Carnival and Princess expand their lines; Oceania cracks the bubbly on a new boat; Royal Caribbean sets its sight on the biggest ship ever; the Norway is towed in for repairs and Carnival charts a course for Oz.
Carnival and Princess Take Delivery of New Ships; Oceania Christens Regatta
Only nine days apart, Carnival and Princess Cruises each celebrated the delivery of bouncing baby cruise ships, weighing 110,000 and 92,000 tons, respectively.
Carnival Glory -- the 19th in Carnival's Fun Ship fleet -- was delivered June 27 at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy. A sister ship to the line's Carnival Conquest, launched only last year, the ship bears a close resemblance to Carnival's Destiny-class ships, but stretches about 60 feet longer. Highlights include 22 themed bars and lounges, a 13,300-square-foot health spa, a 4,200-square-foot children's play area and separate teen center, a 24-hour pizzeria, and an upscale reservations-only steakhouse supper club, plus the requisite casino, hot tubs, and swimming pools.
Carrying 2,974 passengers based on double occupancy, Glory can actually accommodate 3,700 if all third and fourth berths in cabins are filled. Of 1,487 staterooms, 60 percent offer an ocean view, and 60 percent of those offer private balconies.
The vessel will be officially named on July 19 by Dr. Sally Ride, who became the first American woman to orbit Earth when she served on the crew of the space shuttle Challenger in 1983. Following a short introductory cruise, the vessel will offer year-round 7-night cruises from Port Canaveral, Florida, alternating weekly between the eastern Caribbean (visiting Nassau, St. Thomas, and Sint Maarten) and western Caribbean (visiting Key West, Belize City, Cozumel, and Progreso/Merida, Mexico).
Another sister, Carnival Valor, is scheduled for fall 2004, with Carnival Liberty to follow a year later.
Island Princess is the first new Princess vessel delivered since the line was acquired by Carnival Corporation earlier this year. She was handed over at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyards in St-Nazaire, France, which is currently finalizing construction of the world's largest passenger vessel, Queen Mary 2, for Cunard Line -- yet another Carnival Corporation subsidiary.
Named after one of the famed twin vessels that put the love in the Love Boat TV series, Island Princess is currently sailing to Vancouver, where on July 11 she'll become the first cruise ship ever christened in that city. Olympic gold medalist figure skaters Jamie Sal?nd David Pelletier will act as godparents.
Weighing 92,000 tons and carrying 1,970 passengers, Island Princess is a sister ship to the beautiful Coral Princess, which debuted in early 2003. Further refining Princess's vision of mega-sized ships with an intimate feel, the vessel is a fifth larger than the line's Sun-class ships, yet carries only twenty more passengers based on double occupancy, which translates to more room per passenger. Both classic and modern in atmosphere, she offers a New Orleans-style restaurant/jazz club, an innovative second theater for high-tech performances and lectures, a pottery studio, a peaceful solarium, a bright and very kid-scaled children's center and separate teen center, and a variety of bars, lounges, and pools. Some 89 percent of her cabins offer seaviews, with 83 percent of those featuring private balconies.
Beginning July 12, Island Princess will offer 7-night Gulf of Alaska cruises between Vancouver and Seward. In the fall she'll redeploy to Fort Lauderdale, from which she'll offer 10-night Panama Canal itineraries through April, visiting Cartagena (Colombia), Limon (Costa Rica), Grand Cayman, and either Ocho Rios (Jamaica) or Cozumel, with 4 days at sea plus a partial canal crossing with time available for excursions in Panama.
Meanwhile, back in the land of the plucky contenders, Oceania Cruises celebrated the christening of its first ship, the 684-passenger Regatta, in Barcelona on June 26 .
A new line founded by former executives of Crystal Cruises and Renaissance Cruises in the aftermath the latter's 2001 bankruptcy, Oceania is positioned to offer "premium" cruises -- something on the order of Holland America or Celebrity, though on a much smaller and more intimate scale. The 30,200-ton Regatta formerly sailed as Renaissance's R2, and has been updated with new teak decking, a new pool, and new deck and interior furnishings. Her naming represented a coming-out party for the line, which offers its first cruise on July 5.
