Mardi Gras Sister Ship Delivery Delayed

[TomCruise48]

Just read that the delivery of the Costa Smeralda, a sister ship to the Carnival Mardi Gras, will be delay by about 6 weeks.  Wonder if this delay will propagate to to the Mardi Gras as well?

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/construction-on-carnival-owned-cruise-ship-forces-delayed-delivery/34508

[jimbo5544]

15 minutes ago, TomCruise48 said:

Just read that the delivery of the Costa Smeralda, a sister ship to the Carnival Mardi Gras, will be delay by about 6 weeks.  Wonder if this delay will propagate to to the Mardi Gras as well?

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/construction-on-carnival-owned-cruise-ship-forces-delayed-delivery/34508

Saw this earlier as well.  These delays for the first two shipa (both Carnival owned) has been rumored for a while.  They do not call it bleeding edge for nothing, hopefully the Mardi Gras, being a year later will not have the same fate.  Being on the first sailing def brought it front and center when I saw it posted in another rag.

[TomCruise48]

4 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Saw this earlier as well.  These delays for the first two shipa (both Carnival owned) has been rumored for a while.  They do not call it bleeding edge for nothing, hopefully the Mardi Gras, being a year later will not have the same fate.  Being on the first sailing def brought it front and center when I saw it posted in another rag.

What surprised me is that Meyer Turku has already constructed the AIDAnova, a similar LNG fueled 180,000 ton ship.  I would have thought that many of the construction problems would have been worked out on this build.

[jimbo5544]

1 minute ago, TomCruise48 said:

What surprised me is that Meyer Turku has already constructed the AIDAnova, a similar LNG fueled 180,000 ton ship.  I would have thought that many of the construction problems would have been worked out on this build.

The report could have been more detailed, that is for sure.  The local expert here went in pretty significant detail on the fuel and propulsion differences.  I hope he will chime in soon.

[eroller]

It will be interesting to see if P&O’s IONA, also of this class and being constructed in Germany by Meyer-Werft is also delayed.  

 

She is due to enter service in May 2020.  

 

One nice difference with her is that she will have a forward facing observation lounge, which will be cabins on the other ships.  

 

Beyond the layout differences, there are some physical differences between the four ships as well.  Two have a blunt bow and two have a more raked bow.  MARDI GRAS has the raked bow.  It might have to do with the expected service speed of the various ships.  

 

 

Edited September 17, 2019 by eroller

[chengkp75]

6 hours ago, TomCruise48 said:

What surprised me is that Meyer Turku has already constructed the AIDAnova, a similar LNG fueled 180,000 ton ship.  I would have thought that many of the construction problems would have been worked out on this build.

You are confusing Meyer Werft (Papenburg, Germany), who built AIDAnova, with Meyer Turku (Turku, Finland) which is building Smerelda.  P&O's Iona is being built in Papenburg, and Mardi Gras in Turku.  The two yards are pretty evenly splitting the class.  While both are now owned by one company, the technical expertise does not necessarily transfer from one work force to the other.  If Turku has not built any, or many, LNG powered ships, there will be a steep learning curve in dealing with the cryogenic systems required and the welding of cryogenic steel.  Also, experiences learned in the operation of the AIDAnova over the past 9 months will have led inevitably to change orders and resulting delays, even if the same yard built them both.

[RWolver672]

From the article, I would hope that this is a typo:  " the shipyard has struggled to keep up the peace without keeping quality. "

[chengkp75]

37 minutes ago, RWolver672 said:

From the article, I would hope that this is a typo:  " the shipyard has struggled to keep up the peace without keeping quality. "

My thought was the infallible "Google Translate".

[eroller]

It’s a start!  

 

I love that Carnival is using the original font for the lettering, and also that the brand is not included in the name.  Just MARDI GRAS.  

 

I’m surprisingly excited for this ship!  I sailed on the original MARDI GRAS along with CARNIVALE and FESTIVALE and have great memories from the early days of Carnival.  I’m so glad they are playing homage to their early history.  She was the ship that started an empire. 

[TomCruise48]

13 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

You are confusing Meyer Werft (Papenburg, Germany), who built AIDAnova, with Meyer Turku (Turku, Finland) which is building Smerelda.  P&O's Iona is being built in Papenburg, and Mardi Gras in Turku.  The two yards are pretty evenly splitting the class.  While both are now owned by one company, the technical expertise does not necessarily transfer from one work force to the other.  If Turku has not built any, or many, LNG powered ships, there will be a steep learning curve in dealing with the cryogenic systems required and the welding of cryogenic steel.  Also, experiences learned in the operation of the AIDAnova over the past 9 months will have led inevitably to change orders and resulting delays, even if the same yard built them both.

Thanks for the clarification.  Always appreciate your vast knowledge and deep insight.  Posted this one in a rush just before bedtime, and had the feeling that I was missing something shortly after I clicked submit!

[iamsteph]

I'm booked on the first cruise on the Mardi Gras out of Copenhagen. I've been keeping my eye on airfare opening out that far (British Airways is almost open out that far) to book a cheaper airfare. Maybe I'll wait.. Does travel insurance cover when the ship isn't ready 😧

Edited September 18, 2019 by iamsteph

[TomCruise48]

1 hour ago, iamsteph said:

I'm booked on the first cruise on the Mardi Gras out of Copenhagen. I've been keeping my eye on airfare opening out that far (British Airways is almost open out that far) to book a cheaper airfare. Maybe I'll wait.. Does travel insurance cover when the ship isn't ready 😧

I would certainly think that your travel insurance would cover a cruise that is canceled by the cruise line regardless of the reason, but you should consult your policy to be sure.  Have you looked into booking your airfare through Carnival's Fly to the Fun program?  We have booked our flights to European ports through this program and have found they have good prices, and even better, we pay with Carnival gift cards purchased at 10% discount.  With this program Carnival takes responsibility for flight delays (which happened to us when Athens air traffic controllers went on strike) and will get you to the ship at the next port if your flight is delayed and you miss the ship.  Of course you should purchase travel insurance to cover medical emergencies.

 

BTW, see you will be on the Sunrise soon.  We will be boarding her this coming Sunday.

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, iamsteph said:

I'm booked on the first cruise on the Mardi Gras out of Copenhagen. I've been keeping my eye on airfare opening out that far (British Airways is almost open out that far) to book a cheaper airfare. Maybe I'll wait.. Does travel insurance cover when the ship isn't ready 😧

Have you joined the roll call?