The cruise industry might be down around the world at the moment, but Carnival Cruise Line is moving forward with construction of its new ship — the first to feature an on-board roller coaster.
Carnival announced Bolt in late 2018, showing off the Maurer Rides car at the IAAPA Attractions Expo in Orlando last fall. At just 800 feet of track, Bolt won't set records with its specs — it's the unique location that will make this a coaster credit with bragging rights.
Bolt will launch its single-file riders at speeds up to 40 mph around the top deck of the Mardi Gras, 187 feet above the water line. The ship is under construction at Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland.
Mardi Gras will feature 21 decks, six themed zones and a Grand Central atrium with three-deck-high windows overlooking the sea. The ship is scheduled to sail Port Canaveral's new Terminal 3 starting February 6, 2021.
Fingers crossed... and arms up!
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The shipyards are definitly going to finish the ships in construction and then some. Would be quite crazy if they could get out even from a ship already under construction. So sure not much choice contract wise for the cruise lines. At least Meyer Germany is slowing production however so that current orders will last longer with employees working reduced hours and the wage difference partly offset by social security payments. A similar arrangement it likely in Finnland. Typically ship construction is largely financed by government guaranteed credits, so the shipyards won´t bother much about a non trivial chance their customers will go bankrupt soon either. Sidenote: I m pretty much an efficient market kind of guy when it comes to stocks, got my doubts that hypothesis holds true for the stocks that are in favour with bored gambling addicts now. Cruiselines are among those.
I don't know, I mean, cruise ships are getting some blame for helping spread this thing in the first place (much of it exaggerated but some truth there) and really not sure how many folks are eager to once more spend a week or two on an enclosed ship at sea surrounded by thousands of other passengers touching the same places all the time.
If I can do nothing but ride the roller coaster - outside and on the top deck - for the entirety of the cruise... sign me up!
(Oh heavens, that just became a "be careful what you wish for" comment, didn't it? Seasickness and ride-nausea double feature, coming up!)
I smell a charity fundraiser!
Cruise ships took a hit early on because of some unfortunate incidents but the truth is they are very used to strict hygiene regimes and protocols and are probably likely to to able to operate in a very 'secure' and controlled environment. In fact having cancelled my Disney vacation for this year we've just booked a cruise (from the UK) for next summer.Nothing to pay till March so we'll see how things look by then and if necessary change our minds but judging by cabin availability there's genuine demand for cruises as soon as they can restart.
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Now that does strike me as a brave move. I can see cruises being suppressed longer than land based holidays, and thing sitting in sea water I would presume are less tolerant of sitting around waiting for demand than land based things. I do have to wonder if this is a case of "can't legally get out of it".