Experienced cruisers to design next NCL Ship

[RocketMan275]

57 minutes ago, spanishguy1970 said:

they need to stop designing new ships and work on improving customer service, entertainment and giving more incentives to loyal customers. I read they are billions in debt maybe just maybe is because their service is declining. IMO

You don't think the shutdowns over covid had something to do with their debt load?

[RocketMan275]

21 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

I'm surprised to see that my own version of the perfect ship (for me!) might not be so unpopular after all.  What I want is a giant indoor solarium with lots of palm trees and foliage and a lazy river running through the "jungle".  Several waterfalls and hot tubs and lots of little nooks and garden paths with comfy furniture. 

You know, you could put some of those rubber duckies folks like to bring aboard in that lazy river. 

Edited January 20 by RocketMan275

[ChiefMateJRK]

3 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

Wow, this is a great and actually doable idea.  I also like the part where we visit you and drink all your liquor;) 

ahem.  I believe that was a private invite to some boring old dude who apparently enjoys an occasional cocktail. 🤣

 

Further, it was either a pathetic or humorous invite, because the price of admission involved W@#K.  My good friend @Sailing12Awayknows that this 🐀won't pick up a shovel for free booze.  He'll just book another cruise.😎  See y'all on the ship!

 

(at the bar🤡)

Edited January 20 by ChiefMateJRK

[ChiefMateJRK]

8 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

You are more than welcome to come for a visit and take care of my shoveling.

Reminds me of Dr. Amp encouraging folks to shovel themselves out of the 💩.

 

(two coats, guaranteed)

 

 

[Panhandle Couple]

15 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

Wow, this is a great and actually doable idea.  I also like the part where we visit you and drink all your liquor;)  You can even have a casino, if you want one.

It could be very easy.  Just have the lights turned off for an hour or so on on of the top decks.  Have a crew member point out some of the easy constellations.  Full moon nights would be cool when in the ocean.  It might require some rewiring of the outside lights.  With todays positioning systems and radar, and on a clear night ships can be seen from long distances so not a safety issue.

[spanishguy1970]

15 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

You don't think the shutdowns over covid had something to do with their debt load?

proves my point they need to focus in bringing back customers than getting more into debt building new ships. IMO.

[Panhandle Couple]

35 minutes ago, spanishguy1970 said:

proves my point they need to focus in bringing back customers than getting more into debt building new ships. IMO.

yes, forget the fact that they are collectively about 106% of capacity, as stated in their 3rd qtr report. 4th qtr will be released in 3 weeks or so.

 

As for debt, go to NCL web site, scroll down to For Investors and click.  Scroll down to Debt Payment Schedule.  It is all laid out through 2028, including per ship with finance rates.  Prima/Viva are under 3% financed.  Leaves plenty of room for profit.

 

[RocketMan275]

58 minutes ago, spanishguy1970 said:

proves my point they need to focus in bringing back customers than getting more into debt building new ships. IMO.

No, that does not prove your point.  After all, NCL ships are sailing at 100%+ capacity.  Everything you're asking for increases costs with no improvement in revenue. 

[Sailing12Away]

For those in favor of the lazy river/pool concept - take a look through google of the DGI Byen circular pool in Copenhagen. Surely NCL can modify this idea a bit to fit on the pool deck with a central pool for those looking to do laps or just soak, and the outer fun zone for lazying and meandering.

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, Sailing12Away said:

For those in favor of the lazy river/pool concept - take a look through google of the DGI Byen circular pool in Copenhagen. Surely NCL can modify this idea a bit to fit on the pool deck with a central pool for those looking to do laps or just soak, and the outer fun zone for lazying and meandering.

Fine, but look at all the area that could be loungers instead of pool.

[ChiefMateJRK]

50 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Fine, but look at all the area that could be loungers instead of pool.

That's perfect!  Solves the chair hog problem.  What are they going to do in the pool?  Drop an anchor with a pool towel wrapped around it to mark "my" space?🤣

[RocketMan275]

3 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

That's perfect!  Solves the chair hog problem.  What are they going to do in the pool?  Drop an anchor with a pool towel wrapped around it to mark "my" space?🤣

But all those who want more loungers would not be satisfied.

