This past few weeks. The SS United States, Cunard in Los Angeles, and other industry news!

EEEEEEE!!!!!! I am still glowing! Why? Well if you don’t know by now…Cunards Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth were here in Los Angeles!!! It was beautiful!! Too beautiful........I almost died. But that’s not all that happening lately, nope. There is also news of RCI’s plans for a new class of ships, some small updates on the Carnival Splendor (the one that caught fire), Oceana’s newest ship is out and sailing, the SS United States has been bought and some other news!

Cunard!
AHHHHH!!!!! AHHHH!!!!! IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!! Seeing two of the Cunard Queens here in my home town was incredible! The day started off very early, like at 3:30 am early!(…usually I have not even gone to sleep yet at that time.). I got up this early so I would be able to travel from Pasadena to the port (a drive of about 30 miles I’d say) in time to see the Queen Elizabeth sail into port. Unfortunately, when I got there to San Pedro (the port district of the City of Los Angeles) there was some very thick fog and I was not able to see the ship sail in through Angles Gate (the entrance to the Port to Los Angeles), however I was able to go to a park across the quay from the cruise terminal. From here, I was able to see the QE come up the main channel through the fog and dock at the terminal. It was beautiful and I was totally ship geeking out!! (photo at right- "Queen Victoria" by flickr member "Voyager One")

There was only one problem I had. For some reason, it had been decided that the QE would use one of the lower terminals. Let me explain…the cruise terminals at the Port of Los Angeles are arrange in a ‘L’ shape. Two berths are parallel to the main channel, the other terminal and berth is perpendicular to the channel (you see it in the beginning sequence of “The Love Boat”) and it’s perfect for ship spotting as there is a small park and boardwalk located across the slip from it. This later terminal is where I wanted the ship to dock but alas, they docked at the other lover terminal. This terminal isn’t horrible for ship spotting as there is a long walkway that has a good view of the ship but it does put more distance between the ship and you not to mention a large parking lot and a chain link fence. As it turns out, the Sapphire Princess and the Norwegian Star ended up taking the 2 other berths.

As you know, I have my problems with the Queen Elizabeth but seeing her in person was great. I have to admit I am really starting to like this ship (even though I stand by all I have said before) and have never been able to resist a ship in Cunard color. She’s still not as good looking as her sister the Queen Victoria but she’s not as bad as she looks in some pictures. After looking at her pretty much all day she departed from LA in the dark as me, my family (who I dragged along with me) and some other shipgeeks watched.

Next day, it was the Queen Victoria (my favorite of the two)!!! For the sake of keeping this article at a shorter length I shan’t go into the details of the day. I think it will suffice to say, that the day went pretty much like the day before had gone…she docked at the wrong terminal (Disney Wonder got the one I wanted for QV), I geeked out and she was beautiful! I should also mention that despite that fact that the QV had been to Los Angeles before, this was my first time seeing her, which made it very special to me. Unfortunately, I was not able to watch her sail out as I had to get back up to Pasadena but I am sure it was beautiful!!

The only thing that would have made the weekend better was if Cunard had allowed me to visit!!




Royals New Ship?

Speaking about RCI’s better then expected results for the 4th quarter of 2010 and the year as a whole, Richard Fain Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean also stated that RCI is working on a new class of ship.

In his own words…

"I know the question, when will you be ordering another ship is out there, and
it's waiting to be asked -- it almost always is," said Fain. "I have previously
confirmed that while we look forward to a period of slower growth, we do not aim
to stagnate."

“It will probably be the start of a new a series, which
would incorporate our latest learnings about efficiency and about guest
amenities.”

“We’ve been working intensively on developing a design that
reflects our innovative spirit but in an efficient package and we think we are
near an acceptable outcome,”

Of course, the online cruise and ship geek communities like Cruise Critic or my favorite Cruise Talk at Travel Server, have been buzzing with speculation and predictions about this new class of ships. Everyone is sure that the ships will be smaller then the Oasis class (that is pretty much what Fain said) but can’t seem to agree on just how much smaller. Some are predicting ships around 180,000grt and others are predicting a more modest 120,000 to 130,000grt ship. Some speculate that these ships will not have all the bells and whistles of the Oasis Class or the Freedom Class, others say that these amenities (like the Boardwalk or Central Park on Oasis) can and should appear on these new smaller ships as they are what RCI is know for.

