Fred. Olsen’s Bolette Completes Refurbishment

Fred. Olsen’s Bolette Completes Refurbishment

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ Bolette has recently completed a refurbishment at the A&P Falmouth shipyard in England.

According to the company, the drydock was supported by 500 members of the facility’s workforce, including 32 apprentices.

“We are really pleased to further support the Falmouth economy by working with the team at A&P to maintain and refurbish our ships, and in particular providing their apprentices with new experience and opportunity,” said Peter Deer, Managing Director of Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines.

After entering drydock in late February, the Bolette spent two weeks at the A&P Falmouth shipyard to undergo a program of works that comprised underwater painting, servicing of lifeboats, maintenance of stabilizers and more.

Other technical interventions included the exchange of the ship’s bow thrusters, which were replaced with newly overhauled ones.

The 2000-built ship also underwent a full underwater hull cleaning before receiving fresh antifouling paint.

According to Fred. Olsen, the new coat of paint helps reduce friction in the water while keeping the hull clear of barnacles and other marine life.

The crew cabins onboard were also refurbished, the company added, and all of the vessel’s lifeboats and davits underwent a main overhaul and overload test.

The Bolette’s Azipod propellers were removed for maintenance as well, while a new autopilot system was installed at the ship’s bridge.

On the guests’ side, Bolette also saw improvements to its photo gallery, which received digital screens for selecting and ordering pictures, according to Fred. Olsen, the new format saves time and paper.

A small studio where passengers are able to take professional, portrait-style shots was also installed in the photo gallery area.

Following the work, the 62,735-ton vessel resumed service on March 9. Sailing from the port of Newcastle, the Bolette is now offering a series of five- to ten-night itineraries to the UK, Norway, Iceland, the Baltic, Western Europe and more.

Originally built for Holland America Line as the Amsterdam, the Bolette was acquired by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines in 2020.

Mystic Cruises: first to use hydrojets on cruise ships

World Explorer is the first cruise ship to employ hydrojet technology to bring guests closer to marine wildlife by minimising underwater noise

Technology initially developed for naval warships, the two onboard Schottel SPJ 82 Pump hydrojets can propel World Explorer almost silently at a cruising speed of five knots. Sailing under the Mystic Cruises brand, World Explorer and sister-ship World Voyager, launching in 2020, incorporate the hydrojet drive among other innovations that help maximise safety and minimise the ship’s environmental impact.

Atlas Ocean Voyages’ World Navigator, launching in 2021, also will be equipped with the propulsion system and other innovative technologies. Atlas Ocean Voyages is the distributor of Mystic Cruises in North America and both are subsidiaries of Mystic Invest Holding.

“Our goal is to build one of the cleanest, safest and quietest ships in our category,” said Mário Ferreira, Chairman of Mystic Invest Holding. “We designed our cruise ships to bring our guests closer to and experience more of a destination while ensuring that we do our part to help sustain these unparalleled places so we can bring future generations to enjoy them too.”

 Mystic Cruises brand, World Explorer and sister-ship World Voyager

Compared with propellers, hydrojets diminish vibrations and cavitation effects, significantly decreasing underwater noise.

“Sea life is highly sensitive to noise – which travels farther and louder in water than on land – and tends to scatter when they hear propeller-only propulsion ships. Each hydrojet pumps water in and out to produce drive and, like azipods, can be directed 360 degrees in order to navigate the ship along pristine shorelines or dynamically position by GPS without the use of the ship’s twin four-blade propellers,” Mystic Cruises explained in a statement.

In some destinations, guests will enjoy wet landings aboard one of 18 custom-designed Zodiac MilPro Mark V inflatable boats. To ensure safer gasoline containment, each Zodiac is constructed with a special, reinforced bow chest that accommodates a larger-capacity gasoline bladder to deliver more than three times the average operational range. Each Zodiac also features 12 anti-skid panels – four more than average – to ensure safer guest embarking and disembarking anywhere along the buoyancy tube. Furthermore, World Explorer and its sister ships are designed with onboard gasoline storage and pumping system that make Zodiac fuelling operations safer.

Conservation is also a top priority. FarSounder’s Sonar are installed at the front of the 1B-Ice class certified hulls to ensure safe navigation through harbours, rivers, and ice fields. Each ship is also equipped with two C25:33L8P main engines and a Bergen C25:33L6P auxiliary dual generator. These connect to a low voltage AFE SAVeCUBE power electric system, which provides fuel efficiency while operating at variable speeds and consumes as low as one-fifth the marine diesel oil compared to conventional engines.

