The Cruise Ship and Cruise Line Discussion Thread!

[SharkTums]

^Most people prefer Chops, but it's really a preference thing. Do you like Steakhouses or Italian better?

 

If you like both, I would go for Chops.

[Tunaboy407]

We like both! Alright Chops looks great so i think that is what we will do. Thanks

[DJeXeL]

Definitely the first time I've heard it being referred to as the "Poop Cruise".

 

One year after the Carnival Triumph cruise ship caught fire and lost power in the Gulf of Mexico, stranding frightened passengers in filth and misery for days, thinking about the ill-fated voyage can make Kimberly Northom Townsend break down and cry.

That's what happened in the middle of her testimony before a U.S. federal judge in Miami last week, during the first civil trial about the February 2013 voyage.

 

Townsend, a 54-year-old mother of two and grandmother of three, was one of 31 passengers who are plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Carnival, alleging the company's responsibility for the ill-fated voyage.

She had just finished testifying in graphic detail what it was like on the ship as it sat disabled for days in the Gulf. Terrified passengers huddled on decks worried about their safety, she said, with foul toilets overflowing into hallways, no power, near-total darkness, long lines for rationed water and almost no food.

 

Townsend described how she finally reached her mother on the phone when the broken ship got towed into Mobile, Alabama, days late from what was supposed to have been the vacation of a lifetime. She told the court she begged her mother to come get her immediately. And as she spoke, her voice trailed away, she looked down, and began sobbing in the witness chair.

Townsend was one of numerous Carnival Triumph passengers who testified, sometimes crying, about the conditions on the boat and how they still suffer one year later.

 

Who got injured and how much is it worth?

 

The trial is expected to continue for several weeks, with lawyers for passengers suing Carnival Corp. and lawyers for the cruise line arguing over whether, and to what degree, passengers got injured, if they remain hurt and how much Carnival should pay for those damages.

Fuel leak sparked cruise ship fire

 

But while testimony has finished only its first week, the legal case has already brought some unusual and significant rulings from the judge, U.S. District Judge Donald Graham.

 

Before testimony began, Graham ruled Carnival is liable and responsible for the fire on board the Triumph because of negligence on the part of the company. The judge agreed with the plaintiffs, who argued a presumption of liability based upon an older common law idea of negligence. Going back to the Romans, the Latin doctrine of "res ipsa loquitur" means roughly "the thing speaks for itself."

 

The judge's ruling is sweeping and unusual in a major cruise ship disaster, with larger possible implications for future cruises and passengers.

[Mr Stratosphere]

They updated the image from the webcam at The Meyer Werft Shipyard for Quantum of the Seas.

We are looking at the front of the ship.

There's also a neat "Time-Lapse" available at the below link.

www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/quantum-of-the-seas-webcam

[netdvn]

So last week I did my fifth cruise (second with Holland America) aboard the Ryndam. What a cruise it was.

 

The ship itself is small, and relatively easy to get around. The floors sorta run together though so it's easy to head back to the cabin only to end up on the wrong floor. Despite being an older ship, it still looks classy on the inside (unlike the Carnival Fantasy). There wasn't much rocking on the boat to be felt for an older ship outside of a few choppy waters, which was a nice surprise.

 

Nightly shows were good. We had two comedians, both of which were very funny. Movies on the other hand weren't as good as the Eurodam's showings (played a lot more obscure stuff that I didn't care as much for). Still they played Frozen and the Hobbit 2 later in the trip.

 

Service is excellent. The employees interact with you a LOT more on this ship than any of the other ones I've sailed and it really shows. Same with the guests. It definitely felt more intimate onboard. Had some interesting conversations with a number of the guests onboard.

 

Ports of call were nice. Did a tour of Key West and Santo Tomas. Stayed in-port for Roatan and did a quick tour outside of port in Costa Maya.

 

Key West was nice, but I wish we did more. I wish the trolleys weren't as expensive - makes the place feel like a serious tourist trap (then again I guess it is). Skipped the Hemingway house again and hung out at one of the touristy docks near the port. It was nice. Beaches are small and crowded, but having swam in Key West before, I wouldn't recommend it.

