NAGASAKI, Japan -- It's been more than a decade since North
American cruise executives gathered here to celebrate the launch of
a new ship.
So it was no wonder that a traditional dragon dance, a drum
demonstration and a sake barrel-smashing ceremony marked the
occasion Feb. 26 when the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI)
shipyard handed over the Diamond Princess to Princess Cruises in a
Japanese-influenced christening.
The handover of the 113,000-ton, 2,670-passenger Diamond also
was a celebration of the collaboration between MHI and Princess:
The first time the cruise line has looked to Asia to build a ship
and the first mega cruise vessel Mitsubishi has constructed (the
yard built the 940-passenger Crystal Harmony in 1990).
Kazunore Ohta, MHI's managing director, said the Diamond
delivery was "historic."
"I firmly believe with the completion of this ship ... we have
proved our trustworthiness," he said during a dinner in Nagasaki
for yard and cruise line executives and a handful of U.S. and
Japanese travel agents.
The Diamond Princess and its unfinished sister, the Sapphire
Princess, are a new design for Princess, and both sport new
concepts in their dining and entertainment configurations.
Still, the Diamond and the Sapphire are minor variations on
Princess' Grand-class ships, which were built by Italy's
Fincantieri yard; Princess CEO Peter Ratcliffe said the decision to
go to Japan was influenced by a desire to diversify shipbuilding
locations.
"It was a different option for us," he said.
Mitsubishi, which is well known for constructing other
oceangoing vessels, is not actively pursuing additional cruise ship
orders, Ohta said.
Ratcliffe and Carnival Corp. CEO Micky Arison -- who flew to
Nagasaki for the christening before jetting back to the U.S. for
the naming of the Carnival Miracle in Jacksonville, Fla. --
separately said they were impressed by the craftsmanship and
cleanliness of the ship and that they would "love" to work with the
Japanese yard again.
"It's really been an extraordinary 48 hours," Arison said, after
the ship was delivered. "The care Mitsubishi took to finish without
damaging [the interiors] ... . It's amazing to walk around and see
how they polished and cleaned."
The construction process was marred by a shipboard fire on the
then-Diamond Princess in 2002, which prompted MHI to switch
delivery schedules and ship names and bring on additional workers
to complete the vessels on time.
The damaged Diamond Princess became the Sapphire Princess, which
will be delivered in May.
The deliveries now bracket the Fincantieri-built Caribbean
Princess, which will arrive in April.
The twin ships' onboard passenger product will differ from their
European brethren (see story below), as will the construction
process. In Europe, onboard elements are constructed offsite and
then prefabricated units are loaded onto the vessel. At MHI, most
of the construction and craftwork is done onboard.
During a tour of the unfinished Sapphire Princess last week,
guests sidestepped table saws as Rai Caluori, Princess' senior vice
president of hotel operations, explained MHI's "philosophy."
"The Japanese craftsman work in situ onboard the ship," he said.
"The philosophy is to perform work onboard, rather than
prefabricate it," according to Caluori. "This equates to a
precision that's unmatched."
To contact reporter Rebecca Tobin, send e-mail to [email protected].
Subtle changes make Princess pair unique
ONBOARD THE SAPPHIRE PRINCESS -- The Diamond and the Sapphire
Princess are definitely Princess ships, but a few changes onboard
make these Nagasaki, Japan-born vessels unique.
The ships have five main restaurants instead of three, which
Princess termed an "evolution" of its Personal Choice dining
program.
Four of the main restaurants offer open seating, and each
features a different cuisine theme and its own decor. For example,
the Sterling Steakhouse offers parquet floors and rich, dark
woods.
Princess' new concierge service will handle reservations for the
eateries.
Meanwhile, the Vista Show-lounge featured on the line's
Grand-class ships has been replaced by Club Fusion, a disco-looking
combination of several different venues -- a live performance
space, a bar, a casino and 50 plasma-screen TVs -- meant to keep
the room buzzing throughout the day.
One plan, according to Brian Langston-Carter, Princess'
executive vice president of fleet operations, is to host a "Beatles
Night" with videos, props, roving video cameras and other
interactive features.
A spiral staircase in Club Fusion leads down to a hideaway bar
called the Wake View Bar, which seats about 20.
The vessels' profiles also are different. The Skywalkers
Nightclub, which is strung above the stern on the Grand-class
ships, has been lowered, widened and incorporated into the main
body of the Diamond Princess and Sapphire Princess.
That change makes room for a children's pool on the aft deck.
-- R.T.