Has Ship Building Finally 'Jumped the Shark'? Cruising?

[cruisemom42]

I am with you on this line of thinking.

So let's kick around some thoughts. Let's say the economy didn't tank. Would a new "era" of "the ship is the destination" become the new emerging standard? Fuel for this debate. Vertical atriums. Predominate balcony cabins. Water parks. The next era...........?

Variations. Theme park ships. (Yo, Disney! Where are you?). Replica ships. (Titanic, Santa Maria, for those who like the small ships!). Floating city (Yeah, I know this has been proposed, but is it in our future.?)

What would or will the results be with a stable growing economy with irrational exuberance in ship building?

 

Where would it all lead? Well.....did you happen to see the movie "Wall-E"? Remember the very cruiseship-like space ship that was actually a gigantic city hovering somewhere above Earth?

 

A word to the wise: the passengers got so pampered that they eventually lost all muscle strength and became unable to walk since they never had to leave their loungers......:eek:

[woodofpine]

I am with you on this line of thinking.

So let's kick around some thoughts. Let's say the economy didn't tank. Would a new "era" of "the ship is the destination" become the new emerging standard? Fuel for this debate. Vertical atriums. Predominate balcony cabins. Water parks. The next era...........?

Variations. Theme park ships. (Yo, Disney! Where are you?). Replica ships. (Titanic, Santa Maria, for those who like the small ships!). Floating city (Yeah, I know this has been proposed, but is it in our future.?)

What would or will the results be with a stable growing economy with irrational exuberance in ship building?

 

Interesting ideas... and possibilities. They all have risks for the builder though. With super-sized ships the financial risks grow correspondingly.

 

The whole 'Jetsons' ('Star Wars Death Star'?) idea of the massive mother ship has a certain sci-fi appeal to it; but I suspect it fails as a product reality - but maybe not. IMHO when 'the ship is the destination' then the ship is actually competing with land based resort destinations. While RCI's designers have been extraordinarily creative, ships have physical limitations. Can vacationers be happy confined for a week to a single large building (on hull) with 24 hours released? Of course the same question can be asked of cruising generally (with an affirmative answer). As the 'mother ship' competes with land resorts though I think it starts to play into the competitors' strengths and its own weaknesses though... IMO there's a point where mega barges no longer compete successfully as 'cruise ships' nor will they compete well against land resorts. Of course, I may be wrong.

 

Building replicas is an interesting idea. This has occurred to a degree already in tall sail ship cruising. Sea Cloud and Yankee Clipper come to mind. There is probably some appeal to replicating a historic liner (maybe even making 'costume' formality de rigour) which to some degree Cunard markets to a bit. Only time will tell whether cost risks for developing this sort of niche product eventually is acceptable.

 

P.S. The finance department at RCI must be a pretty intense place presently...

[flynrph]

...

P.S. The finance department at RCI must be a pretty intense place presently...

OMG! :eek: You gotta believe it! I'm thinking the marketing department is being worked up into a lather, too. (I don't know about the rest of you folks, but I am still getting deluged with RCI emails as of late. And yeah, they are trying to stuff a certain ship!)

[flynrph]

Where would it all lead? Well.....did you happen to see the movie "Wall-E"? Remember the very cruiseship-like space ship that was actually a gigantic city hovering somewhere above Earth?

 

A word to the wise: the passengers got so pampered that they eventually lost all muscle strength and became unable to walk since they never had to leave their loungers......:eek:

I forgot about this! Yeah, I think you may have hit the nail on the head. Well, folks, welcome to the future of cruising!;)

(In other news, medical researchers have noted a disturbing trend in obesity..........:eek:)

[terrierjohn]

Where would it all lead? Well.....did you happen to see the movie "Wall-E"? Remember the very cruiseship-like space ship that was actually a gigantic city hovering somewhere above Earth?

 

A word to the wise: the passengers got so pampered that they eventually lost all muscle strength and became unable to walk since they never had to leave their loungers......:eek:

Now I thought this was the only bit of WALL-E I liked, the rest of the movie was too dark for me.

[ninabina]

From what I have seen in all the promotions about Oasis, It is truly a beautiful ship. I would like to take a "go to nowhere cruise" on her just to experience all she has to offer, But...I sure don't want to be in port with a ship with 5000 + passengers marching off. Ports get crowded enough when 2 or 3 other big ships are there at the same time. Every line will build them bigger and bigger to stay competitive. Ports will have to be built to accommodate these monster ships. Before long passengers will not have enough time on a 7 day cruise to see the whole ship and explore the destinations. Too big is too much.

