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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:
O.K. so NCl now have their three Hawaian ships, now it's time to focus on the SS United States as promissed!

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Don't hold your breath waiting, Malcolm. Unless you travel around in a blue box and can rgenerate.

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Originally posted by bulbousbow:
When?

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Originally posted by Cruiser Nutt:
The United States would make a great short cruise/cruise to nowhere ship, due to her higher costs of operation. With it being US flagged they could do it in any of the large markets in the US.

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I do not see why her cost of operation should be so much higher than many other ships, as she will have the latest fuel efficient engines, apart from the fact that she is unlikely to carry 4000 passengers. However, I assume she would command higher fares than your average mass-market ship?

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Originally posted by Cruiser Nutt:
The United States would make a great short cruise/cruise to nowhere ship, due to her higher costs of operation. With it being US flagged they could do it in any of the large markets in the US.

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What makes you think she will be expensive to operate? Basically she is a shell. NCL will dump the existing engines and replace them with something extremely efficient. They will also create interiors that appeal to the modern day cruise market. They will not refit her unless she is profitable to operate .... otherwise there would be no point.

Personally I think she will be more suited for long cruises. When/if refitted, I don't think she will be a "mass-market" ship. She will offer modern interiors but a classic ambiance at the same time. As NCL President hinted, she will be used as an explorer ship for NCL and offer a somewhat different product than the rest of the ships. That suits me just fine. I truly hope it happens.

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Originally posted by Frosty 4:
If NCL has 3 ships in Hawaii, I can almost bet that one will move to Tahiti once the Paul Gaugain moves out after next year. The Tahitian Princess and Windjammer ships are small and that market should support another ship. The Tahitian Princess does make a few trips to Hawaii but far and in between it's normal routes.

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I think the NCL Hawaii ships are too large for the Tahiti market--that's a lot of berths to sell every week for a long-distance cruise destination. Also, airlift in and out of Tahiti is somewhat limited, even using chartered equipment.

If NCL wanted to get into that market, they wouldn't need a US-flag vessel. Their NORWEGIAN CROWN would be ideal there.

The SS Norway was sold as a mass market vessel; in fact she was the first Caribbean ‘mega-ship’. However, it’s hard to imagine that the Big-U will be sold (or appeal) to the mass-market, there are just too many other floating resorts out there. However, the cruise market is now very different and the Big-U is a different kettle of fish.

I can’t imagine the Big-U’s passenger cabins generally being as big and her onboard facilities being as extensive as many modern ships. If they do introduce balcony suites, there will be less on offer than most modern ships, too.

The Big-U will almost certainly appeal to the Cunard crowd. I don't just mean the ‘liner-nuts’ (who are a rare species), but people who are generally looking for a more traditional experience, rather than an Ice Rink or Climbing wall.

This of course is not NCL’s normally market niche. They may well have to offer higher quality dining onboard the Big-U than on there mass-market operations. They will also need to take a leaf out of Cunard’s brochures and sell the ship using her rich history. Remember that generally they did not dwell on the SS Norway’s history, in order to sell her.

[ 07-31-2005: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

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Originally posted by Ernst:
Chances are low that I will like what a refit of the United States might be. The only way to sell her is as "traditional" expierience - so chances are high that she will not be rebuilt as United States but as something coming close to what people believe a "traditional" liner is - a mixture of the QM2, Deutschland, the former R and the Disney ships - and probably a lot of "wood" might be used....luckily this did not yet happen, so let`s hope the best.

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Originally posted by Commodore:
Lots of wood? William Francis Gibbs would not approve....

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The cruise industry has such and idiotic look on classic liner interiors, it’s a pity they force it onto the public which in turn thinks this is true history (just like there are people who think sleeping beauties castle in Disneyland is authentic mediaeval architecture )

I heard that much of the wood work on Deutschland is in fact painted plaster which can be scraped off with a key.

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Originally posted by moodus2:
...the big u will be going into dry
dock next year for futher evaluation.

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I wish they would stop evaluating and actually DO something!

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:
I understand that her original interiors would not be very appealing today, even to some liner-nuts!

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[ 07-31-2005: Message edited by: Commodore ]

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Malcolm wrote:
Around America cruises, hopping from US port to US port would take full advantage of her US flagged hull. Some Transatlantic crossings, even if slow ones, would almost certainly prove very popular with the liner nuts.

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SS UNITED STATES is a transatlantic liner and I (we) would assume in between any cruise she undertakes around the USA to see her crossing the Atlantic to Europe. It would be good competition for QM2. What about an occasional cruise down to South America – Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina?

Not sure how slow she’ll go, but you’d think somewhere between 27kns and 32kns for such a sleek hull. You won’t see azipods on this beauty!

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Rebuilding the BigU is like restringing a pearl necklace while somebody is wearing it. Her aluminum superstructure is toast. They cannot just shear it off since parts of it are structural to the hull. BigU is built to a 5 compartment standard where if she were T-boned like the Doria or rammed an iceberg the the SS Leonardo DiCaprio
she would remain afloat yet crippled. All those compartments means few large public rooms. Like the QE2 she has stairtowers that do not cover all decks. SOLAS requires all passenger stairwells meet at boat deck.

NCL reps said she will not putter around Hawaii or be abused on the Carribean bus tour. She will be a specialty ship. The BigU is the only ship in their fleet except for the Marco Polo that can handle and be certified for wintertime North Atlantic travel. With modern engines she could go 20,000 miles on a tank of gas.

If NCL refits her along the ideas that Onno and I came up with;[ I got a good response from the powers that be at NCL, Onno too], she will be as big a PR splash that QM2 was to Carnival.

When the news blurbed in April of 2003. NCL got thousands of calls wanting to book voyage#401.

NCL is polite and recognizes effort. I am not a Naval Architect and not held to that standard.
They are tight lipped about what she will look like since so much depends on extensive testing.

Hadley's design

Jason, what you are worried about.
Her length to breadth ratio is too narrow to have a tower block on top. The wind and waves would roll her like a Hunts Point hooker.

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Originally posted by Draikar:

desirod7, if she is put to sea again she will be cut down and look like a copy of MV Pride of Aloha with a old hull. If its like you said re-stringing a pearl necklace while somebody is wearing it then why try, I think she will sit in dock for many years to come sadly.... I don't think she will ever sail for NCL unless she is cut down to or below the Hull and looks like a cheep copy of MV Pride of Aloha...
I HOPE IM WRONG !

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Originally posted by Commodore:
Desroid,
Thanks for the update. It's interested to see a fellow CTer in the know on her status with Norwegian Cruise Lines. Indeed, if the designs of Onno or yourself make it to the conversion- then she will be a beautiful ship, much like she was as built, and I agree that there will be a big spark of interest in her. Best of luck, good to hear she hasn't been put on the sidelines in NCL's plan for the near future.

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