Rumor Alert : Another MSC Ship Order Imminent ?

[sidari]

Tim ... Just a point but given the beam of the likes of Oasis and just how stable that ship is surely the scenario you mention will have been taken into account, at a guess here surely it would be more difficult for the wind to overturn Oasis/Allure compared to say Divina due to the difference in overall width of the ship that sits in the water and how the weight is distributed.

[gstewart]

Like 'a block of flats' fantastic?

 

I am old. I must stop trying to have a rational conversation. Maybe next year.

 

Study the graceful, sea-worthy lines of classic ocean liners of the past (google 'ocean liners'). Compare to the tower blocks of modern incarnations of new and proposed cruise ships. I get the impression that if they had a power cut they would just topple over.

 

To an old yachtsman, the new ships do not look at all sea-worthy. It may take another disaster to prove that point but for the time being they will be legal.

 

As you will gather, I have no interest in these mega ships for many reasons.

 

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. Its good to see a design thats different from the standard box like form you see on many new cruise ships these days. This design looks futuristic and as though they have put some serious thought into it which I applaud them for.

[Skipper Tim]

Tim ... Just a point but given the beam of the likes of Oasis and just how stable that ship is surely the scenario you mention will have been taken into account, at a guess here surely it would be more difficult for the wind to overturn Oasis/Allure compared to say Divina due to the difference in overall width of the ship that sits in the water and how the weight is distributed.

 

Ocean liners were low, long and sleek to avoid windage. Cruise liners are the opposite purely for commercial reasons - not for sea-going reasons. That should raise natural curiosity as to their safety.

 

A comparison can be made with catamarans which are perfectly legal and considered sea-worthy by the regulations. However they also happen to be more stable upside down than upright. Many sailors do not consider catamarans seaworthy for this reason. The chances of capsize are low. The consequences devastating.

 

I would be interested to know how much water these block of flats designs could take on in the event of been blown over before they could no longer right themselves and how quickly that would happen.

 

The age of elegant ocean-going liners is over and I fear that much that was learned at great cost may be discarded for the sake of cramming ever more balconies onto a floating hotel - regulations or no regulations.

[sidari]

The age of elegant ocean-going liners is over.

 

You are right of course, because there is little call for them these days the only line that has one is Cunard in the QM 2 and my guess is that is because they are the only line that still wants to cross the Atlantic from Southampton to NYC.

 

In the coming years when QM 2 is beyond its sell by date i doubt that this crossing will exist.

[MM42]

(Divina in Europe, but with Americanized service), etc.

 

Because they want to sell the MED cruises to the North Americans.

[Skipper Tim]

The age of elegant ocean-going liners is over.

 

You are right of course, because there is little call for them these days the only line that has one is Cunard in the QM 2 and my guess is that is because they are the only line that still wants to cross the Atlantic from Southampton to NYC.

 

In the coming years when QM 2 is beyond its sell by date i doubt that this crossing will exist.

 

From Wikipedia (so it must be true :))

 

"Of the pre-World War II ocean liners, four survive today. RMS Queen Mary was preserved after her retirement in 1967 as a hotel and museum in Long Beach, California. The Japanese ocean liner Hikawa Maru (1929), has been preserved in Naka-ku, Yokohama, Japan, as a museum ship, since 1961. SS Great Britain was preserved in Bristol, England,[29] and MV Doulos is awaiting preservation in Singapore as a floating restaurant.[30][31]

 

"Remaining modern (post-war) ocean liners that are preserved are SS United States (1952), docked in Philadelphia since 1996; SS Rotterdam (1958), moored in Rotterdam as a museum and hotel since 2008;[32] Veronica (1966) (former MS Kungsholm), which was converted into a floating hotel in Duqm, Oman in 2012;[33] and Queen Elizabeth 2 (1967), laid up in Port Rashid, since 2009.

In the summer of 2013 one former ocean liner remained in service as a cruise ship, MS Marco Polo (1965) (former MS Alexandr Pushkin),[34] while MS Azores, originally MS Stockholm and later the cruise ship Athena, was being refurbished for future service.[35]"

 

Then there is the appealingly-named 'Titanic 2' which may launch in 2018.

[MM42]

I'm studying it at Newcastle University :)

 

Also just adding to the discussion about the design, it would look infinitely better if they just rounded the aft superstructure a bit, keeping it like the concept design rather than just being vertical.

 

I like it this way. It makes it more modern and different from the usual rounded aft.

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

Great news from MSC and I have to say, this is a revolutionary design from MSC/Fincanteri. The design looks very futuristic. Very exciting and it will be very interesting to follow the buildingprocess and see the final result. My guess is that one of this ships will sail in the Caribbean to compete against RCL. I see MSC and RCL as two big competitors from now and into the future.

[Norwegian Cruiser 73]

Here is a nice video of the MSC Seaside Project:

 

*Edit, video removed from youtube*

Edited May 23, 2014 by Norwegian Cruiser 73
Video removed from youtube