A second ship, Insignia (the former R1 of Renaissance) will debut on April 3, 2004.
Both ships will sail itineraries in the Baltic, British Isles, Greek Isles, Mediterranean, Black Sea, Scandinavia, Central America, the Caribbean, and the Panama Canal, with many overnight port stays included to allow guests time to explore the ports' culture, cuisine, and nightlife.
- Carnival: 888-CARNIVAL, www.carnival.com
- Princess: 800-PRINCESS, www.princess.com
- Oceania: 800/531-5658, www.oceaniacruises.com
Royal Caribbean Announces World's Largest Cruise Ship
On June 16, in the latest round of cruise-ship supersizing, Royal Caribbean International (www.rccl.com) announced a conditional agreement to build a new 3,600-passenger, 160,000-ton ship for delivery in 2006.
Developed in collaboration with Finnish shipbuilder Kvaerner Masa-Yards, the "Ultra-Voyager" design calls for a larger and more spacious version of the line's popular and extremely well-conceived 138,000-ton Voyager class, currently the largest passenger ships in the world, with their signature rock-climbing walls, Johnny Rockets diners, and main-street-like interior promenades.
The new ship would provide yet more room for passenger facilities and amenities and, on the business side, greater economies of scale than her predecessors. Odds are, though, that the announcement is also intended to steal back a bit of thunder from arch-rival Carnival Corporation, which earlier this year beat out RCI to acquire Princess Cruises and in December will claim the world's-largest-ship crown when subsidiary Cunard launches the 150,000-ton Queen Mary 2.
The agreement between RCI and Kvaerner is contingent on a number of factors, including improvement of the euro/dollar exchange rate. The line currently has three ships under construction in Finland and Germany, with options for two additional vessels pending. Activation of these options and the Ultra-Voyager contract would increase the line's fleet to 31 vessels.
In Wake of Fire, NCL's Norway Towed to Britain for Repairs
Following a May 25 boiler room explosion and fire that claimed the lives of eight crewmembers, Norwegian Cruise Line's ss Norway will undergo repairs this summer.
On June 27, the vessel left Miami for a three-week crossing to the port of Land's End in southern England. A seagoing tugboat is towing the ship, which is staffed by a skeleton crew of 85.
Norway originally sailed as the classic ocean liner France, launched in 1962 as the flagship of the French Line. Though NCL has yet to announce which shipyard will complete the necessary repairs, Norway is scheduled to begin sailing again on October 5th, 2003.
Carnival Jubilee Going Down Under
Carnival Cruises Lines has announced that its 47,262-ton Jubilee will be transferred to sister-company P&O Cruises Australia in 2004, doubling P&O's capacity in the region.
The announcement marks the first transfer of ships between the Carnival and P&O/Princess fleets following Carnival Corporation's April acquisition of the line. "The transfer of the Jubilee to P&O Cruises Australia is yet another example of optimizing asset utilization to benefit our brands and maximize returns for the group," said Carnival Corp. & plc Chairman/CEO Micky Arison.
The 47,262-ton Jubilee will be the largest cruise ship based year-round in Australia, joining P&O's Pacific Sky and Princess's premium, 670-passenger Pacific Princess. Built in 1986, she's currently the second-oldest ship in the Carnival fleet, after the 1985 Holiday.
Upon the completion of her Carnival service, the ship will undergo a multi-million-dollar refurbishment and be renamed before beginning her service for P&O in November 2004, at the start of the Australian summer cruise season. Itineraries will include 7- and 14-night cruises to the South Pacific islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, Vanuata, and Tonga, as well as ports in New Zealand and Australia.
- Carnival: 888-CARNIVAL, www.carnival.com
- P&O Cruises Australia: 13-24-69 (Australia), www.pocruises.com.au