CCL to remove two more ships from fleet beyond previous disclosure

[rkacruiser]

1 minute ago, kazu said:

 

Our ship ran aground (not intentionally) heading to dock Buenos Aires.  Boy you could feel that.

It took about 8 hours to get the ship out and we had very limited time in Buenos Aires.

 

The ship was being inspected big time to make sure all was well.

Apparently the mud had accumulated and had not been cleaned so the crew were caught very off guard.

 

An interesting memory, kazu.  Thanks for posting it.  Just not quite the same thing as the ship being intentionally run aground.  

[TiogaCruiser]

3 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Definitely sad to see Pacific Aria going there.

 

Roy

😪😭

[ski ww]

12 hours ago, YXU AC*SE said:

 

See for yourself.   Scott. 

 

 

Thanks for sharing the video, very interesting, although sad to watch as I'm sure it must be for the ships officers.

[VennDiagram]

12 hours ago, Crazy For Cats said:

Slight correction to my previous post.  I finally found the post again.  It is the Pacific Princess and Pacific Aria.  The first is a a Princess ship and the Aria is the former Ryndam which is part of P&O.  Both are heading to Turkey.

 

12 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Definitely sad to see Pacific Aria going there.

 

Roy

 

12 hours ago, frankc98376 said:

Very sad the Pacific Princess is as loved by Princess people as Prinsendam was to HAL passengers

 

We are very sad to hear this.  Ryndam was the first ship my DH and I cruised on together.  She's the reason DH got hooked on cruising.  I tried and failed to cruise on Pacific Princess one Alaska season.  Sigh... 😞 

[DaveOKC]

1 hour ago, VennDiagram said:

 

 

 

We are very sad to hear this.  Ryndam was the first ship my DH and I cruised on together.  She's the reason DH got hooked on cruising.  I tried and failed to cruise on Pacific Princess one Alaska season.  Sigh... 😞 

Ryndam was also our first HAL cruise, in September 2001.  Will never forget that one,

[Himself]

16 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Definitely sad to see Pacific Aria going there.

 

Roy

That is indeed sad

[YXU AC*SE]

The Pacific Aria is waiting he Suez transit, and is currently destined for Limassol, CY and the Moni anchorage.  There may be hope yet.  Scott. 

 

 

[St Pete Cruiser]

Pacific Aria/Ryndam is actually slightly newer than the Maasdam that was sold by HAL.  Ryndam left the fleet as Koningsdam was being finished along with Statendam.  

 

It does seem hard to comprehend that ships in relatively good repair and running condition are being sold for scrap when there are older ships around in maybe lesser fleets.  With new builds costing $500 million and up, isn't a 25 year old cruise ship in sailing condition worth more than scrap value?  Wouldn't it be better to hold on/lay up a ship for 6 months to a year to see if the market improves rather than taking scrap value now?

 

If Fred Wilson got the Rotterdam and Amsterdam for little more than scrap value, they should look pretty smart next year if and when the cruise market reopens with pent up demand.  The Amsterdam is only 20 years old and has had recent updates and investment, including being the only R class with azipods.

 

[KirkNC]

22 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Our ship ran aground (not intentionally) heading to dock Buenos Aires.  Boy you could feel that.

It took about 8 hours to get the ship out and we had very limited time in Buenos Aires.

 

The ship was being inspected big time to make sure all was well.

Apparently the mud had accumulated and had not been cleaned so the crew were caught very off guard.

If I recall correctly, that is a one long and shallow approach.  

[crusinbanjo]

wow 

13 hours ago, ski ww said:

Thanks for sharing the video, very interesting, although sad to watch as I'm sure it must be for the ships officers.

Wow, more ships there than I expected

[iancal]

I suspect that there will be more ships leaving Carnival Corp cruise line fleets-either on the auction block or destined for the breaker's yard.

 

The poor earners, the older ones requiring extensive capital upgrades, or the ones that do not fit into the future marketing plans of the respective cruise lines.

Edited August 30, 2020 by iancal

[rafinmd]

On 8/29/2020 at 6:05 AM, ski ww said:

Thanks for sharing the video, very interesting, although sad to watch as I'm sure it must be for the ships officers.

I wonder how many of those are Carnival officers vs employees of the breakers.

 

Roy

[bennybear]

Does anyone have a source re the Pacific Princess being scrapped?   Makes me so sad as we were to sail on her this fall in Tahiti!  

[rkacruiser]

5 hours ago, rafinmd said:

I wonder how many of those are Carnival officers vs employees of the breakers.

 

Roy

 

In the video of the grounding in Turkey of Carnival Fantasy that I saw some on the Bridge were in civilian clothes, the employees of the breakers, I think.  There were several in their white uniforms.  Those, I assume, were Carnival Fantasy's Deck Officers.  

[YXU AC*SE]

14 hours ago, bennybear said:

Does anyone have a source re the Pacific Princess being scrapped?  

