Norwegian Breakaway Review

Norwegian Breakaway

CR 188

This is a review of a cruise on Norwegian Breakaway to the Caribbean in February 2015. The bottom line is that this was a very good cruise experience.

Breakaway is a very innovative ship. She was one of the first ships built to the new model of cruising in which guests not only have a number of quality choices about dining but also about entertainment. Thus, she is not only bigger in size than most other cruise ships, she is different in kind.

Built by Germany’s Meyer Werft, Breakaway is a good quality ship. I was pleased to see that in the year since I was last on her, she has been well-maintained. No visible rust, worn carpets or furniture past its sell-by date.

In all, I have now been on Breakaway five times. Each has been a good experience.

The Itinerary – – This was a 12 day cruise from New York into the Caribbean. The ports of call were to include San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados and St. Kitts. Thus, it was a good mix of the more popular Caribbean ports.

There is always the risk of encountering a storm sailing out of New York in the winter. I have done it many times but have only been in a few significant storms along the route from New York to the Caribbean. Indeed, only a week before this cruise, I sailed nearly the same route on Quantum of the Seas and the weather was fine throughout.

This time, we were not so lucky. Breakaway encountered a major storm off Cape Hatteras and the ship had to slow down to provide a more comfortable ride for her passengers. Still, the ship pitched and slammed. (Slamming is where the ship rises up and gets hit with another wave usually on the bottom causing a loud noise and vibration).

The movement of the ship did cause some guests to take to their cabins. However, most people continued out and about, which is always a testimonial to a ship’s seakeeping ability.

I believe Queen Mary 2 has the best seakeeping qualities based upon her ability to remain stable in similar (and worse storms) as the one Breakaway encountered. While Breakaway does not rise to the same level, my general conclusion is that Breakaway handled the storm pretty well.

Because of the storm, Breakaway had to cancel her call in San Juan. Even running near full speed she could not get to San Juan in time to make a meaningful port call.

Here, I will pause to criticize Norwegian. At one time, the line prided itself in having some of the fastest cruise ships in service. Thus, when a Jewel-class ship such as Norwegian Gem encountered a storm while going up or down the east coast, it was able to slow up for the storm and then use her speed to keep to her schedule. Then there was a management change and those in a decisionmaking position could not see the point in fast cruise ships. They just seemed like an expensive luxury considering the seemingly ever increasing price of fuel. As a result, the Breakaway class ships do not have the speed of the Jewel class ships. On this voyage, we saw a consequence of that decision. With the recent significant decline in fuel prices, that decision seems even more misguided.

Once in the Caribbean, the weather was fine and the ship moved easily between ports.

Food – – I found that the food on Breakaway had improved significantly over last year. The new menus in the main dining rooms offered an interesting array of dishes. In addition, the chefs executed their task well.

On previous Breakaway cruises, I had never found a satisfying place to have lunch. The meals offered in the main dining rooms (Taste and Savor) at lunchtime are too much and personally, I do not like buffets which lets out the Garden Cafe. But now there is The Uptown Bar and Grill. It had a radical change of concept last fall. It now combines the attractive qualities of the Guy’s Burger Joints on the Carnival ships with the Tuti salads of the Royal Caribbean ships. In other words, it is now made to order burgers and made to order salads. These were quite good and are only available in the afternoon. Come early if you want to get a seat as this is a very popular venue just through word of mouth.

Of the specialty restaurants, we visited La Cucina, Le Bistro, Cagney’s and the Moderno. All were good but dining outdoors at Moderno on a warm Caribbean night was a great experience. The sea, the stars, the good-natured waiters bringing various tasty cuts of beef, pork, lamb and fish to the table all made for a tremendous atmosphere. In addition, I met a particularly congenial group of people on this cruise and so the after dinner conversation often lasted for hours. Despite this, the staff never attempted to hurry us or even hint that we should leave. A manifestation of the attitude of putting the customers first, which was common among the crew on Breakaway..

Service – – Breakaway was humming like a well-oiled machine. The staff knew what they were supposed to be doing and executed it well.

I also liked the fact that a pair of officers circulated through the Manhattan Room (one of the main dining rooms) each night asking guests whether they had any complaints and whether there was anything that the ship could do better. To me, this showed a real interest in the guests’ opinions and in providing good service.

