epic; allure; oasis; when is carnival going to have a destination ship?

[Sargent_Schultz]

a behemoth of the seas would have moved giglio.

 

but then again, no rci employee would have done something so stupid.

 

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I can just see all the idiots now - jumping from their inside balconies and landing on a pigeon instead of the water.

[Sargent_Schultz]

Epic bathroom setup sounds weird indeed, as in European. Thanks for the warning!

 

Indeed, give me a Carnival bathroom any time. It's a separate room all its own!

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European? Who wants pay toilets?

[TVMet]

While getting a bridge tour of the Carnival Dream, we got a Q&A session with the captain. We had spent two days next to the Allure at 2 ports. The captain and the crew trainer giving us the tour said something I'd never considered. They said these mega 200,000 ton+ ships are acutally becoming so big them are more expensive to operate per guest than the 100,000-150,000 ton ships. This may be why RCL's newer ships will be smaller. They said, for example, when we toured the laundry we saw the massive machine that folds bed sheets. The clean sheets are sent through and come our prefectly folded for the carts for the room stewards. Large and complicated machines. The Carnival Dream has two, it needs one but has a spare in case the other is down for repairs. But, they said, a ship like the Allure needs two of these on a normal day. So, they need three of these huge/expensive machines, one a spare. They said ships like the Oasis and Allure are so big, they need more and more systems just to take care of that many people. Eventually, they make less money because they can only price them so far higher than a Conquest class CCL ship, for example. They laughed and said the "bean-counters" will determine how big ships can get and how many will be built, not the engineers. Someone in our group commented, so that is why CCL never built one of these. They grinned and said "right." Interesting, I had never thought about it that way. I just always assumed the more people you could pack on one ship the more money you'd make per sailing.

[halos]

, I had never thought about it that way. I just always assumed the more people you could pack on one ship the more money you'd make per sailing.

 

I still think that IS true. Carnival packs more people on smaller ships though.

The space/passenger ratio is a bit less on CCL than on RCI ships (I believe)

[Hendricks Clan]

...Gotta disagree. CCL management knows EXACTLY what they are doing. They didn't get to where they are by making decisions flipping a coin. They figured out, correctly, that people don't want to overpay to sail on a ship with amenities they are not going to use. Flowriders, rock walls and ice skating rinks may be great "hooks" to capture some business, but once you've seen them, are you going to be a repeat customer?

 

Disagree completely and so does CCL. This is the simple reason they are adding the Water Works and Fun Ship 2.0 upgrades to the fleet. They are taking away open space on lido and other areas to add features that are comparable in many aspects to features you would find across the fleet on other cruise lines.

[jonbgd]

I still think that IS true. Carnival packs more people on smaller ships though.

The space/passenger ratio is a bit less on CCL than on RCI ships (I believe)

While Im not disagreeing with you I feel less crowded on CCL Spirit class than RCCL Radiance class

[Tapi]

I have seen Oasis in port and was just in awe at the size. It made an 80,000 ton ship next to it look like a tender.

 

Something like this?

 

[Hendricks Clan]

Something like this?

 

 

She is massive!

[Tapi]

She is massive!

 

Here's another one! :D

 

[cheewiee]

I have been thinking about Oasis or Alure for a while... But I have noticed a trend with these destination ships... They turn all your attention inward... Almost to the point you don't even realize you're at sea... This is why I havn't liked Carnivals older ships... Also the epic looks like frankenship with that big forehead"

[RRLLAL]

Have no interest in those size ships so I hope CCL never goes there. I'm on a cruise, I don't want to feel like I am at the mall. And who cares about ice skating when in the Caribbean?

[vaguy22]

@ Tapi or Hendricks---At least Carnival doesn't paint Mick Jagger lips on the bow of it's ships!!!!

[Hendricks Clan]

@ Tapi or Hendricks---At least Carnival doesn't paint Mick Jagger lips on the bow of it's ships!!!!

 

Believe you are actually talking about the above pic which is actually of a Aida Cruise Ship which is owned by Carnival Corp. Overall, I actually like the hull art that is applied to NCL's ships. It may not be the "classic," or "traditional," way but I like the color and style it adds to the ship.

[Aplmac]

 

Sure hope the center of gravity on that lump at right is somewhere like 3 ft. UNDER its keel

coz if that thing ever goes sideways....

.

[CruiseTeacher7]

I would imagine that there would be long lines for the surf rider, rock climbing, and zip lines. Btw the Surf riders are harder than they look. Also zip lining is becoming more and more popular that you can do them pretty much everywhere now.

[lillian marie]

The super ships are also too big for me. I like the Spirit and Fantasy classes.