[Travelling2Some]

11 hours ago, Panhandle Couple said:

It could be very easy.  Just have the lights turned off for an hour or so on on of the top decks.  Have a crew member point out some of the easy constellations.  Full moon nights would be cool when in the ocean.  It might require some rewiring of the outside lights.  With todays positioning systems and radar, and on a clear night ships can be seen from long distances so not a safety issue.

Exactly.  And would not cost NCL a thing.

[Sailing12Away]

Looking at images of the Epic main pool area since I'll be hopping onboard next month. Not many loungers to be found in that water fountain areas between the pools. My funky design would be to invert those 2 pools so they're "up" and not "in", and the teal areas around them would be the lazy river to sit and float around. 

 

Folks that want loungers for the sun can have a deck above the pool area that wraps front to back and doubles as a walking/running track.

 

They missed the mark with Aqua - should have been completely focused on pools and water activities. Hidden grottos, wild water slides, indoor pools, outdoor pools, mega jacuzzis, swim up pool bars. Then they could have gone a different direction for whatever the next one is and focus on crazy adventurous stuff like the race cars, ropes courses, true lap pools, big gym & spa stuff for folks that like that sort of stuff. Make little niche ships specific for the target audience they're going after rather than a mediocre half assed attempt to please all. 

[SeaShark]

9 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

Looking at images of the Epic main pool area since I'll be hopping onboard next month. Not many loungers to be found in that water fountain areas between the pools. My funky design would be to invert those 2 pools so they're "up" and not "in", and the teal areas around them would be the lazy river to sit and float around. 

 

Folks that want loungers for the sun can have a deck above the pool area that wraps front to back and doubles as a walking/running track.

 

They missed the mark with Aqua - should have been completely focused on pools and water activities. Hidden grottos, wild water slides, indoor pools, outdoor pools, mega jacuzzis, swim up pool bars. Then they could have gone a different direction for whatever the next one is and focus on crazy adventurous stuff like the race cars, ropes courses, true lap pools, big gym & spa stuff for folks that like that sort of stuff. Make little niche ships specific for the target audience they're going after rather than a mediocre half assed attempt to please all. 

 

Maybe you should ask @chengkp75 to explain the free surface effect of water before you . . . go off the deep end.

[Sailing12Away]

18 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

 

Maybe you should ask @chengkp75 to explain the free surface effect of water before you . . . go off the deep end.

I thought we were dropping the practical engineering approach and going strictly off of 'fun to have' regardless of 'practical' or realistic?

[SeaShark]

29 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

I thought we were dropping the practical engineering approach and going strictly off of 'fun to have' regardless of 'practical' or realistic?

 

That certainly would be "convenient", but giving into that temptation is simply admitting that experienced cruisers really can't design a ship.

 

I thought this was a realistic discussion, if it is fantasy, then it belongs in the Floataway Lounge.

[Sailing12Away]

On 1/21/2024 at 12:22 PM, SeaShark said:

 

That certainly would be "convenient", but giving into that temptation is simply admitting that experienced cruisers really can't design a ship.

 

I thought this was a realistic discussion, if it is fantasy, then it belongs in the Floataway Lounge.

The point though is for the dreamers to come up with the ideas, and the realists to find a way to take that idea and find a practical way to make it happen. Obviously you can't have an entire deck of water... so the engineers take the idea and find a way that can work while maintaining the spirit of the original idea.

 

When pure engineers do design it's boring and cookie cutter. When crazy people on the internet do design the ship will sink. Hence the need for both to collaborate for the happy medium.

[SeaShark]

5 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

The point though is for the dreamers to come up with the ideas, and the realists to find a way to take that idea and find a practical way to make it happen. Obviously you can't have an entire deck of water... so the engineers take the idea and find a way that can work while maintaining the spirit of the original idea.

