Hurricane Season Cruise Ship Deployments

The severe hurricanes that romped across the Caribbean in September saw numerous cruises cancelled, amended and ships switched to humanitarian and floating accommodation roles. More ships were involved than mentioned here but the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) added a second cruise ship on 12th September by chartering the San Juan based 70,538gt/1994 built Carnival Fascination through to January 2018 to help in hurricane relief efforts. The ship is providing housing for relief staff in the United States Virgin Islands and specifically in St. Croix. The vessel is expected to return to year-round service from San Juan on 18th February.

Previously FEMA had announced the charter of the 47,263gt/1987 built Grand Celebration for a three month period, commencing 23rd September based in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands to house the National Guard. The ship is due to resume cruises on 23rd December.

On 15th September the 77,104gt/1999 built Norwegian Sky arrived back in Miami with hundreds of evacuees from St. Thomas after Hurricane Irma. Norwegian Cruise Line was the first of a number of cruise operators to offer assistance and sent the empty Norwegian Sky to collect evacuees and deliver supplies. In total, the ship dropped off 35 pallets of supplies ranging from wood to disposable dishes. This also included 15 palettes of personal donations from the crew, with items such as toiletries and clean clothing.

The Majesty of the Seas concluded a 16-day ‘cruise’ on 19th September that began as a 5-day scheduled itinerary. The 77,077gt/1992 built ship was transformed into a rescue and supply ship to help victims of Hurricane Irma, which battered Florida after causing severe damage in the Caribbean. Many passengers stayed onboard the ship even when given a chance to disembark in Florida after a few days. The passengers made the most of it, despite limited resources on the extended trip. Most of the restaurants closed, the casino shut down and guests had to do their own laundry. Most of the drinkers disembarked once the bars ran dry with around 24 passengers remaining for the entire trip. The Majesty of the Seas embarked many people who were stranded in the Caribbean after Hurricane Irma, having waited out the storm off Cuba.

Hurricane Jose then caused disruption with the 142,714gt 2014 built Regal Princess hurrying to New York a day early on 22nd September to beat the storm. The ship had been on a two-week repositioning cruise that departed Copenhagen on 9th September. On 28th September around 3,800 people lined up at San Juan harbour to board the Adventure of the Seas that took them from Puerto Rico to the U.S. mainland in one of the largest evacuations since Hurricane Maria had hit the area over a week previously. That storm was the strongest to hit the island in nearly 90 years. Royal Caribbean International provided transport free of charge in an unprecedented humanitarian effort in the hurricane-ravaged U.S. Virgin Islands and other affected areas. The ship’s cruise on 30th September was subsequently cancelled as the vessel had been diverted to St. Croix and St. Thomas to also transport relief supplies and collect evacuees and stranded tourists and take them to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The ship returned to San Juan on 6th October in readiness for her scheduled 7th October departure from St. Croix to Martinique.

Several other cruises, including sailings of the Harmony of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas, were rescheduled to dates in October. Ships from Carnival Cruises also delivered supplies, water and food to the Caribbean whilst others, including Oceania Cruises, have been pledging donations. Oceania will donate £350 of every booking of a veranda stateroom and above for Caribbean sailings from December 2017 to April 2018, while Regent Seven Seas announced it will donate £300 per guest for new bookings made until 31st October on eight selected 2018 Caribbean voyages on board the Seven Seas Explorer. Both cruise lines, and their sister brands, pledged to raise a minimum of £1.87 million for relief efforts.

Further afield, the Mediterranean based 49,257gt 2003 built ferry La Suprema has gone to Puerto Rico to provide emergency accommodation whilst ferries Excellent, 39,777gt built 1998 and Moby Otta, 22,528gt built 1976, were earmarked to follow suit at the time of writing.

