| Explorer of the Seas |
THE
WINNING
EQUATION
By Richard H. Wagner
(originally published in The Log, Navy
League of the United States, New York
Council (Spring 2007)
WINNING
EQUATION
By Richard H. Wagner
(originally published in The Log, Navy
League of the United States, New York
Council (Spring 2007)
ABOVE: EXPLORER OF THE SEAS (Photo by Michael Verdue
courtesy of Royal Caribbean). BELOW: Captain William Wright,
Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice Preseident of Marine Operations.
courtesy of Royal Caribbean). BELOW: Captain William Wright,
Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice Preseident of Marine Operations.
EXPLORER OF THE SEAS is Royal Caribbean
International's primary entry into the New York cruise
market. In 2007, the ship will begin sailing from the
Liberty Cruise Ship Terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey on
a year-round basis to destinations such as Bermuda, the
Caribbean and Canada. This follows a successful
season in 2006 during which EXPLORER sailed from
Bayonne for part of the year.
By deploying this one ship to New York, the world's
second largest cruise line has become a major player in
this market. This is because EXPLORER is one of the
world's largest cruise ships - - a megacruise ship at
137,308 gross registered tons, capable of
accommodating 3,835 passengers. In fact, she is larger
in terms of gross tonnage than any passenger ship in
service except Cunard's QUEEN MARY 2 (See The
Log, Winter 2006 at p. 17) and fleet-mate FREEDOM
OF THE SEAS (See The Log, Summer 2006 at p.9).
(FREEDOM's sister ship, LIBERTY OF THE SEAS,
will also be larger when she goes into service in May).
Royal Caribbean is well-known for its large cruise ships
but it does not build such ships merely to awe the public.
As we shall see, they are key to Royal Caribbean's
business strategy. "These have been a huge success. We
wouldn't continue to march down the path toward large
vessels if it wasn't something that we weren't more than
100% convinced was the right thing to do from a
business perspective," commented Captain William
Wright, Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President,
Marine Operations, when The Log spoke with him
onboard EXPLORER.
The Line
In order to put Royal Caribbean's strategy in
perspective, it is necessary to look briefly at the growth
of the line. Royal Caribbean was born in the late 1960s
when an American, Ed Stephens, flew to Oslo, Norway,
with the hope of interesting Norwegian businessmen in
investing in a company that would offer Caribbean
cruises out of Miami on ships that were expressly built
for that purpose. At that time, there were a few pioneers
offering cruises out of Miami but they were using ships
that had been designed for other roles. For the most
part, these were ships that had once competed in the
transatlantic passenger market, which had been all but
wiped out with the advent of commercial jet service to
Europe. Stephens recognized that the calm waters of the
Caribbean did not require ships with the strength needed
to handle the rigors of a transatlantic crossing. A
Caribbean cruise ship could be lighter, which would
create fuel savings and shallower draft, which would
allow it to enter more island ports than the former ocean
liners. Furthermore, the ships could be less streamlined,
more box-like, and thus able to carry more passengers
and have more revenue producing amenities in the same
physical space.
Stephens also saw the jet airliner, not as an enemy, but
as a key to the future success of the cruise business.
Instead of marketing the cruises just to Florida residents
as the other lines were doing, the new company would
sell its services nationwide, offering cruise packages that
included air travel to Miami.
Norway was a good venue for seeking potential
investors because a number of Norwegian businesses
had done very well in the oil tanker and cargo ship
businesses and were looking for ways to expand. Also,
with the discovery of North Sea oil, the country was
poised for growth. Stephens convinced three large
investors, I.M. Skaugen, S/A, Anders Wilhelmson and
Company, and Gotas Larsen Shipping Corporation, to
form a partnership. The resulting company was called
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and was incorporated in
1968.
By 1972, Royal Caribbean had three purpose built
cruise ships in operation, each of approximately 18,000
gross tons and carrying about 750 passengers. The
concept proved a success and these ships are viewed as
the prototype for all subsequent cruise ships.
Other companies and businessmen saw the potential of
the cruise ship business and adapting some of Royal
Caribbean's ideas as well as developing their own, they
too began to flourish. As the industry grew, Royal
Caribbean was placed in the position of having to
expand to meet the competition.
