Ponant explorers to feature underwater lounge

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 14 March 2017 14 March 2017

Construction of Le Lapérouse continues with the laying of the first block, while the first sheet of steel has been cut for Le Champlain, marking the launch of the construction of the second in the series of four Ponant Explorer ships, due to be delivered in Summer 2018 and Summer 2019.

“These four yachts will be fitted with a multi-sensorial underwater lounge, an exclusive design and a world first, which will be revealed in May 2017,” the expedition cruise line said in a statement. These first two ships will be operational for Summer 2018, while the next two ships, Le Bougainville and Le Dumont d’Urville will arrive for the Summer 2019 season.

“This new generation of ships flying the French flag will be fitted with the latest technology and will be certified 1C (Ice class). These flagships will meet the standards of the international Cleanship label (Bureau Veritas), as a result of their innovative green technology,” Ponant said.

Pool deck redesigned to face outward on Celebrity Edge class

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 13 March 2017 13 March 2017

All sunbeds on the Resort Deck, which is the new name of the pool deck, look out to the sea rather than the middle of the deck, where the pool is.

The Celebrity Edge class is the first series of shops the Royal Caribbean group has designed by using 3D technology. Fain said that customers of Celebrity Cruises had required a better connectivity with the sea, which is why it was considered important to completely redesign the pool deck on the new class of ships.

The Resort Deck will feature a 25 yard long pool and further up, there will be Rooftop Garden, which indicates evolution from the Lawn Club on the Solstice class ships. There will be film shows and barbecue in the rooftop garden in the evening.

Richard D. Fain, chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd that owns Celebrity Cruises said the redesign of cabins and public areas required a major structural change whereby the structural frame of the vessel was moved in the area between the cabin blocks from both sides of balcony doors and windows, i.e. the outside of the vessel.

The Celebrity Edge class vessels could be compared to an iPhone: the technologies pre-dated the handset, but in Apple employed these technologies in a new way that transformed the mobile handset market, said Fain.

The use of 3D technology has allowed the designers of the new class of ships to make virtual walks on board the vessels, which has helped to introduce several innovations on board, he said.

Carnival opens fleet operations center in Seattle

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 13 March 2017 13 March 2017

Carnival Corporation & plc, the world’s largest cruise shipping company, announced today that it is expanding the commercial maritime industry’s first and most technologically advanced Fleet Operations Centers with the opening of a new facility in Seattle.

The company’s first Fleet Operations Center is located in Hamburg, Germany, with both centers providing real-time support for its 102-ship fleet, the largest in the cruise industry. A third center will be added to the global network later this year when construction is scheduled to be complete on a facility in Miami at the company’s headquarters.

The new Fleet Operations Centers utilize a state-of-the-art tracking and data-analysis platform that enables real-time information sharing between Carnival Corporation ships and specialized onshore teams designed to support fleet operations.

The proprietary system significantly improves communication from ship to shore, providing new capabilities for enhancing the safe passage of ships at sea while improving operational efficiencies and supporting overall environmental initiatives at Carnival Corporation.

The advanced system, which initially captures thousands of data points and provides real-time analytics for 28 distinct parameters for navigational safety from each ship, focuses on the following strategic areas to optimize safety, efficiency and overall fleet performance:

• Nautical Operations & Safety – including the capability to see real-time radar visuals, stability conditions, automation, the Safety Management and Command System, and webcams from each ship, along with GPS location, routing, ship conditions and weather data.
• Procedural Optimization & Efficiency – including speeds, navigational data and engine conditions.
• Sustainability – including fuel and energy usage, emissions levels, water and waste management.

Utilising cloud-based technology from Microsoft, this new system – dubbed “Neptune” – has been in use at the Carnival Maritime Fleet Operations Center (FOC) in Hamburg, Germany, as announced in October 2015. Carnival has been piloting the system with its European cruise line brands in Hamburg and Southampton, England. Based on the system’s success, the company will continue rolling out the system this year to further increase the monitoring capability of its ships sailing in the U.S. and Caribbean, through its Fleet Operation Centers in Miami and Seattle.

The new FOCs will provide an additional layer of support, where the shore-based analytics system will automatically generate alerts to help provide support in addressing any potential safety or weather-related issues across the fleet. Moving forward, the system’s ability to process and analyze “big data” in real time will enable Carnival Corporation and its brands to do predictive analysis with the potential to further improve safety and operations.

German deep sea cruise market grew 11.3% to 2.02 million passengers 2016

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

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Published: 13 March 2017 13 March 2017

The German deep sea cruise market has surpassed the two million passenger mark for the first time in 2016, when it expanded by 11.3% to 2.02 million passengers, figures released by CLIA Deutschland show.

The turnover of the industry increased by 17.8% to €3.38 billion and the growth figures were the strongest since 2010 and the growth was driven by additional supply of berths. The average price of a cruise holiday the Germans booked rose by 6.0% to €1,675 and the average daily rate rose by 2.8% to €187.00.

Germans preferred slightly shorter cruises last year as the average duration fell to 8.69 nights from 8.94 in 2015, CLIA Deutschland said in a statement.