Oasis Handover Signing Pics

 

Here is the actual signing of the documents that transfer $1.4 Billion to STX Yards and a little ship called Oasis of the Seas to RCI. L to R (at table): Martin Landtman, CEO, STX Finland; Richard Fain, chairman and CEO, RCI.; Adam Goldstein, president and CEO, RCCL.

Martin Landtman (left), and Richard Fain (right), shake hands after the successful transfer of Oasis from STX to RCI.

At the After Party. L to R: Adam Goldstein, president and CEO, RCCL; Richard Fain, chairman and CEO, RCI.; Harri Kulovarra, EVP, Maritime (Basically my dream job).

Finland Says Goodbye Oasis

After a couple years of seeing the Oasis of the Seas dominate the town’s skyline, the residents of Turku, Finland say goodbye to the worlds largest cruise ship. Leaving this morning on her way to a temporary stop in England, the ship is sailing with a skeleton crew and several hundred workers. After the stop in England, its off to the United States where she will dominate the skyline in Fort Lauderdale for years to come.

See photos of the Oasis leaving Turku:

Oasis of the Seas

Disney Dream Info

Lost in all the Oasis media hype was an announcement by the Disney Corp. about the Disney Dream (Not to be confused with the Carnival Dream and the former Norwegian Dream any other ships I’m missing!). Her maiden voyage is slated for January 26, 2011.

Highlights:

• “AquaDuck” (clever name!) Water Coaster that spans the top decks around the funnels.
• Basically its a high speed flume-type ride.
• 765 ft. long; 4 decks high. 13 ft.; over the side of ship at parts
• A lounge where you can watch sunsets behind different famous cities
• All inside staterooms feature a virtual porthole w/ real-time view out.
• “A Magical Oasis for Children” (Oh I see that. They put Oasis in there. Nice one again.)
• All kids areas will be expanded and have added features.
• Teen and tween areas.
• Private decks, pools and sun bathing areas
• Technology area for making movies and photo postcards
• Teen areas will be by swipe-card so NO PARENTS!
•    Rotational Dinning makes a comeback
• For those unaware, you keep you same dinning mates and serving staff but change venues. (One of my favorite ideas in cruising)
• Restaurants are:
• Animators Palate, a Disney classic with changing color walls
• Royal Palace
• Enchanted Garden
• Adults Areas
• The district (seem like a ripoff of RCI’s Neighborhoods)
• Nighttime entertainment areas with bars and lounged.
• 5 Themes
• Spa and Salon (No innovations there. Has there ever been!)
• Palo. Another Disney Signature restaurant. Adults only.
• Itinerary is typical 3&4-Night Bahamas routes.
• During the summer it will sail 4&5 Night Bahamas. The 5-Nighters will feature two stops at Castaway Cay.

See Full Press Release Here (DCL News)

New Rendering of the Ship (High-Res)	Atrium Lobby (High-Res)

Andy’s Playroom	Cabin
Palo	Champagne Lounge (I would guess in the Districts)

Oasis Latest for 10/29/2009

UPDATE 4:56 pm: Oasis will anchor in the Solent, the waterway to Southampton, and will not dock at all in Southampton. What most likely will happen, is a ferry will meet the ship at anchor, embark the 300 crew and depart. The ship will raise anchor and sail off to Florida.

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I updated my Oasis schedule which has the amended sailing under the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark–now scheduled for saturday night– oh and there a stop in Southampton England now! You heard right. Here are the latest details,

• Oasis will sail into Southampton on Monday November 2nd.
• Only for ‘several’ hours.
• Labeled a ‘service stop’ by RCI.
• The purpose is to disembark around 300 workers who are finished and don’t need to be on for the transatlantic crossing.

If I come across anymore details I’ll let everyone know.

Oasis Photos

Check out my Oasis Page for the latest photos. These will be updated as I get them. Today it seems that every hour I am finding out more and more about the ship!

Oasis Delivered

UPDATE 1:25PM: Here is RCI’s press release of the event. Its a PDF that can be found here. I took the liberty of saving the PDF as images so they can be easier to view. See below:

UPDATE 1:17PM: Some pics from the Handover Ceremony.

UPDATE 1:06PM: BREAKING NEWS: Oasis may infact call in Southampton after all. So far this rumor is unconfirmed but comes from a reliable source. The second I get more info, I’ll post immediately. That is if this rumor is true.

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She is now a member of the Royal Caribbean International fleet. I’ll post further readings here as they make their way over from freezing Finland. Richard Fain said on his blog that he could see his breath walking through central park last night!

From AkerBuilder @ cruisepage.com

Oasis Info

For those unaware, Royal Caribbean’s Oasis will be officially “handed over” tomorrow.

The Hand Over Ceremony, as its called, is a traditional ceremony where the line takes delivery of the ship from the ship yard. At this point, and while a ship is being built, she is owned by the shipyard. Due to the staggering cost of cruise ships now-a-days, the line may or may not pay small ‘monthly’ fees to help with some payment.

The ceremony is technically STX representatives and RCI executives, along with all their lawyers. They sit at a table and sign the legal documents. RCI get the ship and STX Yards get the $1.4 Billion (USD). There is also a tradition where the STX house flag is lowered and the Royal Caribbean house flag is raised.

Stay tuned tomorrow!

Another Account from from Caribbean Princess List

Click here to go to the original post.

RUMOR: Carnival Talking About New Ships…

…for the Princess brand. Maritime Industry insider, Lloyd’s List, is quotes as saying

Carnival is in advanced talks with German Meyer Werft for an order of two new cruiseships for its Princess brand, Italian and German shipping sources have said.

The word “advanced” is the key here. The article goes on quoting a Meyer Werft official that didn’t go into specifics, but stated that Meyer Werft ARE in discussions with potential customers. He didn’t go into further detail.

If true I expect these to be slightly larger than the Coral/Island Princess. Meyer Werft are constrained by size due to its location. Based on that fact alone, I don’t see Carnival ordering anymore Grand Class (or whatever you want to call that class) ships. I can see it as pretty much the answer Carnival has for the successful Celebrity Solstice class. Princess designs are a little dated by now and therefore I predict that it will be a slightly trendy ship (think more like Celebrity). That way, those that want a very traditional will have Holland America to go to.

Feel free to express your thoughts or predictions here.

That is One Big Boat

 

Taken Thursday morning from the Crystal Symphony. She is sailing on an 11-night Fall Jubilee voyage from New York to Montreal. Today is the second day of her stay at the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal in Boston. Joining her is Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas, which is towering over everything in the port today. Check her out below from Sea Tow Boston’s controllable Harbor Cam: