American Cruise Lines to Introduce New Ship Class in 2025

[Host Jazzbeau]

New article on Cruise Industry News:

American Cruise Lines to Introduce New Ship Class in 2025

 

Traditional bows and slightly deeper drafts, combined with Rolls Royce stabilizers to handle varied sea conditions.

[ericosmith]

I find this rather interesting as most new ships seem to be moving away from "traditional bows"  to more vertical designs.  

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, ericosmith said:

I find this rather interesting as most new ships seem to be moving away from "traditional bows"  to more vertical designs.  

I took it to mean not catamarans like the Coastal Cat class.  Didn't I recently read a review that said one of those Cats wasn't very smooth when it left the inland waterway?

[chengkp75]

7 hours ago, ericosmith said:

I find this rather interesting as most new ships seem to be moving away from "traditional bows"  to more vertical designs.  

The "reverse bow" that you see on newer, large cruise ships are designed to give more "hull speed" (the highest speed that can be made with economical horsepower) by lengthening the waterline length (hull speed is proportional to waterline length), and to reduce pitching in seas.  The reverse bow is designed more to "cut through" a wave rather than "ride up and down" a wave that a traditional bow does (due to the "flare" or widening of the bow higher up, which adds buoyancy as the bow starts to dig into the wave).  For coastal voyages with no real speed requirements (close ports and short passages between means there is no real need for high speed), the traditional bow is probably the better choice.

 

5 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I took it to mean not catamarans like the Coastal Cat class.  Didn't I recently read a review that said one of those Cats wasn't very smooth when it left the inland waterway?

I don't read reviews, but I find this interesting.  One main reason to go with a catamaran hull is the fact that with the wider beam, the rolling is less.  Now, sometimes a wider ship will be shorter in length (haven't really looked at these ship's specs), and this can lead to more pitching than a longer, narrower single hull.

 

Okay, looked at these, and they are not true catamarans, just a "catamaran bow".  The bow is for "near shore" operation, and could be more susceptible to "slamming" in seas in open water.

[DaveinCharlotte]

I was on the Glory catamaran this January and we did encounter one passage (Key West to Punta Gorda) with windy choppy seas.  The waves would "catch" between the hulls and slam the ship.  Could hear and feel the slamming throughout the ship, but there was no pitching, no rolling, nothing "nausea-inducing" at all.  This, in contrast with my earlier cruise on the Star, where we left the ICW for one segment and encountered much unpleasant rolling.

 

I thought this part was interesting:

 

"The American Pioneer will follow suit in early November, offering itineraries along the Florida Coast and the Florida Keys. During its maiden voyage, the ship will sail from Jacksonville to St. Petersburg, offering a 14-night cruise that connects Florida’s Atlantic and Gulf Coasts."

 

So this appears to be a replacement for the "Complete Southeast" cruise that debuted early last year but then was cancelled.  Maybe the reason for the cancellation was that they discovered that the catamaran couldn't handle the Key Biscayne - Key West transit, but now they hope a ship with traditional bow will?  

[BaumD]

Chengkp75 and DaveinCharlotte both got it right. I just got off the Glory cruise that didn't return to St Pete, but went to Key Biscayne from Key West. We had about 8 hours of 2-3 foot seas and the banging was unbelievable. The waves get "caught" between the two bows, have no place to go and try to go under the ship causing the bow to rise up, which causes the banging and slamming. Chengkp, you should have consulted with ACL before they built the Coastal Cats!! They were scheduled to build 11 of the Cats, but after Eagle and Glory went to sea, they discovered this issue. The next two Cats were already under construction, so they will finish those, then transition to the new Patriot Class with traditional bows. If the seas are calm, the Cats are great. If rough -- beware! Glory is now headed  (Crew only) from Miami to Maryland for some "preventative maintenance". They must have been caught in the big storm along the east coast. Must be a really rough ride. Now I know why they didn't take passengers.