I note that Star was delivered in 2001 and Dawn in 2002, then there was pause before Jewel came along in 2005. Since then they've been appearing at approximately 9-month intervals (or less). But does anyone know why there was this pause between Dawn and Jewel?

Secondly, I see from the plans (and also from Pam's pictures from N Dawn a few years ago) that Star & Dawn had a 3 or 4 deck 'Grand Atrium', while from Jewel onwards the atrium is just two decks high, and has been renamed the 'Central Atrium'. Again, does anyone know why the atrium was scalled-down in the later ships? That's an interesting decision, rather opposite to where Carnival's direction with their Farkus-designed ships.

Any answers to these question would be graefully received, and also any souces of background info about this class.

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Originally posted by Tom Burke:
[QB]
I note that Star was delivered in 2001 and Dawn in 2002, then there was pause before Jewel came along in 2005. Since then they've been appearing at approximately 9-month intervals (or less). But does anyone know why there was this pause between Dawn and Jewel?
QB]

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NCL wasn't idle in acquiring tonnage during those years. That is when they received the refitted SUPERSTAR LEO as NORWEGIAN SPIRIT. They also took delivery of PRIDE OF AMERICA, which was a huge job.

There is a lead time of several years between committing to build, signing contracts, and completing a ship, so they just cannot come off the assembly line as quickly as cars do (although sometimes it seems that way!)

To be honest I don’t know Tom! I’m sure someone out there does?

I do find it interesting that as well as big 'Atriums' and ‘Royal Proms’, Carnival and RCI still believe in one big ‘main’ dining room, complete with ‘wow’ factor. These tend to have a traditional feel, spaning two or three decks and accommodate half the passenger capacity at each of two fixed sittings.

I did once here a nautical interior designer say (on video) that without public rooms having ‘volume’ (he meant being at lerast several stories high) he could achieve very little.

NCL clearly have a different mind-set with smaller multiple dining rooms that tend to be single story. However their newbuilds are never the less very impressive.

NCL and RCI clearly lead the way in state-of-the-art ships, but have very different 'interior-design approaches. NCL's two big ships to be built towards the end of the decade should prove to be very interesting in terms of interior layout.

[ 11-09-2006: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

Regarding the atrium, I think it was scaled down on JEWEL and her later sisters for one reason. Revenue. NCL added inside cabins in what used to be open space for the atrium. The bean counters decided revenue was more important than aesthetics and the "wow" factor. They also took out the internet cafe on Deck 9 and replaced it with even more inside cabins.

Here are some random thoughts I recall about NORWEGIAN STAR ---

-small cabin even for a standard balcony type
-great divided bathroom, best I've seen
-cheap furniture in the cabins, it looks like it's from IKEA
-ugly corridors and cabin doors that looked very industrial
-great indoor pool and spa, very unusual today
-too many huge flower beds of fake flowers that look really fake, no doubt dusty by now
-very small furniture in some lounges that appeared to be designed more for Asian's than larger Westerners
-very low ceilings in some areas like the 24 hour grill and pub
-very awkward layout with restaurants placed at every turn, this might give an empty feeling during the day when they are not in use
-a huge gift ship placed aft that seemed like an afterthought, and apparently it was as maybe this was going to be the casino
-one dance floor on the entire ship, in Spinnaker Lounge
-horrible buffet restaurant both in layout and decor, again it looked like something out of an IKEA catalog
-only one outdoor pool for 2500 passengers and it did not look inviting
-pool area is very stark with no color and beige rubber decking
-dark tile is used in the pool which made it appear deep and uninviting
-two slides by the pool which took up an enormous amount of deck space which is already very limited, and encourages young children to use the main pool ... or should I say only pool
-no view in the gym which is unfortunate
-excellent cinema and meeting rooms which really don't matter much to me
-my favorite lounge was the Star Bar, which was about the only lounge I found really appealing
-food and service were pretty poor but my sailing was a pre-inaugural and I'm sure that has improved
-very long waits for all restaurants but again I know this has improved from my sailings on PRIDE OF AMERICA

So as you can see I don't have a lot positive to say about these ships. NORWEGIAN STAR was mostly forgettable for me. I didn't like the overall feel of the ship and certainly not the layout. The fact there was only one dance floor seemed very odd. I'm hoping I will feel differently about NORWEGIAN DAWN in this weekend. We shall see. On the contrary to NORWEGIAN STAR is PRIDE OF AMERICA. An ugly ship from the outside (although she grew on me) but just fabulous on the inside. Freestyle worked great on this ship and I loved everything about the ship except the main pool area (too small).

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

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I know this has nothing to do with the NORWEGIAN STAR, but seeing this photo of an RCI Dining Room brought to mind the old Nord-Deutscher Lloyd dining rooms from the turn of the last Century. Here is the First Class Dining Room from the KAISER WILHELM II of 1903--all passengers could be seated at once on the three levels. "Everything old is new again!"