[Maraprince]

From what I have seen in all the promotions about Oasis, It is truly a beautiful ship. I would like to take a "go to nowhere cruise" on her just to experience all she has to offer, But...I sure don't want to be in port with a ship with 5000 + passengers marching off. Ports get crowded enough when 2 or 3 other big ships are there at the same time. Every line will build them bigger and bigger to stay competitive. Ports will have to be built to accommodate these monster ships. Before long passengers will not have enough time on a 7 day cruise to see the whole ship and explore the destinations. Too big is too much.

 

 

I had the misforune to be in Royal Naval Dockyard at the same time as 2 NCL ships (one was docked at St. George) when my ship, Caribbean Princess, arrived. Let me tell you, with almost 7,000 passengers and crew it was a real nightmare! We decided to stay at the Dockyard and go to the Naval Museum and watch the dolphins. That went fine. However, when we over to Snorkle Park, it was so crowded we only walked to the water and put our feet in. It felt like Coney Island (no pun intended).

 

Having that many passengers and crew all at the same place and time destroyed the whole aura of being on a tropical island in Bermuda.

 

This will also be a problem for St. Thomas with hordes of people all trying to shop the stores and vying for shuttles back to their ships.

 

There should be a rule against being in a port at the same time as the Oasis -- NEVER!

 

MARAPRINCE

[roe2ship]

I just to have to say....I am very impressed on some of the experts here on CC whether or not the Oasis will sink or swim...

 

Royal's marketing and finance dept must be reading all this and shaking in their boots.:rolleyes:

[Maraprince]

I just to have to say....I am very impressed on some of the experts here on CC whether or not the Oasis will sink or swim...

 

Royal's marketing and finance dept must be reading all this and shaking in their boots.:rolleyes:

 

 

RCCL did not pay a dividend to their stockholders this year. That says a lot.

 

Also, they now have extra charges for things that didn't cost before to bring in more revenue to offset the cost of the Oasis and cut back on things and benefits formerly given to their most loyal passengers. How else would you read it?

 

MARAPRINCE

[flynrph]

 

Royal's marketing and finance dept must be reading all this and shaking in their boots.:rolleyes:

I think they are too busy to be reading reading this.........

Perhaps, you missed the point, this is a conjecture thread.:cool:

[terrierjohn]

The decision to introduce new ships today was made back in 2005/6 on a projection of what 2010 would look like. Makes you kind of wonder if they would have committed that kind of money (billions) if they knew that in 2009 and continuing into 2010 that the overall economy would be in one of the worst global recessions in decades.

 

RCL is losing money in the fourth quarter and Carnival Corp. is making a good profit. The debt structure that RCL has taken on is going to be a real burden if RCL does not start making a substantial profit soon. There are to many ifs to take a stance of "build it and they will come". Kind of sounds like GM building gas guzzlers in the middle of an oil crisis.

 

Time will only tell if these new mega ships will be profitable we have to get past the hype first.

"Good cost discipline and better than expected revenues have enabled us to end 2009 on a decidedly upbeat note," said Richard D. Fain, chairman and chief executive officer. "We're happy to say goodbye to 2009 and pleased to embark on 2010 with an outlook of solid yield improvement, strong cost controls and improving returns to our shareholders." Fain continued, "We are also benefiting from the terrific success of our latest Oasis- and Solstice-class vessels. These ships are generating very healthy returns due to high guest satisfaction, excellent revenues and lower operating costs."

Fourth Quarter 2009 Results

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. today announced net income for the fourth quarter 2009 of $3.4 million, or $0.02 per share, compared to net income of $1.5 million, or $0.01 per share, in 2008.

The above data was issued this week, so the original info from December seems to have been a bit misleading.

Clearly RCI appears to have produced some splendid results from one of the worst years for cruise lines in decades. Maybe RCI's reading of the market was correct after all.

[maxxedout2]

Looking into my Crystal Ball...actually an empty wine glass....:D:D

 

I have a vision of the New Cruise Ship Paradigm.....

(following the favorite summer boating activity...Raft Parties)

 

 

All in FUN of course!!!!:cool::cool::cool:

[RickEk]

Looking into my Crystal Ball...actually an empty wine glass....:D:D

 

I have a vision of the New Cruise Ship Paradigm.....

(following the favorite summer boating activity...Raft Parties)

 

 

All in FUN of course!!!!:cool::cool::cool:

 

Ha! Very nice...

[m steve]

so that by the end of 2010 there will be just 2. Other lines are building big ships as well but not these monsters.