Cruise line bets bigger is better
3/15/2006 5:53:45 PM by Amy Martinez
If you think cruise ships already are big, just wait.
Miami-based cruise line Royal Caribbean International announced recently it plans to spend $1.2 billion on a new, 5,400-passenger ship that will practically blow all others out of the water.
At 220,000 tons, the ship will be about 45 percent bigger than the current record holder, Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2, as well as the soon-to-be record holder, Royal Caribbean’s own Freedom of the Seas.
The ship, known only by its project name, Genesis, will be as long as nearly four football fields and rise 213 feet above water, making it almost as tall as the nation’s Capitol.
The Genesis expected to hit the high seas in the fall of 2009 after Oslo-based Aker Yards finishes with it.
“We want to push the envelope,” said Harri Kulovaara, an executive vice president who oversees ship construction at Royal Caribbean. “Freedom of the Seas was designed 10 years ago. Now, we feel it’s time to move forward and begin on a new series of ships.”
Big ships are in as the cruise lines seek to capitalize on growing demand for cruise vacations worldwide. The number of people who took cruises in the first nine months of 2005 increased 6 percent from a year earlier to 8.35 million, according to the New York-based Cruise Lines International Association.
Carnival Corp., the world’s largest cruise operator, announced plans in December for four new ships, including the biggest yet for its namesake brand, Carnival Cruise Lines, which will get a 130,000-ton vessel.
Royal Caribbean set a new standard for ship size in 1999 with the 142,000-ton Voyager of the Seas. Cunard then came out with the 151,000-ton Queen Mary 2 in 2004. Royal Caribbean’s 158,000-ton Freedom of the Seas is due to set sail in May.
“If you build it, they will come,” said Stewart Chiron, a Miami-based cruise expert. “Cruising is doing very, very well, and these ships are just going to continue to get bigger.”
Besides meeting increased demand, the bigger ships also allow cruise lines to maximize their profits. The bigger ships generate more sales from tickets and onboard spending without a similar increase in operating costs. And technological advances have made them more fuel-efficient.
Kulovaara added that the bigger ships come with another advantage: more room for amenities such as trendy restaurants, rock-climbing walls and ice-skating rinks. “You have more real estate, more deck surface and more possibilities,” he said.
Royal Caribbean isn’t revealing many details yet about Genesis, except for those related to its size, and it’s not saying where it will be based. The ship will measure 1,180 feet long and 154 feet wide.
Royal Caribbean’s deal with Aker includes an option for another similarly sized ship to be delivered in 2010. The cruise line has 19 ships, plus four more on order, with a new ship due for delivery in each of the next four years.
quicksplash BIGGEST SHIPS The world’s largest cruise ships: Queen Mary 2: Introduced by Cunard Line in 2004. Measures 151,000 tons, holds 3,090 passengers, stretches 1,132 feet long and has 14 decks. Freedom of the Seas: Will join the Royal Caribbean fleet in May
after emerging from a Finish shipyard. Will measure 158,000 tons, hold 3,600 passengers,
stretch 1,112 feet long and have 15 decks. Genesis: A project name for another new ship by Royal Caribbean. Will measure 220,000 tons, hold 5,400 passengers, and stretch 1,180 feet long. Due to set sail in Fall 2009. |