Norwegian Star exits drydock with Five O'Clock Somewhere bar

By Rebecca Tobin

Norwegian Cruise Line's partnership with Margaritaville is taking shape on the Norwegian Star, which carries the line's first Five O'Clock Somewhere bar following a two-week drydock.

The Five O'Clock Somewhere bar will sell Margaritaville signature drinks like the "Who's to Blame Margarita" and LandShark beer. Norwegian, which announced its partnership with Margaritaville last year, will offer a Margaritaville restaurant and Five O'Clock Somewhere bar on the Norwegian Escape, which debuts this fall, and it also plans to construct Margaritavilles at its private ports of call. 

In addition to introducing the Five O'Clock Somewhere bar, the line also eliminated a $15 cover charge on the Star's Ginza restaurant. The Asian specialty restaurant will offer a complimentary menu and items priced on an a la carte basis.

An O'Sheehan's Neighborhood Bar & Grill was added to the ship. The Brazillian steakhouse-style Moderno Churrascaria was moved to what Norwegian called a "more intimate" setting on Deck 13, and a Sugarcane Mojito Bar was installed adjacent to the steakhouse. 

Other additions to the Star include new carpeting and flooring throughout guest areas and updates to the pool deck. Touch-screen signage, which was introduced on the Norwegian Breakaway, was added to the Star. 

On the technical side, the Azipod propulsion system was updated and the hull coated with silicone paint. Norwegian said the measures would improve fuel efficiency. 

The ship will sail in northern Europe this summer.
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Correction: A scrubber system was not installed during the recent drydock. 

‘Allure of the Seas’ to Undergo Repairs at Grand Bahama Shipyard

Royal Caribbean International announced yesterday that a mechanical issue has made it necessary to perform unscheduled repairs to Allure of the Seas. The repairs will take place at Grand Bahama Shipyard, in Freeport, Bahamas, the week of February 24, 2014. As a result, it will be necessary to cancel the February 23, 2014, sailing of Allure of the Seas.

“We sincerely regret that we will be unable to deliver the Royal Caribbean cruise vacation that our guests were looking forward to,” said Adam Goldstein, president and chief executive officer, Royal Caribbean International.“We understand that our guests’ vacation time is very precious and can assure you that we did not take this decision lightly. But it was very important to us that we bring Allure back up to speed so that she could continue to deliver the amazing cruise vacations our guests expect.”

Allure of the Seas has been experiencing unanticipated bearing wear in one of its three propulsion motors. All three motors are fully operational, and there is no impact on the maneuverability of the ship or on the safety of guests and crew. However, since the rate of bearing wear is directly related to ship speed, the ship’s top speed has been limited. This has reduced the rate of bearing wear, and will ensure that all three propulsion motors are fully available for maneuvering and emergencies until repairs can be completed.

“While Allure could have continued to sail at a reduced rate of speed, we felt it was important to fix the problem as soon as possible,” said William D. Baumgartner, senior vice president of Marine Operations, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. “We explored numerous repair options. Unfortunately, there was no satisfactory solution that did not involve taking the ship temporarily out of service.”

The company said guests currently booked on the February 23, 2014, sailing of Allure of the Seas will receive a full, 100 percent refund, or the option to sail on select itineraries at the same rate.

Additionally, until the repairs can be made, it will be necessary to make minor adjustments to Allure of the Seas’ eastern Caribbean itineraries. Allure of the Seas will now call on Nassau, Bahamas, from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and on Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. There is no need to modify Allure of the Seas’ western Caribbean itineraries.

Early drydock considered for Allure of the Seas

By Tom Stieghorst

Royal Caribbean International’s Allure of the Seas has developed a propulsion problem that is slowing the world’s largest cruise ship. The line is considering an early drydock.

Allure, which debuted in 2010, would normally be drydocked in 2015, but Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Chairman Richard Fain said that schedule may be accelerated.

“We’re considering it, sure,” Fain said while onboard Vision of the Seas for a one-night cruise to display its recent renovations to travel agents. “We’re in the process of trying to assess [whether] we move up the drydock, and if it makes sense we will.”

One option would be to give Allure the 2014 drydock slot reserved for sister ship Oasis of the Seas, and push off the Oasis drydock by a year.

The unspecified propulsion issue developed about three weeks ago. Allure can still complete its week long itineraries, but the slower speed means that Royal Caribbean has had to shorten its port stay in Nassau, and some excursions have been cancelled. It is also arriving late in the next port of call in St. Thomas.

Fain said the design of the Oasis-class ships, which has three podded propulsion motors instead of two, gives it better resilience when one of the units malfunctions. 

