Welcome to Cruise Talk the Internet's most popular discussion forum dedicated to cruising. Stop by Cruise Talk anytime to post a message or find out what your fellow passengers and industry insiders are saying about a particular ship, cruise line or destination.
>>> Reader Reviews >>> CruisePage.com Photo Gallery >>> Join Our Cruise Club.
Latest News...Norwegian Cruise Line today unveiled and opened for sale the next evolution of its Prima Plus Class, the all-new Norwegian Luna.2026 through November 2026. Norwegian Luna will kick off its inaugural Caribbean season with two western itineraries to Roatan Island, Honduras; Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico; and Harvest Caye, Belize, the Brand's resort-style destination...
Latest News...Grupo Vidanta is thrilled to announce the launch of VidantaWorld's ELEGANT Ultra Mega Yacht, a groundbreaking addition to the world of luxury cruising. This one-of-a-kind mega yacht redefines cruising, combining the exclusivity of a private yacht with the opulence of a luxury liner, setting a new benchmark for high-end experiences. Sailing this year, this adults-only experience....
Latest News...Princess Cruises announced this week that it has added a second Total Solar Eclipse cruise option, this one aboard its newest and most stunning ship Sun Princess, when the next spectacle takes place in August 2026.The cruise company re-worked the itinerary of the Sun Princess voyage departing Barcelona on August 8, 2026 to position...
http://www.meyerwerft.de/page.asp?lang=e&main=3&subs=0&did=1535
Celebrity Cruises orders fifth Solstice-Class Ship
Papenburg, 15 February 2008 - The US cruise operator Celebrity Cruises (Miami), a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, has ordered a fifth big cruise liner from MEYER WERFT in Papenburg. The previous contracts for four ships of the Solstice class are now followed by a pre-contract for the construction of a fifth cruise ship.
Delivery of the fifth ship is scheduled for the autumn of 2012. The first ship of this class, the Celebrity Solstice, will be delivered in the autumn this year. The other ships will follow at one-year intervals each.
The 122,000-gt ships for Celebrity Cruises will have a length overall of 315 m and a breadth of 36.8 m. 2,850 passengers will be accommodated in 1,425 cabins. All standard cabins will offer more space than is usual for this type. More than 90% of all cabins are outside cabins, 90% of which have their own balconies. Other architectural highlights of the new ship will be the "Lawn Club" featuring natural lawn, the "Corning Museum of Glass" where the art of glassblowing is presented, and a couple of different restaurants.
"We really appreciate that we will build one more of these innovative cruise ships for Celebrity Cruises" says Bernard Meyer. "This type of ship features extremely energy-efficient and eco-friendly systems."
MEYER WERFT already built five cruise ships for Celebrity Cruises in the early and mid-1990s.
[ 02-18-2008: Message edited by: Waynaro ]
I'm glad to see that Royal Caribbean is so confident in Celebrity, but five huge ships, when the first one isn't even finished yet, is almost unprecedented.
I think RCCL must be counting on using some of Celebrity's older tonnage for other brands in the not-too-distant future.
I suspect that before long Mercury and Galaxy will be transferred out of the fleet, Century will continue with her shorter cruises perhaps or she too may be transferred out. That would leave them with 5 Solstice class and 4 Millenium class ships plus the Xpedition. I do hope they take some of the features of the new ships and incorporate them in to the Millenium class (even maybe the lawn club but certainly an additional restaurant etc) and stanardise the livery across all of them, the Millenium ships would then almost be as new. I can't see Celebrity needing more than 9/10 ships ? If they did the upgrades and focused on recapturing their foodie reputation they would be able to charge higher fares.
On a side note I am still trying to figure out why RCL has not grown their Island Cruises joint venture beyond the Island Escape and Island Star. I would have expected the line to do quite well and RCl to be very interested in expanding into the British and international market.
quote:Originally posted by dougnewman:..but five huge ships, when the first one isn't even finished yet, is almost unprecedented.
If you build them, they will come!
However we will reach the pinnacle sooner or later when passenger numbers level off, then decline, and cruise lines will be stuck with a lot of empty berths. Mind you that could be more than a decade or two away?
quote:Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:(...)However we will reach the pinnacle sooner or later when passenger numbers level off, then decline, and cruise lines will be stuck with a lot of empty berths. Mind you that could be more than a decade or two away?
(...)
Perhaps sooner ? With the financial and economical crisis looming, and the further gradual erosion of the West, I do see also a crisis for western cruising - perhaps they also want to go East ?
J
quote:Originally posted by Johan:Perhaps sooner ? With the financial and economical crisis looming, and the further gradual erosion of the West, I do see also a crisis for western cruising - perhaps they also want to go East ?J
Yes, I'm sure new markets will grow faster and more established markets will decline.
For example Britain is the number 2 cruising nation so France, Germany, Spain, Italy etc. have plenty of room for growth. As you have said the Far East has potential.
