Questions on Shipbuilding for Harri Kulovaara

[Dan Askin]

Design-wise, there's no missing the fact that Celebrity Solstice and Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, which debut this year and next respectively, are among the most innovative and fascinating new ships in a decade. Still, no matter which cruise line's ships are your favorite, from Princess to Crystal and from NCL to Carnival, wouldn't you love to know more about what goes on behind the scenes when ships are not only in the planning stages but also while under construction?

 

If so, this is your lucky week. Harri Kulovaara, the guru behind the design of both Solstice and Oasis, is participating in a Cruise Critic Q&A -- and we're asking you for questions. Want to know how Celebrity figured out how to make grass grow for Solstice? How about why Voyager of the Seas was the first cruise ship to include an interior promenade? Or what about the unique challenges Harri faces when designing and building the biggest-ever Oasis?

 

Do you have questions in general about the history of shipbuilding or wonder about new trends in cruise ship development (from green issues to futuristic features)? Want advice on designing your own ship? Or are you just interested to know more about what goes on behind the scenes at a shipyard?

 

Post your questions here by Friday at 10 a.m. E.D.T. -- and we'll pick a bunch for Harri to answer in a Q&A that will debut later this month.

 

Finland-born Harri, by the way, is officially known as the executive vice president of maritime and new-building for Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara. Prior to that, the 25-plus-year shipbuilding veteran oversaw construction on Royal Caribbean's Freedom-class series of ships. He actually pioneered the indoor promenade, so popular on both Voyager- and Freedom-class vessels, for Finland-based Silja Line's cruise ferries in the early 1990's.

 

No question is off limits -- unless of course you're asking about Oasis of the Seas or Celebrity Solstice details that are yet to be announced (you'll have to wait for the next Oasis reveal or Solstice to launch for those answers!).

[Narf101059]

I was wondering..aside from the basic idea..What are the design differences of a Cruise Ship and an Ocean Liner. And What designates them as such.

 

Thanks:

 

RS

[floridatravelersforlife]

With Cruise ships accomodating more and more passengers, how bigger can these ships get before the tip over? Given limits on draft, where can design go but up above the water line? Are the new ships as stable as the ships from ten, twenty, thirty years ago?

[star453]

What is the purpose of the large duck bill shaped stern?

Thanks.

 

Dennis Snyder

[Mancuso]

What is the most exciting part of the design process for you?

[CruiserRL]

1. How far below the water line does the ship go and what is the minimum water that a ship can sail in?

 

2. Now that most new cruise ship are sail by wire instead of cables are all the controls for engine speed now found only in the bridge of the ship?

[peterc6]

When will the indusrtrt start building smaller ships again? The large ships are just that, too large,

 

Peterc6@bellsouth.net

[Er12001]

Both on Solstice and on Oasis (as well as perhaps some of the future ships) the lifeboats are being placed on one single deck thus removing the "outdoor promenade" feature some of us have come to know and love. I for one I'm a little bit saddened that this feature will be gone from some of the newer ships, I also understand that this is probably a way of saving space in order to add more amenities on board, but couldn't there have been a different way instead of getting rid of the beloved promenade?

[Denny01]

M-Class ships, although relatively large, still have an intimate feel with the lounges and small sitting areas. How has the Solstice Class been designed to carry this off, being much larger? The M-Class T-Spa is very popular - why wasn't this type of pool carried over to Solstice or is there something similar?

 

Denny

[marinearchit]

For someone looking to become involved in the field naval architecture and marine engineering (currently age 16), what tips and advice would you give? What motivated you to get involved in ship design?

 

One more question...

What was the logic behind the trend with the larger ships having a lower number of stairwells? In the event of an emergency which requires a quick evacuation, couldn't this pose a problem for passengers with difficulties traveling longer distances quickly?

[RatherBFishin]

How many older ships are going to be affected drastically by the 2010 SOLAS mandate? Is it true that it costs more to retrofit an older ship than build a brand new one?

[PunkinsDad]

As a Navy vet, I'm interested in how a cruise ship's size is measured.

 

As I understand it, a cruise ships overall size is measured in Gross Registered Tons, while cargo ships and naval vessels are measured in Deadweight Tons (The actual amount of water displaced by the ship, thus it's actual weight).

 

My understanding of GRT is that it has more to do with the interior volume of the ship, rather than it's actual weight.

 

How does GRT convert to DWT? For Example, Carnival Conquest, at 110,000 GRT. What would her actual displacement (DWT) be?

