Sunshine design when?

[JAMESCC]

I really hope they put a new ship in Cape Liberty because Explorer has been here for awhile. I also love how many ships new york is getting these days too!

 

I REALLY hope so too, but I thought the number of ships NY is getting is shrinking? I mean didn't Princess completely pull out of NY? That is not a good sign, no?

[spencercoop]

I REALLY hope so too, but I thought the number of ships NY is getting is shrinking? I mean didn't Princess completely pull out of NY? That is not a good sign, no?

 

Princess still has Canada & New England cruises out of New York.

 

Many cruise lines are bring brand new or newer ships to NY.

 

Carnival is replacing the Miracle with the Splendor (newer and larger ship) and NCL is bringing the new Breakaway to NY.

[littlesteelo]

I bet you anything the first one will sail from the east coast of the US, and the second will be based out of Southampton and will replace Independence.

[compman9]

I am sure most will be able to have an educated guess at the design of these new ships.

 

1) They will have a promenade.

 

2) They will have as big a range of paid for restaurants as they can cram on.

 

3) They will add at least one major design tweak that the competition didn't see coming.

 

4) They will take the best of the Boardwalk and the new outdoor areas and incorporate it into one major outdoor area - Sunshine Class; geddit.

[Sandie]

Compman9, you have made some interesting predictions! The configuration of the ship will be interesting, too. The captain on Enchantment mentioned that the Sunshine Class will be about the size of the Freedom Class ships, but with different dimensions. It is fun to speculate and watch the drama unfold.

[Mass2Cruise]

I've spoken to Captain Olav about this in the past. All we know (not positively, but logically) is that it will be Freedom size, but in a closed cold weather style like a Radiance class. Also, in the spirit of all the refurbs they have going on, will incorporate Oasis class amenities in a scaled down scenario.

 

Personally, given the Explorer is going to drydock in November 2014, this coincides with the release date of the Sunshine which has been forecasted as mid to late Fall 2014. Combine this fact with the knowledge that Carnival and NCL are updating the fleet in the NY/NJ area (Splendor and Breakaway), I wholeheartedly can see the Sunshine ship being in Bayonne for at the very least, the time the Explorer is in drydock.

 

As for long term, I feel they will keep it in Bayonne. If you want to compete in that market, they need to change it up a bit from time to time and the time will be right. They fill the Explorer almost every cruise. Add more capacity, a new ship to bring back repeat customers, and the higher price a new ship commands, and they could make a nice profit keeping it there for a while. And given they have been slowly replacing the older ships doing the short itineraries with newer ships, I could see them moving the Explorer to Florida to take over some of the short routes and replace an older ship.

[Sandie]

Mass2cruise,

 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about the new Sunshine Class ship. I was particularly interested in your comments about Explorer going into drydock in the fall of 2014. If the new ship does replace Explorer in Bayonne, I wonder if she will continue the shortened Caribbean sailings in the winter. We had wanted to book Explorer for the 12 night Caribbean for Feb. 2013 until we realized that the itineraries had been changed. Enchantment will continue with the 12 night Caribbean sailings our of Baltimore. Those of us in the Maryland area have also been speculating about the future of Enchantment. She is scheduled for dry docking in Dec. 2012. We've heard mixed messages about the extent of that dry docking. So far, Enchantment's schedule is only firm until April, 2013.

 

Sandie

[Eng23]

Here's my wish list: Sunshine class ship to Bayonne and relocate the Explorer to Norfolk, Va. after it's drydock....:)

 

Remember I said it's a wish list. I'm not inferring that this is going to happen or that it is even a rumor.....:cool: