why so many new ships?

[elruth]

The Breakaway, Getaway and now the Escape seem like a lot of new ships within a short period of time. I know NCL is building more ( can't think of the names right now ) Why so many new ships? Probably the reason there are so many changes on the ships already sailing. ( increases ) I can't even imagine the building costs of the upcoming new ships.

[Winston Wolf]

Bliss and two more breakaway plus builds are coming too. You don't expand market share being idle on builds.

[Single Cruiser]

The Breakaway, Getaway and now the Escape seem like a lot of new ships within a short period of time. I know NCL is building more ( can't think of the names right now ) Why so many new ships? Probably the reason there are so many changes on the ships already sailing. ( increases ) I can't even imagine the building costs of the upcoming new ships.

 

Mixture of reasons.

 

1) larger ships return greater % profit as more efficient to run

2) to meet new stricter emissions/environmental laws (older ships can then be moved to non restricted areas rather than expensive upgrades)

3) cruise market is still growing with passenger numbers up each year

4) Norwegian have always used the tag youngest fleet in cruise industry, with these 4 new builds they stay just ahead of others. Although Royal with 3rd and 4th Oasis class and now 3rd and 4th Quantum class

5) allows older ships to be sold to the cheaper/ budget new lines. Cruise lines like Thomson are full of hand-me-down ships.

6) Kevin before he left stated they wanted more ships to expand reach as to-date NCL is very much USA focused. FDR will just send them where the money is!

[RuthlessBoss]

Bliss and two more breakaway plus builds are coming too. You don't expand market share being idle on builds.

 

Plus each new ship from any line has a different and new focus to draw people. Has anyone seen the new ad on television for Royal? Another line is focusing on slides for adults, longer slides, etc.

[Isabella Benjamin]

The new ships have a greater appeal to people who are really active. Rock climbing walls, water parks, basketball courts etc. all take space that can't be found on the older ships.

[Winston Wolf]

Plus each new ship from any line has a different and new focus to draw people. Has anyone seen the new ad on television for Royal? Another line is focusing on slides for adults, longer slides, etc.

 

 

Who's focusing on adult slides?

[newmexicoNita]

The Breakaway, Getaway and now the Escape seem like a lot of new ships within a short period of time. I know NCL is building more ( can't think of the names right now ) Why so many new ships? Probably the reason there are so many changes on the ships already sailing. ( increases ) I can't even imagine the building costs of the upcoming new ships.

 

There are a lot of reasons: 1-they have to keep up with the competition (that is number 1) they sold all their misfit older ships and needed to replace them and they are sailing full, so why not add more ships and more destinations?.

[RuthlessBoss]

Who's focusing on adult slides?

 

Royal Caribbean Harmony. The article is in the Orlando Sentinal yesterday. It says while many ships look outward for their slides, Royal's design looks inward, with 3 branching out 10 decks above Central Park. NCL Escape will boast the largest waterpark at sea with 4 slides including side-by-side free fall and a new tandem slide called Aqua Racer.

 

Bet you thought I was making it up;)

[luv2cruisecats]

Mixture of reasons.

 

1) larger ships return greater % profit as more efficient to run

2) to meet new stricter emissions/environmental laws (older ships can then be moved to non restricted areas rather than expensive upgrades)

3) cruise market is still growing with passenger numbers up each year

4) Norwegian have always used the tag youngest fleet in cruise industry, with these 4 new builds they stay just ahead of others. Although Royal with 3rd and 4th Oasis class and now 3rd and 4th Quantum class

5) allows older ships to be sold to the cheaper/ budget new lines. Cruise lines like Thomson are full of hand-me-down ships.

6) Kevin before he left stated they wanted more ships to expand reach as to-date NCL is very much USA focused. FDR will just send them where the money is!

 

These are all very good points (especially item 2); most cruisers are not aware that the EPA under Obama's thumb is constantly enacting tighter and tighter emission controls which do nothing except make it more difficult to operate within US waters. Once you are 12 miles out you can burn just about anything so their regulations do nothing but give lip service to his support base. However it does mean the cruise lines must build new ships just to dock here and pass the extra cost on to us.

[fuzzel]

Yeah for more slides!