If I can throw my own predictions into the mix here… Personally I think that RCI will or should go smaller with this new class; maybe around 110,000 to 130,000grt in size. I also think that while many of the newer features on RCI ships should be retained, I think these ships should be toned down slightly. My reasoning for these ideas is this…I have read many reviews and opinions that have said they would like to see smaller ships from RCI. For many, the Oasis, Freedom and even the Voyager class are just to large for them, they prefer the likes of the panamax (the largest size that can fit in the Panama Canal) Radiance Class ship. A class of ships sized in between the larger classes and the smaller classes in RCI’s fleet could at like a bridge or stepping stone, for people transitioning to the larger ships. A smaller ship also has more versatility then a larger ship. It can serve more destinations and be put to work on up and coming markets, for example, Australia or Asia. Also some destinations like Alaska, Hawaii or other Caribbean destinations, are more suited for smaller ships (if you can call 120,000grt small).

What ever comes out, I am sure it will be great! RCI are know for their newbuilds. Its very exciting!

Oceana’s New Ship!

Oceana (a luxury line) just put its first new ship, the Marina, into service this past week. Oceana is a relatively new cruise line, started in 2003, and up until now has only had 3 “R” Class ships which were built in the early 2000’s for the now defunct, Renaissance Cruises. A few years ago Oceana ordered a duo of new ships for the line. These new ships would be larger and hold more people then the original ships but were still heavily related to them.

A few days ago, Oceana hosted a naming ceremony for the ship at its home port of Miami. The ship was christened by Entertainment Tonight star Mary Hart. After this the ship set off on a preview cruise with travel agents (which are responsible for the vast majority of Oceana’s bookings) and invited guests. So far the ship looks good (maybe a little dated looking in some areas, but that works for Oceana’s passengers) and the reviews are really good.

The United States has been bought…

The world famous Ocean Liner, the SS United States, has recently been bought from its previous owners, NCL, by he United States Conservancy, a group dedicated to the future career and preservation of this American flag ship. (photo at right - "The SS United States coming in" by flickr member "Captain Zenith ")

The sad thing is that most American’s have never heard of this ship, their flagship and Ship of State, the United States (also know as the Big U). They don’t know of its unique mark on the USA’s history, they don’t know of its career or the way it came to symbolize a powerful post WWII United States to the rest of the world.

The United States Conservancy and I would love to change that.

Short history of this ship…
After WWII, the US wanted to build a passenger liner to serve on the North Atlantic and compete with Brittan and France for the passenger trade. The ship was to be safe, reliable, fast…like really fast, and comfortable. On top of this, seeing the way the glorious Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth heroically served the allied forces during WWII, delivering hundreds of thousands of troops to the front, the US wanted a liner that could do the same in a time of war.

The answer to these demands was the beautiful United States, our nation’s new Ship of State. Setting sail on her maiden voyage on July 4th, 1952, she shattered all previous transatlantic speed records (……the Queen Mary’s speed record…-_-…). After that she went on to have a successful but short career. She carried many of the worlds most elite on almost every voyage and never once did she have any kind of mechanical failure delay her. Throughout her career she was an icon of American ingenuity, innovation and power. However due to the emergence of clumsy jet travel, transatlantic travel by ocean liner began to decline. Because of this, the United States Line (her owners) decided to with draw her from service and lay her up. After that she was passed from owner to owner having all her interior fittings removed until eventually she was bought by NCL with the intention of putting her back into active service in Hawaii. These plans never materialized for many reasons and as such the Big U remained laid up in Philadelphia. Through the last few years the United States Conservancy has worked tirelessly to insure that this ship is preserved and protected. In 2009, NCL announced that it was taking bids for the ship which of course attracted the scrap yards. In response to this the Conservancy ramped up its fund raising in effort to by the ship themselves. Luckily due to the generosity of some people and NCL, the Conservancy was able to reach an agreement with NCL where the Conservancy would buy the ship for only 3 million…even though this was less then the bids from scrap yards.

This past week the transaction became final and the SS United States is under the owner ship of the Conservancy. Now comes the real challenge…the Conservancy only has a limited amount of time to raise money and come up with a viable way to save this historic ship. Keeping up a ship is not cheap and to say that this will be a difficult undertaking is a large understatement. But I sincerely hope that they will succeed…this ship is too important for it to just be scraped or laid up forever. It’s a symbol of our country and needs to be saved. I would encourage anyone reading this to donate to the cause or do anything you can to help the Conservancy in this important effort.
PLEASE LOOK HERE... http://www.ssunitedstatesconservancy.org/

Anyways, sorry it has been so long since I have written on here. I haven’t forgotten about this blog or my readers (who apparently now number in the thousands :D ).
Hope by the time you finish reading this really really long article that I have the next one ready for you. I currently have 3 other ones in the oven.

Stay tooned!!

