California Cruising

With my recent article about Carnival and the exodus from Los Angeles and the rest of Southern California, I thought it might be interesting to talk a little bit about cruising out of California, and what I think should happen in the future as far as California cruising and destinations go.

First, why is California having these problems?

Cruising from California is failing for a number of reasons. First, there is the violence in Mexico. People are scared to travel there (at least this side of Mexico) even though Mexican officials and port officials, as well as the industry, point out that the touristy areas are not affected or dangerous. People don’t see it that way and the numbers reflect that (apparently).

Secondly, the infamous Swine Flu (da da da daaa!!) also bit into the Mexican Riviera cruise passenger numbers. When the outbreak first occurred, the cruise lines moved ships from the Riviera to California and Canadian coastal cruises that went up to Vancouver and Victoria, BC and San Francisco. This affected many passengers and the bottom line for the cruise lines, as some people just cancelled their cruise altogether. (Funnily enough some people actually really liked the altered itineraries).

Thirdly, Southern California’s economy is sluggish at the moment. With the recession hitting CA pretty hard (haha!! we are still richer then all you puny other states! Just playing!!!) and even if the ships are sailing full, this causes problems for the industry as the sluggish economy drives down cruise prices in the region, and subsequently, profits.

Fourthly, a problem that port officials here in California like to point out, is that Mexico has failed miserably to market and advertise its ports and the uniqueness of each one. Because of this many people are just not really interested in the ports on the Mexican Riviera because they know nothing about them or why they would be a good cruising destination.

Fifthly, I think there is a lack of choices on this side of the continent. Out here we have the big 3 mass market lines…Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and NCL. Other than that, lines usually only sail really short seasons here, or just stop in on their way to Alaska, Panama or Asia. Carnival, RCI and NCL are all great, but what if you want a Cunard or Celebrity Cruises experience? You’re out of luck.



The last problem I will list here today is destinations, and the things limiting them for the west coast. You see, one of the biggest problems facing the cruise industry in California is a lack of varied itineraries. On a 7 day cruise out of California, you have the Mexican Riviera and that’s pretty much it. You can go to Hawaii, Costa Rica, Panama or Canada but all those cruises take longer then a week, and in the case of Hawaii, you can’t even cruise from CA to Hawaii without first stopping in Mexico or Canada, according to federal law. That law is also the reason you don’t see cruises of the west coast.

Which brings me to what the future should hold for CA, in my opinion…

This law should be changed. California has many coastal cities like, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Pismo Beach, Monterey, Eureka, San Simeon or San Francisco that would benefit greatly from cruise business. The problem with this is the Jones Act; a federal law that requires that foreign flag ships stop at a foreign port between traveling from one US port to another. Back in the day of ships being the only way to get around, this was done as a way to give American Shipping companies an edge over foreign competition. Forcing foreign ships to first stop in a port out side the US meant that foreign ships could not keep the same schedules that American ships could, and it also meant that they could not service routes like New York to Florida, or California to Hawaii.

Back in the day this might have been a good idea, but now-a-days it’s a problem in some cases…this is one of them. Cruises from L.A. up the California Coast could be really popular and could generate millions and millions of dollars for the local economies of the cities cruises would go to. Not to mention it could help turn around the cruise industry on the west coast by giving more options to the cruising public and the industry. It could also open up cruising to Hawaii and give more options in Alaska, Washington and Oregon. Most cruise ships are flagged in foreign countries like the Bahamas or Panama or England so all these good ports are, for all intents and purposes, cut off.

Like I said in my last article though, I think the California based cruise industry will start to pick up again soon. Maybe in 2012! The port of Los Angeles is investing over one billion dollars into the surrounding area and into a new cruise terminal as a way to attract more ships and cruise lines. Southern California is a great place and it would be a real shame for cruise ships to keep leaving here. Also like I said, California is one of the largest cruise markets in the country, behind FL, and it would make little sense to leave CA.

We will have to see what the future hold for California. I think it’s going to be good! Maybe a Cunard ship will be based out here all year round!! AHHHH!!!! Dream come true!

P.S.- My Dearest and most beautiful Cunard,
Please let me visit next week!!!!! PLEASE!!!
I love you always and forever!
Yours forever…
- Mark

Carnival in Australia, Los Angeles in Decline...

