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!
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:
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.
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
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:
(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.
November 6th, 2009 – Richard Fain’s Blog: (RCI CEO & Chairman)
OASIS continues to make her way across the Atlantic but the weather has been anything but cooperative. 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.
Captain Bill chose to take the southerly route to Ft. Lauderdale. However, it turns out that when you start in Finland, even the “Southerly Route” requires you to spend time in the North Atlantic. He is constantly adjusting his course and speed to accommodate what will probably be the only time in OASIS’s life that it will face such a storm.
Notwithstanding the weather, the entertainment department continues to prepare.
•The ice skaters are rehearsing in Studio B and that appears to be going very well.
•In the main theatre, they are putting up all the staging and scenery, etc. Unfortunately, this prevents the performers from rehearsing on the stage and it looks like the cast won’t even get access until early next week. In the meantime, they are rehearsing in other areas onboard.
•For some reason or another, the divers are reluctant to rehearse in the AquaTheatre with 70 mph relative winds. Apparently, massive waves, heavy rain and 70 mph winds have put a damper on their activities.
(RCI)
(ship spotting.com)
(ship spotting.com)
(Images from ship spotting.com)
Richard D Fain’s blog (Chairman & CEO of RCI):
(RCI Image)
The ship is underway and has been making good progress. Here in Miami, it feels a little bit like the calm before the storm. All the plans have been finalized, the ship has been completed, and the implementation/training/rehearsals are under way. After so long, it’s a little hard to sit back and just watch while everything comes together. But it is inspiring to see how smoothly it is coming together.
Over this long preparation time, it was agreed that a whole series of preparatory actions would be undertaken and they are now in place and under way. There are so many different people and functions responsible for so many different activities and each seems to be doing their thing just as it was planned. I feel like I should be doing something more, but there is nothing for me to do now but watch and applaud. Bill Wright, Lisa Bauer and others are sending out information from the ship. Mostly it is going as planned including some 1,200 separate training sessions above and beyond the general familiarization that needs to be done.
Crossing under the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark was an unexpected highlight. The bridge is one of three bridges all of which are about 65 meters above mean high tide. (The other two are the Golden Gate and the Verrazano Narrows.) The ship was designed with those three bridges in mind and Oasis has a telescoping funnel to accommodate. There was, therefore, no doubt in our mind about it. Nevertheless, the novelty of being so close apparently created an enormous interest which even infected those onboard. The ship navigated under the bridge without difficulty, but there was still a great cheer as she did so.
The one thing you can never count on, though, is the weather. It seems that we have managed to time our crossing perfectly to coincide with the worst of a north Atlantic winter storm. That storm has resulted in relative wind speeds of 60-70 mph (a hurricane starts at 74 mph). It has also resulted in significant wave heights of up to 30 feet (significant wave heights essentially means consistently over a period of time). Some individual waves reach even higher. Capt. Bill is considering now what is the best course and speed for the ship to minimize the impact of the storm. I’m told that the ship is so stable that the crew can barely feel the storm. But on deck it is a different story and the storm is preventing us from doing the work on the outdoor decks that we had hoped including rehearsing in the AquaTheatre.
We’re told the storm could last another 24 or 36 hours but we’re hoping that these forecasts are as unreliable as the ones I look at to plan my vacation.
Malcolm Says: There is some great information, videos, images etc. about Oasis’s delivery and crossing on the official Oasis web site:
Above: Photographer ‘Andrew’, Hythe, Southampton (Thanks Travelserver/Cruisetalk)
Departing (Image: S'hampton Web Cam)
16:45 – 17:35 pm – This must be a record for the shortest call of a new ship.
Video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=njOHaQ7V0j4
The Youtube poster said: “I am on the Oasis of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in history, as it is being delivered to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida from Turku, Finland. Last night we passed under the Oresund bridge between Sweden and Denmark, missing the bridge by mere meters, due to the ships enormous size! With thousands of cheering crew members on deck to watch the spectacle, the moment was amazing!”
Malcolm Says: I assume the telescopic funnels were fully retracted.
Rumour has it that Oasis will call in Southampton on Monday November 2nd. This call is being labelled as a ‘technical stop.’
So she will departs the Turku ship yard, in Finland, stop at the UK for a few hours and then cross the pond to Fort Lauderdale.
(Photographer unknown)
A major US cruise line is considering an overhaul of its on board tipping arrangements due to the reluctance of British passengers to pay gratuities to staff.
