Allure's Central Park plants, some dead due to freezing. Will plants be replaced?

[brillohead]

5 hours ago, livingonthebeach said:

I agree - I live in Miami-Dade County and there is a big difference between our weather and the Orlando and Florida Panhandle weather which gets colder and colder as you head north. 

And that's why Miami is a 10b/11a zone area and Port Canaveral is a 9b/10a zone area.

The different zone assignments take into account the different temperature ranges.  That's what the hardiness zones are all about.  I don't understand your point. 

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, md80fan said:

I am curious if this will make Royal rethink an Oasis ship here during the winter. I think every winter in the Houston area it will get below freezing at some point, now that just depends on will it be below freezing the day the ship happens to be in port or get lucky when it is out at sea. I am not sure if Royal learns that every season they will have to replace the trees and bushes if they will continue with an Oasis class ship. Maybe they will switch to a ship like Anthem or Odyssey if they want a large ship there.

Below freezing in Galveston is a very rare occurrence

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, md80fan said:

I am curious if this will make Royal rethink an Oasis ship here during the winter. I think every winter in the Houston area it will get below freezing at some point, now that just depends on will it be below freezing the day the ship happens to be in port or get lucky when it is out at sea. I am not sure if Royal learns that every season they will have to replace the trees and bushes if they will continue with an Oasis class ship. Maybe they will switch to a ship like Anthem or Odyssey if they want a large ship there.

It is a consideration. And they have some control over the climate using the large air vents to push warm air into Central Park. The same way the use large deflectors on the pool deck to keep wind out of the Park. They can move the temp a few degrees, but can’t overcome drastic temp drops. 
 

Because the plants and soil enters the US, replacements are tightly controlled. And monitored by CBP. An infestation could result in the ship from being denied entry into U.S. ports. 

Edited January 22, 2023 by BirdTravels

[YadaYadaJodi]

I thought this disappointing because I had read here on CC a couple of months ago how the Allure's CP was one of the better ones because the Allure is older and the plants had had time to mature. Oh well, still looking forward to our 1st at sea park in a couple of weeks. 

[Jasukkie]

This is sad. It's a shame they didn't build in heaters but I guess it's cheaper to just buy new plants? 

[ONECRUISER]

On 1/20/2023 at 1:09 PM, taglovestocruise said:

Big plastic pots.

 

Ships, Oasis and Allure been around while, I remember watching Video for first Sailing on Oasis them placing Plants/Planters.

[Coralc]

I used to inspect Ambius. They made a whole coffee table book on "Planting the Oasis", and they are the original developers of the living walls. Interesting concept. The soil is not an issue, because it is sterilized potting soil, mostly lightweight peat and no actual soil. They are planted in lightweight aluminum containers. The plants do have to be inspected and approved, but that is just for pest issues. They are mostly houseplants and small trees which do not have quarantine issues. I have no idea, if they will replace them or not. 

 

A lot of the ships sailing in Australia/NZ do have issues (Not with a Central Park) but all the pool deck plants are replaced with artificial ones. 

Edited January 22, 2023 by Coralc

[livingonthebeach]

8 hours ago, brillohead said:

And that's why Miami is a 10b/11a zone area and Port Canaveral is a 9b/10a zone area.

The different zone assignments take into account the different temperature ranges.  That's what the hardiness zones are all about.  I don't understand your point. 

 

Not trying to make any point = just agreeing that FL weather is very different up and down the State and that goes for TX too  Enjoy Allure - following your live thread.

[bajathree]

21 hours ago, brillohead said:

USDA hardiness zones are USDA hardiness zones.  They take all of that into account.  

I take it you've never done any gardening, or you'd know about the zones.

Rude response and I take it you have never lived in Florida or the south for that point...and by the way...I owned and operated a landscape company in central Florida for years.

Edited January 22, 2023 by bajathree

[twangster]

Agricultural zones don't tell the whole story nor do they account for unusual weather events that can cause temperatures to occur outside of the ranges defined by the USDA.  The zones are a guideline, not an absolute indicator of what might occur.  

 

Oasis class was originally deployed only to South Florida where expected temperatures allowed the plants of CP to exist without significant risk from cold weather.

 

More recently Oasis class have been deployed outside of South Florida.  New Jersey in October can also get unusually cold overnight for a few days here and there.  The start and end of the Oasis class summers in Bayonne have some colder weather possible overnight at times.  However the ship doesn't stay in Bayonne for days at a time so temperature swings on land don't tell the whole story.  