Big news in the industry right now... The other day it was announced that Carnival is abandoning me for…for…Australia! The Carnival Spirit, which Carnival recently announced it would be sending here to L.A., has been assigned to Australia from October 2012, where according to rumor, she will be sailing on voyages of 8 to 12 days.

This is actually probably the biggest news of the past couple of weeks (OF COURSE I MEAN OTHER THEN CUNARD NEWS!!!) as this is a pretty big step for Carnival, and for the Australian based cruise industry as well. For Carnival as a company, it is a big step because it is the first time Carnival has permanently based a ship outside of North America, Carnival’s main market. It is also one of the first times Carnival has really really reached out to a demographic other than North Americans. Carnival has based ships (temporarily) in Europe for a few cruises, but even those were strongly targeted at Americans wanting to cruise the Mediterranean. This time is will be mostly Australians and New Zelanders.

For the Australian cruise market this move also represents a large leap. In recent years the Australian cruise market has been growing and growing fast. As a response to this growth, the cruise lines have been sending more and more capacity down to Australia, either to be based there for a season, or just to make a few calls. Bigger and newer ships, such as the Queen Mary 2, usually only call at Sydney (or other Australian ports) as a port-of-call, and until now have never really been based there permanently. Up until now, Australian cruisers have been left with older, hand-me-down ships that are too old for the American and European cruise market. The largest cruise line serving Australia, P&O Australia (a sub-brand of P&O, a subsidiary of Carnival), has a fleet totally made up of older hand-me-down tonnage from various lines under the Carnival Corp. umbrella. The leftovers if you will…

The Carnival Spirit, on the other hand, while not the newest or the biggest in Carnival’s fleet, it’s still modern and it certainly will be the largest, and newest, to serve Australia and it’s a big big step up from the current selection out there. This just goes to show how much the Australian market has been growing! Cruise lines don’t send their better ships to a small meaningless market; they are reserved for important markets and destinations where they can be supported.

The Carnival Spirit was built in 2001 as the first (second if you count Costa Cruises fleet) in Carnival’s new Spirit Class of ships. It has since become one of Carnival’s most popular and nicest ships. Australia has scored big with this one! (photo at left "CARNIVAL SPIRIT" by flickr member "steamboatsorg" - Franz Neumeier, www.cruisetricks.de )

How do I feel about this though…well…I am happy for Australia…but at the same time I hate it! This ship has been deployed in California (which for those of you who are just joining, is my home state) mostly, for a while now…oh, and in Alaska in the summer months. In a few months, Spirit will be starting a season based out of L.A. doing the Mexican Riviera. Lately though, Los Angeles, San Diego and Long Beach have fallen victim to a declining cruise market :( due to several things, including fear of drug violence in Mexico, the Jones Act and a lack of destinations. Several ships have already left (such as yesterday when Mariner of the Seas left - sniff, sniff ) and headed to other destinations like Europe. Soon Norwegian Star will be leaving as well, and now here goes the Spirit along with them.

So in that sense, I hate it. I hate to see another ship leaving Los Angeles. I want to see my homeport doing well in the cruise business (in cargo operations, L.A. is still one of the most powerful ports in the world). I do think within a few years the cruise industry in California will pick up again (California is one of the largest cruise markets in the USA), but in the mean time, it’s sad to watch the decline.

On a happier note for L.A., the Disney Wonder will be here (and stay here for a few months) on Friday, which I will be there at the port for. On top of that, the QV and QE will be out here next week! (PLEASE PLEASE ALLOW ME TO VISIT THEM, CUNARD!!!...I love you!) Los Angeles, as well as other ports in Southern California, are great ports in great cities! I think that this fact will eventually help turn the tide for L.A., and bring the ships back.

In the end, both Los Angeles and Australia are going to be important players in the future of the cruise industry…that’s what I think anyway.

(Above photo -"Los Angeles Maritime Museum" by flickr member "karenpeacock")

A Cunard Day in NYC!

I am sorry about the lack of post over the last couple of days, I am afraid I got lost on the path way of life…basically I was busy so suck it up! ...and I mean that with all the love in the world.