Newbuild For Cunard Line

On 25th September Fincantieri announced that it had signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise company, for the construction of one next-generation cruise ship for the Cunard brand. The agreement will become operational when all the financial and technical conditions will be satisfied. The 113,000gt ship is of the Pinnacle Class design type, the first such vessel being Holland America Line’s 99,836gt Koningsdam, and will be built at the Monfalcone yard. Delivery of the 3,000 guest capacity ship will be in 2022. The as-yet unnamed newbuild will be the 249th to fly the Cunard flag and the first new ship for Cunard since 2010 when Fincantieri delivered the Vista Class vessel Queen Elizabeth.

Stretching A Spirit

Silversea announced on 26th September that the 36,009gt/2009 built Silver Spirit (above) will be the first ship in the fleet ever to undergo lengthening. The transformation will take place in March next year at the Palermo shipyard of Fincantieri when a 49ft prefabricated midsection housing 6 Silver Suites, 26 Veranda Suites and 2 Panorama Suites will be added. Associated technical upgrades will also be implemented. As the ship’s extensive redesign takes its inspiration from the innovations of the company’s new flagship, the 40,791gt/2017 built Silver Muse, creative dining concepts will be incorporated, and stylish décor enhancements will be made to existing suites and throughout the public spaces and outdoor areas, providing an increased level of comfort and spaciousness.

Delivery & Renaming For Viking

Viking Ocean Cruises’ 47,842gt Viking Sun was delivered in Ancona on 25th September as the fourth of eight cruise ships Viking Ocean Cruises has ordered from Fincantieri. The ship, like her sisters, has 465 cabins with accommodation for 930 passengers and a total capacity of over 1,400 people, including the crew. Each ship has been designed by experienced naval architects and engineers, including an interior design team of London-based SMC Design, and Los Angeles-based Rottet Studios, who created on the Viking Sun a modern design of Scandinavian inspiration, featuring sophisticated yet functional elegance. In addition to the all-veranda staterooms, the ship also has spacious suites with sweeping views, two pools and a Spa designed according to the wellness philosophy of the Scandinavian tradition, with a sauna and a snow grotto.

The first of the series, the Viking Star, was built in Marghera and delivered in 2015, whilst the second and the third, the Viking Sea and Viking Sky, were built in Ancona in 2016 and 2017. The last four units will be delivered respectively in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. Viking Cruises is reportedly working on a project for what could become the world’s first cruise ship with zero-emission technology. The ship will be fuelled by liquid hydrogen according to the company’s Project Manager. The new ship will be around 230m long, and will accommodate around 900 passengers with the design likely to be based on the same design as their seagoing cruise ships, such as the Viking Sun. One of the technical challenges is to maintain the fuel at minus 253 degrees to keep it from evaporating. A fuel cell will convert the hydrogen to electricity for propulsion and electric power on board. Hydrogen is also a very explosive gas, and protection against gas leaks is an important part of the safety requirements for the fuel. At present, liquid hydrogen is not produced on a large scale in Europe, but Viking Cruises is in dialogue with Statoil in order to find a solution based on a Norwegian refinery. On 29th September the 47,842gt/2015 built Viking Star made the company’s debut at Portsmouth after a voyage from Le Havre, part of a 15 night cruise that traces the trade routes of the middles ages. The cruise started in the Viking Star’s home port of Bergen, Norway. After leaving Portsmouth on the seventh day of the journey, she headed to Falmouth, and then onwards to Portugal and Spain.

The intended fifth newbuild Viking Spirit has now been assigned the name Viking Orion after the constellation in honour of the ship’s newly announced godmother, American chemist, emergency room physician and recently retired NASA Astronaut Dr. Anna Fisher. The Viking Orion reached a major construction milestone on 28th September when she was floated out at Fincantieri’s Ancona shipyard. The vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2018.

Option Taken By Saga

Saga Cruises has returned to Meyer Werft for a sister ship to the Spirit of Discovery. To be named Spirit of Adventure (above), the ship will be delivered in 2020. At the beginning of 2016, Saga Cruises signed a contract to build a 236m long, 31.2m beam and 58,250gt cruise ship with Meyer Werft, for delivery in 2019.

