OA260 wrote:

[\

I got invited onboard Regal Princess in Belfast. It was one of her final ports of call before heading over to Boston. I had been on the Royal Princess so knew I would love Regal. Really had a great day and wonderful crew. Cant wait to see Majestic next year .

A few pics I took. It was eventually a lovely sunny day and 21c/70F after the morning fog cleared so they were lucky.

She looks like every other high-end cruise ship on the inside. I wonder when someone is going to do something creative. RCCL at least has some interesting interior spaces.

Celebrity Infinity, meet Ketchikan. Don't worry, that'll buff right out...

https://youtu.be/fEPNfLmcUO0

http://www.vesselzone.com/2016/07/15/vi ... ketchikan/

EA CO AS wrote:

Celebrity Infinity, meet Ketchikan. Don't worry, that'll buff right out...

https://youtu.be/fEPNfLmcUO0

http://www.vesselzone.com/2016/07/15/vi ... ketchikan/

Yeah, dude. That was in early June. :-p

DocLightning wrote:

OA260 wrote:

[\

I got invited onboard Regal Princess in Belfast. It was one of her final ports of call before heading over to Boston. I had been on the Royal Princess so knew I would love Regal. Really had a great day and wonderful crew. Cant wait to see Majestic next year .

A few pics I took. It was eventually a lovely sunny day and 21c/70F after the morning fog cleared so they were lucky.

She looks like every other high-end cruise ship on the inside. I wonder when someone is going to do something creative. RCCL at least has some interesting interior spaces.

Maybe take a look at P&O Britannia although that too got mixed reviews from people who turned their nose up at it. I liked some of it but felt the lay out of the ship was not as good as it could have been. I do like the decor of the new Princess ships. RCCL have some nice interiors on their ships but also some ghastly areas too. Comes down to personal taste.

DocLightning wrote:

OA260 wrote:

[\

I got invited onboard Regal Princess in Belfast. It was one of her final ports of call before heading over to Boston. I had been on the Royal Princess so knew I would love Regal. Really had a great day and wonderful crew. Cant wait to see Majestic next year .

A few pics I took. It was eventually a lovely sunny day and 21c/70F after the morning fog cleared so they were lucky.

She looks like every other high-end cruise ship on the inside. I wonder when someone is going to do something creative. RCCL at least has some interesting interior spaces.

I have to agree, heck, even when researching the QM2 yesterday, her cabins look the same as Princess etc, it's the Carnival cookie cutter look.

OA260 wrote:

Maybe take a look at P&O Britannia although that too got mixed reviews from people who turned their nose up at it. I liked some of it but felt the lay out of the ship was not as good as it could have been. I do like the decor of the new Princess ships. RCCL have some nice interiors on their ships but also some ghastly areas too. Comes down to personal taste.

At least they are getting away from the Joe Farcus horror show interiors, one other thing, even on a sold out cruise, I found the Regal Princess to be very spacious, never any crowds, long waits at bars or resturants.

jetwet1 wrote:

I found the Regal Princess to be very spacious, never any crowds, long waits at bars or resturants.

True we were on around 9am and went to breakfast in the Horizon Court. Lots of people but never seemed crowded like breakfast is on some ships. Both sides were open with lots of different options at all stations. The Piazza is still my favourite place. Such a nice area to relax with a drink etc... Some great deals for Majestic next year for the Med. Being aimed for the Chinese market when it heads to Asia it will be interesting to see how they tailor make it. Just like RCI did with Ovation.

Tempers flare in Venice as angry protesters block cruise ships

Hundreds of demonstrators have taken to the water in Venice to protest against visiting cruise ships, as relations between tourists and locals reach a new nadir.

Flare-waving protestors used gondolas and small boats to prevent cruise ships, including a vessel belonging to Thomson, from passing through the lagoon on Sunday.

During peak season some 30,000 cruise ship passengers disembark in Venice every day, which locals claim is ruining their city, both environmentally and culturally.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/ ... ise-ships/

I really can't argue with them, large ships have no place in the lagoon.

But tourists, hmmm, I guess the locals have not been to St Marks lately and noticed the number of tourists there when there are no ships in port, it's insane after 9am.

The new solo Cat on QM2 are proving very popular. Lots of positive feedback from them.