Entertainment – – The main shows on Breakaway have not changed since the ship entered service. Since I have seen Rock of Ages twice before, I decided not to go again. I was not impressed with Burn the Floor. The dancers performed well but the show lacked a theme to bind the various scenes together into a cohesive whole. One of the people that I went with said that she thought it had too much violence against women.

Also in the theater was a tribute to Frankie Valey and the Four Seasons called “Oh What A Night.”. This was very well done and the songs are natural crowd pleasers.

In addition to the shows in the theater, Breakaway has other entertainment in more club like settings. Of these, I particularly liked the Second City Comedy Troupe who did various scripted and improvised shows. They also did an improvisation workshop that I enjoyed participating in.

Breakaway’s resident blues guitarist Slam Allen was not on this voyage. In his place was Charley Love and the Silky Smooth Band. They were good but I think Mr. Allen has more star quality.

Enrichment – – Norwegian does not place much emphasis on enrichment. On this voyage, there were no port lecturers or speakers talking about the ports or the history of the region.

Hypnotist Brenda Kaye gave several talks/shows and these drew large crowds to the theater thus showing that Norwegian’s guests do appreciate speakers.

This week on Beyondships we have several new items about Breakaway. There is a photo feature showing Breakaway in the various ports she visited in the Caribbean. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-breakaway-in-the-caribbean.html There is an interview with Hotel Director Prem Kainikkara and Cruise Director Julie Valeriote in which they talk about the cruise experience that they try to present on Breakaway. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-breakaway-with-passion.html There is an article about Breakaway’s single-occupancy cabins and her Solo Travelers program. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-breakaway-sailing-solo.html We also have a review of the Uptown Bar and Grill. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-breakaway-uptown-grill.html In addition, our menus page has been updated with current menus from the main dining rooms and the specialty restaurants on Breakaway. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-breakaway-menus.html .

Quantum of the Seas cruise review

Quantum of the Seas

CR 187

Quantum of the Seas is one of the most innovative but at the same time, most controversial ships, to debut in the last few years. In many respects, Quantum is significantly different than what Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines have done in the past. I find this quite exciting.

Naturally, people who like what was done in the past will need to get used to these changes. This process has not been helped by various technological glitches that plagued the ship early on. However, during this cruise, people who were at first skeptical of this ship seemed to be captured by the beauty of her interior and to become comfortable with her different way of presenting a cruise experience.

Should every cruise ship be like Quantum? No, but I am glad that there is a ship like Quantum. Indeed, I believe even Royal Caribbean would agree with this. As I wrote in this blog before Quantum entered service, there were at least three versions of the Royal Caribbean cruise experience within the Royal Caribbean fleet. Now, there is a fourth version.

By way of background, this cruise was not the first time that I was on Quantum. In November, Royal Caribbean invited members of the press to see its new ship. She was impressive at the press event. However, I wanted to see how she was in action with real people aboard. Since new ships almost always have teething problems, I decided to wait until January to cruise on her.

This particular was a 12-day winter cruise to the Caribbean out of Bayonne, New Jersey, which is part of the Port of New York.

The Quantum class ships were originally conceived as all weather cruise ships. Most modern cruise ships were designed with warm weather cruising in mind. They have lots of open deck space and they are at their best sailing the calm waters of the Caribbean or the Mediterranean.

A problem arises if you want to base a ship in a northern port such as Bayonne or Southampton, England during the winter time. The open deck areas cannot be used until the ship reaches the warm seas. In addition, the ship may be uncomfortable if it gets into a winter storm en route to the Sun.

Most of what would have been open deck on Quantum is covered. This includes the adults only Solarium area, one of the main pools, and the Seaplex, a section that roughly corresponds to the sports area on other ships. Consequently, those areas can be used throughout the cruise even in the cold weather of the north.

Quantum has also been designed so as to have improved seakeeping abilities. She cuts through the waves rather than bounces over them. As a result, I found her ride smooth and comfortable.

The interior of Quantum is also impressive. I have consistently found the ships built by Meyer Weft (e.g., Celebrity Solstice, Norwegian Breakaway, Brilliance of the Seas) to have excellent quality and attention to detail. Quantum is no exception.

