8 Vessels on order

[RedwingHockeyFan]

28 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Why?  The most successful US Airline (the one that didn't go bankrupt after 911) has never bought a plane bigger than a 737.  Just because the other guys "go big," doesn't make it the smartest business decision.  A common theme here is that many folks prefer the smaller NCL ships.

 

Sure, many people prefer the smaller ships but there are still many that prefer the larger ships with the extra amenities that they offer.  I don't think anyone can provide any actual values that shows one outweighing the other.  If the Symphony and Harmony weren't sailing at near full capacity all the time, I doubt they would have built the Icon.

 

The airline industry is a poor comparison since it is common practice to overbook flights and then have to bump passengers when they don't accept offers to take a different flight.  People don't book flights based on the vessel, which is common in the cruise industry.  And in the instance that Southwest did purchase a 757 for flights that are more popular you could bet that the flight would always be at full capacity. 

[Panhandle Couple]

9 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

The problem with the new huge ships is that there are many ports that either they cannot go to or they are getting banned as the ports do not want that many cruise visitors at once.

These new large ships, maybe not even through preliminary design yet, will be predicting what the cruise world (and the world overall) will be 10 years from now.

There will obviously be some hits and misses along the way.

 

It is easy to project better port infrastructure worldwide.

[mugtech]

18 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

More like Oasis class ships. RCCL is launching the Utopia this summer (we're already booked). And RCCL has no problem keeping all of their Oasis class ships full and busy

And they can sail out of NY at Cape Liberty.

[yakcruiser]

58 minutes ago, Panhandle Couple said:

These new large ships, maybe not even through preliminary design yet, will be predicting what the cruise world (and the world overall) will be 10 years from now.

There will obviously be some hits and misses along the way.

 

 

Some big misses. I remember when RCCL announced they were building the first ship for the Chinese market. Every other cruise line jumped on the bandwagon (JOY) and built ships for the Chinese market. We all seen how that worked out.

[PhillyTravelBug]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

The problem with the new huge ships is that there are many ports that either they cannot go to or they are getting banned as the ports do not want that many cruise visitors at once.

 

That's my only concern.  I would prefer never to sail the Caribbean again.  Hopefully they will come up with some cool itineraries like they did with the Prima for the summer sailings.  Even though its not the best ship for colder climates, I enjoyed it.

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

And in the instance that Southwest did purchase a 757 for flights that are more popular you could bet that the flight would always be at full capacity.

I sail Southwest exclusively, and for the past several years about one in four flights has a meaningful amount of empty seats.

[IrieBajan54]

19 hours ago, Yesimapirate said:

Kinda hard for the fan boys to keep defending the cuts in service with their war cry of covid debt when there's such a spending spree on news ships.

Maybe more debt is better. Plus all of the cutbacks must be working for NCL.

 

Currently on the Viva 19 day transatlantic and as of Day 3 there have been no cookies in the Studio Lounge. So a normal amenity for the premium paid to be in the Studios is gone. All for our convenience of course.🤔 Maybe NCL has this Nanny idea that pound cake (from about 11:30 a.m. until evening) is less fattening than cookies. 😂

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, Panhandle Couple said:

These new large ships, maybe not even through preliminary design yet, will be predicting what the cruise world (and the world overall) will be 10 years from now.

There will obviously be some hits and misses along the way.

 

It is easy to project better port infrastructure worldwide.

There are ports that do not want the large ships. Venice in Europe and Bar Harbor, Maine in the USA are 2 examples.

[macewank]

29 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

There are ports that do not want the large ships. Venice in Europe and Bar Harbor, Maine in the USA are 2 examples.

Sure. And there will be no shortage of smaller ships that call to them.

[mugtech]

1 hour ago, macewank said:

Sure. And there will be no shortage of smaller ships that call to them.

Bar Harbor is drawing the line at 1,000 cruisers a day.  No NCL ships will be stopping in.

[mugtech]

4 hours ago, yakcruiser said:

Some big misses. I remember when RCCL announced they were building the first ship for the Chinese market. Every other cruise line jumped on the bandwagon (JOY) and built ships for the Chinese market. We all seen how that worked out.

I just did Spectrum of the Seas out of Singapore in March, had the best meal I ever had at sea in the Sichuan Red specialty restaurant, there were 5,000 passengers on that cruise, most traveling on Asian passports.

[ontheweb]

12 hours ago, macewank said:

Sure. And there will be no shortage of smaller ships that call to them.

Not if they keep building only monstrosities of the seas and the older ships eventually age out.

[phillygwm]

On 4/8/2024 at 7:28 PM, shof515 said:

i wonder where these mega monsters ships can go. They will be too big for ports that need to under a bridge like NYC and some ports is starting to come out with passenger caps like Bar Harbor, Juneau and other European ports

 

Unfortunately it seems like Norwegian wants to complete with Royal Icon class ships 

There's a place for both.  Obviously, RCCL has found the large ships to be popular.  I enjoy the Breakaway Plus ships myself (I've not been on Prima class yet.)  But they do preclude you from certain destinations, so I'd opt for a smaller ship if I wanted to hit more obscure ports.

[cruiseny4life]

Welp, I, for one, am here for these larger ships! I just hope they make them look like Icon so I can stay with NCL and not traverse over to RCL. Slides and surfing and parachuting and multiple pools and hot tubs and all sorts of whimsical decorations. Yes please!! Maybe some ice skating and movie theatres and real bowling and....oh my I'm excited to see what Norwegian dreams up. I'm hopeful it ain't more of the same. 

 

There's plenty of boats to take you to those smaller ports. Just don't sail the big ones. More room for me! I'm just going to be disappointed if the out the gate prices are like Icon! 

