Monday, May 4, 2015
Canadians Aboard Anthem Of The Seas
All Credits Go To:
Published: April 24, 2015, 11:00 pm
Updated: 1 week ago
ABOARD ANTHEM OF THE SEAS — Earlier this week my blog, I wrote about how surprised I was to be the only Canadian journalist here on Royal Caribbean’s newest ship. In an even bigger surprise, in addition to the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, Australia and South America, there is print and electronic media representation from Mexico. Yes, Mexico!
During a media session, an executive pointed out that Mexicans are the biggest spenders on Royal Caribbean ships.
As the residents of Anthem of the Seas’ summer home (Southampton) might say: “Blimey.”
While North America is miles ahead of other nations when it comes to the number of cruisers — most of whom head to the Caribbean and Alaska — the rest of the world is catching up. And the new ships are heading there to meet them, which explains the widespread media representation here.
The middle classes of many of these countries are cruising now and they’re going all over the world to satisfy their wanderlusts.
So is Royal Caribbean.
Anthem of the Seas is No. 2 in the highly touted, futuristic Quantum Class. In a column last year, I suggested Quantum of the Seas would be the star of the class of 2014 ships and its successful winter home-porting in New York confirms that.
England is Anthem’s first home for a summer of cruising the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands. A
One example of Anthem’s artwork
Transatlantic cruise will make this 166,000-ton, 4,000-passenger ship, the most advanced to make New York its permanent home.
Meanwhile, after wintering in the Big Apple, Quantum is off to Shanghai to become the newest ship home-porting in China.
Ovation of the Seas, No. 3 in the Quantum Class, won’t even stop for a cup of coffee in North America. Next spring, she’ll sail from the Meyer Werft Shipyard straight to China for the summer, then move on — as just announced — to become the newest ship in Australia.
As for Anthem, there are some differences from her one-year-old sister.
The artwork is much better than Quantum’s. The ship seems to have a better flow from bow to stern. The new and much-heralded Dynamic Diningproblem — four dining rooms instead of a main one — is solved because veteran cruisers like having the same waiters. On Anthem (call it Dynamic 2.0), they can rotate dining rooms with the same crew, a comfort thing. Anthem has rapid-fire, reasonably priced Internet, a first for the industry.
Like Quantum, it also has North Star, the Plexiglas ball that takes passengers 300 metres above the sea,
SeaPlex and its roller skating and dodge cars, rooms full of Internet games and RipCord, a skydiving simulator. Chef Jamie Oliver has his second at-sea restaurant, which on Quantum was far and away the most popular specialty dining site with main courses of $15 to $20.
Finally, and most importantly, if you’ve waited in line to board, you know it can be a pain. Now you can do the paperwork online from home and board, curbside to pool deck, in just 10 minutes — another industry first. At every turn, Anthem of the Seas is a favourite both with baby boomers, who have embraced technology and multi-generational families.
In North America, she’ll be sailing from New York to Bermuda, the Caribbean and through the northeastern United States to the Maritimes.
You’ll find all kinds of pictures and news about Anthem posted here earlier this week.
Credits:http://o.canada.com/category/travel
Interview with Captain Tore
You step onto the "biggest cruise ship in the world" and — to use Royal Caribbeanvernacular, you are WOW-ed. That's what the majority of around 6,000 people experience every week, when the Allure of the Seas sail out of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale if they're seeing the big ship for the first time.
How about the captain? How did he feel the first time he boarded Allure of the Seas?
Tore Grimstad is one of two captains of the Allure. For him, that day was August 4, 2013.
"My God," he remembers with the broad smile that is his trademark. "I came fromFreedom of the Seas. Really? This was like an apartment building. It's amazing what
they've done. It's mind blowing."
they've done. It's mind blowing."
And being on the bridge to sail it?
"Something about this ship made me feel included right away," he says. "It's been really great. I enjoy every day. To be able to navigate narrow ports in shallow waters is fascinating and challenging, and gives me a feeling of pleasure. But the highlight of the job is the crew. I really mean that. I don't want to become some kind of celebrity because I'm not. It's the team."
In the case of the Allure (and Oasis of the Seas), the team is 2,160 strong.
"I focus a lot on the crew, keeping them happy and treating them with respect," he adds. "If the crew is happy, everyone is happy."
Captain Tore (they go by "Captain" and their first names) is an interesting study because, in part, that's what cruise ship captains are. Most of them come from Scandinavia (he's a Norwegian) or Italy, many from a family steeped in the ways of the sea.