Celebrity recounts decisions after Millennium breakdown

By Tom Stieghorst

The choice faced by Celebrity Cruises management wasn't pleasant. They could try to repair a damaged propulsion pod on the Celebrity Millennium at the risk of a third failure, or they could swallow the millions of dollars of expense required to cancel four cruises, send 2,000 people home by chartered plane and swap out the pod in an unscheduled drydock.

They decided to spend the cash.

"We certainly didn't want to put the ship back in operation and then a month or two later have another incident," said Celebrity CEO Michael Bayley. "We felt as if that was simply not acceptable."

In a phone briefing this week, Celebrity offered a rare behind-the-scenes account of its decision-making process as it struggled with a balky ship during prime season in Alaska.

The briefing was an example of the heightened scrutiny to which cruise lines feel they must respond after witnessing the negative publicity resulting from the fire earlier this year on the Carnival Triumph.

"Certainly we're interested in being very transparent about everything," Bayley said.

The problem Celebrity confronted has periodically plagued nearly every cruise line that uses pods, the self-contained motors bolted beneath the stern that began to be used in the 1990s.

Although they have many advantages in terms of maneuverability, reliability has been an issue. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Celebrity's parent company, settled a long lawsuit in 2010 with Rolls-Royce, the maker of the Mermaid brand of pods used on four of Celebrity's older ships.

However, Bayley said, the latest problem on the Millennium was a different one, having to do with the motor's electrical parts, not the bearings, which were the focus of the lawsuit.

The first electrical failure on the Millennium forced Celebrity to delay departure of its Aug. 9 cruise from Seward, Alaska, to Vancouver by several days and to cancel all the port calls in Alaska.

After repairs, the ship made it to Vancouver, but on the return to Seward, a similar electrical problem flared in a different part of the pod. That was a surprise, Bayley said.
Again, experts were brought in. The cruise paused in Ketchikan, Alaska, while the pod was examined, and reluctantly the conclusion was reached that the pod had to be replaced.

That decision triggered a series of logistical tests. The first was getting the 2,000 passengers home from Ketchikan, which has a population of 14,000 and an airport with a single, 7,500-foot runway.

"It's a beautiful destination to go to, but it's not a destination designed to move a couple of thousand people from," said Bayley. Celebrity chartered a half dozen jets at a cost of several million dollars to do the job and sent 30 people from Miami headquarters to help.

Next, Celebrity had to arrange a drydock on short notice. Bayley said Celebrity worked down the list of shipyards on the west coast of North America and even looked in Russia and Asia before settling on Grand Bahama Shipyard, in Freeport, where a part ownership by Royal Caribbean allowed for the rearrangement of some schedules.

"Like all situations, there's always a puzzle palace," Bayley said.

Celebrity had a spare pod in Europe, but it had to be transported from Rotterdam, Netherlands. After rejecting the idea of air-freighting the 250-ton pod, Celebrity chartered a ship to deliver it.

It's a four-day job to remove the damaged pod and install the new one. "It's fairly complex," Bayley said. "Obviously we've got the best technical people in the world, and we're feeling pretty comfortable with the process."

After the old pod comes off, it will be returned to France on the chartered cargo ship, to be rebuilt.

Testing of the new pod is expected to be done by Sept. 12. Bayley said Celebrity was not sure whether it could offer some kind of cruise between that date and its next scheduled cruise from San Diego.

"Our intention is to be in San Diego with full operations on Sept. 22."

In the meantime, Celebrity has had to keep the Millennium's 843 crew members occupied with deep cleaning of cabins, additional specialty training and the relocation of the future cruise desk to a different deck.

The Millennium's chefs are using the time to dream up a few surprises for guests who have booked the San Diego cruise, Bayley said.

The total cost of the Millennium incident to Celebrity hasn't been disclosed, but Bayley said it would include the compensation for two impaired cruises and four canceled ones, which all involved full refunds, plus the housing and food for affected guests, air change fees, future cruise certificates, plane charters to Ketchikan and the lost onboard revenue from the scrubbed cruises, in addition to the repairs. One Wall Street analyst has estimated the cost at $31 million, not including the repair itself, which is insured.

"The brand was having a really great year, so it's a little unfortunate," Bayley said.

Dondra Ritzenthaler, Celebrity's senior vice president of sales, said the breakdown had not had any noticeable impact on bookings, a fact she attributed mainly to travel agent support.

"Because we've had an authentic partnership with our travel partners for years, when something like this happens, they are really rallying behind us," she said.

Just in case, Bayley is making a video for travel agents to recap Celebrity's response to Millennium's problems.

"We want his genuine apology as the leader of our brand to really be said in a more formal way," Ritzenthaler said.