When I first saw Quantum, my impression was that her interior looked more like a Celebrity cruise ship than a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. Her style is up-market and elegant. However, in operation, Quantum clearly has the upbeat feel of a Royal Caribbean ship thus proving that a cruise line’s style comes more from its people than the hardware.

I had no problems with the service on Quantum. In general, the crew were competent and friendly. Indeed, there were a few incidents where crew members who I had never met before went beyond what I expected. I found this particularly impressive because they had no relationship to maintain with me and no expectation of a financial reward.

Quntum takes a much different approach to dining than other cruise ships. It has no main dining room and thus has no traditional fixed dining system or even the now familiar flex dining system. Rather, under Dynamic Dining, guests instead have the option of dining in four (five if you are staying in a suite) complimentary restaurants and a battery of extra-tariff specialty restaurants.

I liked the variety offered by this system. It enabled me to have more dining experiences than on other ships. The food quality in each venue was up to the Royal Caribbean standard with the food in Coastal Kitchen (suite guests only) a knotch above the other complimentary venues.

The Dynamic Dining system is quite controversial. Quite a few guests said they missed not having the same waiter each night who comes to know your likes and dislikes. One of the benefits of the traditional cruise ship fixed seating system is that you do develop a relationship with your server over the course of the cruise. However, in the clourse of my travels, I have noticed that fewer and fewer people are selecting the traditional system. Indeed, at the late seating on many ships lately, there have been numerous empty tables. I would not be surprised if most lines eliminate or significantly modify the traditional system over the next decade.

In any event, I am not sure that this is a fair criticism of Dynamic Dining. I had breakfast in the American Icon Grill during the first few days of the cruise. Without making any special request, the same waiter served me each time and he remembered what I like for breakfast. Along the same lines, I had several meals in Coastal Kitchen and there the servers remembered me and my preferences from visit to visit. My conclusion is that the level of personalized service depends more on the skills of the server than on the dining system.

Another complaint often heard is that the restaurants do not vary their menus during the course of the cruise. Thus, if you go to one restaurant several times during a voyage, you will probably end up having the same meal more than once. The solution here is to try all the different venues. If you do, you will encounter as much variety as you would in a traditional main dining room over the course of a cruise.

Perhaps the biggest source of controversy with Dyamic Dining is the reservation system. In order to prevent everyone on the ship showing up at the same time at the same restaurant, guests are encouraged to make reservations ahead of time. You do not have to make a reservation but guests with reservations are given priority access.

Before coming aboard Quantum, I was concerned that having to make reservations would restrict my freedom to adjust the cruise to suit the circumstances. I do not know prior to a cruise what kind of dining experience I would like on a given day during a cruise. Similarly, I do not know much beforehand what time I would like to eat on a given day. It depends upon such things as the people I meet during the cruise, what happened during the day, what else there is to do on a given evening. One of the great virtues of the flexible dining systems available on most ships these days is that it allows you to be spontaneous.

But after experiencing Dynamic Dining, my pre-cruise concerns seem unjustified. I was able to adjust where and when I had dinner without much difficulty.

Another problem is that the reservation system does not seem to be a very good regulator of passenger flow. I generally like to eat late, roughly at the time that would correspond to the late seating under a traditional system. It was when I always dined on QE2 where I got my start cruising and it has just remained with me. As a result, I did not experience any lines and was always seated at the times specified in my reservations. However, I did hear that at the more popular dining times, even people with reservations sometimes had to wait to be seated.

This is not altogether surprising. When you make a reservation at a restaurant, the restaurant does not normally hold a table empty until you arrive. Instead, the restaurant accepts the reservation based on the assumption that a table will become free at the time of the reservation. If the people dining in the restaurant take longer to dine than the restaurant expected, people arriving at the restaurant will have to wait even if they have a reservation. When you are dealing with the number of people that travel on a large cruise ship, this problem is magnified.

Time should alleviate this problem. A restaurant learns from experience how much time it should allocate between reservations. In addition, it can find ways to speed up service so that the turnover is quicker and more efficient. Indeed, I heard from people who have done several cruises on Quantum that this problem has diminished even in the relatively short time that the ship has been in service.

