Regal Princess interiors, 10 May 2015

We interrupt the advertized programming to bring you this entry of interior images from onboard Princess Cruises' newest ship, the Regal Princess. I would also like to take this opportunity to let my Finnish-speaking readers know that the latest issue of Ulkomatala is out, featuring amongst other things an article on the 50th anniversary of Princess Cruises, as well as four articles by yours truly.

Regal Princess

IMO 9584724
Built 2014, Fincantieri Monfalcone, Italy
Tonnage 142 714 GT
Length 330 m
Width 38,40 m
Draft 8,60 m
4 380 passengers
6 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 62 400 kW
2 propellers
3 bow thrusters
3 (?) stern thrusters
Speed 23 knots

The Regal Princess made her first call at Helsinki on 10 May 2015. She was the largest cruise ship to have called in Helsinki at the time (although she lost the title in a few months to P&O's Britannia), and Princess Cruises arranged a press tour of the ship to commemorate the occasion together with the Port of Helsinki.

Since the Regal Princess is essentially a brand-new ship with very little history to wade through, let's get right down to business of the interior photos, shall we?

Our tour of the ship started up on the bridge, where Port of Helsinki's managing director Kimmo Mäki (left) exchanged commemorative plagues with Regal Princess' Captain John Foster.

Deck 17 - Sun Deck: The Regal Princess has a whopping 19 decks, but our tour started from deck 17, which houses pool areas, the fitness center, as well as childrens' and teenagers' lounges.

The Sanctuary is an adults-only deck area forward on deck 17.

The Sanctuary also includes an extra-cost spa pavillion for rent.

Aft of The Sanctuary is the Retreat pool, with private cabanas for rent. On the right is the guide of our little tour, Michael Korhonen. I don't know where Princess pulled a Finnish staff member to guide us, but he was definately a hit amongst the visitors.

According to our other guide, cruise director Geof, the Regal Princess has the largest fitness facilities of the Princess fleet.

Deck 16 - Lido Deck features cabins forward, a pool area amidships and restaurants aft.

The main pool area, with Princess' trademark Movies Under the Stars screen. (Okay, these days every other mass-market cruise line has them too, but Princess were the first to feature them).

The SeaWalk glass-floored corridor is cantilevered outside the ship. Not as interesting when the side with the SeaWalk faces the quay, I'm, afraid.

The aft part of the ship is filled by the buffet restaurant (I continue to be puzzled by the placement of the buffets on cruise ships, but that's probably just me being Finnish). The restaurant is divided into two distinct areas: this is the Horizon Bistro...

...aft of which is the (in my opinion) more attractively styled Horizon Court.

Deck 7 - Promenade Deck: Next we leap down several deck filled with cabins and go back to the public rooms. Deck 7 houses the upper level of the Princess Theatre show lounge forward, followed by various bars and lounges.

What would be a mass-amrket cruise ship without an art gallery.

Another must-feature is a multi-deck Atrium; in the case of the Regal Princess it spans decks five, six and seven.

I must admit I'm not a huge fan of the Regal Princess' interiors overall, but the Ocean Terrace seafood bar on the Atrium is quite attractive.

Michael explains Princess Cruises' 50th anniversary celebrations to us.

Regal Princess and her sister Royal Princess feature a Princess Live! television studio, where programmes shown on the cabin televisions are produced. Personally, I don't quite see the appeal.

Aft of Princess Live! is the traditionally decorated Wheelhouse Bar.

And accessible through the Wheelhouse Bar is the Crown Grill, an extra-cost steakhouse.

Finally, right aft on deck seven is the Vista Lounge, a venue for music performances and standup comedy. I find the name extremely ironic, as the lounge could have windows on three sides, with amazing views overlooking the wake of the ship; instead, it has no windows.

Deck 6 - Fiesta Deck has the lower level of the Princess Theatre forward, followed by the ship's casino and various restaurants, including two of the ship's main dining rooms. Unfortunately the tour did not include a visit to any of these.

Princess Theatre, looking forward towards the stage...

...and looking aft. I like the rest of the decor, but the seating looks like it's from the 1980s - and the unadventurous design schools of the 1980s at that. Definately not an attractive space and not one you'd expect to find on a brand-new ship.

The Casino.Another thing that I personally don't see the appeal of.

Deck 5 - Plaza Deck: Here we find the ship's spa forward (following the current trend of placing spas low on the ship), the reception, as well as various spas and restaurants.

The Enclave at Lotus Spa is, I believe, another extra cost feature.

The reception lobby. Placing the reception outside the Atrium is a feature I find puzzling from the point of view of orientation.

Prior to leaving the ship, we were served lunch at Sabatini's, one of the ship's extra-charge restaurants. I'm afraid the lunch was not very memorable; it wasn't bad, but if this was the normal extra-cost fare they serve, I'd give the restaurant a pass.

A parting shot of the glitzy atrium.

Next time we will probably return to the previously advertized programming with the Azamara Quest. Stay tuned!