Am trying to imagine what these Celebrity ships would look like in Pullmantur livery!
Tony
I don't think any of the 3 Century class will end up with Pullmantur, they are more likely to get the other 2 RCI hand me downs (Majesty and Monarch). More likely is TUI although they said they would start with 1 transfer and then 2 new builds ? Also I can't see either joining Azamara, they are too big.
It would be nice to see Mercury and Galaxy stay together, perhaps Century goes to TUI and the others to a new line - perhaps competition in Aussie for P&O ? Or perhaps Blu De France 2 & 3 ?
quote:Originally posted by mike sa:Doug, would I be right in saying the only one off bigger order was the 8 Fantasy class from Carnival ?[...]
Were they all ordered at once? Also, the Solistice class ships were not all ordered at the same time - so one could also consider Destiny, Grand or Vista class ships which also were not ordered at the same time. (of course many were order after the delivery of the first ship - if that is what you mean)
Don't think we have one for Solstice 4 yet either??
(well, it makes a change from pulling ships to pieces)
Best,
Raoul
quote:r.fiebig wrote:Interesting that Meyer Werft has now pulled the press release.
Yes, yesterday I checked all the news sources and this piece of news was nowhere to be seen. So no order as yet?
******
Cheers
Changes in spec to future ships are not uncommon, Noordam for instance was built differently to the first 3.
quote:Originally posted by Matts:I don't think the Fantasy class were all ordered up front. THe final 2 had different propulsion systems which I would have thought had to be specified when ordering. However were they ordered before the first entered service?
Yes, all 8 ships were ordered and in fact the keel plates were laid down right away, in order to beat the deadline for new design requirements, such as lifeboat positions, etc. This explains why the last ships in the class were making their appearance after other ships were entering service with new design changes in place. Obviously this was in the days when there was plenty of building space to reserve for several years before a ship was actually completed!
Rich
I hope HAL is watching and planning on not following Celebrity's lead.
[ 02-21-2008: Message edited by: BigUFan ]
quote:Originally posted by BigUFan:I hope HAL is watching and planning on not following Celebrity's lead.
At least Celebrity is developing some innovative ships with new ideas and features. The junk being churned out by Carnival Corp, including HAL's Vistas, are hardly innovative.
If you haven't seen this video slamming Fincentieri and CCL, you've got to see it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P79Pg2FzqsQ
quote:Originally posted by Fairsky:At least Celebrity is developing some innovative ships with new ideas and features. The junk being churned out by Carnival Corp, including HAL's Vistas, are hardly innovative.
quote:Originally posted by dmwnc1: The 'junk being churned out by Carnival Corp', including the newbuilds of Costa, HAL, Princess, Carnival, Cunard, P&O, Aida, and Seabourn, although it may be not as innovative, attracts the greatest percentage of cruising passengers in the industry.
True, and Wal-mart and McDonalds also attract the most consumers, but it sure doesn't mean they are the best.
I think the mass-market is attracted to all the bells and whistles found on new Royal Caribbean ships. Simply put, if they were not Royal Caribbean would not keep investing in expensive innovations. It's also a fact that average per diems are higher on Royal Caribbean then Carnival, but of course expenses are greater at RCI so they don't make as much money.
I agree it's a small percentage of passengers actually take advantage of all the bells and whistles found on Royal Caribbean ... but, people still want to sail on the ships with the ice skating, surfing, rock climbing, etc. Even if they don't use it, people like to be spectators then brag about it when they get home.
Carnival is learning that bells and whistles are expected by the mass-market cruising public. This is why you see miniature golf, Seaside Theater, Carnival Waterworks, Serenity Zone, etc. being added to Carnival ships. Food and service are pretty similar on all the mass-market brands these days, it's the hardware that is really differentiating the products.
Ernie
quote:Originally posted by eroller:[...] it's the hardware that is really differentiating the products.Ernie
Is it? There are certainly nice and not so nice ships but form a more distant point of view they all have more or less the same amenities - these 'innovations' are a garnish at best - and foremost the accommodations aboard most modern mainstream ships are (again from a more distant point of view) 'very similar'. Giving that the accommodations (keyword balcony) are becoming more and more important public areas are even less relevant. Beside that only a handful of designers and suppliers are involved in building and decorating most of nowadays ships - so it is probably fair to say that 'all' modern passenger ships are 'the same'. This is of course an exaggeration but it's not far from the truth. 'We' might not see it that way as we look very close being interested in ships but for most people the difference between the gazillions of Vista class ships is very comparable to the difference between a Vista class and a Millennium class ship. It's a ship with an impressive atrium, a large restaurant, a pool, a theater, a casino and most cabins have a balcony.
Ultimate Bulletin BoardTM 6.1.0.3
More Vacation & Cruise Specials...