[livestocruisetoo]

You can't know that...unless you have some knowledge on criteria for how captains are hired by each of the lines that is.

I firmly believe that every other cruise line looked at that incident and sighed and wiped their brow and thanked God it wasn't 'one of theirs'.

 

You have a point there. But don't discount the cultural and geographical differences. I don't know the criteria but I am half Italian and I do know that all cultures have their 'questionable olives'. The captain in question has his own history to fall back on. Just the fact that he refused to return to the ship on orders from the Harbor Master makes me think his history has a few 'swords' in it.

[Spaniel Lover]

Given what happened with the Concordia... I would worry that there are just too many people on the Oasis Of The Seas to do a quick evacuation in an emergency scenario.

 

RCCL and Carnival take different approaches to the design of their new ships. Personally, I'm comfortable with the Carnival approach.

 

Sure, I've considered booking a cruise on Oasis or Allure... but when it comes right down to forking over real money for my vacation, I just don't see that a cruise on Oasis or Allure is worth that much more money over a cruise on a Carnival ship. Carnival seems to offer more bang-for-the-buck. Or, phrased a different way, a Carnival cruise is the best vacation value.

[Valentine's Mom]

I myself want to be on a ship not a destination. They are way too big for me. Have you seen them enpty when in port? Too many people for me!

[ilionite65]

I quite agree that no Royal Caribbean employee would have tried such a boyish stunt. :cool:

 

And neither would any Carnival Cruises employee.

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Since carnival cruises and costa cruises are both owned by carnival corp., they are both employees of the same organization. If a costa ship had been named the best at sea all of carnival cruises would be claimong the link!

[kkorman]

I have no interest in going on the Epic, Allure or Oasis. They just don't appeal to me at all. I don't need all those "bells and whistles" to enjoy a cruise.

 

How do you know if these bells and whistles will not just enhance your cruising experience. Te entertainment alone on Allure/Oasis is night and day better than Carnival or even other Royal ships. I am one who usually skips shows, but it is truly outstanding on these ships.

[RTRMom]

Main reason we sail with carnival is cost! Another reason, we aren't much for change, we are familiar with Carnival and know what to expect.

[Aplmac]

Also the Epic looks like Frankenship with that big forehead"

Epic is definitely Frankenship with that huge growth on its forehead! :eek:

 

Hope it's not malignant, but even if benign it sho' is unsightly

and its parents shouldn't let it out in public, coz all it'll do is scare the kids! :D

 

 

That aside, I'm pleased to be hearing great things lately, about Epic experiences

but still think its outward appearance might keep me from booking an Epic cruise.

 

I'd be almost ashamed to point at it, saying ...That's the ship I'm on. :o

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[Aplmac]

Since carnival cruises and costa cruises are both owned by carnival corp.,

they are both employees of the same organization.

Not by a country mile!

I'd even go so far as to say that,

despite Costa captains and Carnival captains being both of Italian nationality

the situation is still...not by a country mile! ;)

 

Carnival Cruises and Costa Crociere are two quite different corporate cultures on their respective ships, half a planet apart literally.

[misguidedangel]

LHP--your comment was perfect...I totally agree with you on that. The Carnival ship I am on has everything that I want in a vacation!!!!! The Magic was great because there is a few added features and that just made it more fun.

 

RCI's Monsters of the Sea has one more problem, it can only go into a certain number of ports. It can't get into Ocho Rios or MoBay, so it goes to Falmouth. RCI tried to pressure Key West into dredging the channel and making it wider so the Oasis and Allure can get in. Yes, Key West port and city officials said thanks but no thanks, we get enough ships in port along with tourists driving to the island. They said a ship with 5400-7000 passengers would be too many and said that they would NOT agree to it. Even though Key West is dependent on tourists, they saw that ship as being too big...

 

As for the "bigger the ship the more $$$ spent equipment/supplies is so true. Perhaps that is why RCI took out a massive mortgage to build the ships. One must also remember they are fitted with azipods and when an azipod goes down or needs replacing your looking at at least two months of down time. Look at what happened when the Splendor fire happened it took something like 10 weeks to get a new engine manufactured, installed, and tested. If an azipod went on one of those monster ships and it couldn't operate a regular schedule on one azipod there would be a huge financial loss for RCI....

 

Also, should anything happen to one of those two monster ships, heaven forbid it does happen, like the Splendor fire or worse, how would it be handled with a full double or max quad + crew? Let's hope that no ship in ANY cruise line's fleet has a disaster because that just brings out the worst in media when it does...

 

Ergo--sometimes the smaller 100 000-150 000 GRT ships are better...