Marine Makeover: Cruise Ship Edition
Throughout the cruise sector, this is the age of the makeover.
Ships go in for some work to keep up with demands. In May 2006, Celebrity Cruises spent $55 million upgrading the decade-old Century, its most expensive refurbishment to date. The Disney Wonder was out for a two-week, multimillion-dollar upgrade this fall, and Windstar Cruises has begun the yearlong process of taking each of its three ships out of service for five-week stretches. Holland America Line recently completed its $225 million Signature of Excellence upgrade to its fleet after 200 combined days of drydock. Crystal Cruises' Symphony emerged in November from a $23 million, two-week drydock, the line's biggest.
Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas goes into drydock from Jan. 12 to Feb. 9, 2007, for an extensive renovation extending to every area of the ship, as part of an aggressive program of ship revitalization. Extensive renovations put the Carnival Fascination out of service for a month in September, and the Imagination and the Inspiration will follow this year.
Several factors have contributed to this race to renovate. One is simply the aging of the world cruise fleet at the same time that demand for innovation is increasing. Another is a backlog for new-builds at the European shipyards; the major cruise lines are engaged in multimillion-dollar ship construction, and the wait for a slot at a shipyard could be five years.
As cruise markets expand worldwide, ships are going under the knife to be tailored to the tastes of different cultures and changing customer expectations. This year alone, three of the former Renaissance R-ships are moving from European brands to premium North American ones and will be tailored to their new clientele.
Cruise ships are more expensive than cargo ships and tankers, take longer to construct and have complex onboard amenities. They also have long life spans; many are still viable after 30 years. Investment in their upkeep extends the return on that initial investment.
Companies not able or ready to order new ships use refurbishments to install new ideas and features. Crystal put an advanced lighting system on the Symphony to maintain a continuity of mood throughout the ship, so that a passenger doesn't walk from one room to another and feel the atmosphere has changed. The lighting changes through the day depending on the time and events in various rooms, even in elevators.
There are many challenges to producing a successful refurbishment, the most important being completing the work in its drydock time slot. To ensure this, refurbishments such as the Disney Wonder's are sometimes planned as much as two years in advance.