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New from my Yahoo news feed - Royal Caribbean International according to Cruise Critic and PR Newswire is developing the "Icon Class" cruise ship "no concept image yet" two have been ordered so far and it is to be powered by LNG and fuel cells. The deliveries are projected to be from 2022 and 2024, will be built by Meyer Turku in Finland and it will carry about 5,000 passengers.

OA260 wrote:

The new solo Cat on QM2 are proving very popular. Lots of positive feedback from them.



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That's a SOLO? Looks like a suite! Much more spacious than I expected. Looks bigger than a standard double-occupancy, even.

DocLightning wrote:

OA260 wrote:

That's a SOLO? Looks like a suite! Much more spacious than I expected. Looks bigger than a standard double-occupancy, even.

Yes I thought so too. Very spacious and well laid out. It has gone from one extreme to another

A video here :


http://youtu.be/PIAXEY2Gd_Y

2707200X wrote:

New from my Yahoo news feed - Royal Caribbean International according to Cruise Critic and PR Newswire is developing the "Icon Class" cruise ship "no concept image yet" two have been ordered so far and it is to be powered by LNG and fuel cells. The deliveries are projected to be from 2022 and 2024, will be built by Meyer Turku in Finland and it will carry about 5,000 passengers.

So this is really fascinating. Currently fuel cells working from methane work as follows:
Methane (CH4) is cracked thermally to produce CO2 and H2. The H2 is then reacted with O2 to make H2O. There is essentially no NOx, SOx, or particulate because the reactions are very clean.

47% of the chemical energy that goes into the fuel cell is converted to electricity. Compare this to 25% (optimistically) for a diesel generator. But when the waste heat is used for cogeneration electrical efficiency can exceed 60%. That's just stunning. And with no NOx, SOx, or soot, exhaust gases might not even need a funnel; they could just be vented overboard.

But looking at this article, I'm confused: http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruis ... ships.html Mr. Baley, the President and CEO of RCI says in one paragraph that they are looking to new approaches for "power and propulsion" and then in another paragraph emphasizes "hotel functions."

On modern cruise ships, all the main generators power a single electric bus. This single electric bus then provides electricity for both propulsive and hotel loads. So is it RCI's intention to separate these two functions and provide hotel power with a fuel cell and propulsive power with diesel again? Or will fuel cells be the sole onboard generators?

OA260 wrote:

The new solo Cat on QM2 are proving very popular. Lots of positive feedback from them.



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I was wondering if anyone had sailed yet on the remastered QM2 and seen or used the new solo cabins.

Those pictures of the solo cabins look beautiful.

I still plan on taking QM2 transatlantic to England one day (especially to move back to London), and want to book one of the solos. I don't know when, but hopefully sooner than later...

SmithAir747

Well those look a lot nicer than I was expecting, it certainly pays off having the smaller bed in the room.

I am actually a little excited about our voyage next year, I don't know if it's the crossing something off the bucket list or the fact that it's on the QM 2.

The wife has figured out something is going on, but I have managed to keep most of it secret so far.

Had not seen these pics before. Photos from inside the abandoned Costa Concordia after it was moved off shore to Genoa.


http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign ... n-pictures

Virgin Group magnate Sir Richard Branson is getting into the cruise business (his cruise line is supposed to start in 2020).

Virgin Cruises (aka Virgin Voyages) sign deal for their first 3 ships:

http://cruiseradio.net/virgin-cruises-d ... uise-line/

Virgin Voyages' new website: http://virginvoyages.com/#home

I recently flew Virgin America (DEN-SFO roundtrip in August 2016); if my experience on VX is anything to go by, I would expect a Virgin Voyages cruise to have a similar "vibe". I want to try it when it sets sail.

What do you think of Virgin Voyages as proposed?

SmithAir747

Going on Harmony of the Seas in December.. anyone else going?

SmithAir747 wrote:

Virgin Group magnate Sir Richard Branson is getting into the cruise business (his cruise line is supposed to start in 2020).

Virgin Cruises (aka Virgin Voyages) sign deal for their first 3 ships:

http://cruiseradio.net/virgin-cruises-d ... uise-line/

Virgin Voyages' new website: http://virginvoyages.com/#home

I recently flew Virgin America (DEN-SFO roundtrip in August 2016); if my experience on VX is anything to go by, I would expect a Virgin Voyages cruise to have a similar "vibe". I want to try it when it sets sail.