The traditional way a passenger ship company expands
is by acquiring more ships. However, the more hulls a
line operates, the greater its cost of operation. For each
ship in the fleet, there is the cost of a crew, fueling the
ship, docking fees, etc. From an operating cost
perspective, it thus would be more efficient to somehow
grow the line's capacity by increasing the passenger
capacity of its existing ships rather than purchasing more
ships, provided that the cost of increasing the capacity of
the existing ships was less than or equal to purchasing
more ships.
Accordingly, Royal Caribbean took a bold and
innovative step in 1977 when it sent SONG OF
NORWAY back to the builder. The Wartsilia shipyard
in Helsinki, Finland cut the ship in two and spliced a new
85-foot section in the middle, adding more passenger
cabins. In 1980, NORDIC PRINCE was similarly
"stretched." While this had often been done with cargo
ships, it had never been done with a passenger ship
before. But, the experiment worked and Royal
Caribbean was able to meet the competition with larger
ships.
Of course, a line cannot expand indefinitely by chopping
up and stretching its existing fleet. However, the same
economics that led to the stretching of the two existing
ships made it attractive to build bigger ships rather than
purchase more ships of similar size to the existing fleet.
Due to economies of scale, it is less expensive, for
example, to operate one ship with a 2,000-passenger
capacity than two 1,000 passenger capacity ships. As a
result, in 1982, Royal Caribbean introduced SONG OF
AMERICA, a 31,000 gross ton ship with a 1,400
passenger capacity - - one-third larger than the
company's stretched ships.
The competition also began to build larger ships but
Royal Caribbean was planning yet another revolutionary
move. In 1987, it took delivery of SOVEREIGN OF
THE SEAS - - the first megacruise ship. Her 73,129
gross tons were more than that of any prior passenger
ship save only the superliners QUEEN MARY, QUEEN
ELIZABETH, and NORMANDIE. It is important to
recall that gross tonnage is a measure of revenue
producing area, not physical weight. Thus, while
SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS was smaller in size than
the largest passenger ships then in service, QUEEN
ELIZABETH 2 and NORWAY, her more box-like
structure enabled her to accommodate more passengers
and have more revenue-producing amenities.
During the remainder of the 1980s and the early 1990s,
Royal Caribbean added to its fleet three sisters for
SOVEREIGN as well as six slightly smaller megacruise
ships. It also acquired Celebrity Cruises, which it
operates as a separate premium brand. This acquisition
resulted in a change in the company's corporate
structure. A holding company, Royal Caribbean
Cruises, Ltd., was set up to own Celebrity and a
newly-formed subsidiary, Royal Caribbean International
("RCI"), which would operate the Royal Caribbean line.
Reflecting its new owner's business strategy, over the
next few years, Celebrity would also be equipped its
own with megacruise ships including the 90,000 gross
ton Millennium-class. Four similarly-sized ships would
also be built for RCI.
The competition was not idle and they too were building
megacruise ships. In 1998, rival Princess Cruises
unveiled the first cruise ship of over 100,000 gross tons,
GRAND PRINCESS. However, Princess did not hold
the record for long. In 1999, RCI eclipsed all ships then
in service by a wide margin when it put the 137,000-ton
VOYAGER OF THE SEAS into service. Four sisters
would follow.
In 2003, Cunard's QUEEN MARY 2 became the
world's largest passenger ship. Although QM2 also
does cruises, she was designed to do transatlantic
crossings and as such, Captain Wright sees her as being
in a different category than the RCI ships. "There is a
whole different look and feel about it. She has a much
comparatively narrower beam, she is long, long and
slender, and that is what gives her that extra speed that
they need for the transatlantic routes. And, I think the
ships just have a whole different feel to them. Clearly,
the Royal Promenade which we have here on the
Voyager-class sets her in her own class by herself."
Nonetheless, in 2006, RCI introduced an even larger
ship, FREEDOM OF THE SEAS. At 154,407 gross
tons and serving up to 4,400 passengers, she is now the
world's largest passenger ship. "FREEDOM for all
intents and purposes is a stretched Voyager. It was
purpose-built at that length."
The net result of this is that in terms of number of ships in
service, Royal Caribbean with 34 ships in its two brands
is approximately 40 per cent of the size of industry leader
Carnival Corporation with its eleven brands. However,
when looked at from the perspective of how many
passengers each company is capable of serving, Royal
Caribbean is approximately half the size of Carnival.