This last Thursday (January 13th) a historic moment occurred as all three Queens in Cunard's fleet met in New York harbor. Lucky onlookers watched as The Glorious, The Perfect, The Alpha, The Omega, The Incredible, The Majestic, The Beautiful and by the Grace of God, Empress of the Seas, Sovereign of the Oceans, Inheritor of the greatest name in maritime history …THE RMS QUEEN MARY 2 (!!!!!), the beautiful Queen Victoria and the lovely Queen Elizabeth, sailed out of New York together. (QM2 is my favorite ship currently in service)

This is only the second time in Cunard history that Cunard has had 3 Queens in New York at once (that partially because Cunard only ever had two Queens up until recently). The Last time was 3 years ago to the day when the QM2, the beautiful Veteran queen of the ocean; QE2, and the brand new Queen Victoria sailed in and then later out together from the port.

The lucky passengers arriving at the port on the QE and QV had just had a special treat as they got to experience a tandem crossing...where both ships crossed together side by side across the Atlantic to NYC. Meanwhile, the passengers on the QM2...well they are just lucky!!!!

In honor of this historic occasion, Cunard’s Commodore Bernard Warner rang the bell (from the original Queen Elizabeth’s engine room) to signal the end of trading for the day at the New York Stock Exchange, the Empire State Building was lit in red for Cunard and passengers and land based onlookers alike, were treated to a Grucci fireworks display as the 3 grand ships lined up in the harbor by the Statue of Liberty.

It was a beautiful event! Seeing 2 or more Cunard Queens together is really something very special. I remember almost 5 years ago when the QM2 met the Queen Mary in Long Beach for the first time! I was there and nearly died from happiness!

Now that the event is over the Queen are heading their separate ways, QM2 on her world cruise (an eastbound one… grrr that means she wont come anywhere near me!), Queen Victoria is on her way here to Los Angeles where she will be based for a few weeks and Queen Elizabeth is on her first world cruise which will also bring her here to Los Angeles a day before the QV. Before that though the QV and QE will be meeting again in Ft Lauderdale, FL, today actually, then they will head off on separate cruises.

Now, I want you all to know that I am trying hard to get permission to visit and review the ships. Its pretty hard to get permission (because of security) but its not impossible, in fact a friend of mine just visited the QE in Southampton. I am trying several different routes to reach this goal…this dream, if you will, but I am not above begging so…ahem…..…PLEASE CUNARD!!!! PLEASE!!!! I WILL WRITE GOOD THINGS ABOUT THE Queens!!! PLEASE!!! I AM YOUR BIGGEST FAN!!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!....pretty pretty (QM2 pretty) please? My devotion to you is undying!

...ahem....sorry...for that outburst, I just really do love Cunard! *geek squeal! Anyways whatever happens I will be there at the port to watch as these two ships sail in! It will be a glorious day!

Ramblings of a Ship-Geek is Growing!

Over the last couple of weeks Ramblings of a Ship-Geek has more than quadrupled in size, and the number of viewers everyday, now numbers in the hundreds. We have readers from all over the world, in literally dozens of countries and the numbers continue to climb faster and faster all the time.

In response to this, I have decided to try a few new things with this blog, and the over all product to try and expand it even further. I have started a YouTube Channel, a flickr account, and a flickr group for the blog. Please feel free to have a look at these pages and join, and then add to them!

I am working hard to make this blog successful and enjoyable to those who read it. Lately I have been trying to post a new article every other, to every few days. Please always feel free to comment on any post regarding anything. Your comments are important!

Thank you my readers for reading! Let’s keep this blog growing!

-Mark the Shipgeek

Here are the links to our new pages!

Rambling's new YouTube account is here! Its still pretty small but it is growing and should have more videos soon! Tell me what you think!

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/user/RamblingShipGeek

Rambling of a Ship-Geek has a new offcial (because you know how offcial I am) flickr group, "Ship-Geeks Unite". A place for fellow shipgeeks to share pictures, videos and just talk about our favorite thing..SHIPS! You are all invited to join and add your own pictures (as many as you want) and join/start any disscussion!

Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/groups/ship-geek/

Rambling of of Ship-Geek also has a new flickr account where we will host much of the pictures you see here on the blog, and many many more. You can add us as a contact on flickr, and be the first to know when we upload new pictures or you can just look at our photostream and check out all the awesome ship photos without joining. On top of this if you have any ship pictures you would like to see on here and on our group you can send them to me and I will be more then happy to upload them. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/people/57699850@N03/


Remember that all these pages are new and are still growing so don't forget to check them often!

You may contact me either here on the blog or through e-mail at ramblingshipgeek@yahoo.com

A man goes overboard. Fire. Norovirus Outbreaks. Are cruise ships safe?

