Yards
Carnival Celebration is ready for the Big Party
As Carnival Cruise Line hits 50, Turku Shipyard has come up with the perfect present – delivered right on time
Despite both geopolitical and pandemic turmoil, Carnival Celebration is steadily moving towards completion in Turku. The second of Carnival Cruise Line’s new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)-powered ships, Carnival Celebration will begin service in early November with a 14-day transatlantic voyage from London (Southampton) to its homeport of Port Miami. Her arrival highlights the celebration of Carnival Cruise Line’s 50th birthday quite well, indeed.
Carnival Celebration is the sister ship
to Mardi Gras, which entered service
last year as the first ship in North America
to run on an LNG propulsion system.
Carnival has pioneered the introduction
of LNG fuel in the passenger cruise sector
as part of the company’s ongoing commitment
to sustainability and emissions
reduction.
For the Turku shipyard, however, Celebration
is already the sixth LNG-powered
vessel. Viking Grace and Megastar got the
ball running, and Costa Smeralda, Costa Toscana, Mardi Gras and Celebration represent
the new generation of LNG cruise
ships.
“Right now, LNG is the most sustainable,
practical choice we have for
fuel in these large cruise ships,” says Project
Director Jaakko Leinonen, who is
charged with taking Celebration across
the finish line as he did with Mardi Gras.
Carnival Cruise Line is expecting as
many as 11 LNG-powered cruise ships to
join the fleet by 2025, representing 20%
of the company’s capacity.
NO SHORTAGE OF CHALLENGES
Leinonen says that some of the challenges
faced by the construction can probably be
described as “biblical,” as a global pandemic
rages on and the winds of war keep
blowing. Nevertheless, Celebration has
been able to clear all the hurdles.
“Over five years ago, when the contract
for Celebration was made, we wrote
down the timeline for production and
we have been able to stick with it, even
though the headwinds have been considerable
at times.” Celebration is slated for
delivery in early November 2022, with a
sea voyage to Southampton to kick off
four days later.
“Already in mid-October, we’re getting
around 300 members of the ship’s crew onboard as they start learning the
ropes.” The total number of the crew is
around 2,000.
ACING THE SEA TRIALS
Interviewed in late September, Leinonen is
relieved that inspections are already taking.
“It’s the final stretch of a long, long
journey.”
Looking back, Leinonen is especially
proud of the sea trials which commenced
on the morning of 5th September, exactly
as planned years before. To say that the
vessel proved sea-worthy would be a vast
understatement:
“We concluded the sea trials in just
eight days, which is a new record for us.
That made us feel really good that all our
hard work is paying off,” says Leinonen,
a 20-year industry veteran.
MAKE THE PROCESS MORE
STRATEGIC
A big part of that hard work had to do with
thinking ahead. Facing potential availability
issues, the shipyard got in front of the problem and set up a special forum
in early 2021 to make sure there are no
bottlenecks in production. Logistics was
the key here:
“The forum found out, for example,
what components and materials were
missing and discussed ways to replace
them. We worked as a team to find solutions
that carried the project forward,
without delays.”
EXCEL-CLASS GETS GOING
Carnival Celebration, Mardi Gras and Carnival
Jubilee, which is also under construction
and set to enter service next year, are
part of the cruise line’s new Excel-class.
Each Excel ship includes a three-deck
atrium and newly designed suites and staterooms – and the award-winning BOLT
roller coaster. BOLT is an industry-first inship
rollercoaster that debuted on Mardi
Gras, letting the cruise patron do the driving
and control the speed of the ride with
a top speed of 64km/h.
According to Leinonen, “the rollercoaster
on the waves” features design
and build that was certainly demanding
enough – BOLT has to be able to withstand
fierce storms, and to be, in essence,
hurricane-proof.
Having led the construction of both
Celebration and Mardi Gras, Leinonen
knows that the two vessels are pretty similar,
with few notable differences – such as
the restaurant concepts.
“Celebration is also slightly bigger,
with more cabins, but the technology in
use is the same.”
RETAIL REACH
Celebration will be home to nine retail
collections, the most expansive selection
across the fleet. With something for every
type of cruiser – and shopper – the retail
offerings will include new designs such as
the special Miami-inspired line, 305 Deco
Celebration. The line pays homage to the
city where Carnival was founded 50 years
ago – so get ready for all the pastels, tropical
colors and vibes of Miami with beach
totes, drink coasters, bucket hats, towels
Celebration’s retail offerings will be
spread throughout the ship’s six zones: The
Gateway, 820 Biscayne, Celebration Central,
The Ultimate Playground, Summer
Landing and Lido.
While Celebration heads out to, well,
celebrate, the crew at Turku shipyard will
put their champagne glasses down and
get back to work. After Carnival Celebration
sails away, the attention turns Royal
Caribbean International’s Icon of The Seas
(2023 delivery) and the TUI Cruises’ Mein
Schiff 7 (2024 delivery).
by: Sami J. Anteroinen
photos: Meyer Turku
Weather the Storm
Meyer Turku has been able to cope in the midst of a protracted
pandemic, also financially. The company’s turnover for 2021
was EUR 1.08 billion – somewhat higher than in the previous year,
but still showing a loss of EUR 17.0 million.
CEO Tim Meyer comments that exceptional times have lasted
longer than the shipyard expected.
“The global effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, such as labor
and material mobility, affected our operations as well. However,
despite significant challenges, we were able to keep our production
and processes running.”
In the spring of 2021, the company also launched a major
transformation program in Turku and Papenburg to increase its cost
efficiency and to ensure a sustainable profitability level.
Meyer Turku is confident that its customers see growth in the
market after the pandemic. Furthermore, the shipyard’s order books
extend to 2026 which offers great continuity.
The direction of the shipyard is decidedly green: Tim Meyer
notes that today, the surrounding society, customers and ship
passengers require proper action to enhance responsibility.
“Our focus will increasingly shift to sustainable shipbuilding,”
he says.