What do you think of Virgin Voyages as proposed?

SmithAir747

We had some artist impressions of the ships on the previous threads. Looks interesting. I cant say I love the Virgin brand but I am sure there will be some neat ideas for sure. As always I will most likely get a look on one even if I decide its not for me to take my own holiday on. Too early to tell...

AirPacific747 wrote:

Going on Harmony of the Seas in December.. anyone else going?

I was on the inaugural celebrations in May and loved it. Colleagues and friends have recently sailed on it over the last few weeks and all loved it. The TATL would have been great to be on. I am sure you will have a great trip.

OA260 wrote:

AirPacific747 wrote:

Going on Harmony of the Seas in December.. anyone else going?

I was on the inaugural celebrations in May and loved it. Colleagues and friends have recently sailed on it over the last few weeks and all loved it. The TATL would have been great to be on. I am sure you will have a great trip.

Thanks, I can't wait I can see that it's in France right now. That means that I'll probably be on one of its first cruises out of Florida.

AirPacific747 wrote:

OA260 wrote:

AirPacific747 wrote:

Going on Harmony of the Seas in December.. anyone else going?

I was on the inaugural celebrations in May and loved it. Colleagues and friends have recently sailed on it over the last few weeks and all loved it. The TATL would have been great to be on. I am sure you will have a great trip.

Thanks, I can't wait I can see that it's in France right now. That means that I'll probably be on one of its first cruises out of Florida.

Yes leaving Barcelona on 23/10 and arriving into FLL on 5/11.

New Hurtigruten hybrid explorer ships will revolutionise adventure travel at sea

The Norwegian exploration cruise line Hurtigruten has placed an order for two new hybrid powered expedition ships at Kleven Yards, due to be delivered in 2018 and 2019, in addition to an option for two additional vessels.
Published 19.10.2016

These ground-breaking expedition ships will revolutionise adventure travel at sea. We are combining Hurtigruten’s more than 120-years know-how with cutting-edge technology and design, and a strong commitment to sustainability, to offer the modern-day adventure traveller unprecedented experiences, says Hurtigruten CEO Daniel Skjeldam.

Hurtigruten has now decided to name the first two ships “Roald Amundsen” and “Fridtjof Nansen” after the two most influential Norwegian polar pioneers from the era when the company itself first started offering adventure travels.

http://www.hurtigruten.com/pages/about- ... AzGENyFyi4

Looks like Oasis, Allure & Harmony are lined up for photography right now.

AirPacific747 wrote:

Looks like Oasis, Allure & Harmony are lined up for photography right now.

OOOH!!! I wonder if there are passengers aboard.

We'll be aboard ALLURE in January.

I'm on Harmony next month

(and I was on Oasis last year)

I'm pretty sure there are passengers on Harmony because it just arrived after crossing the atlantic. I've been following it and it has not docked yet after the transatlantic crossing from Spain.

DocLightning wrote:

AirPacific747 wrote:

Looks like Oasis, Allure & Harmony are lined up for photography right now.

OOOH!!! I wonder if there are passengers aboard.

We'll be aboard ALLURE in January.

Based on the images from Allure and Oasis, there are also passengers onboard those.

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/multimedi ... +Promenade

Here's the first video I've seen of the three sisters together from yesterday:

http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/ ... -meet-live

Must have been epic to watch in real life

I've read through these Cruise threads and don't see anything about Disney Cruise Lines, I'm taking my Wife and three year old daughter on a Disney Cruise in April. They are well reviewed, obviously we're looking into more of a family entertainment experience vs. a luxury experience. This will be my daughters first cruise, my Wife and I previously took a Royal Caribbean cruise ten years ago for our Honeymoon that went from Barcelona, Marseilles, Nice, Livorno/Florence, Civitavecchia / Rome and Naples.

Great news from Celebrity. They are to base one of their ships from April to June in Dublin.

