Mega Ships or 1st/2nd Class Mid-size??

[LocoLoco1]

HAL seems to be ‘Up-charging’ ad finitum lately once we get aboard their vessels. Q: Will their next shoe to drop be Mega-ships, or can they make their 2,000/PAX vessels $profitable$?? I hope they can. $8/share stock tells me sumpthins gotta give. Soon… 

[LMaxwell]

I would be shocked to see a ship from them that is over 125K GT or 3000 passengers any time in the next 10-15 years.  

[ski ww]

Don't think I would ever want to be on any cruise ship from any line with that many passengers. 

[chengkp75]

The Genting Dream I has been sold to Disney, and the Genting Dream II is, or was, merely some hull blocks which were going for scrap.

 

And, given Disney's business model, they will either use the ship in the Chinese market it was designed for (where the small cabins are acceptable), or rip out the interior and start over.

 

I also think that pax number is incorrect, I thought the Dream had about 2000 less pax, and that number included crew.

Edited December 20, 2022 by chengkp75

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I think Holland will stay with the Pinnacle class ship sizes .

[LocoLoco1]

1 hour ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

I think Holland will stay with the Pinnacle class ship sizes .

I agree. Carnival/Princess/Costa trend, however, is big and BIGGER. HAL’s market is so-oo competitive on price for $Base Fare$ that it seems nearly desperate to get us aboard, then Up-charge, which is fine with me only to a point.  Time will tell…

[P&PNH]

I agree with smaller ships.  I don't need amusement parks, city blocks or ice skating while on a cruise.  More than 3500 people is my limit.  Purpose of the cruise is relax and explore new places, or revisit favorites.  If that means sailing on older smaller ships that is fine with us.  HAL does a good job on maintaining their ships, and offering good service.

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

51 minutes ago, P&PNH said:

I agree with smaller ships.  I don't need amusement parks, city blocks or ice skating while on a cruise.  More than 3500 people is my limit.  Purpose of the cruise is relax and explore new places, or revisit favorites.  If that means sailing on older smaller ships that is fine with us.  HAL does a good job on maintaining their ships, and offering good service.

 

 

I feel the same way. I love the Vista design, on HAL and on Cunard. It's a comfortable size and has enough space and amenities for me. 

 

There is some push-back on the larger ships, as too many guests overcrowd a port. Bar harbor is now limiting the size of ships they'll take. 

[P&PNH]

Key West is another port that has been trying to limit the size of ships and number of guest as well.  There are also ports like Tampa that cannot accommodate larger ships, which is fine with us.

[cricketcj1]

we also don!t  like mega ships ,have been on 3 d,wife says never agen.I prefer 1500 to 3000 pas. Much better for geting on &off ports. prefer 30 days or longer.

[AFNavigator]

6 hours ago, LocoLoco1 said:

I agree. Carnival/Princess/Costa trend, however, is big and BIGGER. HAL’s market is so-oo competitive on price for $Base Fare$ that it seems nearly desperate to get us aboard, then Up-charge, which is fine with me only to a point.  Time will tell…

If not another duplicate of HAL's 99.8K ton Pinnacle Class ships--of which no new ones are currently on order--perhaps HAL's next step would be one or more ships similar to Cunard's 2024 MS Queen Anne.

 

The MS Queen Anne is stated as being a "Pinnacle series 4" ship, which appears to be a slightly stretched Pinnacle Class ship, coming in at 113K tons.  Same shipyard, same engines, same number of decks as HAL's Pinnacle Class ships, just 2' feet wider and 70' longer.

 

If the 550-passenger increase, at 13K tons, between HAL Signature Class and Pinnacle Class ships is representative, a 13K ton increase to the Queen Anne size would equate to approximately another 550-passenger bump from the Pinnacle Class's 2,650 capacity to about 3,200-passenger capacity.  Although bigger, that still is a very modest size compared to nearly all other mass-market cruise ships being built today. 

[MISTER 67]

They might go to a 3,000 passenger ship. We have sailed on Celebrity’s Equinox 4 times and at a capacity of 2,900 have never found the ship teeming with people or overcrowded. We have also sailed with the large Princess ships like the Royal and Regal and things were not overcrowded on those ships either but I still prefer the Signature class ships with HAL.

[AFNavigator]

6 hours ago, MISTER 67 said:

They might go to a 3,000 passenger ship. We have sailed on Celebrity’s Equinox 4 times and at a capacity of 2,900 have never found the ship teeming with people or overcrowded. We have also sailed with the large Princess ships like the Royal and Regal and things were not overcrowded on those ships either but I still prefer the Signature class ships with HAL.

That's why I mentioned the upcoming "Pinnacle Series 4" Cunard Queen Anne.  It's about 10% bigger than the HAL Pinnacle Class ships yet appears to have the same basic bones and HAL Pinnacles.  Fleet commonality likely would reduce training and maintenance costs more than if HAL went with an entirely new class of ships.  Design costs would also be significantly lower because the basic design is already complete. 

[Hlitner]

Wake up folks.  CCL has only 5 ships on order (all ordered prior to COVID) and none of them are for HAL.  Even if CCL were to decide to build something for HAL it would likely be at least 2026 before it came to fruition.  But with over $34 Billion of debt, and still losing around $1 Billion a quarter, it is more likely, than not, that there will be no new builds for HAL for many years.   The CCL corporate strategy seems to pay down their debt, not invest in new ships.

 

Hank