Pride of America: A Brits View

[chengkp75]

7 hours ago, Capitan Obvious said:

If a 50 year old United States has potential for an extended life, then surely a much newer Pride of America...which is NOT sitting, unmaintained and rusting...could also have much life left.

So, the bolded qualifier is okay, but ones by others are not?  And, by the way, I will be bound by my qualifiers that most mainstream cruise lines will offload a 30+ year old ship, but that in some cases they won't.

 

As for NCL and the SSUS, while their purchase price was never disclosed, they sold it to the Conservancy for $3 million.  The feasibility study commissioned by Crystal cruises was over $1 million.

[London-Calling]

20 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

The feasibility study commissioned by Crystal cruises was over $1 million.

As a layman, I had assumed NCL wanted to use the SSUS hull. However, I have no idea why Crystal spent time and money on a feasability study. It's not as if operating "vintage liners" or a even offering a liner experience (like Cunard) was their thing. One man's whim, I guess.

[chengkp75]

22 minutes ago, London-Calling said:

As a layman, I had assumed NCL wanted to use the SSUS hull. However, I have no idea why Crystal spent time and money on a feasability study. It's not as if operating "vintage liners" or a even offering a liner experience (like Cunard) was their thing. One man's whim, I guess.

Yes, it was a bit incomprehensible the amount of fixation KT Lim had for the SSUS.

[London-Calling]

7 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Yes, it was a bit incomprehensible the amount of fixation KT Lim had for the SSUS.

Did he just get over it or was he blocked by the board?

 

I wonder if she had been returned to service, would the general crusing public even care? I know the liner nuts (inc. Me) would love her, but they would only fill a few cruises.

Edited August 28 by London-Calling

[ziggyuk]

On 8/27/2024 at 11:13 AM, London-Calling said:

I don't beliven too many Brits make the long journey and cruise POA. Well I did in July. Below is my very long review from a Brits viewpoint:

 

https://malcolmoliver.wordpress.com/ncls-pride-of-america-a-british-perspective/

 

We are Brits going on a cruise to Hawaii next April, the super high prices put me off the POA, we are giving Princess a go with a 16 day in and out of San Francisco. We got an incredible deal and although a very long cruise we have no additional flights which for me is a bonus and of course makes the already fantastic prices even better.
 

[chengkp75]

9 minutes ago, London-Calling said:

Did he just get over it or was he blocked by the board?

 

I wonder if she had been returned to service, would the general crusing public even care? I know the liner nuts (inc. Me) would love her, but they would only fill a few cruises.

NCL's interest in the SSUS ended when Apollo Management bought a chunk of Genting's shares (dropping Genting from a majority share).  When Lim and Genting bought Crystal, he was again in a position to purchase the SSUS, and went so far as the feasibility study and a year's worth of docking costs, but then the study came back too expensive, and Genting Hong Kong (the Genting subsidiary that bought Crystal) went belly up so it would not have likely made it to fruition in any case.

[London-Calling]

16 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

 

We are Brits going on a cruise to Hawaii next April, the super high prices put me off the POA, we are giving Princess a go with a 16 day in and out of San Francisco.
 

I obviously took the other option, but a San Fran departure is a nice option. I did consider it. I like Princess. Enjoy!

 

But the way I was amazed to see those taxi in San Fran with no drivers.

 

Are you flying "direct"?

Edited August 28 by London-Calling

[ziggyuk]

14 minutes ago, London-Calling said:

I obviously took the other option, but a San Fran departure is a nice option. I did consider it. I like Princess. Enjoy!

 

But the way I was amazed to see those taxi in San Fran with no drivers.

 

Are you flying "direct"?

 

I have not booked flights yet, but yes, we will be flying direct. United had an amazing deal on Amex back in April but I missed it by 2 weeks as the flights were not released that early, I'm hoping for a new Amex deal on United/Virgin/BA soon 🤞
We have never tried Princess (or that many days at sea for that matter) but I'm liking what I see so far with Princess.
Driverless taxis, wow that will be an experience 😵 I was last in San Francisco 35 years ago.

[London-Calling]

11 minutes ago, ziggyuk said:

I was last in San Francisco 35 years ago.

 

Apart from July, I'd not been to San Fran for decades either. Not so much has changed apart from the fact that you do see see drug addicts on the streets. They are probably harmless as they are often too zonked to even walk.

 

Everything seemed a bit expensive inc. food, as a Brit. You don't get much of a hotel unless you pay top dollar.

 

I flew Virgin direct from Heathrow (cattle class). It was, erm, OK. 😉

Edited August 28 by London-Calling

[PhillyTravelBug]

6 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Two totally different ships comparing the SSUS to POA.  Older ships like the SSUS used lower strength steel than today's ships, so they used more of it (i.e. thicker plating).  So, the plating does not reach the point of needing replacement as soon.  Secondly, the SSUS has been sitting in essentially fresh water in Philadelphia for the last 30 years.  The salt front of the Delaware river is about 30 miles downstream of Philly.  When NCL bought the SSUS, as I've said, there was little intention, except in the mind of KT Lim, that the ship could be returned to service, but it did represent a US bottom, so it was purchased to prevent any competition.

 

This just shows a lack of understanding of ship maintenance.  The "old hull" is what limits a ship's life, due to inspection and steel replacement costs.  The machinery is overhauled on a regular basis (for instance, the diesel engines are completely torn down and overhauled with major components like pistons, cylinder heads, and bearings renewed every 2.5 years (about 12,000 hours)).  Newer ships, with their thinner, stronger steel hulls, are indeed designed for a 30 year life expectancy.  Does that mean the ship gets scrapped at 30 years?  No, but after 15 years the cost of hull maintenance starts to climb exponentially, and at 30 years it becomes a major impediment to a mainstream cruise line continuing to operate the ship.  I, using my professional qualifications, will state that most major mainstream cruise lines do sell off their 30+ year old bottoms, though there can be other financial considerations leading to the retention in some cases.  Gonna question my qualifiers?

 

Philly shipyard has two graving docks capable of building a replacement for POA in the US, meeting the PVSA requirement.  Given that Hanwa (a Korean shipyard company) has bought Philly Shipyard, and given Philly ship's proven building concept of forming the hull steel in the US, and importing everything else from Korea (engine room modules and machinery, superstructure, etc) in shippable blocks (they have done this for decades building Jones Act compliant tankers and container ships), I would suspect that either Philly or NASSCO will get the contract for a replacement.

If that's the case, I will designate myself to provide updated photos of the progress. I work for a vending services company for the last 12 years with the shipyard in Philly as my main stop.

 

Thoroughly  enjoyed reading the review. Thanks.