NCL
CORP. placed a multi-megaship order from Aker Yards last
week, signing a $2.8 billion contract for two 150,000-ton,
4,200-passenger cruise ships, with an option for a third, to be
delivered between 2009 and 2010. The project, currently termed F3
in reference to the fact that it would be the third generation of
NCL's "Freestyle Cruising" ships, aims to build the fourth largest
cruise ships in existence, eclipsed only by Royal Caribbean's
220,000-ton Genesis project, Royal Caribbean's Freedom Class ships,
and Cunard's Queen Mary 2, in terms of tonnage. In terms of
passengers, the ships would place second to the Genesis' projected
capacity of 5,400 lower berths. Including crew, the F3 ships will
carry up to 6,400 people and will be 1,066 feet long, approximately
the height of the Eiffel Tower. NCL said the ships will cost $941.5
million per ship for the first two, and $896.7 million for the
third. NCL said that 100% of the F3 ships' 1,470 outer staterooms
and suites would have balconies.
NCL CEO
COLIN VEITCH said that what's "attractive about bigger
ships is you have more choice and variety onboard" and that, "we
make a lot more money on them." Tan Sri KT Lim, chairman of NCL and
parent Star Cruises, noted that by 2010 "there will be almost
nothing left of the NCL we bought in 2000 except the name and the
people. And in place of the old, mixed fleet we inherited, there
will be the youngest, most innovative, and most exciting fleet in
the industry." The contract with Aker represents a new partnership
between the yard and NCL, which has recently built its ships with
Germany's Meyer Werft yard. Veitch said he has been happy with
Meyer Werft but that as NCL's building needs increased he did not
want to be dependent on one shipyard.
AKER
YARDS said that with this order, it has, is or will build
the twelve largest cruise vessels in the world. With the
acquisition of France's Chantiers d'Atlantique yard in Saint
Nazaire this year, Aker became Europe's largest shipbuilder, and
one of the top four worldwide. It inherited four MSC ships on
order, two of which are 89,000-ton, 2,550-passenger ships and the
other two 133,500-ton, 3,300- passenger vessels. Meanwhile, at
Aker's shipyard in Turku, Finland, construction is moving along on
Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas, the 168,000-ton,
3,600-passenger sister-ship to the world's current largest ship,
Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas, and on the 220,000-ton,
5,400-lower berth "mega-mega" ship, currently termed Project
Genesis.
PRINCESS
CRUISES said it will convert completely to electronic
ticketing for cruise and air bookings, becoming the first cruise
line to do so -- a move the line said will enable it to provide
cruise documents to its passengers earlier than any other line in
the industry, and offer future passengers 24-hour access to their
information through the online Cruise Personalizer. The program
will replace the second of two mailings that cruise passengers
receive prior to their sailing; they will still get the first
mailing with information on shore excursions, the passengers'
contract and FAQ's. Princess also said the program is expected to
save travel agents both time and money, as they will no longer need
to send final ticket packages on to clients, reducing the resources
associated with handling travel documents. The transition to the
Princess eTickets program will begin Nov. 17 and roll across the
fleet within a few weeks with bookings on the Golden Princess to be
the last to make the switch, on Dec. 16.
Cruise
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