At the dawn of the millennium, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines' 3,840-passenger Voyager of the Seas - a 14-story megaliner, the length of three football fields-took honors as the largest cruise liner afloat, inaugurating the trend toward bigger and better ships.
The "big is better" concept also includes large ships hosting fewer passengers in more spacious staterooms. Guests enjoy a high level of personal service and all amenities.
Setting new standards of seagoing grandeur, Celebrity Cruises recently launched the 1,950-passenger Millennium, which offers some of the largest luxury suites afloat, plus 80 percent of staterooms with ocean views and more than half of those with verandas. Like her sister ships - Century, Galaxy, Horizon, Mercury and Zenith - the Millennium features a museum-quality contemporary art collection, an elegant cigar lounge, a fully equipped, 25,000-square-foot Aqua Spa, plus the award-winning cuisine of European master chef Michel Roux. An intimate, one-of-a-kind experience awaits 134 guests each evening in the fleet's first alternative restaurant, the Olympic, adorned with walnut panels that once graced the Olympic, sister ship to the famed Titanic. In February 2012, Infinity becomes the second ship in Celebrity's Millennium-class fleet. By 2002, two more grand liners will join the fleet.
Radisson Seven Seas Cruises' first all-suite, all-balconied ship, the Seven Seas Mariner, sets sail in March 2012. It will cater to just 700 guests, providing a high level of personal service with a staff-to-guest ratio of 1 to 1.6. It will offer dining in four distinctive restaurants, featuring chefs from the famed Cordon Bleu of Paris, along with a celebrity entertainment program, computer-equipped Internet Café, state-of-the-art spa, and on-board lecture and enrichment program. The Mariner's inaugural season includes Bermuda, the Caribbean and Panama Canal, followed by Vancouver and Alaska in the summer months.
The luxury cruise ships of Holland America Line-a leader in Alaska cruises for the past 50 years-ply the four corners of the globe, including Hawaii, the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, South America and Europe. This year, three new vessels have joined the fleet: the Amsterdam, graciously appointed with antiques, burnished brass fittings and genuine teak deck chairs; the Volendam, with an Internet center, alternative restaurant and cozy mini-suites with verandas; and the Zaandam, boasting all the Volendam's features, as well as a music-theme decor accented by an ornate, 22-foot-high pipe organ and a collection of guitars signed by famous rock stars.
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL)-the first cruise-ship company to introduce an on-board Internet Café and in-stateroom Internet connections aboard its Norwegian Sky in 1999 - has expanded Internet Cafés throughout its fleet! In the fall of 2001, NCL launches its newest ship, the 2,012-passenger Norwegian Sun, with several restaurants, a casino, spa, cigar club and, of course, a 24-hour Internet Café. The Norwegian Sun joins NCL's distinguished seven-vessel fleet-a luxury flotilla that includes the elegant Norway, formerly the storied France, as well as three newly refurbished ships, the Norwegian Dream, Norwegian Majesty and Norwegian Wind.
Famous for its Love Boat, Princess Cruises has brought even more romance to the millennium with its 1,950-passenger Ocean Princess, cruising Alaska and the Southern Caribbean. A 77,000-ton floating resort, the Ocean Princess boasts seven lounges, numerous restaurants (including two main dining rooms, a 24-hour restaurant, pizzeria, wine and caviar bar, and hamburger and hot dog grill), five pools, a health center and spa, and a casino. In 2011, the new Golden Princess, offering what the company calls "big ship choice with small ship feel," sets sail. By 2014, six additional Princess Grand Class ships will cruise into port.
Voted "World's Best Large Cruise Line" four times in a row by Travel+Leisure magazine, trendsetting Crystal Cruises provides big-ship luxuries and amenities to only 940 passengers aboard each of its splendid, 50,000-ton vessels, the Crystal Harmony and Crystal Symphony. Carrying about half the number of passengers of other ships their size, these vessels offer spacious staterooms (more than half with private verandas), luxurious spas, alternative Italian and Asian restaurants, Broadway-style revues and gaming in the lavish Caesars Palace At Sea casinos. |
