Tag Archives: Independence of the Seas

Royal Caribbeans Major Revitalizations

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Image result for independence of the seas in dry dock
Independence of the Seas in Drydock.

Among the big out-of-water projects for Royal Caribbean Cruises, this year are revitalizations of the Adventure, Mariner and Independence of the Seas, plus the complete refurbishment and transformation of the Adonia into the Azamara Pursuit.

The company’s large-scale drydocking projects are overseen by the newbuild and innovation department, headed by up Kevin Douglas, vice president, who joined Royal in 2004 as a project manager overseeing a large-scale revitalization on the Sovereign of the Seas.

While smaller dry dockings (known as a “shave and a haircut”) are generally run by the brands, Douglas said his group comes together to plan the big changes, working closely with the operations teams to craft a program vision, whether it’s the Royal Advantage or Celebrity’s recent $400 million Edge-upgrade scheme.

With a schedule that calls for dry dockings every five years, the planning starts with a holistic look at each ship, and how they fit into the class and the brand

“The principal goal is how we improve the guest experience, offering a more meaningful product,” said Douglas. That ranges from stateroom upgrades to new restaurants and other features like the FlowRider surfing simulator. “We look at how we can add in IT and the smart ship concept, upgrading the technical experience and entertainment.”

Projects are evaluated not only on cost but in the number of containers and raw materials needed.

“We know how much material we can deal with on a daily basis, and that determines how much time we need,” Douglas said.

The technical scope of jobs is increasingly complex.

“Then we look at the stability of the ship with the increase in weight and the increase of the centre of gravity, and whether we have to add a ducktail to the stern.”

Allure of the Seas at Navantia

Another major technical project has been installing scrubbers (the company prefers to call them Advanced Emissions Purification Systems).

“They are about the size of a school bus,” Douglas noted.

Royal Caribbean has had its scrubber program going for five years, with some 20 ships outfitted with various systems from a number of suppliers with the project being overseen directly by Matti Heikkinen, vice president of newbuild.

“He and his team have done an awesome job,” added Douglas.

Under the waterline, the company has an on-going initiative to study hull coatings, with a new direction expected to be announced in early 2018.

“There is a massive benefit on fuel efficiency on drag and resistance,” Douglas said.

That project is being spearheaded by Captain Patrik Dahlgren, senior vice president of global marine operations, and Anshul Tuteja, director of energy management.

“We are looking at every type of paint, and which coatings work best in what areas,” Douglas explained. “Patrick and Anshul are looking very carefully, and we can actually track the performance of a hull coating relating to efficiency and how much fouling they are getting.

“We probably have every type of paint coating in the fleet, and are now starting to review final recommendations for future coatings.”

Royal Caribbean has also grown the scope of its drydocking work along with its shipyards, continually working to get leaner and manage bigger projects.

“Twelve years ago we were doing 12 to 16 containers a day and thought ‘wow.’ Now we are doing 50 containers a day and think nothing of it.”

And the spending is skyrocketing.

“We used to be at $800,000 per day, and now its $2.8 million; and we want to go even higher,” Douglas said.

The next hurdle may come in Asia, with a number of company ships in China. One of those ships has already been in a Chinese drydock for a repair, which Douglas said went well. SkySea also recently drydocked at a yard in China for a small refit.

Years of planning, million-dollar decisions and executing on a tight schedule, Douglas said it all came down to partnerships, whether internal, whether with the shipyards or with turnkey suppliers.

“It’s about how we do these projects in a short period of time, minimizing the risk and maximizing the planning.”

Strong Growth Prospects for Hamburg

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The AIDAblue Makes a Winter Call to Hamburg

Traffic is up 12 percent year-over-year for the port of Hamburg, with 800,000 passengers expected this year.

The widening of the harbor basin adjacent to the Altona terminal has been among the items driving the good news, with additional berth assignment options now available for large ships according to Kathrin Schweppe-May of Cruise Gate Hamburg.

First time callers include the MSC Preziosa, the Norwegian Jade and Independence of the Seas.

“This year’s Hamburg Cruise Days and Blue Port are expected to see record participation of ten cruise ships calling over the weekend. Participating ships will include AIDAprima, MSC Preziosa, Hapag Lloyds’ Europa and the Europa 2, the Mein Schiff 3 from TUI Cruises, Albatros and Amadea of Phoenix Reisen, Silver Wind, as well as Norwegian Jade and Plantours’ Sans Souci – which will be the first appearance of a river vessel at the event,” said Schweppe-May.

The parade takes place on September 9, with six cruise ships leaving the port jointly.

The port has also been able to drive winter business, with the AIDAprima homeporting year-round, but set to take a break this coming winter.

There are also regular calls, as 2017 started with the Queen Elizabeth docking on Jan. 5 and is going to close with the Aurora, which calls on Dec. 31.

December has also been a hit with Hamburg’s Christmas markets and calls from British cruise lines, said Schweppe-May.

“There is a good potential for new partners for regular calls during the weekdays as we have proven with this year’s debut of Norwegian Cruise Line that there is much more to come out of the world’s second largest source market,” noted Schweppe-May . “With the proof that the winter season is able to attract large numbers of passengers we are optimistic that this concept will develop further. Prime locations will with regard to the number of ships on order have to extend its seasons.”

A new cruise terminal is set to open in 2021, and will be integrated into a real estate complex including shopping, hotel, and entertainment options.

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Royal Caribbean transiting the Grand Canal Venice.

Geopolitical events in Europe impacted North American bookings of Mediterranean cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. officials said during a conference call Friday to discuss RCCL’s first-quarter results.

CFO Jason Liberty categorized it as a “lull” in demand, which the company filled with bookings from European travelers, a market that the company said was robust. However, the sourcing shift was accompanied by a decrease in fares and a drop in onboard purchases because North Americans tend to spend more money than Europeans on Mediterranean cruises, Liberty said.

Outside of the Med, however, bookings to the Baltic region have proceeded apace, and executives noted the strength of the Caribbean, Alaska and Bermuda, positing that some of the bookings intended for the Med had been redirected to North America.

“Some of the softness we see in Europe, the Caribbean is the beneficiary of that,” said Michael Bayley, Royal Caribbean International’s CEO.

RCCL CEO Richard Fain said it was “interesting to note that strong last-minute demand helped our bookings at the same time that we were simultaneously enforcing our price integrity program.” He pointed to the Caribbean in particular.

Overall, robust sales during the first three months of 2016 and strong demand in the Caribbean helped fuel a bullish mood. Fain kicked off the call by saying it was “gratifying to report results that are so much higher than we have ever enjoyed in any winter quarter in our history.”

“We’re in the happy position that just about everything in the quarter that could have gone right, did,” he said. “Ticket revenue was stellar, onboard revenue was terrific, costs were well controlled and even below-the-line items helped.”