Project Genesis- new MEGA ship!

[TbirdTraveler]

A friend of mine just brought Royal Caribbean's "Project Genesis" to my attention. If you haven't seen what they are currently building, I think that there's a ship on it's way that will take your breath away...take a look at the photographic renderings in the link below and then there are other areas with more detailed information about the ship.

Here's the link:

http://www.royalcaribbean-genesis.com/renderings.html

[mgg42]

You do know there is an RCI forum right? I'm not being mean, I just want to make sure you didn't just stumble upon this one and not realize there are pages for just about every line. There are a ton of threads over there about Genesis.

[cruzmaven]

Is that ship really appealing to anybody on this board? I know the Soltice class ships are going to be big also but they seem to maintain some elegance to them. The Genesis seems like, and they are promoting it as, a city with neighborhoods. Is that what they think we want from a cruise?

[raymac46]

Is that ship really appealing to anybody on this board? I know the Soltice class ships are going to be big also but they seem to maintain some elegance to them. The Genesis seems like, and they are promoting it as, a city with neighborhoods. Is that what they think we want from a cruise?

Not for me thanks. I cruise to visit the ports. I'd actually like to go smaller but my wife has seasickness problems. M class seems to work OK for both of us.

[mgg42]

Is that ship really appealing to anybody on this board? I know the Soltice class ships are going to be big also but they seem to maintain some elegance to them. The Genesis seems like, and they are promoting it as, a city with neighborhoods. Is that what they think we want from a cruise?

 

To each their own, I guess. There are a lot of people who look at Solstice and even some of the current ships with disdain.

 

Personally, I think if you're not on a small vessel (250-500 passengers), I would like to be on as large a vessel as possible. Every time I take a larger vessel, I feel like it is less crowded and I have more space to explore, relax and spread out.

 

To me, the real determining factor isn't how big, or how many people, but how good. If the service, facilities and opportunities make for an enjoyable cruise, then I am all for it.

[Host Anne]

Here's why I think it's appropriate and important to have a discussion about Genesis on the Celebrity boards. Many of us sail Celebrity for their service, ship size, passenger capacity, etc. I don't think there is anything wrong with discussing the mega-mega ships on the horizon (I'd classify Solstice as just a mega-ship) and why many of us prefer the amenities of smaller ships. If we don't continue to do so and express of desire for more moderate builds, we are going to see (as we already are) the smaller ships fade into the past, the future filled with ships the size of Las Vegas hotels.

 

I do fear long term that if we want to continue to sail on smaller ships (under 100,000 tons), we'll have to find a way to step up to more expensive lines (which isn't feasible for many of us who truly prefer and enjoy smaller ships).

 

Will I refuse to sail on mega-ships? Probably not. But I may draw the line with the mega-mega ships when I no longer feel like I'm at sea.

 

To answer the Cruzmaven's question....neighborhoods on ships doesn't appeal to me, but I'm sure there are many, many people who it does appeal to. I haven't been to the RCI boards recently to see the discussions over there but some are surely excited. I'm good with all types of options being available but I am concerned that the smaller, more intimate ships that we enjoy so much are fading.

 

At any rate, I think it's good to share information with members who might not be aware of what Genesis is as well informed members can make better decisions when choosing a cruise vacation!

[usha]

I appreciate seeing the renderings of Genesis, and it really looks like it's going to be quite amazing. Nevertheless, I don't see myself booking a cruise on that sort of monstrosity. As it is, I wonder if Solstice isn't going to be a little bit too big for my taste.

[Xcruiser]

Can anyone tell me the cost of a cab ride to get from my neighborhood on a Genesis ship to the airport onboard? ;) :D

[YOW]

I had thought about posting something here about Genesis, and am glad TbirdTraveler did so. As Anne says, this is a relevant discussion on the trend in the industry towards ultra-mega (super-mega, mega-mega or whatever we'd like to call them) ships.

