dwgreenlee

I would not expect detailed information regarding mechanical and cosmetic repairs. I am confident Oceania will perform such to a proper standard to insure the safe return of the Insignia to service.

I would have assumed (been confident) Oceania would have taken all due care to avoid the ship catching on fire in the first place, so, I do not share your confidence and would prefer data regarding the repair and corrective action. Folks were "surprised" to return to their ship and find it on fire, the Amazon Allure folks were "surprised" to find their cruise cancelled, and the world cruise folks were "surprised" to find they were truncated and needed to find their way to Singapore. I am booked on Insignia later this year and do not like "surprises."

Marine Traffic reports Insignia is currently moored at 18.447458, -66.089385, Boulevard Saint Thomas, San Juan, Puerto Rico PR 00907 - address via Map Quest. This is on the south side of Isla Grande - just south of the Isla Grande airport. This location is an old WWII Naval Station with a graving dock (dry dock) but Insignia is currently located just outside the dock. Insignia has not moved since being towed to San Juan.

It is unclear who owns/operates this facility but several tugs from McAllister Towing operate out of this location and Crowley Marine Services operates port terminals just to the west. Of interest, Navy records list the graving dock width as 83 feet - Insignia is a little wider.

It is unclear if this is the repair location or if she is just docked here waiting for parts. Oceania has not provided any details of who is going to do the repair but this location is not a full service shipyard.

Insignia need to get moving sometime around Feb 22 to make her Mar 22 appointment in Singapore.

Any additional details or insight would be appreciated. It would be great is someone could get eyes on Insignia and report. Human intelligence is always the best.

The one thing that really bugged me on Regal at Thanksgiving was the muster drill. Our cabin was on Riviera deck, far to the front. We were asked to go down the emergency stairs (crew). At the proper deck the stair guide sent us out on Promenade deck. There was not another guide to tell us where to re-enter. The line snaked all the way down to the atrium before we were told to go back in. At that point we had to go back through several other muster stations to get back to the Princess Theatre. After the drill we went out the closest door to go back up the emergency stairwell and were blocked by a stair guide who said the stairs were crew only. We had to go back into the madness of everyone trying to wait on an elevator. We could not get near the stairs. Several issues here to be looked into by Princess.

We always try to get a forward cabin and have done the same thing on several princess ships. The good news is the Promenade deck is where they actually load the lifeboats so - in and actual abandon ship situation - you might well get a chance to get in first and never go to the theater. Also, there are several side - crew only - entrances to the theater - not sure why they did not direct you thru one of those. You should have mentioned this in your guest questioner and I recommend you post it on the Princess face book page - the generally respond to posts there.

After the drill is always a hassle. The emergency routes are always closed and the regular stairs/elevators packed. Take a book, find a seat, and wait 30 minutes for things to clear out.

Do you really believe Carnival does not do shared services? Of course they do.

When you want to write with such authority, understand the subject.

I did not say that Carnival Corp does not have shared services. I also did not offer any of my "beliefs" on the subject of shared services within Carnival Corp. I only noted that Carnival Corp's web site - in contrast to NCL Holdings - does not indicate any form of shared services - which is a verifiable fact

None of your facts are inaccurate in any way; it is your interpretation of those facts that is in question. You're entitled to your opinion, but I'm also entitled to mine, and it's my opinion that yours is overstated :). Time will tell. Until I hear otherwise officially, I will continue to consider Mr Del Rio as my leader. He would not have consented to the sale, otherwise. It's his baby.

Glad I get to keep my opinions, now if I can just keep my wild imaginations. r/Don

Do you know if the $250 obc for shareholders would apply only once for a single booking such as the full w/c or would it count per segment. For carnival it is once per booking number.

Sorry I should have included the link to that offer: http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/ABEA-5WOY6H/3717941172x0x681823/FC8230FE-82FE-4331-B5F6-28A7E543D773/blankPDF.pdf

I would only be guessing at the answer to your question but contact information is provided in the pdf.

r/Don

Your comments have no basis in fact. What shared services is to centralize all operations for all three lines under a person so that there is economy of scale in purchasing and running the various departments of the three lines. That means F&B, airlines, Shore services and other areas that have been combined. I do not think the being CEO of Prestige which runs O and RSSC and responsible for P&L to the CEO of NCL is a figurehead position.