The ship
EXPLORER is the second of the five Voyager-class
ships, going into service in October 2000. "There are
very small technical differences but the overall design,
[the Voyager-class ships] are identical. The deck
schemes are different but the basic ships are identical."
She is 1,020 feet long, 157.5 feet wide and has a draft of
29 feet. Her 1,185-member crew is Norwegian and
international.
Royal Caribbean recognized that the Voyager-class
ships were not just an evolutionary step in the
development of the cruise ship but a leap forward that
required some new thinking about the way a ship is
operated. To begin, there would be a more formal
approach to training the officers to run the ships. "We
felt that because of the unprecedented size of the ship
that it was appropriate to also do simulator training just
as the airlines have done for many years. So, at our
STAR Center in Dania, Florida, we actually replicated
the bridge of the Voyager-class ships. Our officers,
when they go there, take the normal bridge resource
management training, which is interpersonal relationships.
But they then also train on exactly the same equipment
that they use onboard the ships. It's a ship-specific
simulator, which is unique in the maritime world. Airlines
have been doing it for years but I believe we are the only
company, passenger or otherwise, that has actually made
that kind of investment."
This more sophisticated approach to training reflected
the fact that the bridges on these ships are not the
traditional type where the officers have to walk from one
console or instrument to another to collect and process
data but rather more closely resemble an airplane
cockpit. The officers sit in high-backed chairs in front of
a U-shaped console. Computer displays and the
controls for the ship are within arms reach. Moreover,
the systems installed such as the Dynamic Position
System, which links navigational data with the propulsion
systems thus enabling very precise handling and
positioning, are state-of-the art. This type of bridge has
now been standardized across the Royal
Caribbean/Celebrity fleet. "When an officer goes from
one ship to another it would be the same, the same
technologies."
Along the same lines, Royal Caribbean decided to
abandon the traditional propeller and shaft method of
propulsion and rely upon the pod propulsion in the
Voyager-class. "There is one what we call a 'fixipod' - -
it is a pod but it does not move, it does not rotate. [In
addition, EXPLORER] has two azimodal pods which
can rotate 360 degrees. They are pulling whereas the
fixipod is pushing. The fact that they are pulling is a great
advantage because the water, the environment that the
propeller is working in, is much purer. Since it is a more
laminated water flow that is hitting the propeller it is
operating at higher efficiency. If we had the propeller at
the end of a shaft the water that eventually reaches the
propeller is somewhat turbulent because of the rotation
of the shaft and the struts that are supporting the shaft,
and that takes away the efficiency. We get about ten
percent better efficiency by having the pods pull rather
than push."
This also allowed Royal Caribbean to dispense with
rudders on these ships. "We steer by rotating the pods
themselves. They are really fantastic. These vessels
would be extremely challenging to maneuver if you didn't
have azipods. You'd be very much more dependent on
tugs. Here, for all intents and purposes we operate tug
free even under challenging conditions."
EXPLORER has six engines giving her a maximum
speed of 22 and a half knots. "She is a diesel electric
ship so all the engines are used for power generation."
Service speed varies from leg to leg of a cruise. "One of
the things that we are paying a lot of attention to right
now with fuel prices as high as they are now is to make
sure that we have reasonable legs. Sometimes we
depart a little bit earlier than we might have five or six
years ago so we keep the speed down to more
economic levels. We spend a lot more time now really
scrutinizing our itineraries for overall economy"
The increase in the cost of fuel has required Royal
Caribbean to adapt in other ways. "We have eight ships
in total [RCI and Celebrity] that are gas turbine ships. It
is a fantastic technology, we love it, but it is expensive. It
is so expensive, in fact, we are just getting started on a
project where we retrofit a diesel generator on all these
vessels. It is a hugely complex project. That will give
the [captains] the opportunity to run the diesel when they
are in port. [In addition,] the captains, in certain
confined water, like to have two turbines running, not for
speed but just so in case they lose one, they would have
the other one. Now, they could get by having the diesel
there. It would give them some steerage, some flexibility,
even if they lost the one gas turbine. It's going to be
about $15 million a ship. We found the room [for the
equipment] but it is complicated. A lot of other systems
have to be re-directed, the piping arrangements - - it is a
huge project. In many ways, it is more complicated than
stretching the ships."