Independence of the Seas, Southampton Aug 09
Royal Caribbean International vice president and UK managing director Robin Shaw disclosed that the payment of gratuities to renumerate cruise ship employees had become a “significant issue”.
Speaking at the first Cruise Forum as part of the ABTA Travel Convention in Barcelona, 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.
This comes at a time when the company is committing one of its largest ships, Independence of the Seas, to year-round ex-UK sailings from the end of next year and introducing the first summer season of Celebrity Cruises’ departures from Southampton on new ship Celebrity Eclipse in 2010.
Addressing the issue of paying gratuities – seen by UK consumers as a negative to taking a cruise – Shaw said: “We are evaluating what our options can be in the UK. This is certainly a challenge for us and one we have to address.”
His comments came as part of a wider discussion on add-ons cruise companies charge on top of the holiday price for items such as speciality restaurant meals and other extras.
Shaw said it was almost impossible to cost everything into the up front price, but it was a “commercial reality” that on board revenue was a key component for cruise lines to recover their return on investment .
Journalist Jane Archer, cruise writer for the Daily Telegraph, had pinpointed gratuities and on board add-ons as among the “turn-offs” for cruise passengers, saying that there was a perception that people were paying for more things as lines added optional extras to new ships.
She described cruise line tipping polices as “antiquated” and something that can lead to resentment and upset amongst travellers.
by Phil Davies (Travelmole)
Malcolm Says: About time! Thomson manage to make a no-tipping policy work very well indeed.
(From her sea trials: Photograper unknown)
A wonderful image. You can see the ‘Carousel’ below the and the ‘Aqua Theatere’ at the stern.
This image from RCI reveals more about the Oasis’s Dining room than before. The work of art behind the impressive chandelier a looks to be very contemporary. Excuse the cardboard on the floor!
Equinox and IOS photographed by myself from ther same spot (Sothamptons’ City Cruise Terminal) one week apart.
Bigger version of image above:
www.travelserver.net/travelpage/aspgallery/pictures/Ad_3240_6.jpg
Bigger version of image above:
www.travelserver.net/travelpage/aspgallery/pictures/Ad_3240_7.jpg
June 8th 2009: There are some wonderful images (follow the link below). The reported ‘baby blue’ hull looks white from a distance, but up close it still seems to have patches of undercoat on it? Not all of the lifeboats are affixed, but then not all of the passengers are on board either. That ‘blimp’ she is towing has thrown up all sorts of speculation.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rcigenesis/
That's one big girl.
She's broad in the beam.
Does my bum look big in this?
(flickr.com)
Royal Caribbean has intensified competition in the ex-UK cruise market by opting to base one of the world’s three largest ships year-round in the UK for the first time.
The 4,000-berth Independence of the Seas, which in 2007 was the first new ship the line dedicated to the UK, will sail its first ex-UK winter season out of Southampton in 2010.
The line said the decision was based purely on its confidence in the UK market. But it also represents a further challenge to the dominance of P&O Cruises in its Southampton home port.
The repositioning of Independence will be more than made up for in the Caribbean winter season with Royal’s new bigger 5,400-passenger ships, in 2010 and 2011, according to Robin Shaw, Royal Caribbean’s managing director.
He said he was “confident” there was pent-up demand for an ex-UK winter programme.
“The shoulder periods in late April and November have proved very, very successful with Independence, so this is an extension of something we already do,” he said.
“This reflects our confidence in the underlying strength of the UK market, which I’m convinced could double or treble in the near future.”
Independence’s winter 2010-11 programme will add 15 cruises to the UK market and go on sale on June 1. It will offer two itineraries – 11-night Canaries cruises and 18-night trips to the Mediterranean – with prices leading in at £799.
March 2009 image:
Who wins the beauty contest, Oasis or Epic? (It’s a no brainer)
Two new ‘classes’ of big very ship, currently under construction in Europe, have captured the media spotlight over the past months. These are the Royal Caribbean International (RCI) Genesis project twins: ‘Oasis of the Seas’ and ‘Allure of the seas’, and Norwegian Cruise Line’s F3 project ‘Norwegian Epic’.
Now if you view these ships as part of the ‘battle for the Caribbean’ between the number two (RCI) and number three (NCL) cruise lines, many observers have concluded that that Royal Caribbean has already won. This is largely due to the fact that over the past decade, RCI has established itself as the clear market leader in terms of building innovative ships. However, ‘Norwegian Epic’ may prove to be a more significant challenge to RCI and the market leader Carnival than originally thought.