Leaving aside Dynamic Dining, there are some other culinary features on Quantum that deserve special mention. First, since Quantum does not have a main dining room, it does not offer the Tuti Salad bar, which is an outstanding option offered at lunch in the main dining rooms on most other Royal Caribbean ships. You tell the chefs which of the wide array of ingredients you want and they build a salad for you. While not offering as an extensive array of ingredients as at the Tuti Salad bars, Cafe@270 on Quantum offers very good made to order salads. In addition, it has a nice selection of sandwiches, paninis and wraps as well as pastries.

But if you are looking for a lunchtime dessert, Quantum has great fresh baked cookies. These are available at the bakery counter in the Windjammer buffet restaurant. They can also be found in the Concierge Club.

Somewhat overshadowed by the introduction of Dynamic Dining is the fact that the entertainment offerings on Quantum are cutting edge.

In the main theater, there are no traditional production shows. Rather, Quantum has a full-length production of the Broadway musical Mama Mia. Although long – – two and a half hours – – this is nicely performed. The Abba music is universally appealing and overcomes the rather thin plot.

The other centerpiece show in the main theater is Sonic Odyssey. This is a multi-media spectacular utilizing such things as a stringed instrument that uses the entire theater as its sounding board. There are also singers, dancers, aerialists and a wall of drums.

The theater is also used for more conventional shows. That cruise ship standard, the Love and Marriage Game, is done here. Visiting comedians and singers also gave performances. Of these the most memorable was Marcus Terell & The Serenades. I have enjoyed them before on other ships.

On certain sea days, there were 3-D movies in the theater. The films were major Hollywoood releases from the last few years. Quantum’s theater is a very good venue for seeing such films and makes for a pleasurable experience.

Quantum’s second major entertainment venue is 270. This is a technologically enhanced lounge at the stern of the ship with comfortable living room style seating.

On sea days, the large LED panels perform “Robot Shows” in which they move about as videos produced especially for Quantum are played. These are quite clever and worth a look – – they only last about 10 minutes.

270 is also used for “virtual concerts”. These shows  were also produced for Quantum and involve projections on the screens that cover the windows in 270 with various artists performing in concert. Although more technologically sophisticated, I found these to be like watching a video of a live concert on the large LED screens that ships often have in their pool areas.

The centerpiece production in 270 is called “Starwater.” It involves  the ship’s singers and dancers, aerialists and of course, 270’s technology. The first time I watched this production was from the back, standing behind the seating area. My reaction was that this show was not much different than some of the production shows on Celebrity Cruises’ Solstice class ships and thus nothing new.

However, I went back again and saw Starwater from the seating area near the front. This was a totally different experience. The performers appeared all around me, coming from above, below and performing just inches away. I was in the midst of the show. It was much more exciting and enjoyable.

The plot of Starwater is not easy to discern. In fact, I did not think it had a plot. However, one of the performers told me that it is about the relationship between men and women. In the first part, the performers are at a urban fashion show. It is analogy to a cold world where the people do not interact. Then a muse appears, sings and flies around, which brings men and women together. The final part of the show based on tango dancing and music halls is a celebration of this new relationship. OK, don’t worry about the plot.

Quantum also has a number of day-time entertainment features. The North Star is a giant crane with a capsule at the end, which takes guests high over the ship. There  was a line of passengers waiting to take this ride seemingly all day, every day. It is a fun ride and the views are great. I do not like heights yet I was comfortable throughout this ride – – it was no more uncomforatble than riding in a glass elevator.

The other two action features debuting on Quantum were the sky diving simulator and the bumper cars in the Seaplex. I’m not big on amusement parks so I pased on these. Other people seemed to enjoy them, however.

In May, Quantum will be leaving North America and sailing half way around the world to make China her new home. To make the ship more attuned to Asian tastes and preferences, much will be changed on Quantum. This naturally raises the question why all the fuss and controversy over a ship that will only exist in her present form for a few months.

The answer is two-fold. First,  Quantum is the first ship in a class of ships. Anthem of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas will follow. Thus, the concepts developed for Quantum will live on in her sister ships.

Perhaps more importantly, there is the question of  how Qunatum’s innovations will impact other cruise lines. What will be borrowed  and what will be discarded in the ships that will be compteing with the Quantum class? Not everything  about Quantum is perfect but has raised the ante and by so doing changed the course of the cruise industry.