 

I realize I'm probably the ONLY one on here interested in this..........but I still wanna know!! :D

[marinearchit]

I'd also like to know the answer to PunkinsDad's question.

[Daphna101]

Thank you for joining us Harri,

 

I was wondering why on the Solstice ship, Aqua Class cabins, and the Penthouse / Suites were placed directly under the pool. It has been a known fact that noise from deck chairs etc is usually heard directly below the pool and deck areas. Given these cabins happen to also be the most expensive, I would have thought Celebrity would have made these cabins between 2 cabin decks. Has there been any attempt to isolate noise with additional insulation or similar sheilding?

 

Thanks for your answer,

Daphna

[Waterlily777]

On the Solstice, why have the Aquaclass cabins, which are the most expensive non-suite veranda cabins, been located under the pool deck?

 

Have extra measures been taken to mitigate noises from the pool deck? To what extent are they expected to be effective?

 

Are guests who are below the pool likely to hear any noise from above, i.e. chairs scraping, and water sloshing?

 

Thank you very much for taking these questions!

[kenish]

As an Engineer and a Project Manager, I have a few questions:

 

- Is it typical to finish all design work before construction begins, or are interior details still in design while construction has started?

 

- Who is responsible for making sure all the pieces "come together" and fit? What type of design software is typical in your industry?

 

- How common are design changes once constuction has started?

 

- What is being done to conserve fuel and make cruise ships "greener"?

 

Thank you!

[atanac]

Harri, I would love to see a cruise line offer fireworks at sea. Can this be accomplished perhaps on the Oasis class vessels or would you need to incorporate this in a future design?

[schnebs]

Like any other kind of construction, I'm assuming that shipbuiliding requires compromises in order to build the ship that best meets the line's needs; it's impossible (or impossibly expensive) to build the ship that would do everything perfectly. Have there been any instances where you would have liked to include something in a ship's design but in the end decided not to do so?

 

Following up on kenish's question, I know from my naval experience that elements of design can vary greatly even in a single class of warships based on changes required over the period of the construction program. Is this also common in cruise ship design and construction, or does the design of a single class of ship stay pretty much the same during the construction of the ships in the class?

[mikevic4]

1. Why no nuclear powered cruise ships?? So we don't have to get stuck with "fuel surcharges?"

 

2. Does Celebrity Solstice have a demonstration kitchen like the Millenium class ships?

[mikevic4]

Is Celebrity Solstice going to have "Water savers" installed on all of the sinks in staterooms.

 

I hope not, because they're terrible for brushing teeth and washing hands!

[NYCruzr]

Recently I was chatting with my sister who is a travel agent. Some time back she traveled on one of the new very large ships (don't remember which one, but it was about 140,000 tons). She remarked that she liked that the corridors where the cabins are are much wider than they used to be on ships from years ago. She added "it's really nice, you don't even feel like you're on a ship".

 

Well, I said but "I WANT to feel like I'm on ship...that's why I go on a cruise in the first place". That comment made me question the direction ship deisgn has taken. My question is, do you feel that the challenge of going much bigger and addiing more and more amenities is beginning to take away from the "cruise ship" experience? I grew up sailing to Italy on the Italian Line ships in the '60's and 70's and I think that perhaps ship design is going a little "overboard"?

[bahrain_not_dubai!]

• Firstly, although you do have the job of bulding the most creative ships on the planet... They are only cruise ships... Have you ever looked at Steven Payne in an envious way as he built the Queen Mary 2 and wished you could build one some day?
  
• Secondly, when you built Voyager of the Seas, according to a programme I once watched you had only had passed experince building ferries. Did you ever imagine yourself to come to where you have arived?
  
• Should Azmara consider building a ship of a simmilar size to the present vessels, will you be intrested to build it?

[FinelyCruising]

My question is without sea trials to date, have significant design and engineering changes been made for the subsequent sister ships as Lessons Learned, or has the inital design been solid and satisfactory.

[Schplinky]

When you design a ship, what are the key things that differentiate your approach for designing a Celebrity ship, vs. an RCL one? Which comes first, the demographic or the design?

[hcat]

How difficult will it be to make changes after the ship is built? Like removing the Hot Glass Show area & the Lawn when those items become old or unpopular!

 

I would rather see a large putting green instead of the Lawn & also some type of T pool or another small pool---

 

Seems once things are in they are hard to get rid of--like the Bar at Edge of the Earth--& that was mostly decor rather than structural but it is still there ...I hear they did do a nice job filling in the holes in the lounges now used as a dance floor on M class..

 

Can't wait to hear all the answers to the great questions posted in this thread!

 

Smaller is better!!!!