woodofpine

Thanks for the reply and picture! Ship history is fascinating and this one's must rank near the top. She must be one of the oldest passenger ships out there, although she looks fresh and well maintained in your picture. Thanks again.

I've not but his ship has an amazing history.

Built in '46 as the MS Stockholm, she was the collision killer of the Andrea Doria in '56. After conversions she was run by the East Gremans as a Red cruise ship, then was in the Cuban cruise market several years ago, then as Athena survived a vigorous pirate attach off Somalia in '08... I think she cruises the Aussie Far East market today...?

Anyone been on her and can comment?

This is the lower atrium on 12/14/10. Is this the desk you're referring to?

 

Note the Christmas tree lying on the floor by the stairs. It had been knocked down by rough water two nights before, and not reset yet.

 

THAT'S IT!!

Seriously, we had a very nice cruise - and that desk was in the less traficked 'lower atrium' - but it just seemed the desk was a bit sub par in condition and style relative to the rest of a very nice ship. I can understand that in some instances customs or shore excusions might need a desk there - but I'd respectfully suggest either a nicer desk, or a collapseable one that you stow when not in use. I think 'the desk' ranked around #983 in general impressions of the ship. BTW 'Ryndam' had the best most accessible and useable library (w/coffee and knosh stand) of any ship I've been on.

Dave - glad you're enjoying your cruise - and your camera!:):D:)

Is it still there?? The thing looked like old office furniture. I enjoyed Ryndam quite a bit over Thanksgiving (the anchor drop cruise) but I could figure out why they had that crappy looking desk in the lower lobby (the desk needs removal or upgrading). Funny the stuff one remembers.

Service style between X and MSC is very similar (friendly but less persistently gregarious than some lines). Food is better on X (IMHO) and less consistent on MSC.

Smoking - X is more stringently smoke free (or 'anti' smoking) than other North American big ship lines. MSC comes from the other end of the spectrum (Europe is about a decade behind North America in public smoking attitudes and policies [but catching up fast]) so MSC is NOT the choice if you're smoke sensitive.

On my MSC cruise in the Med the port side of the pool deck and one of the bigger aft lounges was open to smoking - it was apparent. Staff enforced smoking prohibitions elsewhere. For me the smoke issue wasn't terrible, especially if you recollected that 20 years ago smoking was virtually everywhere (I remember being on an Olympic airlines 707 at JFK in '68 delayed, no a/c, you couldn't see across the cabin - cough cough; think of that when folks pine for cruising like in the 'good old days'!).

MSC is an OK line, but its not the best choice for the smoke sensitive.

BTW - I just did a price comparison using a well know online TA I use from time to time. Just to keep it simple RSS has a 7 day western Caribbean out of Lauterdale 2/3/11. RSS's price is 50% higher than the biggest suites on HAL (with the exception of Ryndam's Penthouse)

I'll leave it to Phillip and HAL's managers to determine what the break even point is on their vessels - but it is near capacity generally speaking.

None of the lines you cite as examples HAL should follow are asset comparable (meaning ship size and fleet size). HAL has 15 ships!

Celebrity is comparable - although HAL has nearly 50% more ships than X... Celebrity has taken an interesting approach - reinventing cabin service classes. But Celeb is hardly in the same price or product point as many of the lines you cite. Additionally, RCL itself is probably pricier to cruise on than X and longer run profitability there remains a question given the debt load RCI carries.

The long and short of it is... If you want Regent or Seabourn's product - Go Buy It!

I'm sure managers at cruiselines survey CC and get some things from it, but mainly get things that posters never intended and don't perceive.

They probably read this one for fun - laughs at the end of a long day. 'Hey Just THINK! These poster think they know something yet they're totally clueless of this business!' "Ha! Ha!!"

Regent... as to HAL... A little piece of a large private company versus a fairly good size piece of a public company. How many people posting here have ever worked in the cruise industry? Nah - me neither, so I'd not presume to know how they SHOULD do it. I drive a call - doesn't make me an expert on the auto industry (hey I worked for Ford once... still not an expert).

BTW - Regent and Oceania (and NCL largely) are owned by the same company... that owns Harrahs casinos, AMC theaters, as well as Coldwell Banker and Century21 realtors.