 

Guatemala was amazing. The port is similar to the port we stopped at in the Dominican Republic. Decided to go an hour out of our way and booked a nice tour to a Spanish fort. It's no Puerto Rico but it had some amazing views. Our tour guide was fantastic. We stopped at a roadside market and got jack fruit and coconut drinks. He also showed us around the pineapple, rubber, and banana plantations and drove us through the town.

 

Roatan has the typical nice port. It's definitely a place I really wanna return to just to experience the other stuff they have to offer outside (ziplining ). The chairlift was neat looking (but a bit pricey) and the beach was alright but packed with tourists from other ships. It had a typical tourist trap cruise port feel to it, not bad but I wish it was closer to town and there was more to offer other than a beach and overpriced chairlift.

 

Costa Maya was the other typical nice port. It has all the typical amenities, but with the added dolphins (which was nice but not as cool as Sea World) and the overabundance of straw markets selling the typical local crafts and knockoff goods. The spray paint artist was cool and I found myself hanging around the vendors selling superhero carvings. Guy tried pressuring me into trading my hat for a pair of fake Ray Bans. Did a quick walking tour around the area outside. You could clearly see they tried to build the area up with all the boarded up duty free shops, half-built buildings, tacky photo ops, and the abandoned Diamonds International. Just wish we did the Mayan Ruins tour like we initially planned. Maybe next time.

 

From this experience, I'll definitely sail with HAL again before sampling another line, possibly to Europe next year

 

The way home sucked. It was cold, full of traffic, dreary, and we almost spun out in the mountains from the snow. Now I have to wait for summer for our next trip and another year till our next cruise.

[jray21]

I'd love to visit some of those places sometime.

[DirkFunk]

I'm seriously considering taking that Ryndam itinerary later this year after they sub out Roatan/Mahogany Bay for Banana Beach/Trujillo. I actually like Mahogany Bay for what it is - a beach day - but I like new things more. Plus I like that HAL's basic level of service includes things that a lot of cruise lines only allow at suite levels, i.e. dinner service from the MDR in the stateroom.

[ahecht]

MSC today announced a pair of new ships which will be about the same size as the Quantum class (although they will hold more people, which probably isn't a good thing).

 

 

From http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/fl-msc-cruises-new-ships-20140320,0,2592771.story:

Already sporting 12 ships built since 2001, MSC Cruises is opting to add two more ships to its fleet.

 

The line signed a letter of intent today with STX France to build two new cruise ships at the Saint-Nazaire shipyard with an option to add two more ships in the future.

 

...

 

All of MSC's current fleet were constructed at the French shipyards. Its last two ships were 139,400, 3,500-passenger vessels. The new 1,033-foot-long ships will be 167,600 tons, with a 4,500-passenger capacity, based on double occupancy, and a maximum capacity of 5,700 passengers. That puts the new ships among the largest in the world, on par with Royal Caribbean's upcoming Quantum and Anthem of the Seas.

 

The ships will feature an amusement park connected to an outdoor water park, a larger theater, a two-deck inside promenade, cabins built specifically for families and an expansion of its MSC Yacht Club, the ship-within-a-ship concept featured aboard some of its other vessels with its own restaurant, lounge and solarium.

 

I wonder what they mean by "amusement park"? Hopefully it's something more than just an Oasis-like carousel.

Edited March 20, 2014 by ahecht

[COASTER FREAK 11]

LOL, well, if its anything more then a spinner, id be really surprised.

[Xmeister]

I have yet to hear any good things about MSC, so I'm curious to see how these new ships will match up to the other new ships that will be of a similar size. (Quantum and Anthem of the Seas.)

[ahecht]

The STX France shipyard has released some of the first concept pictures of the 3rd Oasis-class ship at http://stxfrance.fr//UK/stxfrance-reference-34-OASIS%203.awp.

 

 

Looks like the ship with have a larger solarium area and the first "big" water slide for Royal Caribbean.

[Stu K]

Both those ships look great! Like the idea of a theme park at sea but not sure what we would see. Think Oasis 3 could trade off a Climbing wall for free fall? Just have opening times when there are no shows on ETC so there could be scream free moments at the back of the ship. Guess that would kill off the rear baloney.

 

Just Back form NCL Spirit my 5th cruise smallest and oldest ship 1st on with NCL and 1st cruise in Europe we had a blast and it was free as my mother in law paid!

