Carnival floats out the Mardi Gras

 

Carnival Cruise Line’s largest ship, the 5,282-passenger Mardi Gras, was floated out in a ceremony at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland. 

After being put in the water for the first time, the vessel was repositioned to a new location at the yard to finalize its interior and exterior outfitting.

The Bolt, the first roller coaster at sea, will be installed in the coming weeks as part of the Ultimate Playground outdoor recreation area.

The vessel will debut a new atrium concept with three-deck floor-to-ceiling windows and moveable LED screens. New restaurants will include Emeril’s Bistro 1396, created by celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse.

The Mardi Gras will be the first cruise ship in North America powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The 2,600-cabin ship is scheduled to debut Nov. 14. It will sail year-round, seven-day cruises to the Caribbean and Bahamas from Port Canaveral, Fla. “We can’t wait for our guests to experience Mardi Gras, a one-of-a-kind ship that is true game-changer and continues the evolution of the Carnival vacation experience,” said Ben Clement, Carnival’s senior vice president of newbuilds.

New MSC Ships Get Wartsila Power

New MSC Ships Get Wartsila Power

MSC World Class

Wartsila will supply Chantiers de l‘Atlantique comprehensive package of integrated solutions designed for the first two MSC World-class cruise ships, which will operate on LNG fuel.

The orders with Wartsila were placed by Chantiers de l’Atlantique in Q3 2018 and Q1 2019.

These will be the first two cruise ships to run on LNG with Wartsila 46DF engines and with Wartsila LNGPac systems.

“The focus of our solutions is on reducing energy and fuel consumption in order to promote efficiency. At the same time, our nitrogen oxide reduction and LNG solutions enhance environmental sustainability, which together with the higher efficiency, is very much in line with Wärtsilä’s Smart Marine strategy,” said Stefan Nysjö, Vice President, Marine Power Solutions, Wärtsilä.

“We are very familiar with Wärtsilä’s products and they have always provided us with excellent support in newbuild projects. These two new cruise ships will represent the latest thinking in minimising the environmental impact and reducing fuel consumption, which is in line with our Ecorizon plan, and Wartsila is playing a major role in this,” added Yves Pelpel, Technical Director, Chantiers de l’Atlantique.

Each ship will get five 14-cylinder Wartsila 46DF dual-fuel engines fitted with nitrogen oxide reduction (NOR) units, two Wartsila LNGPac fuel storage and supply systems, seven Wartsila thrusters, and two Wartsila fixed pitch propellers.

The Wartsila 46DF engines are IMO Tier III compliant in gas mode and are compliant in marine diesel oil (MDO) mode in combination with the NOR units.

The Wartsila equipment is scheduled for delivery in mid-2020 for the first ship, and in mid-2022 for the second.

Princess Cruises orders two low-emission ships

Princess Cruises orders two low-emission ships

Princess Cruises is joining UK sister company P&O Cruises in agreeing to build two large new generation ships.

The new 4,300-passenger vessels will be Princess Cruises’ first to be dual-fuel powered – primarily by Liquefied Natural Gas to cut air emissions and marine gas oil.

The 175,000 gross ton new builds are due to be delivered in late 2023 and spring 2025.

The ships will be based on a next-generation platform “designed to further enhance an already world-class holiday experience”.

They will be the largest by capacity in the US line’s fleet and be built at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy.

The agreement for Princess Cruises’ next-generation ships represents parent company Carnival Corporation’s 10th and 11th LNG-powered vessels.

Specification details for the ship design, along with anticipated features and amenities of this new platform design for Princess Cruises, will be shared in the future, according to the company.

The line’s president, Jan Swartz, said: “This revolutionary platform for next-generation, LNG-powered cruise ships will introduce innovative design and leisure experiences driven by the future holiday and lifestyle trends of our guests – further evolving the already best-in-class Princess Cruises experience we deliver today.

“We look forward to collaborating with Fincantieri to bring our vision for this next-generation premium cruise ship into service.”

Fincantieri chief executive Giuseppe Bono added: “We are proud to extend our long-established partnership with Princess Cruises, a brand we have been tied to since our return to the cruise shipbuilding industry in 1990.

“After so many years, we are ready to enter, together, a new era of this industry, increasingly aimed at reducing even more of our environmental impact.

“We proudly do this with an all-time record project, both in terms of size and technology. We believe that there are no more significant milestones than these to reaffirm our market-leading position.

“This builds upon the solid partnership between our country and Carnival Corporation – the largest foreign investor in Italy – while at the same time building upon our technological strength and increasing employment.”

Princess Cruises has three new Royal-class ships on order with Fincantieri, including its next new build, Sky Princess, which is due for delivery in October 2019. The two other Royal-class ships are planned to enter service in 2020 and 2022.

MSC Cruises unveils plans to build fifth Meraviglia class vessel

MSC Cruises unveils plans to build fifth Meraviglia class vessel

MSC Meraviglia

MSC Cruises aggressive fleet expansions plans are set to continue after the brand revealed plans to build a fifth Meraviglia-class vessel.

The line announced its decision to build a ship, due to be delivered in 2023, during a ceremony today (June 14) at the Saint-Nazaire shipyard in STX France.

The vessel will be the 13th ship to be built during MSC Cruises’ 10-year investment plan which will see the line double its capacity by 2020 and more than triple it by 2026.

Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Cruises’ executive chairman, said: “Our fifth Meraviglia-class cruise ship will bring a new generation of cutting-edge environmental technology to the market, benefiting from a new generation of LNG-powered engines.

“This will help us further reduce our environmental footprint and advance in our journey of constant improvement.”

