Will Someone Sell a Ship?

[paulred]

The trend I see is more ships based in northen ports for longer stretches. When I cruised out of New Orleans my air fare was 40% of my cost. I was amazed to see how many people from all over the south drove to the port.

As cruise ships sail out of NY and Baltimore on the east coast, and Seatle on the west, droves of canadians are in driving distance, and will fill thaose ships.

 

Paul

[noblepa]

It doesn't involve a dry-dock;) and it's called the ship being "laid up." Basically, they find a port that is willing and able and tie her up at some infrequently used berth for a determined or undetermined time period. The ports of Piraeus and Eleusis, Greece are famous for having ships laid up, some short, some long term. There is a cost involved plus if the plan is to return the ship to service, it has to be kept up mechanically and appearance (interior and exterior) wise!

 

 

There is also the capital cost of the ship. Even the older, smaller ships, like the S and R classes, cost a couple of hundred million to build. If you assume a useful service life of twenty years, that means that the line must amortize more than 10 million dollars per year for each ship, whether she is sailing or laid up. They probably are mortgaged, so the interest is also in the millions. That debt must be serviced, sailing or not.

 

With no revenue coming in, and a million or two per month going out, laying a ship up for a long period is definitely something to be avoided. It may be cheaper to keep her sailing, even if she is losing money. If HAL makes the decision to lay a ship up, it will probably have a "For Sale" sign in the bridge windows.

 

Paul Noble

[nitnyleo]

Its a scary thought ...

 

I haven't sailed HAL yet, but I really, really, really want to sail on the Prinsendam on the circumnavigation of South America. Its scary to think I might miss out on another ship (I never sailed the QE2, either ... will my tears never end?)

 

(If any line goes out of business, I would hope it would be MSC ... )

[Steamboatin]

Ocean Village is going under.

 

Copied from another current thread.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=867766

[bishop84]

Ocean Village is going under.

 

Copied from another current thread.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=867766

 

More like going "down under" rather than under.:rolleyes: I wonder when a cruise line will deploy a new ship to Australia and New Zealand!

 

Island Cruises, a UK based joint venture between RCL and TUI, is also being shut down and the ships being redeployed to other companies in the group.

[world~citizen]

...(If any line goes out of business, I would hope it would be MSC ... )

 

Jeeze.:eek:

[hammybee]

Instead of selling a ship or two, couldn't HAL or the other lines just put the ship in dry dock( or whatever you call it) and allow the other ships to sail with more passengers since there would be fewer beds to fill? Then when the economy picks up, and it will in a few years, the ships would be ready to sail again.

 

Typically, cruise lines lease their ships, not own them. They have to pay their lease, no matter what. I have no idea the typical terms of leasing a ship.

[Atomica]

(If any line goes out of business, I would hope it would be MSC ... )

 

They're arguably one line that's relatively safe - they're experiencing massive growth, particularly in Europe where their main competition is Costa. Plus, they have MSC's cargo shipping arm behind them to catch them if they fall.

 

Their Caribbean cruises on the Orchestra are getting some appalling reviews, but at least they're trying...

 

As for Royal Caribbean, it wouldn't surprise me if they put the other Oasis-class vessels on hold and just concentrated on Oasis of the Seas itself for now.

[bishop84]

As for Royal Caribbean, it wouldn't surprise me if they put the other Oasis-class vessels on hold and just concentrated on Oasis of the Seas itself for now.

 

Construction of the Allure OTS is well underway so it would probably cost more to cancel it than finish the build. Unlike the 2nd F3 ship for NCL which was in a much earlier stage when it was canceled. NCL still had to pay the builder millions to get out of the contract.