STT757 wrote:

I've read through these Cruise threads and don't see anything about Disney Cruise Lines, I'm taking my Wife and three year old daughter on a Disney Cruise in April. They are well reviewed, obviously we're looking into more of a family entertainment experience vs. a luxury experience. This will be my daughters first cruise, my Wife and I previously took a Royal Caribbean cruise ten years ago for our Honeymoon that went from Barcelona, Marseilles, Nice, Livorno/Florence, Civitavecchia / Rome and Naples.

You should enjoy it, Disney do a great job on board their ships, while not luxury, I would put them above RCCL.

OA260 wrote:

Great news from Celebrity. They are to base one of their ships from April to June in Dublin.

Any chance of you getting on board for one of the cruises ?

jetwet1 wrote:

OA260 wrote:

Great news from Celebrity. They are to base one of their ships from April to June in Dublin.

Any chance of you getting on board for one of the cruises ?

Not sure yet as next year is looking quite a busy one so far.


I just returned from a lovely Med cruise on Queen Victoria. Flew out on a BA charter from LHR. Cunard charter it and it was 100% full (B767). Have to say it was well organised and BA crew very relaxed and chatty. Certainly a more relaxed atmosphere onboard then the usual flights. On arrival we collected our bags from the belt then reps took them by the belt and we saw them again outside our cabins.

Crew great as always and recognised a few from previous trips. Food and entertainment great and I just made Platinum status. I also booked onboard another TATL on QM2 as they were offering a great OBC deal.

Just a sample of the pics I took :



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I celebrated my birthday whilst away and this was waiting in my cabin that evening. It was a lovely touch from Cunard.




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Oh you do know how to make me jealous on a Sunday morning, well only 13 months to go for my trip on Cunard lol

Also, I am hearing rumors that Carnival Corp may be switching to one loyalty program instead of each line having it's own, for me personally it would be fantastic, though I can imagine there would be some annoyed people on lines like Cunard and Seabourne.

EinsteinBoricua is aboard NORWEGIAN EPIC. How are you enjoying yourself, EinsteinBoricua?

DocLightning wrote:

EinsteinBoricua is aboard NORWEGIAN EPIC. How are you enjoying yourself, EinsteinBoricua?

To say that I'm having a blast would be an understatement. I'm having an EPIC time (pun totally intended), and it's only day 2.

Already tried out the Mandara Spa (the Thermal Suite is definitely worth the money). Tonight I'm having dinner at one of the specialty restaurants. And, being booked on the studio cabins, I've already made friends with a few other solo travelers.

The one downside: the Friends Of Dorothy gathering. I thought NCL would have a crew member kinda getting us together. Oh well...

I definitely wanna come back. I've already laid a $250 deposit for a future cruise (and I get $100 credit for use on this ship). It would be nice if I can meet up with some of these folks again. And if not, the whole point of solo cruising is enjoying yourself.

And if anyone is surprised that I'm online, apparently Penn State doesn't believe in Thanksgiving week for its online students (the campus students get the whole week off though) so here I am...waiting for this week's module to open.

jetwet1 wrote:

Oh you do know how to make me jealous on a Sunday morning, well only 13 months to go for my trip on Cunard lol

Also, I am hearing rumors that Carnival Corp may be switching to one loyalty program instead of each line having it's own, for me personally it would be fantastic, though I can imagine there would be some annoyed people on lines like Cunard and Seabourne.

You will love it and part of the thrill is the countdown however long !

I see the two Celebrity ships will be "Edge" and " Beyond".

Life-size replica 'Titanic' being built in China

Construction of a life-size replica of the Titanic has begun at a Mediterranean-themed attraction in China.

The company behind it, Seven Star Energy Investment Group, said it should be completed by late next year.

The copy of the famous, doomed liner will be part of the Romandisea Seven Star International Cultural Tourism Resort, along the Qijiang River in Sichuan Province's Daying County.

http://news.sky.com/story/life-size-rep ... a-10677983

Good afternoon from the Harmony of the seas. Currently in Port Everglades and we're soon leaving port awesome ship! Any other a.nutter onboard?

I just got off the remastered QM2...she is an amazing ship, posted my blog in another thread on this forum, check it out.

AirPacific747 wrote:

Good afternoon from the Harmony of the seas. Currently in Port Everglades and we're soon leaving port awesome ship! Any other a.nutter onboard?