International's primary entry into the New York cruise
market. In 2007, the ship will begin sailing from the
Liberty Cruise Ship Terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey on
a year-round basis to destinations such as Bermuda, the
Caribbean and Canada. This follows a successful
season in 2006 during which EXPLORER sailed from
Bayonne for part of the year.
By deploying this one ship to New York, the world's
second largest cruise line has become a major player in
this market. This is because EXPLORER is one of the
world's largest cruise ships - - a megacruise ship at
137,308 gross registered tons, capable of
accommodating 3,835 passengers. In fact, she is larger
in terms of gross tonnage than any passenger ship in
service except Cunard's QUEEN MARY 2 (See The
Log, Winter 2006 at p. 17) and fleet-mate FREEDOM
OF THE SEAS (See The Log, Summer 2006 at p.9).
(FREEDOM's sister ship, LIBERTY OF THE SEAS,
will also be larger when she goes into service in May).
Royal Caribbean is well-known for its large cruise ships
but it does not build such ships merely to awe the public.
As we shall see, they are key to Royal Caribbean's
business strategy. "These have been a huge success. We
wouldn't continue to march down the path toward large
vessels if it wasn't something that we weren't more than
100% convinced was the right thing to do from a
business perspective," commented Captain William
Wright, Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President,
Marine Operations, when The Log spoke with him
onboard EXPLORER.
The Line
In order to put Royal Caribbean's strategy in
perspective, it is necessary to look briefly at the growth
of the line. Royal Caribbean was born in the late 1960s
when an American, Ed Stephens, flew to Oslo, Norway,
with the hope of interesting Norwegian businessmen in
investing in a company that would offer Caribbean
cruises out of Miami on ships that were expressly built
for that purpose. At that time, there were a few pioneers
offering cruises out of Miami but they were using ships
that had been designed for other roles. For the most
part, these were ships that had once competed in the
transatlantic passenger market, which had been all but
wiped out with the advent of commercial jet service to
Europe. Stephens recognized that the calm waters of the
Caribbean did not require ships with the strength needed
to handle the rigors of a transatlantic crossing. A
Caribbean cruise ship could be lighter, which would
create fuel savings and shallower draft, which would
allow it to enter more island ports than the former ocean
liners. Furthermore, the ships could be less streamlined,
more box-like, and thus able to carry more passengers
and have more revenue producing amenities in the same
physical space.
Stephens also saw the jet airliner, not as an enemy, but
as a key to the future success of the cruise business.
Instead of marketing the cruises just to Florida residents
as the other lines were doing, the new company would
sell its services nationwide, offering cruise packages that
included air travel to Miami.
Norway was a good venue for seeking potential
investors because a number of Norwegian businesses
had done very well in the oil tanker and cargo ship
businesses and were looking for ways to expand. Also,
with the discovery of North Sea oil, the country was
poised for growth. Stephens convinced three large
investors, I.M. Skaugen, S/A, Anders Wilhelmson and
Company, and Gotas Larsen Shipping Corporation, to
form a partnership. The resulting company was called
Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and was incorporated in
1968.
By 1972, Royal Caribbean had three purpose built
cruise ships in operation, each of approximately 18,000
gross tons and carrying about 750 passengers. The
concept proved a success and these ships are viewed as
the prototype for all subsequent cruise ships.
Other companies and businessmen saw the potential of
the cruise ship business and adapting some of Royal
Caribbean's ideas as well as developing their own, they
too began to flourish. As the industry grew, Royal
Caribbean was placed in the position of having to
expand to meet the competition.
The traditional way a passenger ship company expands
is by acquiring more ships. However, the more hulls a
line operates, the greater its cost of operation. For each
ship in the fleet, there is the cost of a crew, fueling the
ship, docking fees, etc. From an operating cost
perspective, it thus would be more efficient to somehow
grow the line's capacity by increasing the passenger
capacity of its existing ships rather than purchasing more
ships, provided that the cost of increasing the capacity of
the existing ships was less than or equal to purchasing
more ships.
