GPoll189

Bi male here.

Remember that the cargo ship El Faro went down to the bottom with all on board, during Hurricane Joaquim, last fall.

If you remember the whole incident. The ship ran into a storm just like Anthem did. El Faro lost complete propulsion and started taking on water. However, Anthem never lost power and never lost its propulsion. She turned off her disabled pod after the storm when it was found out that it had encountered damage, and to prevent further damage. Could the ship have sailed on the disabled pod all they way home, of course it could but it would have chanced causing further damage to the pod.

The same thing happened on Allure, it was a clutch on her, but a bearing. To prevent further wear on the bearing they decide to run it at reduced power.

Just letting you know that there are many commercial ships, large cargo ships that only have one pod or screw. They sail completely fine. Anthem with the power she has only needs two pods. Her pods are more powerful than the Freedom Class and Voyguer Class and that is why the only need two compared to three.

A ship can sail without stabilizers. They will not dry dock a ship if a stabilizer is out of order. I was onboard the Explorer of the Seas and during the bridge tour I noticed a note on the captain's consul that states that one of the stabilizers were out of order.

People think that the stabilizers are out at all times. However, this belief isn't true. Actually the stablizers are out for about only 10% of the time. Usually they are placed to help with turning the ship so the ship doesn't lean to much and also during rough weather, but during normal sailing they are retracted. They cause drag which slows down the ship and burns more fuel.

If there is damage to the stabilizer and no other damage the ship will go out on its next voyage.

Actually, the cabins that are presently on Anthem and her sisters are the largest in the Royal Caribbean Fleet. You need to get your facts correct.

Oasis 5 in 2022

Original when the Statendam first came out she had a rubberized jogging track around the smoke stack. After a refit this jogging track was removed and the volleyball/tennis courts were added.

There is no jogging allowed on the covered Promenade Deck because there are passenger cabins underneath. The only place now to jog would be on the deck above the lido going around the covered pool.

When Allure came out she didn't have that many solar panels, however a few month later they installed more solar panels. Now Allure is like her sister.

This picture was taken by me as I left Fort Lauderdale on a Sunday after disembarking the Allure earlier in the morning.

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The transfer of the two S-Class ships is interesting for a couple reasons. It's no secret that Carnival Corp. was actively looking to sell one or more of these ships. I'm speculating that wasn't possible so instead they decided to place them where the best revenue potential exists. Apparently that is no longer Holland America. Also interesting that HAL's capacity will remain flat for the foreseeable future and perhaps even decline if any more ships are transferred out. There is only one new HAL ship order and that will not increase capacity, only keep it flat when the two existing ships are transferred out. Replacing two ships with one may keep capacity flat, but it does place limitations on itinerary expansion. One less ship to explore new itinerary options. There are no indications of any additional new builds for HAL at this time, but of course that can change. Carnival Corp. rarely builds one of anything.

 

I'm just uncertain what all this spells for the HAL brand. Perhaps nothing? Not being in growth mode is never a good thing for any company, and shrinking is even worse. I just wonder how well HAL is doing these days. Apparently not well enough to warrant growth at the moment.

There is actually an option for a second Pinnacle class ship for delivery somewhere in 2018-2019.

RMS Olympic.

If the ship takes the name of Statendam it will only be called Statendam. Also the Pinnacle Class is a larger and wider derivative of the present Signature/Vista class vessels with some new differences on them. You will provable find the same things with the new ship as you see on Eurodam and Niuew Amsterdam. Maybe a few more specialty restaurants will be found on board.

Everyone is forgetting that Oasis 3 is coming out in the Spring of 2016, so this might be making room for them to place this ship in the Caribbean. Only my opinion.

Remember Anthem is taking Quantum's place in the winter months of 2015 and 2016

You can almost be sure that Qunatum will be leaving out of Bayonne for the next few years. However, her summer itinerary might be changed due to what happens with the dredging and channel issue in Bermuda. I would think if they don't do any improvement in Bermuda they will continue their present 8,9,12 day itineraries to Bahamas and the Caribbean.

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The ones on Oasis are constantly stocked. At time some things can be empty but if you go back at a later time those things have been replaced.