 

The Pacifics Princess,  Dawn, and Aria (former Ryndam) are currently transiting the Suez all with destination of Moni Bay, Limassol, CY.

 

 

[sagavista]

There is no source to the demise of the Pacific Princess.  It's a RUMOR!  All ships have a price for sale - I would think CCL would offer a good price to either Azamara or Oceania to add to their fleet.  Although do they have the $$$$ to buy?   

[bennybear]

1 hour ago, sagavista said:

There is no source to the demise of the Pacific Princess.  It's a RUMOR!  All ships have a price for sale - I would think CCL would offer a good price to either Azamara or Oceania to add to their fleet.  Although do they have the $$$$ to buy?   

 

I haven’t been able to find one either.  It would make sense that she would be sold before being scrapped! 

[mainelycruising]

I find it strange when the ex-Ryndam is to be scrapped before the Marella Dream (ex-Westerdam/Homeric - the ship that kept HAL afloat through turbulent times), which was built more than a decade before.  It would not surprise me to see Marella (owned by TUI,  catering primarily to the British) wound up due to this pandemic.  It exists on old ships cast off by HAL and RCI.

[St Pete Cruiser]

6 minutes ago, mainelycruising said:

I find it strange when the ex-Ryndam is to be scrapped before the Marella Dream (ex-Westerdam/Homeric - the ship that kept HAL afloat through turbulent times), which was built more than a decade before.  It would not surprise me to see Marella (owned by TUI,  catering primarily to the British) wound up due to this pandemic.  It exists on old ships cast off by HAL and RCI.

Yes, for sure.

 

[iancal]

I would think that it comes down to how much profit each ship has spun off for it's owners, what the occupancy trends are, and how much capital investment the cruise line anticipates is required over the next few years to keep the ship in service.

 

HAL did not cut four ships from the fleet because they were meeting or exceeding revenue and profit goals.  Or because they required little capital investment over the next few years.   The cost of keeping them in storage exceeded their economic value, current and future, to the cruise line.  Same for Prinsendam.   

 

This may seem harsh but it is simply good business and protecting the interests of the shareholders.   Shareholders do not wax poetic about ships and history, they are concerned about equity growth, divdends, ROI,etc.

Edited August 31, 2020 by iancal

[St Pete Cruiser]

1 hour ago, iancal said:

I would think that it comes down to how much profit each ship has spun off for it's owners, what the occupancy trends are, and how much capital investment the cruise line anticipates is required over the next few years to keep the ship in service.

 

HAL did not cut four ships from the fleet because they were meeting or exceeding revenue and profit goals.  Or because they required little capital investment over the next few years.   The cost of keeping them in storage exceeded their economic value, current and future, to the cruise line.  Same for Prinsendam.   

 

This may seem harsh but it is simply good business and protecting the interests of the shareholders.   Shareholders do not wax poetic about ships and history, they are concerned about equity growth, divdends, ROI,etc.

HAL's senior cruisers are less likely to return as fast as younger healthier ones. The smaller ships preferred by many of us on longer itineraries were the first to go. 

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, iancal said:

Shareholders do not wax poetic about ships and history, they are concerned about equity growth, divdends, ROI,etc.

 

This shareholder does care about the ships and their history!  I am also concerned about the financial side of the equation as well, of course.  Neither side of the equation looks particularly "bright" to me at this time.  

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, St Pete Cruiser said:

HAL's senior cruisers are less likely to return as fast as younger healthier ones.

 

I had my annual physical this morning with my PCP who is a younger senior citizen than me and one who enjoys travel as much as I do.  During my exam, our conversation briefly turned to cruising.  "It's good that you have been able to do as much cruising as you have done", the doctor said.  St Pete Cruiser's comment supports what I think is likely to happen, at least, for me.   

[iancal]

My daughter has two children.  Any thoughts of taking her family on a cruise have disappeared from her mind.  Not even a consideration any more.   Perhaps it will be in three or four years.

 

We are in our late 60's.  We are not even thinking about cruises either.  We have moved on for the moment.  Our thoughts have turned to flying and to  prioritizing our bucket list by which countries have done a good job on covid, whose numbers are low, etc.  For flights, we will prioritize by whether we can fly direct or by what itineraries help us to avoid certain airports/countries that have been at high risk.  Even then it will be late 2021 or some time in 2022 before we feel comfortable with travel.

Edited September 1, 2020 by iancal

[Copper10-8]

On 8/28/2020 at 4:22 PM, kazu said:

 

Our ship ran aground (not intentionally) heading to dock Buenos Aires.  Boy you could feel that.

It took about 8 hours to get the ship out and we had very limited time in Buenos Aires.

 

The ship was being inspected big time to make sure all was well.

Apparently the mud had accumulated and had not been cleaned so the crew were caught very off guard.

 

Looks to me like the local pilot dropped the ball big time on that one