CRUISE NEWS, NOTES AND COMMENTARY
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The naming ceremony for Holland America's Rotterdam is scheduled for May. (photo courtesy of Holland America).
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New Royal Caribbean ships pass major milestones in construction.
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Construction has begun on Royal Caribbean International's sixth Oasis-class ship Utopia of the Seas. At a ceremony on April 8. 2022, conducted at the Chantiers d'Atlanique shipyard in France, the first steel was cut for the new ship. Utopia is expected to enter service n the Spring of 2024.
At approximately 220,000 gross tons, the Oasis class ships have been the largest cruise ships in the world for more than a decade. Utopia will differ from her five predecessors in that she will be powered by LNG (Liquified Natural Gas), which is a cleaner source of power than conventional ship power plants. Meanwhile, work on Royal Caribbean's first LNG-powered ship reached a new milestone with a keel-laying ceremony at the Meyer Werft Turku shipyard in Finland. Icon of the Seas will be a new class of cruise ship. When completed in 2023, she will be approximately 200,000 gross tons, which will make her smaller than the Oasis class but larger than Royal Caribbean's Quantum class. Cruise ships are not constructed in the traditional manner building up from a keel laid out in a line in the shipyard. Rather, they are built in sections. Thus, a modern keel-laying is typically when two sections are joined together. |
Above: Executives of Royal Caribbean and Chantiers d' Atlanique at the steel-cutting ceremony for Utopia of the Seas.
Below: The keep-laying ceremony for Icon of the Seas. (Photos courtesy of Royal Caribbean). 
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Holland America celebrates 149th anniversary and prepares for Rotterdam naming ceremony.
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In April, Holland America Line marked 149 years in operation with ceremonial dinners on its ships that are already in service. (The line expects all 11 of its ships to have restarted by mid-June 2022 with Noordam returning in late April, Oosterdam and Zaandam returning in May and Westerdam in June).
HAL is also looking forward to the maiden voyage of its new Rotterdam. In a reversal of the traditional order of things, the maiden voyage will begin in Amsterdam on May 29 and then the naming ceremony will be held in Rotterdam the next day. (Such reversals of the traditional order has become increasingly common in the cruise industry in recent years). Princess Margreit of the Netherlands will act as godmother to the new ship. |
Rotterdam during her sea trials. (photo courtesy of Holland America)
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Celebrity Beyond to undertake her maiden voyage
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In early April, Celebrity Beyond joined the Celebrity Cruises' fleet. The ship was constructed at Chantiers d'Atlanique in France and is the third ship in Celebrity's Edge class.
Her maiden voyage is scheduled to begin April 27 in Southampton, England and will follow a Western European itinerary. |
Celebrity Beyond during her sea trials. (photo courtesy of Celebrity Cruises).
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Margaritaville at Sea Paradise to understake her maiden voyage
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Margaritaville-at-sea Paradise is scheduled to begin its maiden voyage in May. The voyage was postponed from April due to supply-chain problems. It will depart from Palm Beach, Florida and visit Freeport on Grand Bahama Island.
This ship is the former Grand Classica of Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line. She has been refitted with new livery and her interior venues transformed with a Margaritaville theme. She is 52,926 gross tons and can accommodate 1,680 passengers. Built in 1991, she began life at Costa Classica. This is not the first time the Margaritaville concept has been tried on a cruise ship. For a number of years, there were Margaritaville specialty restaurants on several of the Norwegian Cruise Line ships. The relationship between Margaritaville and NCL has apparently ended and those venues have been put to other uses. |
Margaritaville-at-sea Paradise. (photo courtesy of Margaritaville-at-sea).
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Riviera and Marina to be re-inspired
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Oceania Cruises has announced that its ships Riviera and Marina will undergo re-inspirations. What this will entail is a revitalization and re-decoration of the staterooms, suites and public areas intended to make them lighter, brighter and even more luxurious. Riviera's re-inspiration is to be completed in December 2022 while Marian's will take place in November 2023.
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Riviera
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Cruise news notes and commentary - - April 2022