It’s time for me to write about what might seem like an ugly subject for me and this blog…cruise ship safety. What with Norovirus outbreaks (there was one just reported on the Radiance of the Seas and one on the Queen Mary 2 not that long ago), people going overboard, the Carnival Splendor fire (which I know I have failed to mention yet) and various crimes that cruise passengers have fallen victim to, some people really are worried that going on a cruise is a dangerous and risky thing to do. Certainly the media coverage and the various websites and groups that advocate against the industry are not helping these people. Paying attention to these groups is enough to make anyone afraid of doing anything.

Of course, I will not deny that these bad things have happened, nor will I refute the numbers that these people quote. Thousands of people get sick on cruises every year, potentially dozens may fall off, there may be fires and other accidents and many people may fall victim to some sort of crime. That’s just the truth and if I want to be credible to my readers and if I really want to promote the industry that I love, then it is important for me to face the good and the bad.

Anyways lets start with the biggest and most talked about issue, Norovirus and other illnesses. Like I said above, potentially thousands every year can catch some sort of illness on a cruise. Norovirus is the most common and by far the most talked about on the news, it has even been called the cruise ship virus. I wrote about Noro a few months ago (SEE LINK BELOW), everything I wrote there is still true and relevant so give it a look! Today, January 8th, it was reported that there was a outbreak of Noro aboard Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Sea’s last cruise and that subsequently its next cruise, which started today, was delayed as RCI implemented a very thorough sanitation of the ship. From what I have read it seems as though 150 passengers were infected with the virus.

(link to previous article on Noro http://shipgeek.blogspot.com/2010/07/norovirus-at-sea.html )

Now for the big picture. While I do feel really sorry for anyone who get sick on their cruise, or any vacation for that matter, I have to say that 150 people sick on a cruise ship that can carry more then 2500 passengers is hardly that big of a deal and really hardly newsworthy. Almost 16,000,000 people will cruise this year (a number that is continuing to grow a lot every year) and not even one tenth of one percent of that number will contract any illness like Noro. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is less then 1% of a chance that you will catch Norovirus on any cruise. In 2009 over 13,000,000 people cruised and in that same time only 9 outbreaks occurred.

Reading some of these anti-cruise industry websites, you will see that they like to blame Norovirus outbreaks on the ship’s water or food supply, and the outbreak yesterday on Radiance, is no exception. This is because one of the main ways Norovirus is transmitted is through fecal contaminated water and food. My question to these people is thus…if the water or food was to blame, then how come only 150 people out of 2500 got sick? Were these 150 people the only ones who ate or drank on this cruise? That seems unlikely. It’s also worth pointing out that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the body that monitors and investigates these outbreaks) has never cited the water or food supplies on ships as the cause of sickness or the means to its spread. It has stated that the cause is person to person contact…which in such a contained environment makes a lot of sense.

Enough about sickness though. Let's move on to the next thing…falling overboard.

I can’t think of much that would be scarier than falling off a ship in the middle of the dark cold ocean and watching helplessly as it sails away. That’s the thing of nightmares and it always makes me sad to think that anyone has suffered through that. This doesn’t happen all the time but it does happen a few times a year.

As sad as this is, usually it seems that people fall off because they were doing something stupid. Many times people who fall off are either drunk, or doing something like climbing/sitting on railings (NEVER EVER DO THAT). Other times it is sadly suicide or even some times foul play. Sadly this is something that is hard to prevent from happening. Railings on ships are pretty tall at 42 inches (3.5ft) with warnings not to do anything stupid or dangerous by the edge of the ship, but besides that what can a cruise line really do to prevent this? Get rid of outdoor decks altogether? Tie people down? Make sure no one gets drunk?

In the event that someone does go overboard the ship will go into man overboard mode and turn around and begin searching the water immediately (while it’s not very likely, people are sometimes recovered alive and well). One problem facing ships with the rescue process is that sometimes no one realizes that a person is gone for several hours, by which time the ship has traveled miles away and the current could have taken the fallen miles away, as well. But still the ship will try. On top of this effort, other ships in the area and different rescue agencies like the US Coast Guard are alerted and join in the search for the victim.

