The Majesty of the Seas
1 April 2017 | Author/Destination: Yachting and Spa | Rubric: General, Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time: 7 minutes MS Majesty of the Seas is a Sovereign-class cruise ship owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd and operated by Royal Caribbean International. She was built at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyards in Saint-Nazaire, France, and placed in service on April 26, 1992. Her Godmother is Queen Sonja of Norway. Plans to transfer Majesty of the Seas to Pullmantur in 2016 had been announced on November 21, 2014, however in July 2015, Royal Caribbean reversed those plans, instead stating that Majesty of the Seas would stay with Royal Caribbean International. A 1/8 scale model of the Majesty of the Seas was built in Morsbach by François Zanella. The Majesty of the Seas (mini) was launched in 2005. She does river cruises in and around Paris. read more…The Anthem of the Seas
1 March 2017 | Author/Destination: Yachting and Spa | Rubric: General, Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time: 14 minutes MS Anthem of the Seas is a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International (RCI). She is the second ship of the Quantum class, which surpasses the earlier Freedom-class ships by over 14,000 GT, becoming the second largest class of passenger ships behind RCI’s Oasis class ships on a gross tonnage basis. On February 11, 2011, Royal Caribbean announced that they had ordered a new class of ships from the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, the first of which was scheduled to be delivered by Fall 2014. At the time, the project was code-named “Project Sunshine”. Later that year, two 20.5-megawatt ABB Azipod XO propulsion units were ordered for that ship. On February 29, 2012 the company announced that a second “Project Sunshine” ship had been ordered and would be delivered by Spring 2015, and ordered identical Azipod propulsion units shortly thereafter. Just under a year later, on January 31, 2013, Royal Caribbean announced the official name of the new class of ships, Quantum Class, as well as the names of the first two ships in the class, Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas. Anthem of the Seas was delivered to Royal Caribbean on April 10, 2015, and christened on April 20, 2015. She arrived at her first homeport, Southampton, England, on April 15, 2015, to prepare for her maiden European summer season. At a ceremony held in Southampton on April 20, 2015, she was christened by Emma Wilby. Anthem of the Seas departed from Southampton on her maiden voyage, an eight-night cruise to France and Spain, on April 22, 2015. She has spent her maiden European season cruising from Southampton to the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, and the Canary Islands. Beginning in November 2015, she will operate seven- to twelve-night itineraries to the Caribbean and Bahamas from Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey, United States. In 2016, Anthem of the Seas will sail year-round out of New Jersey, sailing to the Caribbean, Bermuda, and Canada/New England. Anthem of the Seas will become the largest ship ever to cruise Canadian waters. read more…The Celebrity Equinox
1 December 2016 | Author/Destination: Yachting and Spa | Rubric: Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time: 6 minutes Celebrity Equinox is a Solstice-class cruise ship built by Meyer Werft in Germany. Celebrity Equinox is the second of the five Solstice-class vessels, owned and operated by Celebrity Cruises. She is a sister ship of Celebrity Solstice, Celebrity Eclipse, Celebrity Silhouette and the Celebrity Reflection. Celebrity Equinox entered commercial service for Celebrity Cruises on July 31, 2009. read more…The Harmony of the Seas
1 October 2016 | Author/Destination: Yachting and Spa | Rubric: Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time: 8 minutes MS Harmony of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship built by STX France at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire in France for Royal Caribbean International. She is the largest passenger ship in the world, surpassing her older sisters Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas. For the inaugural season, Harmony of the Seas will offer seven-night western Mediterranean cruises originating from Barcelona and Rome (Civitavecchia). In late October 2016, the ship will cross the Atlantic to the United States, where she will offer seven-night eastern and western Caribbean cruises originating from Port Everglades, Florida, starting in November. The homeport is Nassau in the Bahamas. read more…The AIDAprima
1 August 2016 | Author/Destination: Yachting and Spa | Rubric: Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time: 6 minutes AIDAprima is the flagship of AIDA Cruises, built by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding at their shipyard in Nagasaki in Japan. The cruise ship entered service on April 25, 2016. The ship was christened on 7 May 2016 in Hamburg in Germany as part of the 827th Hamburg Port Anniversary (Hafengeburtstag). Like the other AIDA ships she sails under the Italian flag. For the cruise operations Costa Crociere in Genoa is responsible. The ship, which is specially designed for the German market corporate brand AIDA Cruises, start year-round from the Hamburg Cruise Terminal Steinwerder to weeklong cruises in Western Europe. read more…The Dar Pomorza
1 July 2016 | Author/Destination: Yachting and Spa | Rubric: Tall ships, Museums, Exhibitions, Yacht of the Month Reading Time: 10 minutes The Dar Pomorza is a Polish full-rigged sailing ship built in 1909 which is preserved in Gdynia as a museum ship. She has served as a sail training ship in Germany, France, and Poland.The ship was built in 1909 by Blohm & Voss and dedicated in 1910 by Deutscher Schulschiff-Verein as the German training ship Prinzess Eitel Friedrich, named for Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg, wife of Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia. Her yard no. was 202, her hull was launched on the 12th of October 1909. In 1920, following World War I, the ship was taken as war-reparations by Great Britain, then brought to France, where she was assigned to the seamen’s school at Saint-Nazaire under the name “Colbert”. The ship was then given to Baron de Forrest as compensation for the loss of a sailing yacht. Due to the high costs of refurbishing the ship, she was sold in 1929. read more…