On Beyondships, we have greatly expanded our profile of Quantum http://beyondships.com/RCI-Quantum-Profile.html including our photo tour of the ship. http://beyondships.com/RCI-Quantum-Tour-1.html New features include interviews with her captain http://www.beyondships2.com/quantum-of-the-seas-captain.html her hotel director http://www.beyondships2.com/quantum-of-the-seas-hotel-director.html and her food and beverage director. http://www.beyondships2.com/quantum-of-the-seas-dining-guide.html We have restaurant reviews of Coastal Kitchen http://www.beyondships2.com/quantum-of-the-seas-coastal-kitchen.html Devinly Decadence http://www.beyondships2.com/quantum-of-the-seas-devinly-decadence.html and Jamie’s Italian. http://www.beyondships2.com/quantum-of-the-seas-jamies-italian.html We also have an article on the single-occupancy or studio cabins on Quantum. http://www.beyondships2.com/quantum-of-the-seas-single-cabins.html There are also collections of menus http://www.beyondships2.com/quantum-of-the-seas-menus.html and daily programs. http://www.beyondships2.com/quantum-of-the-seas-daily-programs.html

Cruise review Regal Princess

Regal Princess

Cruise 184

When I was in high school, I had a teacher who would give higher grades on book reviews if you savaged the book. He equated negative comments with critical thinking.

Alas, I am about to disppoint my old school master because I do not have anything negative to say about my recent cruise on Regal Princess. Quite to the contrary, it was an extremely well done cruise.

The cruise was a seven day voyage out of Fort Lauderdale to Princess Cays, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Thus, it included Princess Cruises’ private island and two of the most popular Caribbean cruise ports. I’ve been to these ports many times now so the itinerary did not have the virtue of novelty. But, at the same time, these places are familiar to me and so I know how to structure my days there so as to have a good time.

Therefore, the focus of this cruise was on the ship. Regal Princess is the second ship to be built in her class. Royal Princess was the first. A third one is on order for Princess. P&O Cruises’ forthcoming Britannia is being built to the same design.

Regal Princess is a large ship and I find her quite spacious. She has a better passenger space ratio than the mainstays of the Princess fleet, the Grand and Super Grand class ships. Thus, I did not find her at all crowded.

On Royal Princess, one problem with the people flow has been long waits for elevators particularly at the midship elevator bank. This is primarily due to the fact that the stairs by these elevators do not run all the way up through the ship and so more people have to use the elevators. While Regal also lacks a midship passenger staircase, adjustments have been made to the elevators programming and I did not experience much in the way of delays.

Another adjustment that has been made is in the theater. On Royal, each row of seats extends all the way to the wall so that people have to go up or down via the central aisles. On Regal, space has been allowed between the seats and the walls so that guests can go up or down that way as well. This seems to have created a better passenger flow.

The larger size of this class of ship allowed Princess to add several new venues. Of these, Princess Live is the most memorable. It is a television studio which serves as the venue for lectures, game shows, and various other activities. Such activities are common on cruise ships but having them in a studio with cameras and monitors lends them a sense of excitement. Also, the sight lines in this intimate room are quite good.

The size also allowed Princess to expand the size of some venues. This is nowhere more apparent than in the Piazza, the ship’s central atrium. It has now become a grand room. In addition, whereas some entertainment was presented in the Piazza on earlier Princess ships, this larger Piazza lets the concept blossom so that this truly can be called an entertainment venue.

As far as décor, it would be difficult to tell the Piazza on Regal Princess from the one of Royal Princess. It is Princess’ philosophy to make ships of the same class nearly identical in décor so that passengers returning to the line will have a sense of familiarity regardless of which ship they book. Whatever the merits of that philosophy, the décor of the Piazza on Royal is so spectacular, it demanded that it be used again on Regal Princess.

Of course, the hardware only contributes so much to making a great cruise. In my experience, Princess consistently provides good service. Of course, you can always run into someone who is a jerk or who is having a bad day but as a general finding the people serving on the Princess ships seem genuinely interested in ensuring that the passengers have a good time. In addition, the cruise lines usually assign their top people to bring out a ship. By the time of my cruise, the ship had also been in service long enough to have gotten any kinks out. Consequently, the service was very good with no negative incidents.