Again, despite all this, you should not be afraid to take a cruise. In the last decade or so only a few dozen of people have fallen from cruise ships. It’s not likely to ever happen to you (you are more likely to get struck by lightning a few times first) or anyone who cruises with you. When people fall off it is never because someone just tripped and fell over, there is always some aggravating factor that cause them to go over. You just have to be smart and use common sense at all times. Don’t climb or sit on railings and don’t get overly drunk and then try to do something idiotic. Remember, ships are the safest form of transportation but like anything, they can be dangerous if you do something to make it so. BE SMART! BE SAFE! AND HAVE A GREAT CRUISE!

Ok, on to the next thing.....shipboard accidents.

Undoubtedly you have heard about the recent and much publicized Carnival Splendor fire. If you haven’t you must live under a rock in the middle of nowhere, cause it was everywhere. Anyway, this incident has many people believing that ships are not safe. This fear was further compounded by the fact that the initial investigation by the US Coast Guard found that the CO2 system onboard (one of the fire fighting systems that fights fire by filling a space with CO2 and thereby choking the fire by removing its oxygen) was not correctly installed and had several faults with it.

Fire is probably the most dangerous and scary thing that can happen on a ship. It seems ironic to a lot of people since a ship is surrounded by water, but it really is a very bad situation to have fire onboard. The Splendor incident shows that.

Well are ships safe then? How much of a fire risk is there on any given cruise?

To answer these questions I think we should look at the records. (photo at left -"Carnival cruise ship C/V Splendor adrift 150 miles southwest of San Diego" from Official U.S. Navy Gallery on flickr)

In the last 20 years there have been several fires onboard cruise ships. Most of these are small harmless fires that mostly go unnoticed by passengers and do not affect the cruise, and then there are some bigger ones like the Splendor fire or the fire on the Star Princess from a few years ago. And even with these bigger ones very few have been fatal (in fact the only death I can think of off the top of my head was that of a passenger on the Star Princess) or even caused any injuries. Overall though, fires are very rare.

Modern cruise ships are subject to very strict safety and fire regulations. Ships have a limit on how much combustible material they can carry. Ships have multiple fire suppression and prevention systems. Crew members are trained on how to fight fires (even big ones). Even the layout of the ship is designed to help combat fire and keep everyone safe. And these high standards continue to get higher as new regulations are put into place constantly.

Like I said above, with the Splendor incident, it was found that the CO2 system was faulty. In turn many people may be lead to believe that Carnival and it’s safety standards are not good. This is not the case. While I think that the problem with the CO2 system is a blunder, I don’t believe it is just Carnival’s, fault (and no, thats not because I am undyingly loyal to the cruise lines). You could fault the shipyard and the contractor who installed the system, or you can even blame the US Coast Guard and other safety agencies that inspect these systems and did not catch theses problems.

Regardless of whose to blame in this case, one should remember that this is only one fire suppression system onboard and it should also be remembered that the crew did put out the fire and in doing so saved the passengers and the ship. In the end, Carnival’s safety standards and practices prevailed and everyone was safe. (And no, no passengers were ever served spam).

The cruise industry has an exceptional safety record and, like I said, ships are the safest form of travel (unless you count elevators). So again don’t let fear of accidents scare you away from cruising, also don’t let it lower your opinion of cruise ship safety.

(Also, I think it is worth mentioning that Carnival's Senior Cruise Director, John Heald, was on the Splendor durring the incident. He talked very extensivly about it on his blog. Definitely worth a read! I am an avid reader of his blog BTW)

see here....

http://johnhealdsblog.com/2010/11/12/

Ok one last thing I am going to talk about in this article, (which has become my longest so far) crime. I will try and make this short.

A cruise ship carrying a few thousand people is like a small city. And like any city there are the occasional crimes, be it robbery, sexual assault or drug smuggling. It horrible that we have this in the world and it’s horrible that this happens to people trying to enjoy there vacations. But again I will say it. Don’t let this deter you from cruising. Cruise lines are constantly putting measures in place to help combat crime aboard their ships and even with the crimes that do happen, their record is still really good. Crime is not very usual on ships. Always exercise caution (like I have said before) anywhere you are, even cruise ships, and you will just fine.

I would say more on this subject but that will have to wait for another post as this one is too long already.

Remember, at the end of the day more than 15,000,000 people will cruise this year. Out of that number 99.9% will come away after having a great cruise that they will remember for years to come. So go, cruise and enjoy yourself without worry! After all, that is the whole point of a cruise!

(Above photo- "sailing into the sun" by flickr member "Ricardo Ko") ...p.s. they ship is one of Celebrity's Millennium Class ships.

