Too many ships?

[above sea level cruiser]

With all the newbuilds, rebuilds, bigbuilds etc. I wonder what will happen with all the "current" ships? With new ships being built at such an amazing rate, how long is it before they retire the ones we cruise on now? Any guesses?

[RiverRev]

I think what we are seeing is an increased interest in cruising and an attempt to meet demand. Some ships like Majesty will move lower on the food chain but will still have a following. Who knows, maybe RCCL will open new opportunities like Gallopogos sailings or Antarctica. Other cruise lines are already exploring these options.

[Isaac]

I don't think you will see a lot of current ships being retired as much as you will see them transferred and/or sold to other lines. We've already seen it with Princess moving ships to P&O, NCL shifting ships over to Star, etc. With the contraction of the industry into just a few really big companies, they just end up moving them from line A to line B, etc. Unfortunately, the net result is the loss of ships with individual identities in the mainstream US market as they are replaced with "classes" of essentially identical ships.

[above sea level cruiser]

I don't think you will see a lot of current ships being retired as much as you will see them transferred and/or sold to other lines. We've already seen it with Princess moving ships to P&O, NCL shifting ships over to Star, etc. With the contraction of the industry into just a few really big companies, they just end up moving them from line A to line B, etc. Unfortunately, the net result is the loss of ships with individual identities in the mainstream US market as they are replaced with "classes" of essentially identical ships.

Yes but, for every new ship - which seems to be about 4 a year from the various shipyards, what the heck are they going to do with the ones we currently sail on? What I mean to say is, supply and demand aside, they seem to be building these things like no tomorrow! Surely there is going to come a point in time they retire them. That being said, I really wonder (refurbishments included) - what the average life of a cruise ship (as we know them now) is? Some say this ship is worn, this ship needs dry dock etc. But when do they stop refurbishing? The things are worth millions to build - I just wonder where they will all end up.

[Retired not Expired]

Like someone said, there are many markets that could be open. Cruisers are always asking for new ports of call.

 

And who knows, maybe one of the cruise lines will open a Southwest or Jetblue type cruise line with less frills. A basic cruise with a pay as you go for meals and shows. There's one or two small ones out there now.

[suziehmkr]

Well, I vote that RCCL sends some of them over to Tahiti so I don't have to go on Princess again! ;)

[grvdggr71]

A lot of older ships that are really outdated are simply transferred to new cruiselines in different markets. For example, Royal Caribbean's Viking Serenade is now at Island Cruises in the UK (and Island is an RC venture). NCL, which is owned by Star Cruises (Asia), usually sends their older ships to Star for use in the relatively new Asian market.

 

Really old ships will get sold for scrap. By that time, these ships have earned back far more than they are worth.

[suziehmkr]

Ah! The Viking Serenade - still going strong. That was our first cruise ship. Fond memories!

[OPSoccermom]

Unfortunately, Majesty is still way too big for markets such as Antarctica or the Galapagos. Ecuador has limits on the total number of people who are allowed in the Galapagos national park per week. The capacity of Majesty exceeds the total for the entire park.

[Past it]

We get some of them down here for the South Pacific region.Wish they would send some good ones though like Voyager or Brilliance :p instead we get the old Jubillee

[cmich068]

you'll be getting Vision class soon enough :P

[lawsoncd3]

Ah! The Viking Serenade - still going strong. That was our first cruise ship. Fond memories!

I'm glad to see that the Viking Serenade is still going strong. That was my first and second cruise... to Ensenada. I saw pics of her the other night doing a search for the Viking Serenade, and it did bring back memories.

 

Dona

[RiverRev]

went to http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/RCI.html and found some great postcards, pic and history of the RCCL fleet. I realy don't think of 1970 as that far back in history (when RCL launched its Miami operations) and I can't think of 1987 - the first "Mega-ship" Sovereign of the Seas - as ancient history.

[Joe1690]

For Carnival corp it is easy to transfer ships since they have 13 separate cruise lines currently (probably 12 if they dissolve Swan Hellenic). On the other hand I am really curious what RCL is going to do with their older ships since they only have 3 brands (Royal Carribbean, Celebrity, and Island Escape cruises). Additionally, I would think at this time it would be hard for Royal Carribbean to create a separate division for say Australia, Asia, or Europe since they don't have a dedicated line in any of these markets currently and new lines seem quite difficult to create for the majors. However, I would love Royal Carribbean to increase its global presence and increase the number of lines under its corporate umbrella so it could more effectively compete with Carnival corp which basically has as many ships as all of the other cruiselines out there combined.