Above photo- the SS United States (top) passing her fleetmate the SS America (bottom) in New York City.

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

A little late but....Royal Caribbean Launches Newest ship….Allure of the Seas!!

Earlier this month RCI (Royal Caribbean International) launched Allure of the Seas on her maiden voyage to the Caribbean. While I will try not to make this to long today, I will try and give some small tidbits of information and some commentary here. Allure is the largest passenger ship in history, even larger then her identical sister ship the Oasis of the Seas (but only by 50 millimeters I think it was LOL!) and 5 times the size of Titanic. She can carry over 6,000 passengers and over 2000 crew members on each cruise.

Above photo "Pictures of the Allure of the seas boat as she docked in Labadee, Haiti" by flickr member "Nathan & Raquel"

She has 7 “neighborhoods”, like her sister, Oasis.
They are…
---Central Park, with real plants and trees running down the center line of the ship, sporting shops and restaurants. Photo at left "Launch of Royal Caribbean International's newest ship Allure of the Seas. Central Park." by flickr member "new cruise ships"
---The Boardwalk, a large open outdoor space at the aft end of the ship, modeled after different ocean side boardwalks around the world like the famous Santa Monica pier here in California. It has several restaurants, stores, bars, and handmade wooden carousel, rock climbing walls and at the stern of the ship; an Aqua Theater with original diving and acrobat shows.
---The Royal Promenade, a large shopping and entertainment arcade that has become something of a staple on newer RCI ships, runs down the center of the ship below central park. It has restaurants, shops, bars (including one that acts as an elevator between The Royal Promenade and Central Park) and even a couple of parades that happen several times during the cruise.
---Entertainment Place, an area that includes Studio B, Allure’s ice rink which features ice shows, Comedy Club, Jazz lounge, The Casino and the Amber theater, Allures main theater with shows like Chicago and a RCI original “Blue Planet”.
--- The Pool and Sports Zone, with several different pools, including a beach like pool that gets gradually deeper as you walk, a zip line that zips you 9 stories high above the Boardwalk area and 2 Flowriders: Serf simulators. It also features an large adult only space at the front of the ship over the bridge which has a light buffet by day and a Brazilian Churrascaria restaurant by night, 2 levels of out door lounge space and 2 whirlpools that hang over the side of the ship.
---The Youth Zone featuring several different areas for different age groups including a nursery for babies, the theater and a science lad.
---The Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness Center, which features a large fully equipped gym and a large luxurious spa.

Photo at right "Boardwalk 3" by flickr member "Gelinda"

The ship is beautiful and seems to be doing very well already. She’s identical in almost every way to her sister Oasis but does have some key difference, for example the Boardwalk on Oasis features a seafood restaurant, The Seafood Shack, where as on Allure there is a Mexican Restaurant, Rita’s Cantina, in its place. This was done to attract more people to the Boardwalk area which apparently was under-performing on Oasis. There are also some other small differences such as Oasis does not have the Brazilian restaurant mentioned above, Oasis features “Hairspray” as its headlining show where as Allure has “Chicago”, Allure has the first Starbucks at sea (STARBUCKS IS TAKING OVER THE WORLD I TELL YOU!), Allure has a hot dog eatery absent on Oasis, the look of the Boardwalk has been changed and there is one other difference on Allure that I am not so keen on.

A few months back, RCI teamed up with DreamWorks Animation Studios. Doesn’t sound too bad at first…you can have Shrek, Puss In Boots and Po play with the kids in the kid areas which they (the kids) will love. But it’s not like that here… and this is RCI’s one and only big fail with Allure so far, in my opinion. DreamWorks characters are everywhere. The Ice show is “How to Train Your Dragon on Ice” (Great movie BTW), the parade that goes down the Royal Promenade is DreamWorks filled (from what I have heard), DreamWorks movies are shown, the characters are walking around and the thing that bothered me the most was Princess Fiona as the Allures Godmother. Don’t get me wrong, The DreamWorks movies are good, I am just not crazy about them being all over this ship.

Disney Cruise Lines does the same thing on their ship but I don’t know…Shrek doesn’t seem quite as loved or as endearing as Mickey Mouse does he?

But besides that I have no major gripe with Allure of the Seas. She’s beautiful, great and I desperately want to sail on her!!! She and Oasis really are great ships and both together, in my opinion, offer a unique and great cruise experience.

I am hoping to write another article on the Oasis class ships, in which I will go into more detail about the ship, soon so keep reading!

Above photo "Sunrise at 6:45 am off the coast of Ft Lauderdale, Florida aboard Allure of the Seas." by flickr member "jazzybeatles- Joe DeRenzo "