SOMETHING TO CROON ABOUT
T
BIG SHIP CRUISING
contain flooding and fires, the two biggest dangers at sea.
No more multi-purpose ‘Carnival Vistas’
like P&O’s Arcadia, Cunard’s Queen Vic- toria and Elizabeth, or Holland America’s Eurodam. No more Grand Princess copies like Ventura and Azura, and definitely nothing as big as Oasis and Allure of the Seas, or as ugly as Norwegian Epic. Details of what we can expect are still being kept secret, only to be disclosed in dramatic presentations or carefully choreographed ‘webinars’ so as to extract maximum publicity. We know Princess are planning a glass- floored SeaWalk cantilevered over the side
Line Disney
Oceania AIDA
Carnival Costa MSC
Celebrity AIDA
Hapag-Lloyd NCL
Princess NCL
Princess Costa
Royal Caribbean AIDA P&O
Royal Caribbean AIDA
Ship
Fantasy Riviera
AIDAMar Breeze
Fascinosa Divina
Reflection Unnamed Europa 2
Project Breakaway 1 Royal Princess
Project Breakaway 2 Unnamed Unnamed
Project Sunshine 1 Unnamed Unnamed
Project Sunshine 2 Unnamed
of their new Royal Princess, and the cabins on the new Project Breakaway ships for NCL will not follow the curved-wall design from Epic, with its controversial open-plan bathrooms. But Royal Caribbean have said virtually nothing about their Project Sunshine, and P&O are keeping mum about their own version of Royal Princess. Watching for the announcements will keep me entertained on the days I am not at sea during the next few months. For those of you keen to plan your cruising schedule around a selection of maiden voyages between now and 2015, this is what is currently on order:
Capacity 2,500 1,260 2,174 3,650 3,012 3,500 2.994 2,174 516
4,000 3,600 4,000 3,600 4,928 4,100 3,250 3,611 4,100 3,250
Tonnage 128,000 65,000 71,000
130,000 114,200 140,000 126,000 71,000 39,500
143,500 141,000 143,500 141,000 132,500 158,000 125,000 141,000 158,000 125,000
Est. cost £500,000 £310,000 £360,000 £450,000 £500,000 £465,000 £485,000 £360,000 N/A
£475,000 £460,000 £475,000 £460,000 £480,000 £575,000 £400,000 £460,000 £575,000 £400,000
Maiden voyage April 2012 April 2012 May 2012
Spring 2012 June 2012 June 2012
November 2012 May 2013
Spring 2013 Spring 2013
Late spring 2013 Spring 2014
Late spring 2014 October 2014 Autumn 2014 March 2015 March 2015 Spring 2015 March 2016
NB: Capacity figures based on double occupancy. Total capacity with all berths occupied varies; e.g Disney Fantasy takes up to 4,000 with all child berths occupied.
Be sure to read the Captain’s regular Blog online at
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/ captain-greybeard/ and don’t forget the World of Cruising blog, http://
timespentatsea.blogspot.com.
here was widespread derision when P&O announced Gareth Gates would be singing on a mini-cruise aboard Oceana in September. It was the perfect opportunity for those who have never holidayed at sea to pick up Simon Cowell’s mantra about cruise ship singers. Doubly ironic, they crowed, because Gates was Cowell’s protege when he rose to fame in the debut series of Pop Idol, only to be defeated in the final by Will Young. We’ve heard it all before, though, and I for one ignore it because those quick to categorise cruise ship crooners as faded has-beens don’t know what they’re talking about. They need to get out more.
Perhaps then they would realise what a wealth of entertainment is available on cruise ships today, from the Blue Man Group on Norwegian Epic to full-length West End Musicals like Chicago and Hairspray, and Cirque-style acrobatics to top quality comedians. Not to mention the RADA
troupe of actors on Queen Mary 2, and 3-D movies springing up everywhere. Sky TV is broadcasting The
Showboaters talent contest about the Thomson Dream this autumn; Donny and Marie Osmond will host a four-night cruise from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas aboard MSC Poesia at the end of February; and even dear old Fred. Olsen are getting in on the act with a June mini-cruise on Black Watch featuring Eagles tribute band Talon. Oh, and P&O had the last laugh with their Gareth Gates cruise – it was a sell-out.
Autumn 2011 I WORLD OF CRUISING 39
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