 

Some people on this board have wild imaginations.

The basis upon which I report is the NCL Holding Leadership team web site located at: http://www.nclhltd.com/leadership-team.cfm

They have created five vice president positions, under NCL Holdings, for the following functions for all three brands;

Michael Flesch

Executive Vice President, Shipboard Operations

Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Andrew Stuart

Executive Vice President, International Sales and Charters, Meetings and Incentives

Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Crane Gladding

Senior Vice President, Passenger Services

Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises

John McGirl

Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer

Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Colin Murphy

Senior Vice President, Destination and Port Operations

Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Shipboard Operations, Passenger Services, Human Resources, and Destination and Port Operations seems to sum up all of the passenger interfaces of a cruise line. There is no doubt that NCL Holdings will try to keep the "Brand Identity" of Oceania and Regent separate from the NCL Brand - considering Oceania and Regent are upscale and NCL is more economical - but it is very clear that the officers of Oceania/Prestige Holdings do not have the same control as before. Also, it is not clear that they have any direct control outside of these NCL Holding's vice presidents.

The largest model of Cruise line acquisitions is Carnival Corp's acquisition of Costa, Holland America, Princess, AIDA, Seaborn and Cunard. In those cases, Carnival Corp went to great lengths to preserve the brand identities. Of note, Carnival Corp web site (Carnivalcorp.com not Carnival.com) does not indicate any form of shared services.

In other mergers of travel providers, such as Northwest's acquisition of TWA and the US Air merger with American West; the inferior brand disappeared entirely in a few years.

So you have two models of the extremes of what may happen - only time will tell if any of the impact is seen in the cost or service to the passengers - but it is naive to think that seeing impact is impossible.

As a further variable NCL Holdings did an Initial Public Offering (IPO) and is now publicly traded on the NASDAQ as NCLH. The good news is that you can buy stock in the company - 100 shares minimum - and get $250 shipboard credit for a cruise of 14 days or more on NCL, Oceania, or Regent. The bad news is the company now has a financial/legal responsibility to the shareholders of a for profit company. One further detail, NCL Holdings is incorporated in Bermuda.

This is probability more detail than needed - but I assure none of it comes from my wild imagination. BTW, I am booked on Insignia and look forward to sailing on her. I have no plans to change my booking strategy but I will keep my eyes open.

Since the beginning of O Mr. DelRio has always been on the spot to solve problems that have arisen. He has been curiously silent here during the unfolding of O's most tragic event. Is he still with the company? Why no comment?

Since the acquisition of Oceania by NCL Holdings Inc., Mr. Frank J. Del Rio is no longer in the loop. He is, at best, a figurehead - and not much of one. The real control of shipboard operations and customer relations rests with several "Share Services" vice presidents that manage services across the board for NCL, Oceania and Regent and report to the CEO of NCL Holdings. Check out the "shared services" tab at: http://www.nclhltd.com/leadership-team.cfm

Folks, there are several things to consider here;

First, the shortest sea route for San Juan to Singapore is 11786 nm taking 24.6 days at 20 knots. With traffic and refueling stops this is a 30-day dead head transit - with plenty of problematic issues (weather, Pirates, etc.) along the way. Some of the Navigation and Engineering team will travel with Insignia but the Hotel Department will be a complete re-crew in Singapore. At least this is a good stress test for the repairs.

Second, Oceania, as we know and love it, does not exist. When NCL Holdings bought Oceania they created three "shared services" Vice Presidents, directly under NCL Holdings, that control everything - across the board - for NCL, Oceania, and Regent. This is in stark contrast to when Carnival purchased Princess and went to great lengths to preserve the brand identity. Check out the "shared services" tab at the following link http://www.nclhltd.com/leadership-team.cfm. NCL Holdings, as a publicly traded profit seeking company, is very focused on the bottom line. Lost revenue from this incident is going to be $40 - 50 million USD.

Third, Insignia is not in a shipyard - it is an industrial port with a WWII graving dock. Much cheaper that putting her in a full service shipyard but with much less depth of services available.

Fourth, nine weeks for repairs is a very long time for a cruise ship. The critical path items are very likely parts - damaged in the fire - that are coming from specialty manufactures around the world.