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Originally posted by eroller:
Regarding the atrium, I think it was scaled down on JEWEL and her later sisters for one reason. Revenue.

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I viewed Pam's extensive images of her 'Norwegian Dawn' cruise a few years ago. I noticed when I toured 'Jewel' that many aspects of the decor, such as those humorous external murals, had been scaled down or omitted.

As a result, when NCL wanted more Star-class ships, the shipyard might not able to build them immediately and NCL needed to make some adjustments to the design of the ships to better match the customers' need.

Also, since N.Star and N.Dawn were orginally deployed in Asia, and Asian tend to have everythings that are grand and oversized, so Star Cruises will try to build N.Star & N.Dawn 's atrium as large & grand as possible. But it is not necessary for N.A. customers, so that NCL has decided to have a smaller atrium.

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Originally posted by Linerrich:

NCL wasn't idle in acquiring tonnage during those years. That is when they received the refitted SUPERSTAR LEO as NORWEGIAN SPIRIT. They also took delivery of PRIDE OF AMERICA, which was a huge job.

There is a lead time of several years between committing to build, signing contracts, and completing a ship, so they just cannot come off the assembly line as quickly as cars do (although sometimes it seems that way!)

Rich

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[ 11-09-2006: Message edited by: Ernst ]

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Originally posted by Ernst:
Mind you that going only a bit faster requires a hefty increase in power - and she is a bit faster than the mentioned ships of comparable size.

[ 11-09-2006: Message edited by: Ernst ]

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While it is acknowledged that the Jewel onwards has a greater generating capacity, her pods supposedly produce the same output as the Radiance class.

From Meyer Werft's website:

Norwegian Dawn:
Total Power: 58,800 KW
Propulsion Power: 39,000 KW

Jewel of the Seas:
Total Power: 59,000 KW
Propulsion Power: 40,000 KW

Norwegian Jewel:
Total Power: 72,000 KW
Propulsion Power: 40,000 KW

The Dawn and the Jewel OTS both have a hotel load of around 19-20 MW, while the N. Jewel has 32 MW. That seems like way too much power for N. Jewel's hotel load.

If the N. Jewel really has a hotel load of 20 MW, a more reasonable amount, that would leave 52,000 KW for propulsion, and mean that her pods should put out 26 MW each, larger than any pod that is acknowledged to exist.

This 30% increase in power should be good for a 9% increase in speed. If the Dawn and Jewel OTS are good for 25 knots, then If the N. Jewel really has 52,000 KW of propulsive power, she should be good for a speed of 27.25 knots.

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Originally posted by Ernst:
Mind you that going only a bit faster requires a hefty increase in power - and she is a bit faster than the mentioned ships of comparable size.

[ 11-09-2006: Message edited by: Ernst ]

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Another reason is that since N.Star & N.Dawn were orginially ored for Star Cruises, then the management has decided to transfer them to NCL...
As a result, when NCL wanted more Star-class ships, the shipyard might not able to build them immediately and NCL needed to make some adjustments to the design of the ships to better match the customers' need.

Also, since N.Star and N.Dawn were orginally deployed in Asia, and Asian tend to have everythings that are grand and oversized, so Star Cruises will try to build N.Star & N.Dawn 's atrium as large & grand as possible. But it is not necessary for N.A. customers, so that NCL has decided to have a smaller atrium.

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I'm not sure that they actually cruised for Star Cruises. All the reference books agree that N Star (certainly) was ordered by Star Cruises, but my feeling is that they were transferred to NCL before going into service with Star. It may be that N Star was so far down the construction path that she had already been fitted-out in asian-style; this would explain the comments about the size of the furniture & the decor. I've got the Berlitz Guide (2005) which lists 'Previous names', and there are none in the entries for N Star & N Dawn. (N Spirit is correcty listed as having been Superstar Leo.) So my feeling is that although the lead two ships in the class were ordered by Star Cruises, they never cruised for Star, they were transferred to NCL immediately after Star took control (in 2001?)

"Each of the ship's propulsion power package will use five MAN B&W 12V48/60B type diesel engines each producing 14,4000kW or 19,6000 HP at 514 RPM for a total output of 72,000 kW. The top speed is 25.6 knots".

"The selection of the MAN B&W 12V48/60B diesel over the 48/60 series diesel used on earlier NCL ships such as the NORWEGIAN STAR should also provide better fuel economies. According to MAN B&W, the new 48/60'B's minimum fuel consumption is 173 g/k Wh which is 7 g/k Wh less than the 48/60 series. In addition the 48/60B is a lower weight diesel engine but provides approximately 14 % higher output than the earlier 48/60 models."