Empress in Helsinki 11 August 2015

Empress

IMO 8716899
Name history: Nordic Empress, Empress of the Seas, Empress
Built 1990, Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France
Tonnage 48 563 GT
Length 210,81 m
Width 30,70 m
Draft 7,10 m
2 020 passengers
2 Wärtsilä-Duvant Crepelle diesels, combined 16 200 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 19,5 knots

The Empress has of course been featured here before and you can click on this link to read a short history of the ship. The photographs below show the ship passing through the Kustaanmiekka strait following departure from Helsinki. Due to my being a bit a late on the scene, you're getting a slightly different point of view from the usual photos taken at Kustaanmiekka. As per the usual, click on the images to see them in larger size.

Continuing the floral theme from the previous entry.

Still not sure if I like the current Pullmantur livery. At least it's different though.

Through the narrow bit.

Next time: Azamara Quest

Caribbean Princess in Helsinki, 7 August 2015

Caribbean Princess

IMO 9215490
Built 2004, Fincantieri Monfalcone, Italy
Tonnage 112 894 GT
Length 290,00 m
Width 36,00 m
Draugth 8,05 m
3 114 passengers (lower berths)
3 782 passengers (maximum)
6 Sulzer diesels, combined 63 360 kW
2 azipods
3 bow thrusters
Speed 21,7 knots

The Caribbean Princess is, as you can easily discern from her profile, a member of Princess Cruises ubiquitous Grand-class. Although, if you wish to be pedantic, she is in fact a one-off design; like the first three Grand-class ships (the Grand, Golden and Star Princess) she was built with the shopping cart handle -esque after superstructure, but she has an extra deck of cabins compared to the earlier sisters. Nothing else really to say about the ship - except that I find her name somewhat amusing on northern European itineraries. Also interesting that Princess felt nescessary to rename the Tahitian Princess into Ocean Princess a few years back when she moved to worldwide itineraries, but didn't feel the same thing nescessary for the Caribbean Princess in the same situation.

The photographs below show the Caribbean Princess departing Helsinki Länsisatama (West Harbour) in the afternoon of 7 August 2015. Photographed from Sisä-Hattu. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

Floral Princess (with a queen, namely Tallink's Baltic Queen, in the background).

While I'm not a fan of the Grand class or its defivatives in terms of overall design, I think the ships with the shopping cart handle look better than the ones without.

Couldn't resist those flowers.

Next time: Empress.

Arcadia in Helsinki, 7 August 2015

Finally I had some free time to dedicate to treating photos for publication. Be warned, there are quite a lot of them this time.

Arcadia

IMO 9226906
Built 2005, Fincantieri Porto Maghera, Italy
Tonnage 82 972 GT
Length 285,30 m
Width 32,20 m
Draugth 7,80 m
2 556 passengers
5 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 51 840 kW
2 azipods
3 bow thrusters
Speed 22 knots

P&O Cruises' Arcadia has, of course, been featured on this blog several times before. For a brief history of the ship, see this earlier entry. On this particular occasion, I headed out to photograph her as this was probably the last time to document her before she's applied the indignity of P&O's new blue funnel colours and Union Jack bow paint.

So, the photos below show the Arcadia departing from Helsinki Länsisatama (West Harbour) on the afternoon of 7 August 2015. Photographed from Sisä-Hattu. As per the usual, you can see the photos in larger size by clicking on them.

The photogenic flower still required one to lay down on an anthill to get it attractively in the frame. Sometimes suffering for your art is nescessary.

More flowers.

And yet more flowers.

More upright photography, this time with The Photogenic Tree.

Is it just me, or is the funnel starting to look a bit faded? Well, presumably there's no point in repainting it with the yellow as it'll soon be blue instead, but still.

More upright Photogenic Tree!

Okay, maybe one photo that actually shows the ship "properly".

But The Photogenic Tree is so appealing!

Water levels were unusually low, giving a chance to take slightly different foreground rock photos from normal.

The Japanese rose bush is always attractive.

Next time: Caribbean Princess.

New book: Tallink – The First 25 Years

Tallink – The First 25 Years covers Tallink's first quarter of a century not only in text but also multiple high-quality images.

Tallink – The First 25 Years, my second book, was published last month by Ferry Publications (which makes the title a bit of a misnomer, as the book came out during Tallink's 26th year of existance, but let's not get too caught up in the details). It takes a detailed look at the history of Tallink, from humble beginnings as a Finnish-Soviet joint venture to the present, when Tallink Grupp is not only one of the largest companies in Estonia but also one of the leading ferry operators in the World.

The book is illustrated by photographs from some of the top ship photographers in the world - including myself, naturally. :P

In addition to exploring the history of Tallink in detail, the book takes a closer look at the history of passenger services to and from Estonia before the establishment of Tallink, and their cultural impact. Also included is a chapter dedicated to the history of Estline, best known as the owners of the ill-fated Tallinn-Stockholm ferry Estonia, as their passenger operations were absorbed by Tallink in 2000.

The 128-page book is available at well-stocked bookstores, and can also be purchased directly from the publishers via this link.