 

https://www.facebook.com/stuart.kite/media_set?set=a.10152345558177780.1073741827.522732779&type=1

 

Enjoy the photos.

 

Stu K

 

PS Can i get coaster credit for the wicker to-bogon?

[Mr Stratosphere]

A look at Quantum as of 3/17. Cannot wait for this ship! It is just as fun following the construction of a ship as it is a coaster!

[COASTER FREAK 11]

And here comes the food! I would love to see this type of restaurant design on the Third Oasis Class ship!

 

[youtu_be]http://youtu.be/xM2-JyJ8E3o[/youtu_be]

[ahecht]

Looks like they're going with the Norwegian Cruise Line freestyle approach for the Quantum class, which is a shame.

 

There's no main dining room or traditional dining. Instead there are four main restaurants (plus a fifth for suite guests). Each restaurant has the same menu each night, so you are encouraged to use a different one each night. You won't get the same wait staff each night unless you eat at the same restaurant (with the same menu). You are required to make advance reservations for each night, either online or once onboard, for all the sit down restaurants.

 

The four main restaurants are "American Icon Grill" (American comfort food), "Chic" (contemporary cuisine), "The Grande Restaurant" (every night is formal night), and "Silk" (pan-Asian cuisine). There is a fifth restaurants for suite guests called "Coastal Kitchen" (California Mediterranean fusion).

 

Personally, I'm a bit disapointed. If I wanted freestyle dining I would sail with NCL.

[Meteornotes]

Hmmm, I am not sure how I feel about this. I need more information. And menus.

 

dt

[ahecht]

^Menus are at http://www.royalcaribbean.com/dynamicdining

[Stu K]

We generally go my time or any time dining depending on cruise line. so to have 5 more intimate included dining options is great. I'm sure i heard on the you tube link that the menus were different every night. I guess that the more traditional cruises are not going to like this but i also guess RCI has a lot of traditional cruise ships for them and theses ships are going after another almost un taped market along with RCI customers looking for something different.

 

Looking forward to the TPR Trip report later this year.

 

Stu K

[ahecht]

^If you read the FAQs at the above link, it explicitly states that the menus for each venue stay the same throughout the cruise.

[COASTER FREAK 11]

Hmmm, I am not sure how I feel about this. I need more information. And menus.

 

dt

 

I like the idea of the change of scenery every night.

[gisco]

The food looks great. I need to do a cruise someday.

[DirkFunk]

Looks like they're going with the Norwegian Cruise Line freestyle approach for the Quantum class, which is a shame.

 

There's no main dining room or traditional dining. Instead there are four main restaurants (plus a fifth for suite guests). Each restaurant has the same menu each night, so you are encouraged to use a different one each night. You won't get the same wait staff each night unless you eat at the same restaurant (with the same menu). You are required to make advance reservations for each night, either online or once onboard, for all the sit down restaurants.

 

The four main restaurants are "American Icon Grill" (American comfort food), "Chic" (contemporary cuisine), "The Grande Restaurant" (every night is formal night), and "Silk" (pan-Asian cuisine). There is a fifth restaurants for suite guests called "Coastal Kitchen" (California Mediterranean fusion).

 

Personally, I'm a bit disapointed. If I wanted freestyle dining I would sail with NCL.

 

Its somewhere between NCL's freestyle and Disney's rotational dining. NCL's "main restaurants" don't feature a fully fixed menu. It isn't a deal breaker for me, nor does it necessarily make the ship for me either. The pursuit of suite guests with specialty restaurants (Celebrity is doing the same thing) is something I do appreciate though, and that makes a bigger difference for me than anything else announced re: the dining.

[Joe_Spence]

The Wife and I recently booked a DCL cruise from San Diego to Vancouver in May 2015, with a stop at San Fran. Has anyone ever done one of these? How are they? What are the port excursions like in SF?

[COASTER FREAK 11]

Ive never does a cruse to San Fran, however, there's a ton of stuff to do in the city besides what the cruise offers as an excursion. Id take a look around the internet and find some cool stuff to do that way. Its also probably be cheaper.

[Joe_Spence]

Thanks, We def. want to try to hit up the Disney family museum, So I'm hoping that'll be an excursion