 

When pure engineers do design it's boring and cookie cutter. When crazy people on the internet do design the ship will sink. Hence the need for both to collaborate for the happy medium.

 

While I do see the point you are trying to make, you have to understand that it only holds water (pardon the pun) where the Venn Diagram of marine engineers and people who have cruises are mutually exclusive. The is zero evidence that this is the case, and I think that even considering it is a fool's errand. 

[Sailing12Away]

I think this game isn't fun anymore. I'm going to just go back to sitting in my boring non lazy river pool.

[yakcruiser]

28 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

The point though is for the dreamers to come up with the ideas, and the realists to find a way to take that idea and find a practical way to make it happen. Obviously you can't have an entire deck of water... so the engineers take the idea and find a way that can work while maintaining the spirit of the original idea.

 

When pure engineers do design it's boring and cookie cutter. When crazy people on the internet do design the ship will sink. Hence the need for both to collaborate for the happy medium.

Some people have an imagination and some don't. Unfortunately some folks didn't get the idea this thread was supposed to be fun. Thanks for the great ideas.

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

The point though is for the dreamers to come up with the ideas, and the realists to find a way to take that idea and find a practical way to make it happen. Obviously you can't have an entire deck of water... so the engineers take the idea and find a way that can work while maintaining the spirit of the original idea.

 

When pure engineers do design it's boring and cookie cutter. When crazy people on the internet do design the ship will sink. Hence the need for both to collaborate for the happy medium.

Or the engineers can get it totally wrong! If you ever take a cruise that has Stockholm as a port, visit the Vasa Museum. The ship that was supposed to be totally state of the art, sank basically as soon as it went to sea as it was top heavy.

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Or the engineers can get it totally wrong! If you ever take a cruise that has Stockholm as a port, visit the Vasa Museum. The ship that was supposed to be totally state of the art, sank basically as soon as it went to sea as it was top heavy.

No, that's what you get when experienced engineers are ignored.

 

"The order to sail was the result of a combination of factors. The king, who was leading the army in Poland at the time of her maiden voyage, was impatient to see her take up her station as flagship of the reserve squadron at Älvsnabben in the Stockholm Archipelago. At the same time the king's subordinates lacked the political courage to openly discuss the ship's problems or to have the maiden voyage postponed." - Wikipedia.

 

IOW, this disaster should be blamed on  the politicians, not on the engineers.  Very much like Challenger where the engineers were overruled by management.

 

 

Edited January 22 by RocketMan275

[Travelling2Some]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Or the engineers can get it totally wrong! If you ever take a cruise that has Stockholm as a port, visit the Vasa Museum. The ship that was supposed to be totally state of the art, sank basically as soon as it went to sea as it was top heavy.

We visited the Vasa recently and found it interesting that the guide would not put any blame on the king.  Everything we had read said the king insisted on a second row of cannon over the objection of the engineers, rendering the ship top heavy.  Since it was, at the time, an absolute monarchy, the king's vision prevailed and the ship sunk 15 minutes into its maiden voyage. 

 

I'm not a very trusting person and my husband is very keen to sail on the Icon of the Seas.  I've talked him into waiting at least six months to make sure it can survive rough seas.  Just looking at all that weight on the top decks makes me wonder when the pursuit of profit will result in a disaster.  Seems to me that RCI was lucky they didn't loose the Anthem a few years ago in a storm.  Had that storm been a little worse???

[SeaShark]

1 hour ago, Travelling2Some said:

I'm not a very trusting person and my husband is very keen to sail on the Icon of the Seas.  I've talked him into waiting at least six months to make sure it can survive rough seas.  Just looking at all that weight on the top decks makes me wonder when the pursuit of profit will result in a disaster.  Seems to me that RCI was lucky they didn't loose the Anthem a few years ago in a storm.  Had that storm been a little worse???

 

Scary. But what about the weight of all of the stuff on the lower decks? The stuff you can't easily see like engines, generators, laundry machinery, refrigeration units, fuel tanks, pumps, stores, ballast tanks, etc?