How was the food? It is of course my personal taste but I always like the food on Princess and Regal Princess did not let the side down. A favorite venue for me is Alfredo’s Pizzeria. This is a restaurant specializing in gourmet individual pizzas. They are made and cooked as ordered. At the beginning of a cruise, people walk by but do not enter. They either assume that there will be an additional charge because it looks like a specialty restaurant or that they can get pizza up by the pool. There is no additional charge and while you can get pizza by the pool, you can’t get this pizza by the pool. As word gets around the ship about what Alfredo’s is really about, it gets busier and busier. By the end of the cruise, it is tough to get a table at lunctime. So let’s keep this between ourselves.

Entertainment was very good. High points were the shows by the Beatles tribute group Beatlemaniacs and the Sixties deck party in which the production cast performed along with the fountains on the pool deck. I also enjoyed the enrichment program. This included two authors, Sarah Jio and Claire Bidwell Smith, who spoke about their work and writing. Princess executive Chis Joly packed Princess Live with a talk on how cruise ships are built. On a cruise that involved three sea days, a good enrichment program is essential.

This week on Beyondships we present part one of our profile of Regal Princess. http://beyondships.com/Princess-RE-Profile.html This includes a photo tour of the interior of the ship. http://beyondships.com/Princess-RE-Tour-1.html as well as a daily programs page with Princess Patters and other inormational leaflets distributed aboard Regal Princess. http://www.beyondships2.com/regal-princess-daily-programs.html

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

 

Dunn’s River Falls, Ocho Rios, Jamaica

 

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

Seven Seas Navigator

 

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

Norwegian Dawn update – photos, menus, Hotel Director interview

Recently, I was aboard Norwegian Dawn. Although it seems like I am always running into Norwegian Dawn in various ports of call, I had not been aboard her for several years. Thus, I was anxious to see how the ship had changed.

 

 

 

During this period, Norwegian has been a cruise line on the move. Since Kevin Sheehan took over as CEO, there has been a marked improvement in the line. He seems to have been able to release the talent of both Norwegian’s head office and the crews on the ships. Therefore, I was interested in seeing not just any physical changes but also how the revolution had affected the Dawn,

 

 

 

As for physical changes, there have been several. The area that was the observation lounge has been turned into suites and a conference center. Keeping the name of the old observation lounge, a new Spinnaker Lounge has taken the place of the department store that was at the stern of the ship aft of the main lobby. The shops have been moved forward and can now be found in the area corresponding to the shops on Norwegian Gem. Another change is that the Moderno Churascarria South American steakhouse has replaced the Tex/Mex Salsa specialty restaurant.

 

 

 

More changes are to come. Moderno will be moving up to an area near Cagney’s steakhouse and the entire mezzanine overlooking the lobby will become an O’Sheehan’s Bar and Grill.

 

 

 

Beyond these physical changes, the officers and crew seem to share the optimistic spirit that you find on other Norwegian ships these days. Once Norwegian’s New York-based ship, Dawn is quite content with her new home in Boston and is looking forward to wintering in New Orleans.

 

We have updated Beyondships’s Norwegian Dawn profile. The photo tour has been expanded and numerous new photos of the interior added. We have added a new menus page including examples of the new menus being used in the main dining room of which Norwegian is quite proud. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-dawn-menus.html There is also a new daily programs page with copies of Freestyle Dailies from past cruises. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-dawn-daily-programs.html Copies of the current deck plans have been added. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-dawn-deck-plans.html Hotel Director Alain Magnier talks about what the Dawn is all about these days. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-dawn-hd-interview.html

 

 

 

In addition, we have a new photo feature showing Dawn in Bermuda http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-dawn-photos.html and a video of Dawn heading out to sea. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-dawn-video.html

 

Adventure of the Seas review and photos

 

 

This week the focus is on Royal Caribbean’s Adventure of the Seas. In April, Adventure underwent a refit, which added several new features to the ship. Thus, it is an appropriate time to take another look at Adventure. To this end, we recently did a transatlantic crossing on her followed by a short European cruise.