RCI’s ‘Genesis’ project will not only construct the world’s two biggest ships, but the two of the most innovative, in terms of design and facilities. Their gross tonnage will be 220,000 tons will dwarfs the largest cruise ships of today, RCI’s Freedom-class vessels, at 154,000 tons. These massive new vessels take the idea of a cruise ship as a floating resort to a whole new level.
NCL was established 41 years ago and currently operates a fleet of 11 ships, many of which a relatively new and mid-sized by modern standards. Until the announcement of the F3-class (‘Norwegian Epic’), many observers felt NCL would be happy to continue targeting the “freestyle” market with their relatively moderately sized fleet.
The F3 (a mnemonic for ‘third generation freestyle’) changed all that. Who would have guessed that NCL would soon be challenging the big two cruise lines, by building a Queen Mary 2 sized (150,000 gross tons) ultra-ship. ‘Epic’ will be larger than any of the Carnival Cruises or Princess Cruises vessels currently in service.
NCL have established a reputation in recent years for ‘thinking outside the box’. They are probably best known for their ‘Freestyle dining’ concept which allows passengers to eat at a variety of dining venues at the time of their choosing. Their existing fleet features a choice of as many as thirteen dining options, many offering completely different menus. Freestyle Dining makes RCI’s and Carnival’s traditional dining system, consisting of one large main dining room, with two evening sittings, look very old fashioned by comparison.
The F3’s will obviously attempt to capitalize on the ‘Freestyle’ innovation. For example, NCL has said that the F3’s will do away with the traditional large main theatre as the cornerstone for nightly entertainment and instead feature multiple venues for people to choose from, so I suppose that’s ‘Freestyle’ Entertainment too.
Back to RCI: While the artists renderings of Oasis’s ‘Central Park’ area, portray the space as a vast area of shops restaurants and gardens, the recent construction pictures show a much smaller space that is unlikely to be able to live up to the hype of the artistic representations. Likewise I expect ‘The Boardwalk’ and the ‘Aquatheatre’ will take on more modest proportions when viewed in real life than by the artist generous perspective. The F3’s will feature a real Ice Bar, which although authentic, will only accommodate 25 people. Their Spice H2O area is not unlike RCI’s aqua-theatre.
The ‘Genesis’ twins will carry 5,400 passengers (lower berths) giving a very reasonable space ratio of 41. The ‘F3’ will have a more modest space ratio of 35. (The similar sized Queen Mary 2 scores 57, but she offers a high class of experience).
RCI may also win the battle in term of external ship aesthetics. The external renderings of ‘Oasis’ are really quite attractive. Her lines look like a larger version of RCI’s existing ships, and are relatively sleek for her size.
While we have not seen an official rendering of the F3’s as yet, an unofficial one did appear on the Internet. In the unofficial rendering, the bow and hull appears to be relatively conventional. The ship has twin parallel funnels not unlike some ferries. However, above the bridge sits a rectangular structure several decks high, looking like a couple of packs of playing cards lying down on top of the front superstructure. Words cannot fully describe the total disregard for aesthetics. In fact if the rendering is accurate she will be one of the uglyiest ships ever to float-out. On the other hand, the reality is that the external appearance of a ship has no impact on the internal cruise experience, but it still matters to me.
In the ship building war RCI are clearly undisputed leaders, only Princess’s ‘Grand Princess’ , Carival’s ‘Destiny’ and Cunard’s ‘QM2′ have stolen their ‘biggest ship’ crown in recent years, be it temporarily each time.
However, NCL’s F3′ IS very significant in terms of newbuilding and although it will not be the largest ships afloat, RCI will need to keep a close eye on their innovations, and the variety of dining and entertainment venues offered. They may appear to be cheesy gimmicks to some but these gimmicks do sell cruises. Carnival will need to play catch-up as their fleet begins to look stagnant by comparison.
The golden age of passenger ship building is not some historic period of the dim and dark past, it is now. We are living in the times of amazing ships. Keep them coming!
Malcolm Oliver
(See my ‘Norwegian Jade’ review, menu, right)
Aqua-theatre
It will be a wonderful achievement, but I must say that every time I see images of ‘Central’ Park it gets narrower!
(Images from RCI’s web site).
