MS Noordam, a Vista-class cruise ship, at Grand Turk Island, March 2007 | |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Builders | Fincantieri Marghera shipyard, Italy |
Operators | |
Subclasses |
|
Built | 2001–2010 |
In service | 2002–present |
Planned | 9 |
Completed | 9 |
Active | 9 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Cruise ship |
Length |
|
Beam | 105 ft 9 in (32.23 m) |
Decks | 11 passenger decks |
Installed power | Diesel-electric |
Propulsion | Azipod |
Speed |
|
Capacity |
|
Crew | 800–976 |
The Vista class is a class of Panamax-type cruise ships, built by Fincantieri Marghera shipyard, in Italy. Vista-class cruise ships are operated by Holland America Line, P&O Cruises, Cunard Line, Costa Cruises, and Carnival Cruise Line. The ships are equipped with a diesel-electric power plant and an Azipod propulsion system. The ships are designed so that eighty-five percent of the staterooms have ocean views and sixty-seven percent have verandas; the extensive use of glass in the superstructure, (including glass elevators located amidship), is also reflected in the Vista-class name.
The Vista-class design was created by Carnival Corporation for its Holland America Line, using the Panamax guidelines to determine their designed size. The predesessors to the class was Costa Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line's Spirit-Class starting with the Costa Atlantica and Carnival Spirit .
The first ship is the modified Spirit class design was the Zuiderdam . A fifth hull which was originally intended for Holland America was transferred to Cunard Line in 2003 where it was planned to become MS Queen Victoria. However, due to restructuring within their parent corporation Carnival Corporation & plc, as well as a later decision by Cunard that modifications should be made to introduce successful elements from the design of RMS Queen Mary 2, the hull was again transferred to become P&O Cruises' MS Arcadia. [1]
The second derivative design is Holland America Line's Signature-class cruise ship, MS Eurodam. While the same length as MS Noordam, she has one more deck than the standard Vista-class design, and her public areas and cabin placement have been significantly redesigned, especially on her upper-most decks (to accommodate the additional 190 passengers berthed just below the popular Crow's Nest). [2] A second Signature-class ship, MS Nieuw Amsterdam, entered service in 2010. [3]
In 2007 Cunard took delivery of Queen Victoria [4] the first ship in a class described as a hybrid design "taking the best parts from Aker Yards' [ sic ] built Costa Atlantica and Costa Mediterranea, and from Holland America's Vista class ships". Subsequent ships based on this hybrid design include Costa's Costa Luminosa , [5] Cunard's Queen Elizabeth, and Costa Deliziosa .
The Cunard ships had a few additional changes including a stronger bow for direct transatlantic crossings, something Cunard ships have completed more regularly than typical cruise ships; and a large second balcony area over the Queens Room dance floor which is one of Cunard's signature features. The midship glass elevator design of the HAL Vista class ships was not retained.
Superseded by: Vista Spirit hybrid class cruise ship
Holland America Line N.V. (HAL) is an American-owned cruise line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States.
Carnival Corporation & plc is a British and American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over ninety vessels across nine cruise line brands and one joint venture with China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of the Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carnival Corporation, and UK-based Carnival plc, which function as one entity. Carnival Corporation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, whereas Carnival plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange with an ADR listing on the NYSE. Carnival is listed in both the S&P 500 and FTSE 250 indices.
MS Zuiderdam is a Vista-class cruise ship owned and operated by Holland America Line (HAL). It is the lead ship of the Vista-class vessels, so named for the extensive use of glass in their superstructure, and is sister to three other HAL ships, Oosterdam, Westerdam, and Noordam. The prefixes of the four ships' names represent the four directions of the compass in Dutch.
Fincantieri S.p.A. is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014). The company builds both commercial and military vessels.
MS Oosterdam is a Vista class cruise ship of the Holland America Line, a division of Carnival Corporation & plc. Launched in 2002 as the line's second Vista, Oosterdam is sister to MS Noordam, MS Westerdam, and MS Zuiderdam. The ship's name is derived from the Dutch translation for the eastern compass point.
MS Arcadia is a cruise ship in the P&O Cruises fleet. The ship was built by Fincantieri at their shipyard in Marghera, Italy. At over 84,000 gross tonnage (GT), Arcadia is the second smallest of seven ships currently in service with P&O Cruises. The ship officially entered service with the company in April 2005 and was named by Dame Kelly Holmes.