Accordingly, Royal Caribbean took a bold and
innovative step in 1977 when it sent SONG OF
NORWAY back to the builder. The Wartsilia shipyard
in Helsinki, Finland cut the ship in two and spliced a new
85-foot section in the middle, adding more passenger
cabins. In 1980, NORDIC PRINCE was similarly
"stretched." While this had often been done with cargo
ships, it had never been done with a passenger ship
before. But, the experiment worked and Royal
Caribbean was able to meet the competition with larger
ships.
Of course, a line cannot expand indefinitely by chopping
up and stretching its existing fleet. However, the same
economics that led to the stretching of the two existing
ships made it attractive to build bigger ships rather than
purchase more ships of similar size to the existing fleet.
Due to economies of scale, it is less expensive, for
example, to operate one ship with a 2,000-passenger
capacity than two 1,000 passenger capacity ships. As a
result, in 1982, Royal Caribbean introduced SONG OF
AMERICA, a 31,000 gross ton ship with a 1,400
passenger capacity - - one-third larger than the
company's stretched ships.
The competition also began to build larger ships but
Royal Caribbean was planning yet another revolutionary
move. In 1987, it took delivery of SOVEREIGN OF
THE SEAS - - the first megacruise ship. Her 73,129
gross tons were more than that of any prior passenger
ship save only the superliners QUEEN MARY, QUEEN
ELIZABETH, and NORMANDIE. It is important to
recall that gross tonnage is a measure of revenue
producing area, not physical weight. Thus, while
SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS was smaller in size than
the largest passenger ships then in service, QUEEN
ELIZABETH 2 and NORWAY, her more box-like
structure enabled her to accommodate more passengers
and have more revenue-producing amenities.
During the remainder of the 1980s and the early 1990s,
Royal Caribbean added to its fleet three sisters for
SOVEREIGN as well as six slightly smaller megacruise
ships. It also acquired Celebrity Cruises, which it
operates as a separate premium brand. This acquisition
resulted in a change in the company's corporate
structure. A holding company, Royal Caribbean
Cruises, Ltd., was set up to own Celebrity and a
newly-formed subsidiary, Royal Caribbean International
("RCI"), which would operate the Royal Caribbean line.
Reflecting its new owner's business strategy, over the
next few years, Celebrity would also be equipped its
own with megacruise ships including the 90,000 gross
ton Millennium-class. Four similarly-sized ships would
also be built for RCI.
The competition was not idle and they too were building
megacruise ships. In 1998, rival Princess Cruises
unveiled the first cruise ship of over 100,000 gross tons,
GRAND PRINCESS. However, Princess did not hold
the record for long. In 1999, RCI eclipsed all ships then
in service by a wide margin when it put the 137,000-ton
VOYAGER OF THE SEAS into service. Four sisters
would follow.
In 2003, Cunard's QUEEN MARY 2 became the
world's largest passenger ship. Although QM2 also
does cruises, she was designed to do transatlantic
crossings and as such, Captain Wright sees her as being
in a different category than the RCI ships. "There is a
whole different look and feel about it. She has a much
comparatively narrower beam, she is long, long and
slender, and that is what gives her that extra speed that
they need for the transatlantic routes. And, I think the
ships just have a whole different feel to them. Clearly,
the Royal Promenade which we have here on the
Voyager-class sets her in her own class by herself."
Nonetheless, in 2006, RCI introduced an even larger
ship, FREEDOM OF THE SEAS. At 154,407 gross
tons and serving up to 4,400 passengers, she is now the
world's largest passenger ship. "FREEDOM for all
intents and purposes is a stretched Voyager. It was
purpose-built at that length."
The net result of this is that in terms of number of ships in
service, Royal Caribbean with 34 ships in its two brands
is approximately 40 per cent of the size of industry leader
Carnival Corporation with its eleven brands. However,
when looked at from the perspective of how many
passengers each company is capable of serving, Royal
Caribbean is approximately half the size of Carnival.
The ship
EXPLORER is the second of the five Voyager-class
ships, going into service in October 2000. "There are
very small technical differences but the overall design,
[the Voyager-class ships] are identical. The deck
schemes are different but the basic ships are identical."
She is 1,020 feet long, 157.5 feet wide and has a draft of
29 feet. Her 1,185-member crew is Norwegian and
international.