 

Central Florida has 3 USDA agricultural zones and they tend to account for more moderate temperatures along the coast while a few miles inland it's a different zone.  That still doesn't mean that there won't be some weather extremes that results in temperature overnight outside of the zone range.  Many folks will cover their sensitive outdoor plants for these colder weather events.  

 

Ships tend to arrive into PCN around 4am which is around the daily low temperature point but having been off the coast there is enough stored energy within CP that the plants have not been sitting outside exposed to the nightly temperature swings like a plant would be on land.  Soon after 4am once the sun rises temperatures go up.  As a result CP isn't exposed to the same temperature cycle that plants on land are.  If the ship stayed in port for a few days during a Florida cold weather event the effect would be different.  

 

I don't know enough Galveston weather patterns to comment, I'll leave that to folks who live in or near Galveston.

[alfaeric]

As I see it, Galveston and Port Canaveral are very similar.  And Oasis ships have been sailing PC for a long time.  

 

Uness people have already forgotten the Challenger disaster, which was due to a below freezing event in the area.

So it seems that what happened in Galveston was rare enough that they can deal with it.  Besides, they really don't need heaters- just do what we do up north for a freeze warning- cover the plants.  Perhaps they can't cover them all with spare sheets, but you can get enough to survive.  Or just keep spraying them with water- that's commonly done, too.

[grandgeezer]

Replace them all with artificial ones. It’s a one time cost and you’ll be able to cut more jobs. On one of our trips on the Allure we were told that there were 3 or 4 arborists on each ship to make sure they survived.

[cruisegirl1]

Pre covid, RCCL offered a (free) Central Park tour with an arborist.  I always went and found it interesting.  Most of the plants are in containers, either  by individual   plant or  in a removable bed, for easy replacement.  Several month ago, we watched as they replaced half  the living wall  on Harmony. 

 

I've never noticed any difference in central park foliage from one ship to another.  

M

Edited January 22, 2023 by cruisegirl1

[wreckem2013]

Dec 23 was a historic event for Galveston not a regular occurrence. I was on that Xmas cruise. I woke up in Galveston that morning with below zero wind chills and actual temps in the low to mid teens. Had it been in the upper 20s the plants would have probably been mostly okay with wrappings. They wrapped the plants be wrapping doesn’t work that well in extreme cold temps.

[Ocean Boy]

27 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

Replace them all with artificial ones. It’s a one time cost and you’ll be able to cut more jobs. On one of our trips on the Allure we were told that there were 3 or 4 arborists on each ship to make sure they survived.

Then they could turn the tool shed in Central Park into another passenger cabin. 

[brillohead]

Pictures taken today.  Some areas are completely without plants, awaiting replacements:

 

Other areas have some plants, but they're thinned out (and NOT planted in individual pots, as some have tried to claim):

[Coralc]

There are no pots. They are lightweight aluminum planting containers, of varying sizes, that can be popped out and replaced or replanted, as needed. 

[pineappleprince]

Anybody have any updates on the state of the plants in central park?

[STEVE-O]

5 minutes ago, pineappleprince said:

Anybody have any updates on the state of the plants in central park?

I was told 2 weeks ago that the plan is to replant in March.  Large areas are still without plants though the crew was working every day

[firefly333]

7 minutes ago, pineappleprince said:

Anybody have any updates on the state of the plants in central park?

Green shoots spotted. Many plants are coming back on their own. 

[Shayhooper]

13 minutes ago, pineappleprince said:

Anybody have any updates on the state of the plants in central park?

I’m there now and some areas are filled in and others still sparse. I’ll grab some pictures a little later. 

[not-enough-cruising]

22 minutes ago, pineappleprince said:

Anybody have any updates on the state of the plants in central park?

I’m on now and it looks pretty

much the same as the photos  @brilloheadposted several weeks ago. 

[ace1zoe2]

In January when we were on, Cory (cruise director) fielded questions in a Q&A. We were told they absolutely will be replacing the plants on Allure. However, they are waiting until the chance of freezing weather has passed as the cost to replace those plants will be in excess of $1M.

 

[taglovestocruise]

On 1/21/2023 at 7:05 PM, Jasukkie said:

This is sad. It's a shame they didn't build in heaters but I guess it's cheaper to just buy new plants? 

Budget restraints... refurbished smug pots from eBay

Or for a few dollars more they could lite up the area as well as save the plants.

 

[mek]

On 1/22/2023 at 11:22 AM, grandgeezer said:

Replace them all with artificial ones. It’s a one time cost and you’ll be able to cut more jobs. On one of our trips on the Allure we were told that there were 3 or 4 arborists on each ship to make sure they survived.

Yuck - I hate artificial plants - can't imagine using them outdoors.

Edited February 17, 2023 by mek