The Dream is here…the Disney Dream that is…

Well it is now January 6, 2011 and I think it is time to move on with what's new in the shipping and cruising world, besides there is not much more to say about the CUNARD!!!! Float in the Rose Parade….IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!!....ok now I will stop. There is

nothing more to say ….See?...Nothing.

There is however some stuff to be said about Disney Cruise Line and even more so, the new Disney Dream…

The day before yesterday (January 4th for me) the newly completed and delivered Disney Dream, (we will call it DD for short…that way I don’t have to write out Disney Dream every time I want to make reference to the Disney Dream, because lets face it, even thought this article is about the Disney Dream, writing Disney Dream over and over again will probably get tedious and I don’t want to wear out the name Disney Dream by writing Disney Dream again and again so from now on Disney Dream will no longer be Disney Dream but will be (at least in this article) “DD”….I am rambling now aren’t I? Anyways, back to my rudely interrupted sentence…) arrived at Disney Cruise Lines (DCL) home port of Port Canaveral, Florida. And I must say….FINALLY!! (photo above- Disney Dream docked at DCL's cruise terminal in Port Canaveral, Fl)

It seems like (to me at least) that the cruising and shipgeek world have been waiting forever for this new ship to finally arrive. DCL announced their plans for 2 new ships back in February 2007 and didn’t even start construction until 2 years later in March 2009. Finally about a month ago the ship was delivered to DCL, that’s over 3 years that I have been waiting! (I guess it really isn’t that long in retrospect…but it seemed long).

(photo at right- early rendering of Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy along with Magic and Dream)

Anyways, let's talk about the ship. Disney Dre…..I mean, DD is the first in a new class of ship, of which there will be 2, DD and Disney Fantasy, being built for DCL. Disney’s last ship the Disney Wonder came out over 10 years ago in 1999, which itself was an identical twin (on the outside) to her sister ship the older, (by one year) Disney Magic (my favorite in DCL’s fleet). Those two ships were the first in Disney’s Cruise Line venture, and basically the first in the industry to be designed from the keel (bottom or back bone of a ship) as family oriented cruise ships.

Over the last 12 (almost 13) years of operation for the line, DCL has gained a reputation for a very high quality product with everything from their ship's food, to their service and even to their custom built terminal, receiving very high praise.

And despite what you might think, even though this is a Disney company and you would think that kids would be all over the place and out of control, this has never been the case for DCL. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. With the great design and amenities for different age groups, Disney has managed to keep kids controlled, well behaved and very entertained in their own dedicated areas. At the same time adults have many of their own spaces to relax and enjoy their cruise while still being able to have that Disney-ness in their cruise.

I hardly ever hear any major complaints about the line, in fact there is only one thing that I know has plagued (if that’s the right word) DCL, and the only thing that I know that has kept people away from the line…the prices. DCL is considered to be part of the mass market segment of the cruise industry, like Carnival, Royal Caribbean and NCL, and you might think that their cruise fares would reflect that…not the case. Much like the Disney Parks, DCL is somewhat over priced which in my opinion is only partially justified. Why? I will tell you…there are 2 reasons for this expensiveness, 1) Disney can charge more just because they are Disney, people love and have an emotional attachment to the brand and will pay A LOT of money for it. 2) Disney really does offer a high quality product despite being mass market (that whole “Disney Detail” thing is true). Their ships are immaculate all the time (which is not an easy or cheap accomplishment), their design is great, their food is great (from what I have heard), their entertainment is some of the absolute best in the industry (not surprising when you consider what Disney is) and the product as a whole is good. But like I said, that all comes at quite a pretty penny (for a mass market line that is). Don’t get me wrong…I love to see a company that is popular and doing well…I just wish I could afford it. :o

Anyways, I am going on too long about DCL, this article is supposed to be about DD.

DD represents a large expansion both in size and capacity for Disney. The ship is over 40% larger than its older fleet mates, and can hold over 1600 more passengers (4000 which means on some cruises the ship might seem crowded). And while the ship has much of the same things the older Disney ships have it will be introducing several new things to DCL and to the industry as a whole.