Royal Caribbean recognized that the Voyager-class
ships were not just an evolutionary step in the
development of the cruise ship but a leap forward that
required some new thinking about the way a ship is
operated. To begin, there would be a more formal
approach to training the officers to run the ships. "We
felt that because of the unprecedented size of the ship
that it was appropriate to also do simulator training just
as the airlines have done for many years. So, at our
STAR Center in Dania, Florida, we actually replicated
the bridge of the Voyager-class ships. Our officers,
when they go there, take the normal bridge resource
management training, which is interpersonal relationships.
But they then also train on exactly the same equipment
that they use onboard the ships. It's a ship-specific
simulator, which is unique in the maritime world. Airlines
have been doing it for years but I believe we are the only
company, passenger or otherwise, that has actually made
that kind of investment."
This more sophisticated approach to training reflected
the fact that the bridges on these ships are not the
traditional type where the officers have to walk from one
console or instrument to another to collect and process
data but rather more closely resemble an airplane
cockpit. The officers sit in high-backed chairs in front of
a U-shaped console. Computer displays and the
controls for the ship are within arms reach. Moreover,
the systems installed such as the Dynamic Position
System, which links navigational data with the propulsion
systems thus enabling very precise handling and
positioning, are state-of-the art. This type of bridge has
now been standardized across the Royal
Caribbean/Celebrity fleet. "When an officer goes from
one ship to another it would be the same, the same
technologies."
Along the same lines, Royal Caribbean decided to
abandon the traditional propeller and shaft method of
propulsion and rely upon the pod propulsion in the
Voyager-class. "There is one what we call a 'fixipod' - -
it is a pod but it does not move, it does not rotate. [In
addition, EXPLORER] has two azimodal pods which
can rotate 360 degrees. They are pulling whereas the
fixipod is pushing. The fact that they are pulling is a great
advantage because the water, the environment that the
propeller is working in, is much purer. Since it is a more
laminated water flow that is hitting the propeller it is
operating at higher efficiency. If we had the propeller at
the end of a shaft the water that eventually reaches the
propeller is somewhat turbulent because of the rotation
of the shaft and the struts that are supporting the shaft,
and that takes away the efficiency. We get about ten
percent better efficiency by having the pods pull rather
than push."
This also allowed Royal Caribbean to dispense with
rudders on these ships. "We steer by rotating the pods
themselves. They are really fantastic. These vessels
would be extremely challenging to maneuver if you didn't
have azipods. You'd be very much more dependent on
tugs. Here, for all intents and purposes we operate tug
free even under challenging conditions."
EXPLORER has six engines giving her a maximum
speed of 22 and a half knots. "She is a diesel electric
ship so all the engines are used for power generation."
Service speed varies from leg to leg of a cruise. "One of
the things that we are paying a lot of attention to right
now with fuel prices as high as they are now is to make
sure that we have reasonable legs. Sometimes we
depart a little bit earlier than we might have five or six
years ago so we keep the speed down to more
economic levels. We spend a lot more time now really
scrutinizing our itineraries for overall economy"
The increase in the cost of fuel has required Royal
Caribbean to adapt in other ways. "We have eight ships
in total [RCI and Celebrity] that are gas turbine ships. It
is a fantastic technology, we love it, but it is expensive. It
is so expensive, in fact, we are just getting started on a
project where we retrofit a diesel generator on all these
vessels. It is a hugely complex project. That will give
the [captains] the opportunity to run the diesel when they
are in port. [In addition,] the captains, in certain
confined water, like to have two turbines running, not for
speed but just so in case they lose one, they would have
the other one. Now, they could get by having the diesel
there. It would give them some steerage, some flexibility,
even if they lost the one gas turbine. It's going to be
about $15 million a ship. We found the room [for the
equipment] but it is complicated. A lot of other systems
have to be re-directed, the piping arrangements - - it is a
huge project. In many ways, it is more complicated than
stretching the ships."
One of the most striking features of a megacruise
ship is how high they are. Seemingly, if traditional
construction materials were used, such ships would
either become top heavy and thus unstable or else
have to have a compensating weight at or below the
waterline that would produce such a deep draft that
they would not be able to enter or dock in many of the
most attractive cruise ports. "We have a lot of
aluminum on the upper decks. The yard has actually
developed a technique where they can actually weld
aluminum and steel. As the ships become higher then
you try to reduce as much weight in the upper decks
as possible."