We either buy their product - or we don't. They don't craft it for us. As long as your sailing HAL (then they needn't do a thing). If you want to sail with Oceania or Regent (or NCL), have to!

The Sun-Sentinel piece is pure fluff. It tells you nothing - and there is no profit source except bean counters with Apollo (that bought both Regent and Oceania within a year or so... From owners that needed to BAIL!?? [probably])

I'm getting excited about my upcoming cruise on Magnifica (Med - March)...

Notwithstanding the decline and fall of western civilization and the cruise industry as it relates to formal wear... and the multi-line debates here on CC...

I take it MSC is pretty 'typical' of large lines on formal night. The greater majority of men 'appropriately' dressed in suits or tuxes (being 1/4 or 1/3) with casually dressed renegades also 1/4 or 1/3?

Is the dress on MSC in Europe more or less formal than the Caribbean mass market?

I was referring to the 'original' Semiramis,

see,

http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/EpirotikiPCs.html#anchor324003

Your dedication to ship history is impressive and commendable nonetheless... (find me something on that old Quebec cabin-ferry and I'd REALLY be blown away!!) :)

I was referring to the 'original' Semiramis,

see,

http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/EpirotikiPCs.html#anchor324003

Your dedication to ship history is impressive and commendable nonetheless... (find me something on that old Quebec cabin-ferry and I'd REALLY be blown away!!) :)

An overnight ro/ro ferry with cabins from Chicoutimi QE to Quebec City in the summer of '64? (I wish I could remember the name 'Lady of the Saguanay' or something like that... I remember seeing pilot whales - very cool).

But the first slightly more 'real' cruise was Epirotiki Semiramis 1968 in the Aegean for 2 nights (I think) Pireaus - Hydra - Delos - Mikinos - Pireaus. I was 10 years old.

I always loved big ships but never had much exposure, then I was family reunioned in '01 on Ocean Princess. That hooked me.

An overnight ro/ro ferry with cabins from Chicoutimi QE to Quebec City in the summer of '64? (I wish I could remember the name 'Lady of the Saguanay' or something like that... I remember seeing pilot whales - very cool).

But the first slightly more 'real' cruise was Epirotiki Semiramis 1968 in the Aegean for 2 nights (I think) Pireaus - Hydra - Delos - Mikinos - Pireaus. I was 10 years old.

I always loved big ships but never had much exposure, then I was family reunioned in '01 on Ocean Princess. That hooked me.

Not including a ro/ro overnight ferry (with cabins) from Chicoutimi to Quebec City during the Kennedy presidency that I have scant memories of... I remember pilot whales...

Epirotiki Semiramis in the Aegean, Summer 1968 (ship entered service 1954; 3,000GT), was the first cruise. No - it didn't make me a cruiser - even though it had a plunge pool! Hey, I was 10 years old.

A Panama Canal transit on Ocean Princess in 2001 made me a cruiser.

Not including a ro/ro overnight ferry (with cabins) from Chicoutimi to Quebec City during the Kennedy presidency that I have scant memories of... I remember pilot whales...

Epirotiki Semiramis in the Aegean, Summer 1968 (ship entered service 1954; 3,000GT), was the first cruise. No - it didn't make me a cruiser - even though it had a plunge pool! Hey, I was 10 years old.

A Panama Canal transit on Ocean Princess in 2001 made me a cruiser.

There are two main bus terminals in St. Johns. All of St. Johns is walkable. Online resources indicate that hotels keep bus schedules. Presumably one could obtain one at the main terminal adjacent the city market.

Nelson's Dockyard is immediately adjacent and part of English Harbor which is also adjacent the more spread out community of Falmouth (on Falmouth Bay). These two areas make up one of the more significant communities on the island. I would be amazed if regular bus service wasn't available. (I was there two weeks ago and I noted a bus stop with folks waiting in English Harbor; service may be intermittant)

Using the bus service and trekking to the market and bus terminal in St. Johns would give you a good view of community life in Antigua as well as a nice drive through the island regardless of which of two route the bus might take (Jolly Harbor-Curtain Bluff - Fig Tree Drive) or (All Saints - Tyrell). The Dockyard is worth the visit, feel free to relax at the Copper and Lumber Store Hotel or buy a drink at the Admiral's Inn within the Dockyard. The locals are nice but often quiet; don't conclude that you're not welcome to enter these places. The historic ambiance is great.