 

For me, the Genesis ships (Allure of the Seas?) are shaping up to be something quite different and a concept I'd very much like to try. Although Radiance class is said to resemble most the ships of Celebrity, if we were to sail RCL it would likely be on a Genesis ship, once launched. I would not expect it to be of great resemblance to the X cruises we've taken, and would treat it as a different experience. Yet we'd prefer to try the 'ultra-mega' Genesis over the 'mega' Solstice -- given the latter's bland itineraries and now lack of lustre in comparison to Genesis, we'd rather stick with M- or C-class when sailing Celebrity.

 

BTW TbirdTraveler, are you a T-Bird, as in the school? Or a car aficionado?

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

While I feel that some of the renderings look very interesting, I cannot see myself sailing on a ship of that size. To us, bigger isn't always better. With that said, these ships will have huge appeal to families, and I am sure the Genesis class will be a success.

[kitty9]

Five thousand other passengers??? Not for me at all. While we're going to try Solstice once, I'm not even sure that will be a ship that will appeal to us. I prefer the M class and smaller. I think the Freedom Class ships on RCCI are way too big and impersonal. When is this "mine's bigger than yours" going to end?

[pmymmw]

It used to be all about speed when the transatlantic liners first became popular with each line trying to do the crossing in the fastest time, 'mine is faster than yours'. Now, as you say, it seems to be all about size, 'mine is bigger than yours'.

 

I wish they would start comparing something useful, like 'our service is better than yours'!

[cruzmaven]

What I think is interesting though is the difference between the way RCI and X are going with these big ships. As someone who prefers X over RCI, I am encouraged that while X is going bigger with the Soltice ships the "innovations" X is highlighting on Soltice are things that would appeal to an upscale clientele (more specialty restaurants, lawn club, glass blowing, etc.). RCI with Genesis seems to be emphasing more of a family experience by making the cruise experience more like a land based vacation. I think there has been some ongoing concern that RCI and X are going to merge the quality of their product, but I see these new ships as evidence of a trend away from that.

[Host Anne]

I do want to add one more thought that I meant to mention earlier.

 

I've already noted that we aren't mega-ship fans in general. But I have had occasion (and will again in the future) to sail on both the Voyager and Freedom class ships. You may think this sounds crazy, but I MUCH prefer the Freedom class. The extra size (about 22,000 tons) allows for bigger staterooms and spreads all the public space out just enough that the Freedom class seems less crowded than Voyager to me, even tho Freedom carries more passengers. I've only ever sailed these class of ships with groups and even though they aren't our choice for a cruise, I must admit that we had fun when we sailed on them.

 

All that said....we still prefer small ships and hope Celebrity doesn't abandon their smaller ships as time goes on.

[TbirdTraveler]

You do know there is an RCI forum right? I'm not being mean, I just want to make sure you didn't just stumble upon this one and not realize there are pages for just about every line. There are a ton of threads over there about Genesis.

 

I hope that I didn't offend too many Celebrity fans by posting this here, but since I do not often have time to look at many of the other areas of the Cruise Critic website, I thought that a ship like "Genesis" might be of interest here too, especially for those that didn't know about it (like me). I hope that we can share information here that might not always be of relevance to Celebrity, but might be newsworthy.

[Host Anne]

Tbird ~ as I mentioned, you are more than welcome to have posted this information here. Many, such as yourself, may not make their way to another board to read about this info....and it is of interest to many here on the Celebrity board....so thanks!

[mgg42]

I hope that I didn't offend too many Celebrity fans by posting this here, but since I do not often have time to look at many of the other areas of the Cruise Critic website, I thought that a ship like "Genesis" might be of interest here too, especially for those that didn't know about it (like me). I hope that we can share information here that might not always be of relevance to Celebrity, but might be newsworthy.

 

I wasn't offended and I truly didn't mean to insult you. I also have no problem with this thread here. I sincerely wanted to make sure you were aware of this. With search services like google, and even next generation browsing (stumble, etc...), a lot of times, people end up on a subsite (like specifically The Celebrity CruiseCritic board), and may not realize there are other parts to the site as well.

 

I welcome the topic, but just wanted to make sure you realized the wealth of information that was out there if you were truly interested.