Tore Grimstad is a 7th-generation man of the sea and home was, and still is, the islands on the south-west coast of Norway. He comes from the islands of Gurskoy/Hareid-Landet — try finding that on your map — where he grew up reading and hearing "juicy stories from the seven seas." It wasn't a given that he would be a seaman, but it was natural.
"It just happened," he says.
Like so many, being a fisherman came first, followed by a compulsory stint in the service, in his case the Royal Navy. That was followed by working on a cargo tanker, spending some time ashore to find out it wasn't for him, and sending out 40 applications that could lead to a return to the sea.
"They all said no," he recalls.
So he pounded the pavement and, fortunately, walked into an office in Bergen to find an agent from Royal Caribbean. Once Grimstad laid out his experience and his desire, 
the agent said:
the agent said:
"Yes, can you be in New York in six days? We need a second officer on the Song of America."
Six days turned out to be eight. With his navy background, Tore was a stickler for instructions, so when his papers told him to take a bus from JFK to a hotel in Times Square, that's what he did. It was, needless to say, his first time in New York and here's what followed:
"I never understood that you could have a hotel in the middle of a building, and I was walking around. that block many times until I realized the Marriott was actually on the 28th floor."
That was 1994 and the beginning of an on-again, off-again relationship with Royal Caribbean. In those days, ships were registered in Norway, and bridge officers were hired and paid in Norway. When the cruise line flagged out its last Norwegian ship, he was automatically unemployed.
Grimstad worked a variety of sea-related jobs, including captain of a Norwegian-Russian-American ship stationed near the equator with the capability of launching rockets ("I was a captain, not a rocket scientist"), plus a relief position with the small European cruise line Fred.Olsen.
For the next two years, he left the door open for a return to Royal Caribbean, as a staff captain. He walked through it a couple of times, filling in as captain of Explorer of the Seas and then Freedom.
One of his best friends, fellow Norwegian Johnny Faevelen, was a Royal Caribbean captain and when Grimstad was close to moving to another cruise line offering more money, Faevelen convinced him to join his team on Serenade of the Seas. Last summer, when Tore arrived to be captain of the Allure, "Captain Johnny" was waiting for him.
"He said: '"So glad to see you…so glad the company chose you'…and he gave me a hug," Captain Tore adds. "There's nobody like him."
Today, Captain Johnny and Captain Tore share more than a friendship. They share the "biggest cruise ship in the world", switching chairs every 10 weeks.
Tomorrow: The home life of Captain TorePorts Of Auckland May Not Build Wharf Big Enough To Handle Ovation Of The Seas
(8 p.m. EDT) -- Two weeks after announcing the deployment of the brand new Ovation of the Seas to Australia for five itineraries to New Zealand, Royal Caribbean has been faced with its first major obstacle -- Ports of Auckland has changed its plans to build a wharf big enough.
Auckland Council, which owns the port company, announced on Thursday that only one of two planned expansions would proceed at Bledisloe Wharf, rendering it unable to accommodate the 348-metre, 4,180-passenger Ovation of the Seas.
According to Cruise New Zealand, this compromise not only threatens the first season of its biggest-ever visiting ship, it also jeopardises the country's fast-growing cruise industry and national economy.
“Ports of Auckland has advised the port will not be able to take the new generation of larger ships such as the Ovation of the Seas, without the full extension it had originally planned,” said Cruise New Zealand chairman Kevin O'Sullivan. “If the ship is unable to call at Auckland, it is unlikely to come to New Zealand at all.”
But this worst-case scenario has not yet been confirmed by the ship's operator.
Gavin Smith, regional vice president, Asia Pacific, Royal Caribbean Cruises, told Cruise Critic that the company would attempt to seek a solution to the issue.
“We are disappointed to learn about Ports of Auckland's concern regarding berthing for Ovation of the Seas,” Smith said.
“Auckland is an important destination for our guests who visit from around the world. We will continue to work closely with Ports of Auckland to determine a working solution for Ovation of the Seas to visit.”
Smith said the company “remains in discussions with ports around New Zealand” regarding the proposed itineraries for Ovation of the Seas.
The shock agreement between Ports of Auckland and Auckland Council follows a four-week “stand-off”, after councillors reacted to news that the extensions would reach almost 100 metres into the harbour, local media reported. Community group, Stop Stealing Our Harbour, is planning a protest march in the city on Sunday.
Auckland's full wharf extension plans will be the subject of a forthcoming, year-long Port Future Study into the impacts and effects of the extensions.
“This will determine the extent of any further port extensions,” said O'Sullivan. “We will continue discussions in Auckland to see if a resolution can be found.”
--By Louise Goldsbury, Australia Editor
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)