Page 24: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 1998)

CRUISE SHIP FOCUS

Renaissance Goes Upscale

With Mite

French built-series features proven diesel-electric drive with

Wartsila powerplants

By David Tinsley, technical editor

Fort Lauderdale-based

Renaissance Cruises has realized the first phase of a considerable fleet development program geared to the U.S. passenger market, with the delivery in France of the 342- stateroom R.One.

Her name may be minimalist, but the ship's interiors are charac- terized by a tasteful opulence and abundant variety reflecting a care- fully considered commercial strate- gy-

While the distinctly British feel to the public rooms, and the ele- gant tone of the passenger spaces throughout reflects the work of a

London-based design studio, the vessel is distinguished overall as a specific market-targeted product conceived by Richard Kirby- headed Renaissance.

The 30,277-gt R.One signals a new era for a company that has hitherto built its reputation on a fleet of 114-passenger yacht-type cruise ships, typically offering exotic itineraries in southeast

Asia, the Indian Ocean, the

Mediterranean and the Baltic.

The Liberian-flag R.One is home- ported in Piraeus, such that flights to and from the USA and pre- and post-cruise hotel stays in Greece and Turkey form an integral part of the Greek island and Eastern

Mediterranean cruise vacations she offers.

On the basis of a double-occu- pancy, 684-passenger complement, the crew-to-passenger ratio is nearly one-to-two, while the pas- senger space ratio (PSR), a factor of the vessel's enclosed volume, rates among the largest in the industry for a ship of her size.

Almost 70 percent of all state- rooms and suites incorporate pri- vate balconies, and 93 percent have sea views, in line with the increasing expectations of clients.

Renaissance has boldly designated the entire ship a non-smoking area, as one outcome of its thor- ough market research into prefer- ences as well as tastes and aspira- tions.

R.One is the first in a series of

John McNeece pictured alongside the ship which he helped design, the first in series R. One for

Renaissance Cruises. six luxury ves- sels from

Chantiers de l'Atlantique at

St. Nazaire, which holds options on two further ships of the class. Such is the scale of its expansion plans that

Renaissance is already contem- plating larger ninth and tenth vessels. The com- pany retains three of its original class of eight Italian-built yacht- type cruise ships, and forward bookings will carry this remaining trio into 2000 at least.

The refined lines and distinctive profile of the seminal Renaissance vessel are manifestations of the company's plan to strengthen its position in the upper segment of the cruise market. She has been assigned to a program of 10-day cruises in the Aegean and Eastern

Mediterranean, working out of Piraeus to Israel,

Cyprus, Rhodes, Kusadasi and Crete.

Due for delivery in

November this year, sec- ond-of-class R.Two has also been earmarked for operations in the same region, while follow-on sisters R.Three and

R.Four will be homeport- ed in Tahiti for 10-day cruises in French

Polynesia and the South

Pacific. It is understood that the company is provi- sionally considering deploying the fifth new- build in Mediterranean v 1 1* 1

T"' i —i

Europe, but plans for the subse- quent vessels have yet to be dis- closed.

Renaissance Cruises retained

London-based John McNeece for the coordination and design of all exterior styling and interiors, including the staterooms, suites, all public rooms and restaurants.

Renaissance president Richard

Kirby said "To achieve the time- less, classical elegance and com- fortable functionality we wanted for these new ships, we have taken the unusual step of choosing one designer for the entire vessel, rather than selecting a variety of designers as is usual with a large, new cruise ship."

McNeece said "It was a very exciting opportunity to design a ship exclusively for the U.S. mar- ket. The vessels provide a classic, high quality look for the U.S. mar- ket and bring a measure of charac- ter, style and elegance reminiscent of the classic liners, subtly blended with the best in leading-edge tech- nology." "She is very much a traditional looking ship in which we have cre- ated a complete, seamless feel, unlike other new ships coming into service," he added. 24 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News