Royal Caribbean envisions that it will be able to sail
ships like EXPLORER for 25 years but it is not the
technology or the condition of the hulls that limits their
usefulness to the line. "What we find happens is as we
evolve our vessels, which is very positive, there is also
a negative side to it. We tend to offer new amenities
which then date our earlier vessels because the guests
now expect them to be part of the ship. For example,
if a guest has had a balcony cabin, they typically want
to have a balcony cabin again. Ships that don't have
balcony cabins or a large percentage of them
[become] a product that is more difficult to sell when
you have these new ships that have [balconies as well
as other new amenities]. Typically, the fleet
maintenance is 25 years. There is an after market that
would be for a lower-type, more economy-type
cruising. That's where they go to."
Life on board
The megacruise ships are not merely bigger cruise
ships with more passenger cabins than traditional
ships. Rather, ships such as EXPLORER are
intended to be full-pledged resorts at sea. Not only is
this reflected in the wide variety of amenities on board
but in the structure of the ship itself.
According to a company statement: "Royal
Caribbean typically appeals to couples and singles in
their 30s to 50s as well as family vacationers. The
median age is low-40s . . . . Our guests are active
travelers looking for an affordable, cost-effective
vacation that's fun, relaxing and refined." In keeping
with this, EXPLORER has such amenities as a
rock-climbing wall, three pools, a basketball court, a
miniature golf course, six whirlpools, jogging and
in-line skating tracks, a golf simulator, and a large
fitness spa. In addition, there are bars, discos, a large
casino, and for the romantically-inclined, a wedding
chapel. Dining takes place in two seatings in a
three-deck high elaborately decorated dining room.
There are also alternative dining areas, ranging from
the informality of a Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop to an
extra-tariff Italian specialty restaurant.
While Royal Caribbean seeks to appeal to people
who are physically active, in addition to a large library,
EXPLORER does have a feature that is definitely
cerebral. In the Ocean and Atmospheric Laboratory,
scientists from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel
School of Marine and Atmospheric Science perform
experiments and record data regarding sea and
weather conditions. Since EXPLORER is constantly
at sea and has a regular itinerary, the onboard
laboratory affords scientists an unprecedented
opportunity to observe changing conditions on a
routine basis. More than 100 scientific papers have
been published based upon work done on
EXPLORER. The scientists also give lectures and the
laboratory is open to the passengers. "Tens of
thousands of our guests have actually gone through the
labs and the interactive Eco-Learning Center that we
have on board. They walk away with a very positive
experience. For us, it was a win-win. We are
contributing to doing real, cutting-edge science that is
meaningful while at the same time providing something
totally unique to our guests," notes Captain Wright.
Structurally, the tremendous size of the
Voyager-class allowed Royal Caribbean to create an
interior mall that is four decks high, 394 feet long and
as wide as a street. The Royal Promenade links two
11-deck high atria and is lined with shops, cafes, and
various eating establishments. Windows from interior
cabins look down at the street performers, parades,
and parties that go on in this space. It makes the ship
truly seem like a city at sea. If this were not enough,
the ship is also big enough to carry a 60 by 40 foot ice
skating rink as well as a four deck-high, 1,350-seat
theater.
The Way Forward
Royal Caribbean currently sails to some 180
destinations around the world. By the end of the
decade, the plan is to sail to 200 destinations.
Moreover, future expansion is not just measured by
where a cruise line sails to but where it sails from.
While Miami remains the "Cruise Ship Capital," the
lines are racing to bring their ships closer to different
groups of customers, positioning ships in ports that
rarely saw a cruise ship just a few years ago. In such
ports, "you put an emphasis on the drive-in market but
certainly there will be many guests that will fly in."
As noted earlier, one of the advantages of the
megacruise ships is that they allow Royal Caribbean to
become a major player in any market with one move.
For example, the third largest cruise line, Norwegian
Cruise Lines, has been developing the winter cruise
market in New York since 2003 with two ships that
have a combined passenger capacity of 4,210,
offering cruises from New York to the Caribbean.
(See The Log, Winter 2005 at p.7). In 2006,
Carnival subsidiary, Holland America Line, entered
the market with the 1,918-passenger NOORDAM
(See The Log, Spring 2006 at 9) and she will be
joined during the 2007-2008 season by QUEEN
MARY 2 (2,620 capacity). With EXPLORER
entering the fray next Winter with her 3,114 passenger
capacity, Royal Caribbean will have the largest single
ship in terms of passenger capacity in the market.