 

Adventure is a Voyager class cruise ship. In fact she was the third ship built in that class, entering service just after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Accordingly, she was named in New York by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and her god parents are six New York City firefighters and policemen.

 

Despite her New York City connection, Adventure is not Royal Caribbean’s New York ship. (Somewhat oddly, her sister ship Explorer of the Seas was given that role when RCI decided to base a ship in New York harbor year-round). Instead, she has spent most of her time in the Caribbean sailing out of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

 

The last few years, however, Adventure has been spending her summers in Southampton, England, sailing to the Mediterranean, the Canaries, the British Isles, Northern Europe and Scandinavia. She is doing that this summer but plans for 2015 call for her to revert back to year-round San Juan sailings.

 

Adventure is a very big cruise ship. At 137,000 gross tons, she is no longer the biggest cruise ship but she is still bigger than the vast majority of ships. Her size allows her to have many features including some that are not at all traditional on passenger ships. These include a pedestrian mall, lined with shops, bars and a cafe, running a considerable length down the ship’s center line and a large ice skating arena. These are both used as entertainment venues as well so that there is more to an evening on Adventure than what is going on in the theater and the casino.

 

Normally, in the Caribbean, Adventure’s passenger list is dominated by young families. However, on the two week long transatlantic crossing, there were few children. This left the ship’s facilities almost entirely to her adult passengers. As a result, the adults had lots of choices and lots of space to indulge themselves in.

 

The crossing was not a straight run from Miami to Southampton. Rather, the ship took her time going across with Caribbean stops in Nassau, San Juan and St. Maarten to start the voyage and a stops mid-way across the Atlantic in the Azores. Thus, there were elements of a Caribbean cruise and a European cruise in this crossing. But most of it was long, lazy sea days, which makes these types of voyages so popular with experienced cruisers.

 

The weather going across was fine. Adventure took the southern route across, which tends to have better weather than the more northerly, traditional ocean liner route. The only grey skies were after the ship left the Azores and was skirting the Bay of Biscay.

 

For her European cruise, Adventure had a mix of sun and rain. Sun in Zeebrugge, Belgium and rain in Le Harve. Whereas on the crossing, there had been many British passengers, many of whom were going home after wintering in Florida, the vast majority of passengers on this cruise were British. There were more children than on the crossing but still not many as the schools were still open.

 

I used to find Royal Caribbean’s success with the British public somewhat surprising. Royal provides an excellent cruise experience with nice ships, friendly service and quality choices in entertainment and dining. However, it is very much an American-style product, bold, informal and sometimes flashy. I have since come to the conclusion that this experience is successful with the British precisely because it is not British. Just going on one of the RCI ships is like going abroad, a break from the everyday routine.

 

The cruise was a different experience than the crossing. In Europe, the ports play a much more significant role as there is such a variety of things to see and do in the ports.

 

The new additions to Adventure include a giant video screen overlooking the pool, flat screen televisions in the passenger cabins, a new lounge for Diamond-level members of Royal Caribbean’s Crown and Anchor Society loyalty program and interactive electronic signage in the public rooms telling you such things as what is happening aboard and how to get from where you are to where you want to be. The Portofino specialty restaurant has become Giovanni’s Table. These additions are only some of the features that will be added to the ship in the next few years under the line’s Royal Advantage program, which is bringing features from the Oasis class ships to the rest of the Royal Caribbean fleet.

 

I was pleased to see that the ship is being well-maintained. In fact, new carpeting was being installed unobtrusively as we sailed.

 

We have updated the Adventure of the Seas section on Beyondships. http://beyondships.com/AOS-Profile.html The photo tour of the ship has been updated to include the new features and expanded with more photos of the ship’s interior and open decks. http://www.beyondships.com/AOS-tour.html There is a new menus page with menus from the main dining room and specialty restaurants. http://www.beyondships2.com/adventure-of-the-seas-menus.html We’ve added a daily programs page with examples of the Cruise Compass from past cruises and of other informational materials distributed aboard Adventure. http://www.beyondships2.com/adventure-of-the-seas-daily-programs.html There is a new deck plans page. http://www.beyondships2.com/adventure-of-the-seas-deck-plans.html Finally, we have a new photo feature with exterior photos of Adventure in eight different ports. http://www.beyondships2.com/adventure-of-the-seas-photos.html

 

Norwegian Cruise Line Private Island Great Stirrup Cay; Costa Luminosa

Great Stirrup Cay

 

Norwegian Cruise Line’s private island Great Stirrup Cay has been undergoing a dramatic transformation. Located in the Bahamas, GSC was the first island to be purchased by a cruise line.

