Page 16: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 1996)

NEW TONNAGE

Largest Cruise Ship Ever Built

Visits New York by Bridget Murphy, associate editor

Call it fate, or perhaps just

Destiny, but the financial future of the cruise sector seems to be directly linked to the construction of bigger and glitzier vessels.

Carnival Cruise Lines — no stranger to this profit-enhancing strategy, arguably ranking as the most successful cruise line in oper- ation — is currently in the process of introducing the newest addition to its fleet to the public.

At 101,000 gross tons, Carnival

Destiny has replaced P&O's Sun

Princess, which debuted in 1995, as the world's largest passenger ship — an honor which did not go unnoticed by New Yorkers as the ship docked at Pier 88 of the New

York Marine Cruise Terminal from

November 11 to 13.

Occupying the slip next to USS

Intrepid, Destiny refused to be swallowed up in the shadows of the powerful monument to American maritime history. "We didn't intend to build the biggest ship.

We intended the build the best," quipped Carnival Tour Guide

Roxanne Steele as she led travel agents, journalists, maritime per- sonnel and other invited guests through what seemed to be a float- ing city-state.

With the appeal of Las Vegas and the availability of amenities asso- ciated with posh Broadway hotels,

Destiny will predictably be a finan- cial coup for the cruise line as it moves into the fourth quarter of 1996. Starting its inaugural sea- son in late November after visits to

Boston and Norfolk, the ship will be deployed from Miami to the eastern and western Caribbean.

While Destiny's interior favors the design trend towards busy and modern art, a modest gold-plated plaque mounted on the ship's

Promenade or "Destiny Way," attests to Carnival's adherence to another cruise sector trend —

Italian vessel construction.

Destiny was contracted out to

Fincantieri — a trait shared by the two premier vessels that will launch the Disney cruise venture in 1998. The group's Monfalcone yard completed the task on time, and with "innovation and flair," as called for in its corporate mission.

According to Lloyd's Register, which classed Destiny, the ship is the first cruise vessel to comply with all of the amendments to the

Safety of Life At Sea (SOLAS)

Convention of 1992. This includes safer positioning of lifeboats, emer- gency exit routes with low location lighting and improved structural fire protection standards.

While full smoke detection and automatic sprinkler systems have been installed in all accommoda- tion areas, by Carnival's policy, smoking is permitted in all passen- ger cabins — a point of contention for a large number of agents tour- ing the ship in New York. Many of these same people, however, were impressed with the ship's generous cabin design, with 60 percent of the staterooms featuring ocean views, and a little more than half of these featuring private balconies large enough for two to sit out on.

The ship's diesel-electric propul- sion system, supplied by ABB, employs a central generating arrangement with six ABB genera- tors driven by six Sulzer diesel engines, giving a service speed of 22.5 knots. Two ABB 20 MVA syn- chronous propulsion motors, dri- ving twin screws and controllable pitch propellers, operate at vari- able speeds, being supplied through cycloconverters.

Although no new ship orders have been recently confirmed,

Carnival has stated that it will base its ordering activity on the success of its products. If the stir created in New York from Destiny's visit is any indication of product approval, more orders may be just around the corner.

Carnival Destiny Particulars

Length o.a 893.03 ft. (272.2 m)

Width 116.4 ft. (35.48 m)

Draft 26.9 ft. (8.2 m)

Weight 101,353 gt

Speed 22.5 kn

Classification Lloyd's Register @100A . .Passenger Ship, IWS, LMC, UMS, part HT steel

Passenger capacity 3,360

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