For example…
-I’ll start with the biggest and most obvious, the “Aquaduck”, a water slide rollercoaster like thing that will take its riders (who sit in an inflatable inter-tube) from a starting platform high in the aft funnel, over the side of the ship, down the length of the pool deck, through the forward funnel and down to the end of the ride. In total it is over 760ft long. (photo below- "Aquaduck" rendering)

-Inside staterooms will have a large round LED ‘‘porthole’’ showing a high definition video feed from cameras located around the perimeter of the ship. It will be just like a real window (except its only 2D) showing what’s outside the ship, like weather conditions. Also at times you will see Disney characters float past, like the Starfish from “Finding Nemo” (who will stick to your ‘window’) or the house from “Up”.
-There are several new restaurants onboard. The most significant, in my opinion, is the upscale venue, “Remy”, a French cuisine restaurant decorated in beautiful Art Nouveau style and based off of Disney and Pixar’s hit movie, “Ratatouille”. (photo at right- rendering of Remy)
-And besides that, the only other thing I can think of off the top of my head is a scavenger hunt thingy. Somehow using the art work around the ship Disney will send their passengers on scavenger hunts.

There is more but I just can’t remember off the top of my head and anyway, its not just about the new stuff. Its also about the tried and true.

A few of the things that will carry over from the older ships, Wonder and Magic, are…
-The restaurant “Animators Pallet” an eatery centered around Disney’s animation. On the original ships the room is covered in black and white animator cells, sketches and drawing that as the courses are served change to color (a very cool effect, actually). On Disney Dream, the room will have screens all over the wall, where diners will see Crush the turtle from “Finding Nemo” appear and interact (talk) with them. (Personally I prefer the original Animator’s Pallet over this new-fangled thing but it is still pretty cool.)
-Huge 18ft x 30ft LED screens over the family pool area.
-A family friendly design.
-Adult only spaces (which is nice for parents, couples and singles, with all of whom DCL is very popular).
-Rotational Dining. This is a dining concept Disney started with their older ships where passengers rotate between 3 different restaurants every night (including Animator’s Pallet).
-Three separate pool areas; one for Adults (Quiet Cove Pool), one for families (The Goofy Pool) and one for younger kids (The Mickey Pool) which features a water slide.
-Split bathrooms in the staterooms.
-A very Disney-esque style of design and cruising.

On the outside the ship is a gorgeous modern, kind of dumbed down, interpretation of old ocean liners. When I say ‘dumbed down’ I mean that her lines have been cleaned up and simplified so the ship resembles the sort of cliché ocean liner that you see in generic travel pictures (un-like Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 which is a real ocean liner and who’s looks reflect that fact), this isn’t a bad thing though because it really is a beautiful ship.
The Stern is a little odd from behind (not really very pretty like her older fleet mates that have some beautiful sterns) and her funnels could be a little bigger and the forward one should be taller (it is shorter so the air flow to the real working funnel, the after one, is undisturbed ) but other then that I can’t find much fault with the exterior of this ship. (photo below- early profile drawing of Disney Dream Class)

The inside is interesting to say the least. In general she is Art Deco on the inside with a Disney twist. Other spaces are a little more stylized but not in a tacky sort of way. My favorite room would have to be the Lobby for its Art Deco style. (photo at right- Dream's lobby)

The ship was built by Meyer-Werft shipyards in Papenburg, Germany and believe it or not was actually built inside a gigantic building called a building shed. She was built piece by piece by placing huge sections of the ship together in the dry dock and welding them together to form the ship (most people find this absolutely amazing). On October 30th, 2010 she was launched (meaning she was taken out of the building) to much praise and fanfare. The remaining work was carried out else where (like Hamburg) after her sea trials, which I hear went smoothly and she was finally handed over to DCL on December 9th 2010. (photo at left- Disney Dream being pulled out of the building shed, Oct 30th, 2010)

Now she’s here waiting to start her maiden voyage to the Caribbean on January 26th and a very, I am sure, successful and lucrative future beyond. I am very excited about her; yes I know…I am excited about every ship, along with the rest of the shipping, cruising, Disney and ShipGeek world. She will be a grand addition to the Disney Cruise Line fleet and I can’t wait to see the reviews on her.

I will now finish this overly long (my longest so far I think) article by saying that my only wish in regard to this ship is, I wish Disney would lower the price, or at least allow me to do a visit so I could see the ship! Or if not that I wish they would let me at least visit the Disney Wonder when she is out here in Los Angeles in just a few days! PLEASE DISNEY?!!!....I am wishing upon a star!! PLEASE!...pretty please? :D

I will write more on Disney Dream as soon as there is more to report so stay tooned!

