely on passenger’s generosity is an antiquated system. I appreciate that American’s feel that tipping ensures good service. However, I feel that good service can be achieved by good training and good management rather than by a primitive ‘carrot and stick’ method.

Tipping is also inconsistent: I assume American’s do not tip on trains, planes and Ferries, do they? ‘Thomson cruises’, who mainly cater for British passengers has a ‘no tips required’ policy. This is a big attraction for many Brits (in addition to their reasonable drink prices which do not include a 15% service charge – but that’s another story.)  Interestingly their crew on Thomson ships are as good as I’ve experience on any ship, in fact some are better. The friendliness and on board atmosphere is second to none. This is surely proof positive that it can be achieved.

Personally I am convinced that Royal Caribbean will be introducing a ‘Tips Included’ policy for Brits in 2010, although the traditional system seems to still work well for American passengers. Other lines will almost certainly follow suit if RC take the lead.

What do you feel about this ‘hot’ issue? (No need to join to post a message)

Malcolm Oliver

‘Oasis of the Seas’ Arrives in Fort Lauderdale

November 13: The world’s largest cruise ship, ‘Oasis of the Seas’ arrived in Florida after her 14-day voyage from the STX shipyard in Turku, Finland, where she was built at a price of US$1.4 billion. Oasis was for two days behind schedule after waves over 40 feet high and hurricane-force winds slowed on her voyage across the Atlantic Ocean (see post below).

These pictures paint a thousand words:

(Photo from intelcam.com)

(Photo: RCI)

(Photo: Inletcam.com)

(Photo: Carlos Fernandez)

 Malcolm says: Wow!

See these fantasic design concept models of Oasis:

www.flickr.com/photos/22805329@N02/sets/72157622790992490/

Oasis of the Seas – Storm Damaged

(O.K. I'm no expert with photoshop!)

A Royal Caribbean spokeswoman told USA TODAY that the storm in Atlantic has damaged two Oasis of the Seas lifeboats.  

A Royal Caribbean spokeswoman the storm damage to Oasis of the Seas lifeboats is “minimal,” and they will be repaired once ship arrives in Florida.  This will not delay the inaugural events or maiden voyage.

Richard Fain (CEO) said: “The weather has been anything but cooperative,” he writes. “In fact, far from diminishing, the storm has gotten worse and they are now facing significant wave heights of up to 35 feet. Some peak waves exceed 60 feet. Nature is certainly impressive.”

Malcolm Says: This story reminds us of the differance between an ‘Ocean Liner’, such as the QM2 which is specifically designed for the North Atlantic (even in winter) and a cruise ships such as ‘Oasis’ which is designed for fairer weather.