Unemployed Ships On The Move

The 12,892gt/1996 built and 133m long Minerva (above), the former Swan-Hellenic vessel, departed Bremerhaven on 26th September where she had been laid up bound for Elefsis in Greece having been reportedly sold for conversion to a superyacht. Vessel Broker Peter Insull announced on 18th September that the sale was the company’s largest deal in terms of gross tonnage to date.

The 15,396gt/1990 built Voyager (above), previously operating for Voyages of Discovery, also departed her place of lay-up, Salalah, on 9th October, renamed Vidanta Alegria, and bound for Cadiz, presumably for refit. The vessel was purchased by Hoteles Dinamicos of Mexico whose primary business is an airline.

Thomson Cruises Re-Brand

Thomson Cruises revealed on 10th October that is is to undergo a major rebrand that will see the company change its name to Marella Cruises. The move will coincide with new additions to the fleet including the Marella Explorer as well as a host of new destinations which it said were in the pipeline. Marella Cruises is part of TUI UK and Ireland and is the third largest cruise line in the UK. Thomson Holidays has also disappeared in favour of the TUI brand. The fleet will consist of the Marella Explorer (currently Mein Schiff 1), Marella Discovery and Marella Discovery 2, previously TUI Discovery and TUI Discovery 2. The Mein Schiff 2 will also join the brand in 2019. The TUI Group currently operates 16 cruise vessels in total, the other companies being TUI Cruises (Mein Schiff fleet) and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.

Farewell Adonia (Again)

On 26th September P&O Cruises announced that the 30,277gt/ 2001 built Adonia (above) had been sold to Azamara Cruises. The sale will be completed in March 2018 and the Adonia’s last cruise as a P&O Cruises ship will be D804 leaving Barbados on 23rd February and ending in Barbados on 9th March 2018. So, Azamara Cruises will be able to reunite three of the R-Class vessels that last operated together when with their original company, Renaissance Cruises, which went bankrupt. The other two 710 passenger capacity ships are the 2000 built Azamara Journey and Azamara Quest. The Adonia will be renamed Azamara Pursuit. The sale of the Adonia removes the small ship experience from P&O Cruises and the vessel had ventured into new ports of call around the globe, many unsuitable for the larger fleet members. Operational costs were of course a factor in the decision to sell. In 2016 the ship was transferred to new brand Fathom and made history by being the first US cruise company operated vessel to sail to Cuba in more than 40 years. The Adonia made her final departure from Southampton on the afternoon of 14th October. Her refit to become an Azamara ship is scheduled to take place at the Grand Bahama Shipyard around 14th March 2018.

A Dream Conveyance

Genting Cruise Lines’ 150,695gt World Dream of Dream Cruises began her conveyance of the River Ems from Meyer Werft at Papenburg to Eemshaven on 17th September (above), ahead of entering service from Guangzhou (Nansha), China and Hong Kong on 17th November 2017. Handover was scheduled for 26th October and then the ship began her ocean voyage via Gibraltar, the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal, then across the Indian Ocean with visits to Sri Lanka and Singapore.

Silversea Plans

On 21st September Silversea announced plans for the 17,235gt/1995 built Silver Wind and 28,258gt/2001 built Silver Whisper to undergo a complete refurbishment programme in some areas of the two ships. Their transformation will be completed in December 2017. The project is part of the fleet-wide refurbishment programme launched at the end of 2016. The Silver Whisper’s refit will incorporate technical improvements that will increase the already high level of guest satisfaction. The refurbishment will also incorporate a significant redesign of public areas with many public areas taking inspiration from the Silver Muse’s décor, which will be reflected in carpet replacements and upgrades for La Terrazza, as well as the Observation and Panorama lounges. The Silver Wind will be upgraded in a similar format.