Happy 2011 from Pasadena!!

Well I have had a thoroughly fun, thoroughly Pasadena-ish and thoroughly Cunard-ish New Years so far. Sorry I have not blogged about it yet, but as I am sure you, my dear readers, can understand, I have been quite busy!

Picture at right is from Rambling of a ShipGeek's flickr account. ramblingshipgeek

Any who, late as it is I wish all of you a happy and prosperous 2011 and I hope you had a great New Years holiday! May this year be full of cruises and ships for all of you!

My 2011 started off great, also most importantly to this blog and to anyone reading this, my New Years has been very Cunard-ish like I said. First of all, there was the Rose Parade. For those of you who did not see the Rose Parade in person, or at least on TV, you missed out because it was beautiful! The marching bands were all great, the horses were cool, and all the floats were beautiful (remember that in the Rose Parade, every square inch of visible surface on the float must be covered with some kind of plant material) and of course one float in particular stood out as the most beautiful...CUNARD’S FLOAT!!!

Unfortunately during the parade, the float went by rather fast and I didn’t get to see as much of it, in action, as I had hoped. However I saw enough and let me tell you, it was nice. The Float had won the ‘Queen’s Trophy’ for the best use of Roses (there were a ton of them) and onboard had many people waving and dancing to a live band playing Big Band music, as well as Cunard Bell Boys walking along side the float. From front to back, it had a black and white bow (decorated with different kinds of seed to replicated Cunards livery) flanked by dolphins, made from silver leaf, jumping out of an ocean of blue and white flowers. After that there was a lounge space with bottles of champagne, a ball room with dancers, and a stained glass ceiling with a giant chandelier, a live band and then a grand staircase with a large golden globe and a floral graph depicting the three Cunard Queens. All that remained after that was an area with the Iconic Cunard funnel (which was giving off smoke) and 2 levels of out door deck space. It was beautiful and despite the fact that it went by too fast, I did get a video and some pictures. Both of which can be seen on Ramblings of a Ship-Geek’s Youtube channel and soon, it’s Flickr account!

From Rambling of a ShipGeek's youtube account...

My experience with this float did not end there though, for the very next day I spent ten dollars and did a ton of walking up hill and in the rain (ok no rain…yet) just so I could go to the float viewing and take almost 100 pictures (which are now available to view on our Flickr page) of the float. I also took pictures of the other floats just in case you readers are interested (they will be available on Flickr soon).

After that I expected my story with the float would end, and that I would probably not see it again….But I did!

First some back story…every year a couple of days after the Rose Parade (usually on the second) the floats are taken back to the ‘float barns’ where they were built and decorated. When this happens some of the floats pass down the street in front of our house on their way to one of these barns (so its like we get our own personal Rose Parade right outside our door!). Well this year after the floats passed, my cousin, a friend and I, decided to follow the floats in a car and pick up and flowers that were dropped along the way. Our flower scavenging lead us to one of the barns, the so called ‘Rose Palace’, where we discovered that if you asked nicely they would let you come in and pick what ever you wanted off the floats. We came back home with the motherlode!

With our flower hunting success we decided to go out early the next morning and ask for more flowers. Well next morning comes and as we are standing in front of the Rose Palace we chicken out and decided to go to another float barn in a city called, Irwindale. I am glad we did!....I had a date with destiny.

When we got there we stood outside for about 10 minutes trying to work up the courage to ask if we could go in and look, and pick flowers. Eventually we did and I think you can all guess what float I made a beeline to...yup, the Cunard float! We ended up picking tons of flower from the float and then tons more from the other…a ton a flowers which are now all over the place in my house! I was really hoping that I could take something with the Cunard logo on it but I had to settle for just flowers. Oh well..at least they were Cunard flowers! We were there for about an hour picking flowers and by the time we left my car was full of them.

This is where I finally said goodbye to the Cunard float. But the story of Cunard and me is not over, oh no, it will go on forever until the stars turn cold! I look forward to next years Rose Parade with the hope that Cunard will continue participating in it. But for the immediate future I am looking forward to 2011, QV and QE (Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth) being here in Los Angeles in just a few weeks (LET ME VISIT THEM CUNARD!!! PLEASE!!!...pretty please?), my first cruise, which I am determined to do this year and a great year for this blog to grow even more!

I hope you all have a great 2011 and I hope you continue to read and enjoy this simple blog!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!