 

MGG

[SharkieRools]

I thought about booking on this ship, but figured I could experience the same thing for a lot less money by taking a trip to the local mega mall :D

[jt1120]

I guess we're in the minority, because we cruise for either the itinerary or the ship. Our last cruise was just to cruise. The cruise before was for the itinerary, and the one before that was for the ship. I am not a fan of the "bigger is better" menatility that seems to currently pervade the RCI mode of thinking. But having said that, after seeing these Genesis renderings, I am SO there! Some make look at it as a floating city. I look at it as incredible new cruise innovations, and I want to experience these new innnovations.

 

For the record, we booked the Solstice because we HAD to sail her. She is such a beautiful ship, we don't care where she goes.

[PurpleCow]

Oh, my! I'm having trepidations about sailing on the Constellation next Spring because it's so big. I wonder how long it takes to get 5,000 pax on/off the ship. Yikes!

[Indiana Jones]

...will really add to their experience.;) Have fun waiting for your number

to be called to get off the ship, so all 10,000-15,000 of you can roam the

streets of Cayman Island !

[Schplinky]

We'll be sailing on her. I'd remind all the people here who thought M class was WAY to large that they're comfortable on her now and think now that 2000 people is the limit, where maybe 10 years ago, they thought 1,000 is the limit.

 

In my mind, ship design has a lot more to do with it than the number of souls onboard. We sailed Westerdam (2,000 people) not long after a Voyager class ship and I have never stood in line so much as on Westerdam! Series of small public spaces that bottleneck passengers are of no interest to me. We certainly did not feel any more connected to the sea on her.

 

Folks speak of more waiting on larger ships but the fact is, they tend to have more facilities, too. Folks are distributed throughout the ship because there are many things going on. They use actual tenders instead of lifeboats (which we've had to use on small ships) and they have the capacity and technology to exceed expectations.

[rolfecms]

Crusing was once a group experience - timed seatings for meals, dress codes, etc. There's none of that when you get to a ship the size of a city. If someone needs constant visual amusment then perhaps a theme park might be a better alternative - and you can save some money!

 

Even with the Solstice class the ships are getting too big to maintain a semblance of traditional cruising. While it's great there will be more dining alternatives, those additional choices start resembling Freestyle whether you call it that or not. How far can Celebrity go with the concept before it actually becomes that? We'll have to wait and see...

[Schplinky]

If someone needs constant visual amusment then perhaps a theme park might be a better alternative - and you can save some money!

 

If someone needs a nap to get over their grumpies, they should take one.

 

I really don't see the need to belittle those with tastes other than yours. Cruising isn't a renaissance fair. There is no need to replicate traditional cruising for the masses. If we were providing an authentic cruising experience, the majority of passengers would be below decks while the elite ate in better restaurants (specialty restaurants?) and enjoyed the fruits of their being able to travel in an privileged manner.

[Cruise Arizona]

A traditional Ocean Liner which was primarily in the business for transporting the masses across the ocean before airplanes took over this transportation business. First class, was for the privileged, but they made their money on steerage.

 

A traditional cruise ship, in my opinion, was one of those vessels converted for the pleasure cruise business. These ships were small and intimate, and did not have any kind of class system. Passengers often met and mingled and got to know one another during the cruise. Dining times were set, there probably was only one lounge or entertainment venue. Cruise directors did silly mixer type games, service was usually quite good, there was more than likely not a specialty dining venue. It was very laid back and more about quietly relaxing or engaging in interesting conversation with your fellow passengers. Also the smaller ship gave you a connection to the sea.

 

The new mega ships are about go, go, go and choices choices choices. You'll never be bored when you can go shopping, rock climb,ice skate, flow ride. If you like the mall better than a cruise, then you can hang in the mall all day and never know you are at sea. For dining, you can choose from many different styles, dress codes, and levels for service with everything from a buffet to a high end specialty dining. But you might never have that chance to see another passenger twice, much less get that nice moment to engage in conversation and get to know others. If feel that the mega ships tend to disconnect passengers from the fact that they are at sea.

 

I love cruising, and one day I will probably give a mega ship a try, maybe the Solstice class, but I think that 1800 to 2200 is about the right number of passengers.