Glad your enjoying it I knew you would

My next two cruises coming up:

1) 9-15 January 2017: Star Trek: The Cruise, on Norwegian Pearl (a full ship charter theme cruise, the first officially licensed Star Trek cruise), with William Shatner and other Star Trek luminaries on board. Ports of call: Miami (embark), Cozumel (Mexico), Great Stirrup Cay (will be themed like Risa), Nassau (Bahamas), and Miami (disembark).

2) 1-8 April 2018: Fabulous Faces at Sea II: The 2018 Craniofacial Cruise. I hosted my inaugural Fabulous Faces at Sea Craniofacial Cruisein August 2016 on NCL Escape. This will be my second Fabulous Faces at Sea cruise, where I will be hosting a craniofacial group; the 2018 cruise will be on NCL Getaway. Itinerary: Miami (embark), Roatan (Honduras), Harvest Caye (Belize), Costa Maya (Mexico), Cozumel (Mexico), and Miami (disembark).

SmithAir747

My next confirmed cruise is the Nov 26, 2017 Eastern Caribbean sailing of the Queen Mary 2, my second time aboard. I was going to wait for it to open up as a Commodore sailing for Travel Agents, but I really wanted my preferred cabin, 13014. I'm a HUGE fan of the new Club Balconies.

Another one I am contemplating is my Commodore cruise on Princess to the Panama Canal, but we'll see.

Princess has agreed to pay a $40m fine for dumping grey water.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/princess ... -pollution

And here is the link to WesternA318's QM2 trip

http://fl310travel.blogspot.com/2016/12 ... ge-on.html

jetwet1 wrote:

Princess has agreed to pay a $40m fine for dumping grey water.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/princess ... -pollution

Saw that not very good PR for them.

OA260 wrote:

jetwet1 wrote:

Princess has agreed to pay a $40m fine for dumping grey water.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/princess ... -pollution

Saw that not very good PR for them.

No it isn't and the stupid thing is, there is no reason for it to happen in the first place, other than to save money, the ships have the equipment there to deal with gray water, yes it costs the company money, but nowhere near $40M, which by the way is what caught my attention in the first place, most times the fines are $1m or so, so to be hit with a $40m fine grabbed my attention. The list and length of the infractions is alarming to say the least.

OA260 wrote:

Glad your enjoying it I knew you would

Thanks currently in Cozumel. Has been a very good cruise so far. Only little criticism I have is that the waiters in both the specialty restaurants and in the main restaurant could be a little more attentive and they seem quite stressed in the main restaurant. Maybe there's not enough.

The other thing I noticed on the Harmony is that in the Solarium (the adult area) on Oasis of the seas there was small water canals between the dining area and the rest of the solarium area. On Harmony there is no running water in the Solarium which is a little disappointing because I thought it was a nice detail.

A good thing about the Harmony is that the staterooms seem bigger in comparison to Oasis due to the extra width of the ship.

For some reason, I'm not interested in sailing the Oasis class of ship or even the Quantum class. What's the purpose of a mega-ship? Should you get off or stay aboard to enjoy all the amenities?

Even with Norwegian Epic, I didn't get to enjoy all the restaurants or make use of all the facilities. I may go a second time, though fellow solo travelers recommended I try Breakaway, Escape, or Getaway just because Epic was the guinea pig of the Studio cabins.

This is what I mean. Look at the water art in the right in this picture.

https://goo.gl/images/9bIjqx

This is missing in Harmony.

AirPacific747 wrote:

This is what I mean. Look at the water art in the right in this picture.

https://goo.gl/images/9bIjqx

This is missing in Harmony.

That looks nice. However, I'm guessing that's an added burden (another area that needs to be maintained and cleaned separately from the rest of the area).

einsteinboricua wrote:

AirPacific747 wrote:

This is what I mean. Look at the water art in the right in this picture.

https://goo.gl/images/9bIjqx

This is missing in Harmony.

That looks nice. However, I'm guessing that's an added burden (another area that needs to be maintained and cleaned separately from the rest of the area).

Yeah I think you're right. Most definitely something to do with cost of maintenance. I can understand your viewpoint that the Oasis class may be too big. Personally I had a good time on both ships. Only the first day when embarking was a little too hectic. But next time, I'd like to try a smaller ship for comparison.