 

I don't care what they label them though, as long as one fit into it I'll take it :)

[NLH Arizona]

There are a lot of reasons: 1-they have to keep up with the competition (that is number 1) they sold all their misfit older ships and needed to replace them and they are sailing full, so why not add more ships and more destinations?.

You've got to wonder if NCL, like Celebrity did, will sell off some of the smaller ships. I hope not, but I've got the feeling that it might happen.

[fshagan]

You've got to wonder if NCL, like Celebrity did, will sell off some of the smaller ships. I hope not, but I've got the feeling that it might happen.

 

Purely speculation, but perhaps some will become the big ships in the NCL sister lines, Oceania and Regent Seven Seas. It would take a major refit to make the Sky and the Sun into more upscale ships, but I've heard that Oceania purchased the Ocean Princess to make it one of their ships. I think a similar refit would be necessary to that ship to make it Oceania-class.

 

The Sky out of Miami is testing what they call "all inclusive" cruises that looks to be just about the same amount of inclusiveness of Oceania (some things are still extra charge).

[NLH Arizona]

Purely speculation, but perhaps some will become the big ships in the NCL sister lines, Oceania and Regent Seven Seas. It would take a major refit to make the Sky and the Sun into more upscale ships, but I've heard that Oceania purchased the Ocean Princess to make it one of their ships. I think a similar refit would be necessary to that ship to make it Oceania-class.

 

The Sky out of Miami is testing what they call "all inclusive" cruises that looks to be just about the same amount of inclusiveness of Oceania (some things are still extra charge).

Yes, I was speculating. In my opinion, for any NCL ship to go over to Oceania and/or Regent, they would have to be totally re-done inside and out.

 

I'm not a big fan of all inclusive, even though I do cruise on Crystal, which is what I call almost all inclusive. I would prefer to be given a choice on what I want to spend my money on and that is the reason I've got no issues with the new changes, because it is all about choice as far as I'm concerned (sans the DSC increase). I would, however, like to try Regent to see what my friends (who only cruise with them) are so excited about and on one of my last calls to NCL, I did ask if there was going to be any joining of the lines, with regard to the CAS program, and was told that they are, at least for now, going to keep them completely separate and there will be no reciprocation between lines. So for now, I'll just stay with the three lines I cruise on.

[Winston Wolf]

Royal Caribbean Harmony. The article is in the Orlando Sentinal yesterday. It says while many ships look outward for their slides, Royal's design looks inward, with 3 branching out 10 decks above Central Park. NCL Escape will boast the largest waterpark at sea with 4 slides including side-by-side free fall and a new tandem slide called Aqua Racer.

 

 

 

Bet you thought I was making it up;)

 

 

Yes. Rumor is that they're looking to add slides to oasis and allure as well.

[Winston Wolf]

These are all very good points (especially item 2); most cruisers are not aware that the EPA under Obama's thumb is constantly enacting tighter and tighter emission controls which do nothing except make it more difficult to operate within US waters. Once you are 12 miles out you can burn just about anything so their regulations do nothing but give lip service to his support base. However it does mean the cruise lines must build new ships just to dock here and pass the extra cost on to us.

 

 

Agreed. I wish Obama would let us go back to trashing the environment like the good old days. {sarcasm}

[DavyJoneses]

The Breakaway, Getaway and now the Escape seem like a lot of new ships within a short period of time. I know NCL is building more ( can't think of the names right now ) Why so many new ships? Probably the reason there are so many changes on the ships already sailing. ( increases ) I can't even imagine the building costs of the upcoming new ships.

 

The market is expanding. Several lines are positioning their new ships in Asia - where the market is rapidly expanding.

[swedish weave]

These are all very good points (especially item 2); most cruisers are not aware that the EPA under Obama's thumb is constantly enacting tighter and tighter emission controls which do nothing except make it more difficult to operate within US waters. Once you are 12 miles out you can burn just about anything so their regulations do nothing but give lip service to his support base. However it does mean the cruise lines must build new ships just to dock here and pass the extra cost on to us.

 

The info you presented is a little off base. Ships within 100 miles of California must switch to cleaner burning fuel and must shut off their engines when in port and plug in to electricity. This involves some expensive changes, but not as expensive as a new ship.