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)

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:

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

(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:

www.oasisoftheseas.com

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.

Image By: Andrew, "Ocean Voyager" Hythe, southampton

The charaming ‘Saga Rose’ (1964, formerly Cunard’s ‘Sagafjord’) sets out on her farewell cruise on 30th October 2009, from Southampton, heading for the Mediterranean before her retirement.  Unfortunately, she does not fullfill the requirements of the new SOLAS 2010 (safety)  regulations.  It is claimed that she has done 44 world cruises, but this is in dispute*!

Saga purchased the ‘Astoria’ earlier this year and will be re-named Saga Pearl II – in homage to the original Saga Pearl, which sailed under the Saga flag until 2004 when she was replaced by Saga Ruby.

Saga Pearl II will match the classic style of Saga Rose and will build on the success of the Saga cruising brand. Her inaugural cruise will be on 15th March 2010 departing Southampton and heading for the magic of the Norwegian cost and the northern lights in the high arctic.

Andrew Goodsell, Executive Chairman, Saga Group commented:

“I am very excited that we at long last have Saga Pearl II. She is a lovely a mid-sized ship true to the Saga tradition and a perfect addition to our fleet. In her traditional Saga livery she will carry no more than 446 passengers. The ship will have an intimate atmosphere and a personal service with the attention to detail that our passengers have come to expect. Regular Saga cruise passengers will find many familiar faces on board, as the officers and crew of Saga Rose will transfer to the new ship.

A multi-million pound refit will ensure that the ship is fabulous throughout. What’s more, there will be many new features including the addition of new balcony cabins. I am sure that Saga Pearl II will win the hearts of Saga cruisers, just as Saga Rose did a decade ago.”

The ship will undergo a comprehensive £14m refit in Europe over the winter. The refit will include the creation of balcony cabins and the superior classical Saga ambiance that our customers enjoy; upgrading the show lounge, spa and two swimming pools; creating one of the best libraries afloat; and, new kitchens to support the gourmet dining experience in the stylish single-sitting dining rooms – including a new elegant Veranda Restaurant

She will also have a special coating applied to her hull which will enable her to travel with greater ease through the sea and will significantly reduce fuel consumption and lower her carbon footprint.

(Saga)

*Malcolm Says:  If one defines a World Cruise as a complete world circumnavigation, Saga Rose has done possibly 39 or 40, open to discussion/argument.  One year she didn’t do anything, 2 years were Grand Cruises rather than a circumnavigation and one year her World Cruise was aborted. (thanks PamM)