 

Over the years, Norwegian did not do very much to develop the property. As a result, a call at GSC was something of a castaway experience. Guests landed on the island’s only beach on landing craft military-style. There were a few wooden huts that housed a bar and a dining pavilion. There wasn’t much there but it was usually a fun day.

 

Since 2010, Norwegian has invested more than $30 million in GSC. There is now a harbor where the tenders land. The original beach has been significantly improved and there are now three more new beaches with fluffy white sand. New concrete buildings contain bars, a snorkel shop, and a Bahamian market. Another building houses the dining facility and several neighboring pavilions are equipped with picnic tables for having lunch. There is also a pavilion where guests can wait out of the sun before boarding tenders back to the ship. The developed area has been landscaped with palm trees and lawn.

 

The transformation continues. Construction work is taking place on the other side of the island and at the edge of the developed area. Indeed, it is difficult to keep up with all of the improvements, the island changes so fast.

 

Our updated and expanded photo tour of Great Stirrup Cay begins at http://beyondships.com/NCL-GreatStirrupCay.html

 

Also, this week, we have added a new mini-profile of Costa Cruises’ Costa Luminosa. http://www.beyondships2.com/costa-luminosa-mini-profile.html This goes along with a photo essay showing Costa Luminosa in various ports. http://www.beyondships2.com/costa-luminosa-photos.html

 

Norwegian Getaway Profile and Photo Tour

Norwegian Getaway

 

We have added a profile of Norwegian Getaway to Beyondships.

 

Norwegian Getaway is Norwegian Cruise Line’s latest ship. Like her sister ship, Norwegian Breakaway, she is a very big ship – – 146,000 gross tons. However, more importantly, she is part of the new breed of cruise ships. Traditionally, an evening on a cruise ship revolved around dinner in the main dining room and a show in the ship’s theater. The new breed give guests several quality alternatives, not only in where and when to eat but also a variety of entertainment options. As a result, the guests have much more freedom to decide how to spend their evenings than before.

 

Physically, Getaway is very similar to Breakaway. Indeed, the only structural difference I noticed was that the courtyard in the Haven area does not have a retractable roof like it does on the Breakaway. However, there have been several changes in the line-up of public rooms. Chief among these is the Illusionarium, a dinner theater where guests are awed by a series of magicians and mentalists whose appearances are connected by a light-hearted storyline. There is also the Grammy Experience, where Grammy-nominated artists give live performances.

 

Most of the differences between Breakaway and Getaway relate to the fact that Breakaway is intended to reflect her homeport of New York City while Getaway is designed to capture the spirit of Miami. Getaway has a Latin theme that appears in menu items, drinks and in the entertainment. Indeed, Getaway’s version of the Burn the Floor dance show is set in Old San Juan.

 

This does not mean that Getaway will only appeal to people with a Latin background. For the most part, Getaway offers the Norwegian cruise experience. It has the signature dining venues, Le Bistro, Cagney’s Steakhouse, La Cucina Italian restaurant, and Ocean Blue seafood restaurant. Freestyle Cruising is still the name of the game. It just has a Latin overlay to it. Consequently, Getaway will appeal to all Norwegian fans.

 

Like Breakaway, Getaway was built by Meyer Werft. Once again, the German shipyard has delivered a quality product.

 

The profile page for Norwegian Getaway is at http://beyondships.com/NorwegianGetaway.html . Our photo tour of the interior, public areas and accommodations on Getaway starts at http://beyondships.com/NorwegianGetaway-Tour-1.html

 

In addition, the profile includes menus from Getaway’s restaurants. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-getaway-menus.html There are copies of her deck plans. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-getaway-deck-plans.html And a selection of Freestyle Dalies (daily programs) and other information distributed onboard Getaway. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-getaway-daily-programs.html

 

Next week, we get an inside look at Getaway from her captain and other people connected with the ship.