The Celebrity Solstice

1 November 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  10 minutes

Celebrity Solstice in Civitavecchia © flickr.com - Aah-Yeah/cc-by-2.0

Celebrity Solstice in Civitavecchia © flickr.com – Aah-Yeah/cc-by-2.0

Celebrity Solstice is the lead ship of the Solstice-class of cruise ships operated by Celebrity Cruises. Built by Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, she was floated out on August 10, 2008, and christened by ocean scientist Professor Sharon L. Smith at a ceremony at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale in Florida on November 14, 2008. She began commercial service on November 23, 2008. Her homeport is Valletta on Malta. The first post-Panamax vessel in the Celebrity fleet, she features innovative interior design and onboard amenities, including an ocean-going live grass lawn, a glassblowing studio, and a 12 deck-high atrium.   read more…

The Anthem of the Seas

1 March 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  14 minutes

© flickr.com - slgckgc/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – slgckgc/cc-by-2.0

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: | Rubric: Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  6 minutes

Celebrity Equinox in San Miguel de Cozumel © Ricraider/cc-by-sa-3.0

Celebrity Equinox in San Miguel de Cozumel © Ricraider/cc-by-sa-3.0

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 Quantum of the Seas

14 April 2015 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  8 minutes

© royalcaribbean.de

© royalcaribbean.de

Quantum class is an upcoming class of cruise ships from Royal Caribbean International. On February 11, 2011, Royal Caribbean announced that they had ordered the first of a new class of ships from the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg scheduled to be delivered by Fall 2014. At the time, the project was code-named “Project Sunshine”. The Quantum-class ships will surpass the earlier Freedom-class ships by over 14,000 GT, becoming the second largest class of passenger ships behind Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis class ships on a gross tonnage basis. The first three ships of this class, Quantum of the Seas, delivered in November 2014, Anthem of the Seas, expected to be delivered in November 2014, and Ovation of the Seas, expected to be delivered in Fall 2016. Quantum of the Seas will spend its inaugural 2014-2015 season sailing from Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey, before repositioning to China in May 2015. Beginning late June 2015, the ship will sail three- to eight-night itineraries year-round from Shanghai to Japan and Korea. Anthem of the Seas will spend its inaugural 2015 season sailing from Southampton, Hampshire, before repositioning to Cape Liberty in November 2015. As of April 2014, no ports or itineraries have been announced for Ovation of the Seas.   read more…

The Disney Fantasy

1 January 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Cruise Ships, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  7 minutes

Disney Fantasy arriving in New York © Stjanss and mriedel/cc-by-sa-3.0

Disney Fantasy arriving in New York © Stjanss and mriedel/cc-by-sa-3.0

Disney Fantasy is a cruise ship of the American cruise company Disney Cruise Line, part of The Walt Disney Company. Disney Fantasy is the fourth ship in the cruise line. In February 2007, Disney Cruise Line announced that it had commissioned two new ships for its fleet. The first steel-cut, for scrollwork on the ship’s hull, took place in March 2009 at the Meyer Werft shipyards in Papenburg. Later that month, the two ships were named, with the Disney Fantasy set to enter service on March 31, 2012, a little over a year after its sister vessel, the Disney Dream.   read more…

Papenburg on river Ems

12 October 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Two-masted tall ship Friederike von Papenburg - Tourist Information © Michielverbeek

Two-masted tall ship Friederike von Papenburg – Tourist Information © Michielverbeek

Papenburg is a city in the district of Emsland in Lower Saxony, Germany, situated at the river Ems. It is known for its large shipyard, the Meyer Werft, which specializes in building cruise liners. In the “Chronicle of the Frisians”, written in the 16th century by the East-Frisian council Eggerik Benninga, the Papenburg (at that time a manor) is mentioned for the first time. In 1458, Hayo von Haren, called “von der Papenburch”, confesses to be leaned with the Papenburg. The contract that was made because of this is the earliest verifiably documented mention of Papenburg.   read more…

The Meyer Werft

12 August 2011 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Cruise Ships Reading Time:  7 minutes

Disney Dream - Meyer Werft, Papenburg © Patrick Martini - www.schiffgiganten.de

Disney Dream – Meyer Werft, Papenburg © Patrick Martini – www.schiffgiganten.de

The Meyer Werft is one of the remaining large German shipyards, headquartered in Papenburg. Since 1997, it has been part of the Meyer Neptun Group together with Neptun Werft in Rostock. Founded in 1795 as a wharf for the construction of wooden ships, Josef Lambert Meyer started the construction of iron ships in 1874. Until 1920 there were more than 20 dockyards in the Papenburg area. Today, Meyer Werft is the only remaining shipyard in Papenburg. For more than six generations, it has been a privately held and family-owned company. It gained international recognition through the construction of roll on/roll off ferries, passenger ferries, gasoline tankers, container ships, livestock ferries and most recently luxury cruise ships. Meyer is one of the largest and most modern shipyards in the world with 2300 employees, and home to the by far largest roofed dry docks in the world. The first covered dock was inaugurated in 1987 and was 370 meters long, 101,5 meters wide and 60 meters high. In 1990/91 the dock was extended by an additional 100 meters. In 2000, a second covered dock was built, which is announced to be extended to a full length of 504 meters, a width of 125 meters and height of 75 meters in order to compete with Asian shipyards. Meyer Werft will as a result of this be able to build 3 cruise ships a year.   read more…

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