Cooper,

If they aren't doing that addition to Westerdam during this dry dock is there a chance at a later date that they might make the same addition they did on Noordam to the rest of the ships. I know when the Noordam came out of Italy the first time they redesigned her aft with a less drastic rake and more cabins. Then over the years each of her older sisters went into dry dock and had those cabins added to them and their rake changed. Will the same addition that Noordam got happen to all of her sisters?? It is just a question.

I'd choose Dream over Allure. Oasis class ships don't look inviting to me. They're too big and boxy, and the missing aft end just looks weird. Wow factor, yes; but not inviting. I get it: it's unreasonable to expect it to look like the Queen Mary (gorgeous ship), or even the Festivale (retains some classic elements). But I still like something with a more old-school look, and the Dream seems like a halfway decent compromise.

I can understand what you are saying but you can look at the outside of a ship and judge what is on the inside. It is just like looking at a books cover you don't know how good the book would be. Taking a walk in the Central Park Area on either Oasis or Allure might change you mind.

I have been on the Carnival Dream and Oasis of the Seas which is the sister of Allure. I can tell you that the Carnival Dream felt more crowded that the Oasis. It is something in the design of the Oasis sisters that make them work very well. You actually feel like you are on a ship half the size. In addition you have the Boardwalk with the Aqua Theater and the Central Park with the different speciality restaurants and topical plants. I fell that nothing right now can touch what RCI offers with Oasis and Allure. In addition a third Oasis ship will be sailing in 2016.

You will of course pay more to sail the Oasis sisters but in my opinion it is totally worth the money to experience what these ships offer. As someone stated even the shows, both in the main show lounge and the Aqua Theater put the shows that Carnival has below them.

Remember again this is my opinion, people do have their favorite ship and line. Mine use to be HAL and the Noordam, but it has recently switched to RCI and the Oasis sisters. I have sailed on Oasis 4 times and will be boarding the Allure next week with another cruise on her a few weeks later.

It doesn't look that the Westerdam will be getting the Noordam refit with the additional cabins on the Observation Deck. However, is that in store for her at a later date. I loved the area on the Noordam outside of the Crow's Nest when I sailed on her. It is sad that they removed that area last year.

Right now it seems that Allure will only be in Europe for the Spring and Summer months. After those seasons and her dry dock she will return to Fort Lauderdale.

It looks like the platforms are down and the Aqua Theater is getting ready to be put into action. I saw earlier today they were putting the padding onto the trampoline. Many different reasons that the shows haven't been put on, but I would put my money on that the weather wasn't productive to perform the show.

For all the West Coast passenger the Signature Class ship will probably not be arriving until the Panama Canal expansion is completed. This ship Post Panamax, meaning she won't be able to transit the present locks at the Panama Canal. Once the new locks open, which I heard is delayed, then they will be able to send this ship to the west coast. I don't think they will take her around the Horn each year to transfer her from the East Coast to the West Coast. Hopefully they can get the locks back on schedule and this won't be a problem.

I have no idea why the didn't do work on the flow rider when she was in dry dock but from the look at it the main floor area of the Flowrider is in better condition than the one I saw on the Oasis this past November. Chances are that they started the repair work while she was in dry dock and weren't able to complete it.

Now moving onto the Aqua Theater there is a very good chance that the weather isn't cooperating with them these first couple of days out of Florida. As we know there was a major storm the passed through the east coast yesterday and today. I remember on my trip in November the first three days of Aqua shows onboard the Oasis were cancelled because of the weather.

We not being on the ship don't know exactly what is going on. One person did come back and say the were doing work on the decking around the Flowrider. However, this person didn't mention anything about the Aqua Theater Pool. I was on the Oasis when the took the Oasis Dunes out of service for 3 days so they could recarpet it.

The next Ocean Aria show time is at 9:00PM tonight. Lets see if it is performed tonight. If the weather is to windy or rough they will cancel the shows.

Remember there are chances that the weather on board the ship isn't safe enough for the performers to perform the shows. That is why they Aqua Theater isn't in action.

The ships that departed prior to Allure do not call at a close port like Nassau, Bahamas, so they couldn't wait as long.

Call just went out that Allure is underway.