Furthermore, although Royal Caribbean's total
capacity will be less than that of Norwegian Cruise
Line and of the two Carnival companies, its operation
will be more economically efficient since the other
companies must operate multiple hulls to surpass
Royal Caribbean's capacity.
Along the same lines, "last year, we introduced the
LEGEND OF THE SEASs [69,130 gross tons]
sailing out of Southampton [England] to the Med. In
her first season, she was elected as best large cruise
ship in the UK. We are really excited about that. We
are going to have the NAVIGATOR OF THE SEAS
[EXPLORER's sister] next year also sailing out of
Southampton."
Advances in ship design allow Royal Caribbean and
the other cruise companies to enter these new
markets. As noted above, the first modern cruise
ships were designed to sail exclusively in the clam
waters of the Caribbean and intentionally dispensed
with some of the aspects of traditional passenger ship
design that related to grey water sailing. However,
Royal Caribbean is confident that its megacruise ships
can handle the rough weather associated with
operating out of ports like New York year round.
"These are ocean-going vessels with stabilizers and the
basic stability of such ships. Even coming up [from
Bermuda] last night, [EXPLORER met] extreme
weather, they had over 90 knots wind at one point,
and the guests were fine. We have two sets of
stabilizers, four stabilizers, and when those are
working they'll eliminate about 85% of the roll of the
vessel."
One factor that places a limit on the size of
megacruise ships is port facilities. If you build the ship
too big, there will be no port facilities to serve it.
Indeed, one of the reasons for the development of the
new cruise ship terminals in Bayonne and in Brooklyn
is that today's megacruise ships stretch the limits of the
Manhattan Passenger Ship Terminal. When
FREEDOM OF THE SEAS tied-up there during her
maiden call in New York, "we had about 30 meters of
overhang. Thirty meters from the end of the pier, the
current isn't really that strong. It is once you get into
the deeper waters of the Hudson that it really kicks in.
I had my bow literally up by the parking lot. So, [a
larger ship] would not work there. Bayonne is much
preferable than up on the Hudson. These large ships
are moving something like 6,000 guests in one
turnaround day, maybe 7,000. That's a lot of people
to get into Manhattan and off of Manhattan."
Royal Caribbean plans to introduce six more ships
by the end of 2010, when it will have a total capacity
of approximately 89,200 berths - - an increase of
21,300 or nearly one third over today's capacity.
With Carnival planning to introduce another 20 ships
in this same time frame, such growth is imperative for
Royal Caribbean.
Two additional Freedom-class ships will join the
fleet, one in 2007 and the other in 2008. However, a
key part of Royal Caribbean's growth strategy is
Project Genesis, which calls for a 220,000 gross ton
megacruise ship for delivery in Fall 2009. "Genesis is
a clean piece of paper design. As remarkable as the
VOYAGER was when she came on the market, the
Genesis will be even more remarkable compared to
what is out there today. There will be 8,000 people
onboard." Not only will this tremendous size allow
Royal Caribbean to serve more passengers, "you can
do things that you would not otherwise be able to do .
For example, the lifeboats on the Genesis will be 370
passengers. So, they literally are not boats anymore.
In fact, we are not going to call them lifeboats, we are
probably going to call them life vessels or life rescue
vessels, signifying that these are not small boats. They
are going to be catamaran hulled, twin engines, bow
thrusters, radars, navigation equipment - - it takes the
whole idea of a lifeboat into a completely different
environment."
While Norwegian Cruise Lines has announced plans
to build two 150,000 gross ton cruise ships, Royal
Caribbean's chief rival, Carnival Corporation, has
indicated that it has no intention of following suit. "I
think their president, Bob Dickinson, said it at Sea
Trade last year that when they crunch the numbers it
does not work for them. They've made a pretty clear
business decision. We have more experience than
anybody and for us it is a winning equation."
FREEDOM OF THE SEAS PROFILE
LIBERTY OF THE SEAS PROFILE
ADVENTURE OF THE SEAS PROFILE
EXPLORER OF THE SEAS PROFILE
LIBERTY OF THE SEAS PROFILE
ADVENTURE OF THE SEAS PROFILE
EXPLORER OF THE SEAS PROFILE