New Cruise Ships Will Soon Offer Something for Just About Every Kind of Adventure Seeker

By the end of 1993, 30 new ships--from amenity-loaded cruise liners to high-tech expedition vessels--will be advertising their charms to potential North American passengers, joining the 140 or so ocean-going ships presently in service.

And, according to enthusiastic market-watchers, the passengers to fill them are going to come from almost everywhere. For example, there’s a sizable new group of first-time cruise passengers showing up on every departure for three- and four-day sailings out of Florida and California--not only cruise line-targeted yuppies and baby boomers, but a broad mix of people of all races and income brackets from all over North America.

Some of these passengers are attracted by well-advertised low, all-inclusive prices; others may join an office, church or family group. These first-timers often graduate from mini-cruises to weeklong sailings.

More sophisticated “thirtysomethings” often look for ships that remind them of resort hotels--with larger rooms and bathrooms, private balconies and lots of bars and specialty cafes. Many of these, too, are new passengers rather than old-timers.

Add into the mix the boom in adventure and ecological travel. Cruises aboard a growing fleet of expedition ships offer environmentally conscious passengers firsthand looks at the penguin rookeries of the Antarctic, rain forests of Costa Rica, the Amazon jungle or the icefields of Greenland.

First of the new ships on line is Princess Cruises’ 1,596-passenger Crown Princess, to be christened in New York on Sept. 24. The line’s only Italian-flag ship will spend the winter cruising the Caribbean before returning to Europe for the summer of 1991.

The first of two Italian-built vessels whose upper decks were designed by controversial architect Renzo Piano in a sparer-than-normal style, the Crown Princess has spacious cabins, many with verandas.

Crown Cruise Line’s brand-new Crown Monarch is scheduled to set sail on its maiden voyage Nov. 3 to the western Caribbean and a private outer island at Labadee, Haiti. Built in Spain, the 530-passenger ship is slipping quietly into its Palm Beach home port with as little fanfare as preceded its predecessor, the Crown del Mar, two years ago.

The year-round Saturday sailings will cost from $1,095 to $2,595 per person, double occupancy. The higher prices are for 10 suites, 400 square feet each and complete with verandas and whirlpool baths. Prices include round-trip air fare, plus (for suites passengers) complimentary limousine transfers between airport and ship.

Nov. 10 in St. Thomas should see the first Caribbean arrival of the new Renaissance line of small ships--distinct in that it differentiates little between ships, accenting the line name instead. Perhaps that’s practical for a company that plans to have eight new ships in place by March, 1992, all of them positioned in exotic parts of the world with strong emphasis on ports of call.

If you’re trying to keep count, Renaissance III entered service in Europe in August, with Renaissance IV--which will offer Indian Ocean and East African cruises--due late November or early December. The second four ships, with a slightly different design, begin to arrive next spring, with the Renaissance V due March 24, the Renaissance VI in June, the VII in November, and the VIII in early 1992.

The 164-passenger Frontier Spirit, the first brand-new expedition vessel to appear in 16 years, is due to begin service in November as a joint venture of Salen Lindblad, Japan’s NYK Line, Mitsubishi and Hapag-Lloyd. A Lloyds’ Super Ice Class rating will enable the vessel to cruise the Arctic and Antarctic.

Other special features include a helipad, 12 motorized landing craft, and scuba and snorkel facilities. Some of the 82 outside staterooms open to private verandas; all have sitting areas, TV sets and mini-refrigerators. In command is Capt. Heinz Aye, a veteran of 59 Antarctic voyages and two successful navigations of the Northwest Passage during 16 years with Society Expeditions.

Costa’s new 1,000-passenger CostaMarina, built on the hull of a Swedish container vessel with a stern that seems to be made entirely of glass, comes into the Caribbean Dec. 16 after a short series of sailings in Europe. The ship will alternate eastern and western Caribbean itineraries this winter, then return to the Mediterranean next summer.

Royal Caribbean’s Monarch of the Seas takes over as the world’s biggest cruise ship when it sets out on its maiden voyage May 5 from San Juan for seven-day sailings to Martinique, Barbados, Antigua, St. Maarten and St. Thomas. The ship will be similar to Sovereign of the Seas, but slightly larger, with 62 suites with private verandas and a two-deck, glass-walled cafe facing the sea above the bow.

The sister ship to Carnival’s Fantasy, the 2,600-passenger Ecstasy, is scheduled for its first cruise June 2. Rumors are that the ship cost $75 million more than was first anticipated due to the bankruptcy of Finland’s Wartsila Shipyards late last year, and the subsequent pullout by Carnival and other European companies that also had partly finished vessels in the yard. Ecstasy will be scheduled on seven-day sailings from Miami on alternate eastern and western Caribbean itineraries.

July 7 marks the first scheduled sailing of the Star Clipper, a 180-passenger sailing ship from Miami-based, Belgian-owned Star Clippers Inc. Rather than using computer-operated sails like the ships of Windstar Sail Cruises and Club Med, the Star Clipper’s crew will set the 36,000 square feet of sails by hand.

Seven-day cruises alternating between Virgin Islands itineraries out of St. Thomas and Leeward Islands itineraries out of Antigua will call at off-the-beaten-track islands; prices will be about $250 a day per person, double occupancy.

A second new state-of-the-art expedition ship, Society Expeditions’ Society Adventurer, sets out on its first international sailing July 8 on a cruise from Portsmouth, England, to Ireland, Scotland and Iceland.

The 160-passenger ship, built by Finland’s Rauma shipyards, will have a “hands-on” laboratory, closed-circuit TV system for programs and lectures, a top ice rating, glass-bottomed boat for viewing coral reefs and undersea life, and a fleet of Zodiac landing craft. The 94 staterooms are all outside with refrigerators, TV and VCR.

Princess Cruises’ 1,596-passenger Regal Princess, sister ship to the Crown Princess, is due to begin cruising July 13, departing Ft. Lauderdale every Saturday on alternate eastern and western Caribbean itineraries.