[Sailing12Away]

On 4/8/2024 at 6:57 PM, Turtles06 said:

Ugh, 5,000-guest ships… No thank you. 

Such a horrible trend in the cruise industry.

I'm still sitting here waiting for NCL to catch up to Celebrity's Flora and put out a small, luxury, expedition type vessel. Small hidden gems of the Mediterranean that those behemoths can't reach. Smaller less traveled Caribbean islands instead of the same old same old. Ships that are meant for cold weather sailings to the arctics. Small ships to hit all those hidden gems in the south pacific where you can just jump off the ship itself and start snorkeling, no formal excursion needed at all.

 

Once they come up with something like that, I'll be hooked on NCL again. For now, my money is staying in my wallet as I research the non-mainstream cruise lines.

[PhillyTravelBug]

18 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

I'm still sitting here waiting for NCL to catch up to Celebrity's Flora and put out a small, luxury, expedition type vessel. Small hidden gems of the Mediterranean that those behemoths can't reach. Smaller less traveled Caribbean islands instead of the same old same old. Ships that are meant for cold weather sailings to the arctics. Small ships to hit all those hidden gems in the south pacific where you can just jump off the ship itself and start snorkeling, no formal excursion needed at all.

 

Once they come up with something like that, I'll be hooked on NCL again. For now, my money is staying in my wallet as I research the non-mainstream cruise lines.

Actually looking at the Flora for late 2026. It’s a stunning ship! Would love it if NCL did this.

Edited April 10 by PhillyTravelBug

[Sailing12Away]

9 minutes ago, PhillyTravelBug said:

Actually looking at the Flora for late 2026. It’s a stunning ship! Would love it if NCL did this.

We're headed to a bucket list trip on her this coming October to the Galapagos. NCL doesn't have anything close to that, so that's what I keep hoping and waiting for. Not these monster ships with 5000+ people getting off and flooding a port of call.

[smillerholmes]

On 4/9/2024 at 7:13 AM, Laszlo said:

I agree 100%, my favorite ships are the Jewel class

Same!

[CruiseMH]

3 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

I'm still sitting here waiting for NCL to catch up to Celebrity's Flora and put out a small, luxury, expedition type vessel. Small hidden gems of the Mediterranean that those behemoths can't reach. Smaller less traveled Caribbean islands instead of the same old same old. Ships that are meant for cold weather sailings to the arctics. Small ships to hit all those hidden gems in the south pacific where you can just jump off the ship itself and start snorkeling, no formal excursion needed at all.

 

 

therefore they have regent and Oceania 😉

Yes, these are not explicitly expedition ships, but most cruise lines don`t have expedition ships. I guess there is a good reason for.

 

23 hours ago, ontheweb said:

The problem with the new huge ships is that there are many ports that either they cannot go to or they are getting banned as the ports do not want that many cruise visitors at once.

 

In the mediterranean and the caribbean there are still enough ports where such a ship can dock.

not the very exotic ones but still enough.

[asouthey1]

can't wait for these ships. love NCL

[scooter6139]

Meh, do not want larger ships, as I thought the Breakaway + were a bit too big, but that is just my opinion.  Guess NCL wants to be like RCCL and keep its "uber $$$ resort-style" status.  Just more "stuff" on a ship that NCL can charge lots of money for, just like RCCL is doing.  That works for some but not for others.  As someone else said, as long as there is some nice separate Haven to relax in I should be good to go.  

[Sailing12Away]

19 hours ago, CruiseMH said:

 

therefore they have regent and Oceania 😉

Yes, these are not explicitly expedition ships, but most cruise lines don`t have expedition ships. I guess there is a good reason for.

Not even close to the same though. Smallest Oceania ship is still 350 cabins, so 700+ passengers. Flora is 100 guests total. NCL mothership doesn't have anything close to that type of intimate experience.

[CruiseMH]

4 hours ago, Sailing12Away said:

NCL mothership doesn't have anything close to that type of intimate experience.

 

Simply because they don`t need it. 😉

 

[cruiseny4life]

18 hours ago, CruiseMH said:

 

Simply because they don`t need it. 😉

 

Exactly. Last I looked, NCLH doesn't provide a Windstar or Uncruise experience. I don't really expect them to get into that market, either. 

[Sailing12Away]

18 hours ago, CruiseMH said:

 

Simply because they don`t need it. 😉

 

They're silly then. If they want to keep me as a guest (and the 98 other guests like me sailing on Flora) they will need to get one. Yes, higher returns on their money when they cram 5000+ people on one ship, but when you're charging those 100 people $20K+ it shrinks the gap a bit, no? Too lazy to do math on estimated numbers, but there's no way Celebrity is running their small expedition vessels with <100 people every single week year round and NOT making money on them despite the low passenger counts.

 

I guess my point is that a perfect cruise line (to me) would be one that has separate types of ships to cater to the different preferences of their guests. Rather than trying to keep turning these new ships into a one size fits all approach that doesn't leave anyone wowed and just leaves 5000 people with an ok experience.

 

Have a mega ship with go karts, water slides, laser tag, roller coasters, etc for those kids (big and small) that like that stuff. Have a smaller ship with a more adult/spa like focus for folks that just want to escape home and relax all day. Have a ship with the broadway caliber shows for folks that can't easily see that entertainment at home. Have the small expedition ships for folks willing to splurge a big hunk of money on their once in a lifetime bucket list trips.

 

I feel like this is going back down the realm of that thread with unlimited imagination for designing the next wave of ships, so I'll stop there. But if NCL just keeps going bigger, they'll be going without me.