MS Queen Victoria (QV) is a Vista-class cruise ship operated by the Cunard Line and is named after the former British monarch Queen Victoria. The vessel is of the same basic design as other Vista-class cruise ships, including Queen Elizabeth. At 90,049 gross tonnage (GT) she is the smallest of Cunard's ships in operation. Her facilities include seven restaurants, thirteen bars, three swimming pools, a ballroom, and a theatre.
The Spirit class is a class of cruise ships built at the Kvaerner Masa-Yards Helsinki New Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland. The ships are operated by Carnival Cruise Lines, CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping and Costa Cruises. The six ships were built to the original Panamax form factor, allowing them to pass through the Panama Canal. This class has the smallest of the signature smoke stacks that Carnival has on their ships. Carnival's Spirit-class ships also feature a unique funnel design that integrates the skylight dome of the atrium.
The Radiance class is a class of four cruise ships operated by Royal Caribbean built between 2001 and 2004 at Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. The class was preceded by the Voyager class and succeeded by the Freedom class.
STX Europe AS, formerly Aker Yards ASA, was until 2012 a subsidiary of the South Korean STX Offshore & Shipbuilding.
Carnival Luminosa is a cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. Originally built as the Costa Luminosa, the ship entered service on 5 May 2009. Her design is a hybrid, using elements of Spirit-class and Vista-class. A sister ship, Costa Deliziosa, was launched in February 2010 and is based on the same design. Costa Luminosa departed Civitavecchia, Italy on 3 June 2009, on her 13-night maiden voyage, with ports of call in Savona, Saint-Tropez, Barcelona, Lisbon, Le Havre and Amsterdam.
The Dream class is a class of cruise ships, operated by Carnival Cruise Lines and Costa Cruises. The lead vessel of the class, Carnival Dream, entered service in September 2009.
Costa Deliziosa is a cruise ship flagship operated by Costa Crociere. Ordered in 2007 as part of a five-ship expansion of the Costa Cruises Fleet, Costa Deliziosa was constructed by Fincantieri, launched in March 2009, and handed over to Costa Crociere in January 2010.
The Vista Spirit hybrid-class cruise ship is the culmination of two cruise ship designs. Carnival Corporation had two competing and very similar ship designs, the Vista class and Spirit class. The Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri constructed Vista-class ships for Holland America and P&O Cruises and the Finnish STX shipbuilder built Spirit-class vessels for the Carnival and Costa brands. Both designs incorporated Azipods, and were Panamax ships around 90,000 gross tonnage (GT).
MS Koningsdam is a Pinnacle-class cruise ship operated by Holland America Line (HAL), a division of Carnival Corporation & plc. Koningsdam is the lead vessel of HAL's Pinnacle class, which includes Nieuw Statendam (2018) and Rotterdam (2021), all of which were built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. Two years after the first steel was cut in February 2014 to commence construction, she was delivered to HAL in March 2016 and began operating the following month. At 99,863 GT, she became the largest ship ever commissioned for HAL upon her delivery.
MS Nieuw Statendam is a Pinnacle-class cruise ship operated by Holland America Line (HAL), a division of Carnival Corporation & plc. Her name, Nieuw Statendam, alludes to the five previous ships in HAL's fleet named Statendam. She is the second of three Pinnacle-class ships built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri after Koningsdam (2016) and before Rotterdam (2021). Two years after the first steel was cut in July 2016 to commence construction, she was delivered to HAL in November 2018 and began operating the following month.
Carnival Venezia is a Vista-class cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Originally intended to serve the Chinese market, she debuted as Costa Venezia for sister brand Costa Cruises in Shanghai on 18 May 2019. At 135,225 gross tonnage (GT) and with a capacity of 4,208 passengers, she became the largest ship commissioned for the Costa fleet upon her delivery.
Adora Cruises Limited is a Chinese-American cruise line that was scheduled to begin operation in 2020, but was delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Carnival Firenze is a Vista-class cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Originally debuting as Costa Firenze for sister brand Costa Cruises, she was initially commissioned for the Chinese market but was never deployed to Asia following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cruise travel in China. Named after Florence, the 135,156 gross tonnage (GT)-vessel was constructed by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri in Marghera and delivered in December 2020.
MS Queen Anne (QA) is a Pinnacle class cruise ship operated by Cunard Line, named after Anne, the first monarch of the Kingdom of Great Britain. She is currently the second largest ship in Cunard's fleet, after RMS Queen Mary 2. She sailed from her homeport of Southampton on 3 May 2024 for her maiden voyage, calling at A Coruña and Lisbon. She can carry up to 2,996 passengers.