The line also revealed at the event that the fourth Meraviglia-class vessel would be called MSC Virtuosa, which underwent its steel cutting ceremony today.

For the first time in Saint-Nazaire’s history, three cruise ships belonging to a single cruise brand are under simultaneous construction at the shipyard.

MSC’s agreement with STX France to add another ship to its order book represents an investment of €900 million.

Thursday’s event was held to mark three shipbuilding milestones: the steel cutting ceremony of the fourth Meraviglia class vessel, the coin ceremony of MSC Grandiosa and the float of MSC Bellissima.

MSC Bellissima will be christened at a ceremony in Southampton on March 2 2019.

The event will be attended by more than 2,000 guests, including VIPs and important British stakeholders.

Disney to Add to Meyer Order, Three LNG Ships

Disney fans attending D23 in Anaheim got a huge surprise today. They were the first to hear that Disney Cruise Line is planning not two, but three new ships in the next phase of expansion. By the time these three ships are sailing, we’ll have nearly doubled the size of our fleet! That means more families than ever before will be visiting spectacular destinations around the globe and creating magical memories at sea!

Last year, we told you that two new ships were going to be built at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany with scheduled completion dates of 2021 and 2023. This additional ship will be built at the same shipyard and is scheduled to be completed in 2022.

“We decided two ships wouldn’t be enough to hold all of the exciting new experiences we have been dreaming up to take family cruise vacations to a whole new level with immersive Disney storytelling, world-class family entertainment, and imaginative innovations that are fantastically fun and uniquely Disney,” Bob Chapek, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said.

All ship names, design plans and itineraries are still in development, with each of the ships expected to have their own unique experiences. The three new ships will be powered by clean-burning liquefied natural gas and be the same size – approximately 135,000 gross tons with about 1,250 guest staterooms planned – which is slightly larger than the newest Disney Cruise Line ships, the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy.

With a legacy of revolutionary design, Disney Cruise Line’s new ships will usher in the next generation of innovative cruise experiences designed especially for families that will transform the art-of-cruising and take guests on adventures in a way never dreamed of before.

MSC and STX France Firm Up LNG Cruise Order

MSC Cruises’ World Class

At the MSC Meraviglia Flag Ceremony, MSC Cruises and STX France signed a new memorandum of understanding firming up the order of two 200,000-ton, LNG-powered mega cruise ships, with options for two additional vessels.

The letter of intent was signed last year.

The four ships will become MSC Cruises’ World Class, according to a statement. 

The signing took place in the presence of Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, and Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy.

The new ships will be equipped with a completely new generation of LNG-powered engines as well as a new generation waste water treatment system, said MSC.

MSC Cruises’ World Class cruise ships will feature 2,760 staterooms and a maximum occupancy of 6,850 guests, the highest passenger capacity in the cruise fleet. The vessels, which will be delivered in 2022 and 2024 – the options are for 2025 and 2026 – will have a length of 1,083 ft. and 154 ft. of beam.

Speaking at the MSC Meraviglia Flag Ceremony, Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Cruises’ Executive Chairman, said: “Today, as we unveil MSC Meraviglia, a new vessel that marks the start of the next phase of our growth, we are delighted to confirm another key component of our ten-year investment plan: the World Class. These new vessels will further expand our partnership with STX France all the way to 2026, with up to seven additional innovative ships to be built during this period.”

STX France's CEO Laurent Castaing commented: “Once again, MSC Cruises has chosen to put their trust in our capacity to support their growth and expansion as well as in our ability to conceive, develop and build the world’s most modern and technologically-advanced cruise ships. By adding the new World Class to the four previous ship classes that we have delivered over the past 15 years, the number of vessels in their fleet built by STX France in Saint-Nazaire is set to reach 20. Our exceptional industrial partnership continues to benefit an entire region.”

The World Class’ futuristic “Y” shape structure will enable panoramic sea views and increase the proportion of balcony cabins.

The ships’ G bow (vertically positioned at a 90 degree angle) has been designed to improve stability, hydrodynamics as well as to enhance guest comfort. Other guest-centric innovations include family-friendly villages, a panoramic aft, and a glass pool lounge.

MSC Cruises to develop LNG bunkering system with ARTA

MSC Seaside

MSC Cruises is to develop an LNG bunkering system for its cruise ships after striking a partnership with ARTA.

The two companies revealed their new partnership at the 2017 LNG Bunkering Summit in Amsterdam, where they said they would create a tailor-made LNG bunkering system that takes full account of the cruise industry’s specific needs.

MSC Cruises LNG project director Yves Bui said: “With up to four LNG-powered cruise ships scheduled to join our fleet, we are highly committed to developing the best possible technologies and systems to support the introduction of LNG to cruising. In ARTA, we have found a partner that matches our focus on innovation and the best maritime technology at sea and that understands our industry’s specific needs.”

The result is a system that features a newly developed coupling and decoupling mechanism and a double-walled hose that will allow MSC Cruises to conduct bunkering operations without disrupting the activities taking place on board the ship.

Andreas von Keitz, managing director of manufacturer of gas and liquid transfer solutions ARTA added: “We are exceptionally pleased with the new system we have developed to suit the cruise industry’s specific bunkering needs. Thanks to our partnership with MSC Cruises we have been able to fully understand these needs and have put over 40 years of our bunkering engineering experience to good use. The result is a technologically advanced solution that will help ensure that the double-wall principle is maintained across the entire LNG bunkering supply chain.”

MSC Cruises and STX France signed a letter of intent last June to build  up to four LNG-fuelled cruise ships – part of the company’s plan for 11 new next-generation cruise ships over the next 10 years.

The first LNG-powered vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2022.