I am not sure there are any conclusions to be drawn here except that I think some confidence expressed in Oceania, based upon members past experience, may be misplaced.

r/Don

Cuba is open for American tourists today - with some hoops to jump thru. Americans wishing to go - legally - may do so under one of the current 12 allowed exceptions to the embargo. At present, the educational exemption is most commonly used for the "people-to-people" programs. However, any travel company, including cruise lines, can pick one of the 12 exemptions, except maybe the "Official Business of the US Government" one, and apply to the Treasury Department, Office of Foreign Assets Control for an export license, get prompt approval, and start taking tourists to Cuba. This process is already happening and the White House clearly expresses the intention to expand it. See the following link for more details. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/12/17/fact-sheet-charting-new-course-cuba.

There are a couple other roadblocks that the administration is working on. First, is that US Credit Cards are not accepted in Cuba, however, once the banks are linked, as Obama promises, that problem will be solved. As a work-around the ship could sell some Canadian Dollars or Euros, which are legal to use, and widely accepted in Cuba. Cuba will also likely remove the current restrictions on use of US Dollars. Second, any ship that calls on a Cuban port is not allowed to call on a US Port for six months. American Airlines has already solved this problem and is currently flying to Cuba. Any cruise line could use the AA model to beat this restriction or simply dedicate a ship sailing out of a non-US (Mexico, Barbados etc.) port for the Cuba sailings. Keep in mind that only US Ports would be off limits - the rest of the world does not honor the Cuban Embargo.

While Congressional approval is not required, it would eliminate the hoops and reduce costs. That is why I sent the following email to my congressional reps. Feel free to cut and pasts. You can email your reps from their official web site.

Senator (Congressman),

I write today in strong support for the initiatives to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba and to eliminate the economic embargo and other sanctions that are harming both the Cuban and US economy. The issues with Cuba are over four decades old and no longer exist. It is time to move on. Your kind attention to this matter is appreciated.

V/R Don Greenlee

Wasn't there also a fire on Azamara's Quest and a Princess R ship (Ocean?)

Yes to both,

30 March 2012 - A fire broke out in the engine room of the Azamara Quest. Power was temporary lost but restored the next day and the ship returned to port under its own power. The ship was out of service until 24 April 2012.

November 2011 - A generator on Ocean Princess caught fire with minor damage. The ship continued on its own power. Currently, the Ocean Princess is reported as being sold to Oceania for delivery in 2016.

Also,

18 June 2009 - Royal Princess experienced and engine room fire and was out of service until 09 July 2009.

There are 5 - 10 fires reported on cruise ships each year. There is a more complete list of ship fires at http://www.cruisejunkie.com/fires.html. Might need to pack a fire extinguisher.

r/Don Greenlee

Some history on Cruise Ship fires:

23 March 2006 - A fire broke out on a passenger cabin balcony on the Star Princess. The investigation, lead by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch of the United Kingdom Department of Transport, concluded that a discarded cigarette was the probable cause of ignition. The ship returned to port under its own power. There were no injuries. The ship was out of service until 15 May 2006.

08 November 2010 - The Carnival Splendor experienced and engine causality that ignited a fire in engine room. The US Coast Guard investigation, conducted on the behalf of the Flag State Panama, concluded human error, training issues and material conditions on the vessel aggravated the incident. The vessel was towed to port. There were no injuries. Carnival canceled the next eight (one week) cruises.

27 February 2012 - The Costa Allegra experienced an engine room fire that resulted in a full loss of propulsion capability. The ship was towed to port and subsequently sold and scraped without ever returning to service.

10 February 2013 - The Carnival Triumph suffered complete loss of power as a result of an engine room fire that was automatically extinguished without injury. The ship was towed to port and was out of service until 03 June 2013.

27 May 2013 - A fire started in the aft mooring area of the RCCL Grandeur of the Seas. The ship never lost power and returned to port under its own power. There were no injuries. The investigation, conducted by the Bahamas Maritime Authority, did not conclusively identify the source of ignition but recommend review and revision of smoking policies. The ship was out of service for the next six (one week) cruises and there were considerable public areas and cabins closed due to ongoing repairs when the ship returned to service.

11 December 2014 - we all know that story.

r/Don Greenlee