CRUISING 2000: Year-End Review - notable events and services in travel industry

Cruise Travel, Jan, 2001 by Theodore W. Scull

Princess Cruises introduced the Ocean Princess, the fourth in the 77,000-grt Sun Princess series, and is awaiting the Golden Princess, consort for the 109,000-grt Grand Princess. The Sky Princess left the main North American Princess fleet to take up Sydney as a homeport under the name Pacific Sky, replacing the veteran Fair Princess, which was sold to a Far Eastern buyer.

London-based P&O Steam Navigation, Princess's parent company, took delivery of the British-flag Aurora, a 76,000-grt running-mate to the Oriana, but her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, was marred by mechanical failure. She returned to the German shipyard for repairs, and since then has had an uneventful year. P&O separated its cruising divisions from its port and logistic operations and sold off the company's remaining properties. P&O flirted with taking over European-based Festival Cruises, to obtain an even larger share of the European market, but then backed off, satisfied for the present to control a healthy share of the German market with its Aida brand.

Carnival Corporation announced in March that a letter of intent had been signed with Chantiers de l'Atlantique to build a new trans-Atlantic liner for Cunard dubbed the Queen Mary 2. Then on November 6, a firm contract worth $780 million was negotiated for a vessel of approximately 150,000 grt, 1,132 feet in length, with a beam of 135 feet. When delivered at the end of 2003, she will become the largest passenger ship ever built. The drawings show a racy QE2-style ship with several decks of veranda cabins and a bridge front reminiscent of the Queen Mary. Interiors will be in an Art Deco style that evokes the grand era of ocean-liner travel. The new ship will largely replace the QE2 on the North Atlantic and operate a longer, more intense sailing schedule between North America, Great Britain, and occasionally to France. The QE2 has successfully tested England to Cape Town sailings, and more are planned, in addition to long Pacific Ocean cruises and her staple World Cruise.

Holland America Line took delivery of the Zaandam, a slightly larger version in the Statendam Class, and then the Amsterdam to act as a co-flagship to the Rotterdam, both sharing the line's annual around-the-world cruise. In October, the 1983-built Nieuw Amsterdam was handed over to the newly established United States Lines, a division of American Classic Voyages. The ship went into Cascade General in Portland, Oregon, emerging as the U.S.-flag Patriot, which sailed from San Francisco to Honolulu and began operating weekly inter-island Hawaiian itineraries last month.

Premier Cruises had a most troubled year involving every ship in its fleet, except for the long-serving Oceanic (aka Big Red Boat I). First, the new Mexican cruise programs failed to attract much business and got canceled almost as they began. Charters were dropped, and the company's Seawind Crown went to a Spanish operator in the Mediterranean. The blue-hulled SeaBreeze had numerous engine problems. The OceanBreeze, under charter to Imperial Majesty Cruise Lines, was sold to that company. The IslandBreeze finished up with its Thomson charter and took up weekly cruises from Houston as the Big Red Boat III, only to have air-conditioning problems and a June accident when a tug damaged one of the ship's propellers, sending the vessel into a shipyard for repairs.