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CruiseGuy
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Post subject: Future cruise ships look very big
 Posted: Jul 02, 2008 - 01:30 EST
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Site Admin
Joined: Apr 18, 2005
Posts: 62
  
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I doubt if very many cruisers have heard of Fredrik Johansson. But he may have a lot to say about ships you cruise on in the future.
Fredrik works for Tillberg Design, one of the largest design companies in the world.
They were the lead designers on the QM2, the under-construction QE2, the Crystal and several others. They are also the lead designers on the yet to be named NCL F3 mega ships.
Only a few years ago, the Queen Mary 2 was the largest luxury ocean liner ever constructed, but it has already been dwarfed by larger ships which will soon be eclipsed by even larger ships.
Only a few years ago, the Queen Mary 2 was the largest luxury ocean liner ever constructed, but it has already been dwarfed by larger ships which will soon be eclipsed by even larger ships.
I spoke to Frederik and he offered interesting insight into new approaches to cruising.
"It's possible we will see the advent of giant mother ships that will release smaller ships -- not only for tendering, but for visiting ports on other islands. As an example, the mother ship could anchor centrally near islands in the Caribbean and release smaller ships to visit several Caribbean islands in the area."
I asked about size and whether or not we are at the limit when the F3 and Genesis ships are launched.
"Not at all," he said. "The only limiting factor as to the length of the ship is the size of the ports. We could easily stretch out a ship to 500 metres. This is where the mother ship concept comes in."
While only a few ships -- like the QM2 -- currently have different classes, this concept could be coming back in a bigger way, according to Fredrick.
"There is an affluent part of the market out there that is being under- served. They want the same things that you now find in successful boutique hotels throughout the world.
"NCL has taken one step in that direction on some of their ships with large villas facing a private courtyard and pool totally self-contained from the rest of the ship. Transferring the boutique concept to a ship would not be that difficult.
What are the cruise lines going to do about greening their ships?
"We are now working with a company that has developed material that was previously used to build 'stealth' ships. We could build the superstructure of that same materiel -- meaning a lighter ship, which in turn means lower fuel consumption. The materiel is also corrosion-free, which means less paint and chemicals."
http://www.canada.com/topics/travel/sto ... baa0629cb5 |
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