If you are a bit adventurous this would be a nice day, but you'd want to get an early start in order to get the proper bus info and have adequate time margins. Be prepared to potentially walk up to 1/2 mile or so at each end. Antiguans are friendly, don't hesitate to ask for directions.

If there is bus service to Shirley Heights overlooking English Harbor, this is the island's best view (there's a restaurant there too). Whether you could work this in using public transit or not, English Harbor and the Dockyard are worth the visit and certainly the best day trip for those not obsessed with beaches.

NPS- With Carnival you have to be open minded, yah - it can be (it is) a bit garish. But Miracle has a 5+ deck atrium and a well appointed and positioned bar/lounge with entertainment on the floor with a high pizzazz specialty restaurant at the top under enormous skylight (with glassed elevators etc.) Sorry - a two deck marble staircase with a purser's desk at the bottom doesn't even begin to come close.... Miracle has some nice low key spots too, the interior bow walk around with large windows out to the waves being cut was good...

But - as ship 'art' goes, I've liked Celebs with nice photos on the normally barren cabin passageway walls... etc.

And the dining on X is VERY nice... comparing lines... I always wondered what prevented Princess from designing a two tier restaurant (like X and most others)...

Voting with stomach service I'll go X. But Carnival has some great ships, and some not so great...

I was on Miracle (one of C.'s best ships) too. It had the finest bedding I've had on a ship. The cabin was great: I couldn't help but note the teak veranda deck as I looked over at Connies synthetic deck coat.

Miracle is a far more impressive interior architectural structure than the M-class which has no real atrium and claims a single straight staircase as a centerpiece ('big deal').

Coolcruiser did a good job of reminding that waffles and reheated pasta isn't culinary rocket science. My personal experience with X mid-tier shipboard managers is off putting (to put it nicely) but Carnival's maitre d' actually did some excellent proactive touble shooting and service...

A poster's knock about Carnival's pax being 'Greyhound' pax was a hoot (and inaccurate). X pax could be as readily chastigated for being Buick owners that pretend they're riding a Mercedes limo. I'd bashed Carnival once after a low season 3 day budgeter on the aging Fantasy. No more after Miracle.

After a string of four cruises on 4 lines (X, HAL, C, Princess) I agree the big ship lines are far more similar than dissimilar. To say otherwise, I really believe is making mountains out of molehills.

But while on Crown Princess a couple months ago, I thought of X... surprisingly in a "It's time to do X again" way. X strives for a very nice unhurried dining service style, and attentive service style generally that I like a lot (the line's hull maintenance and other issues aside), together with lower pax numbers, cloth refresher towels after port, and escorted embarkation... Yah - X does a very good job. It'll be interesting to see if X can maintain these distinctions with ever expanding ships and those pesky bean counters behind the scenes and unfortunately in the galley (as at all the bigs).

And its WORSE on land! :D

You just need to realize that its their home and, generally speaking, we're not part of the food chain. Unless you're in area where great whites are plentiful (S.Africa, Australia) you sort of need to keep it in perspective.

There's been a population explosion in my area of Bull Sharks during the past decade. Bulls are not nice, big, toothy, and they like shallow water. But again, we're not really they're preferred food. They don't prefer red meat :)

There's a pretty famous picture from years ago taken by a traffic helicopter off the west coast of FL showing a busy beach and a whole bunch of swimmers offshore maybe 100 yards or so, with a group of large sharks between them and the beach. The swimmers were oblivious, the sharks were equally disinterested...

Friday afternoon... law office...

It dawned on me that this thread and its predecessors could be used as evidence in the RR case...

For what? You ask...

After itemizing all the repairs, refunds, quantifiable lost revenue caused by the pod breakdowns it would worth arguing to a court that RR defense arguements minimizing and deminishing Celeb's damage numbers should be disregarded because of the additional enormous and incalculable "loss of goodwill" created by the pob problems. While lost goodwill is not readily calculated or awarded as a money damage, it can certainly be evidenced in the consumer doubt and disparagements expressed in this CC forum.

Presenting it could make an effective argument to avoid a fact finder's possible tendancy to discount the damages that are quantifiable.

Back to work now...

The press releases involve settlement with Alstoms which was basically either in or teetering on bankruptcy at the time ('05-early '06). Alstoms is the French owner of Chantier, the shipyard that constructed (the hull) and outfitted the M-class. "Outfitted" as in installed the RR Mermaid system purchased by X as part of the project contracting process. Although Alstom undoubtedly participated in certain design aspects of the propulsion system related to installing it their hull, and Alstom was the overall contractor, Alstom's 'fault' for the problem is considered pretty low, and their week financial-legal position created incentives to settle.

RR's liability on the other hand is considerably larger. It's interesting to note that the Alstoms money was simply applied to the bottom line which - as I opined before - is where any RR money will be applied. The Mermaid system will most likely be temp-fixed by X as necessary until the ships are sold in 10-20 years.

The pod variable is such that it wouldn't keep me from booking a cruise on an M-class ship (except for a few itineraries).

There were some earlier problem issues with Azipod (the ABB product) that periodically recur as here. Dawn was launched in 2002 and has one of the earlier designs. It seems though that ABB's Azipod design has been considerably more reliable overall and has design matured much more successfully than the RR's. ABB's older pods have occassionally had bearing-wear problems (similar to the M-Class) but they have seemed easier to fix for much longer periods than the RR M-Class Mermaids.

I too thought that RCI's ships were using Azipod. I just googled it and learned that QMII has the Rolls-Royce system. There an article about how Micky Arison sort of read RR "the riot act" on the issue of delays during installation - in some measure due to X experiences that were developing while QMII was being commissioned.

The articles online seem use the adjective "troubled" to describe RR's marine unit... with the statement that not many of the constructed Mermaids have founds end users. Apparently, ABB has been able to master a difficult engineering concept in terms of end product performance better than their competitor RR. Unfortunately, X seems to be RR customer whose experience has given ABB the competitive edge in the market.

of ABB page... a clich onto "details" in the 19 martime ship orders includes an order from Celebrity for the Solstice Class. An earlier poster wondered whose system would end up in the new builds...

Sound familure ????

From there Press room...

 

"Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) today announced that Norwegian Dawn will be entering a previously unscheduled dry dock on May 29 to conduct necessary repairs on a thrust bearing in the ship's ABB-manufactured azipod propulsion system. During routine inspections, Norwegian Dawn's engineers identified localized wear in the thrust bearing and in the last few weeks, Norwegian Dawn's itinerary has been changed to reduce speed to limit further wear on the bearing until NCL could schedule the dry dock. This issue has affected only the speed of the vessel and has no impact on the safe operation of the ship. "

 

more on their website

 

Seems whoever ABB is, they also have concerns now.

http://www.abb.com

This will tell you a bit about ABB; coincidentally, the front page notes orders for 19 ships.

ABB's "azipods" have also had repair problems however they seem to have largely worked through the worst of it as a developing technology. Rolls-Royce's "mermaid" system seems to have been the lesser of the two competing products as they emerged around the year 2000.

ABB is the (acronym now) formal name of ASEA Brown Boverie a Swiss-Swedish concern that specializes heavily in power transmission systems. ASEA was a Swedish concern that merged with Brown Boverie. They are a major player (possibily the biggest) in hydro-electric power transmission as well as locomotives and are headquartered in Zurich.

X would rather keep "fixing" a bad system delivering erratic service throughout than bite the bullet financially to replace the system as a fix. Of course, it can be argued that they can't afford the down time to replace the system and that may be true. But the consumer is going to scratch his head thinking, "They can build the Solstice class, but can't replace these prop systems?".

Of course, X is going to be in fight with RR regardless; RR isn't going to "admit" anything that entails 8-9 figures of liability.

These substandard systems have now been with the line for 5+ years, and will be for another 10-15 regardless of what happens in Court. After a 20 year run the hulls will be sold to a another company that will replace the Mermaid system and the hulls will go another 10-20 years when the metal will hit the beach with the breakers.

Whatever happens in Court will go to the company bottom line rather than to a replacement or substantial fix. The success or failure of the M-class propulsion system is not driven by the trial litigators; it's the other way around IMHO.

In the meantime X will be like Altoid Mints, "The Premium cruiseline with the distinctively quirky cruise schedules!" :D