Krazy Kruizers
Holland America Specialist
source: http://www.cruise-community.com/inde...=910&Itemid=69
HAL is thinking big for its next-generation ships
Wednesday, 07 July 2010 06:43
Holland America Line is focussing on vessels of around 110,000gt with capacity of 3,000 passengers for its next generation of cruise ships, company executives confirmed.
Interviewed aboard the newly christened Nieuw Amsterdam on a maiden three-day cruise in the Adriatic, HAL chief executive Stein Kruse reiterated that fresh orders were still some distance away.
At the same time, the company is examining its options in light of the expected completion of the Panama Canal expansion project in 2015. ‘Our size restrictions are driven by the Panama Canal,’ he said.
‘We want to be able to move our ships in an inter-dependent way. If we have a ship in Europe and we want her to be in Alaska, we want her to be able to go through the canal.’ After the canal’s enlargement, ‘a 32.8mtr beam will no longer be an issue. The question then is how big do you go?’
Pieter Rijkaart, the company’s newbuild director, noted that, due to the impact of the economic crisis, ‘this is the first time we have completed a ship without having a follow-up order.’
But he added that ‘when the new Panama Canal opens up there will be opportunities,’ and that 2011 might therefore be the right time to embark on new, and larger prototype. He said HAL is considering a 110,000gt vessel with capacity for 3,000-plus passengers and 1,500-1,600 cabins.
Kruse said a number of considerations would play into an eventual decision, perhaps the most critical of which: ‘Is it true to the brand?’
He said the appeal of HAL’s mid-sized ships rests on personal service, ample premium space per passenger, and the intimacy of the cruise experience, as well as a huge palette of port calls, including many smaller, more remote destinations.
At 86,273gt and with capacity for 2,106 passengers, Nieuw Amsterdam and its sister Eurodam are now the largest vessels in HAL’s fleet. As Kruse noted, however, ‘this ship cannot get to Montréal because of issues with the turning basin and height restrictions.’
Building too big, he said, would threaten the basis of HAL’s brand appeal so any judgment must be finely calibrated. ‘The ultimate danger to the cruise business in general is if it becomes commoditised. I don’t want to see our industry go that way. But so far Carnival has been brilliant at well-communicated brand differentiation.’
HAL is thinking big for its next-generation ships
Wednesday, 07 July 2010 06:43
Holland America Line is focussing on vessels of around 110,000gt with capacity of 3,000 passengers for its next generation of cruise ships, company executives confirmed.
Interviewed aboard the newly christened Nieuw Amsterdam on a maiden three-day cruise in the Adriatic, HAL chief executive Stein Kruse reiterated that fresh orders were still some distance away.
At the same time, the company is examining its options in light of the expected completion of the Panama Canal expansion project in 2015. ‘Our size restrictions are driven by the Panama Canal,’ he said.
‘We want to be able to move our ships in an inter-dependent way. If we have a ship in Europe and we want her to be in Alaska, we want her to be able to go through the canal.’ After the canal’s enlargement, ‘a 32.8mtr beam will no longer be an issue. The question then is how big do you go?’
Pieter Rijkaart, the company’s newbuild director, noted that, due to the impact of the economic crisis, ‘this is the first time we have completed a ship without having a follow-up order.’
But he added that ‘when the new Panama Canal opens up there will be opportunities,’ and that 2011 might therefore be the right time to embark on new, and larger prototype. He said HAL is considering a 110,000gt vessel with capacity for 3,000-plus passengers and 1,500-1,600 cabins.
Kruse said a number of considerations would play into an eventual decision, perhaps the most critical of which: ‘Is it true to the brand?’
He said the appeal of HAL’s mid-sized ships rests on personal service, ample premium space per passenger, and the intimacy of the cruise experience, as well as a huge palette of port calls, including many smaller, more remote destinations.
At 86,273gt and with capacity for 2,106 passengers, Nieuw Amsterdam and its sister Eurodam are now the largest vessels in HAL’s fleet. As Kruse noted, however, ‘this ship cannot get to Montréal because of issues with the turning basin and height restrictions.’
Building too big, he said, would threaten the basis of HAL’s brand appeal so any judgment must be finely calibrated. ‘The ultimate danger to the cruise business in general is if it becomes commoditised. I don’t want to see our industry go that way. But so far Carnival has been brilliant at well-communicated brand differentiation.’
