Rostock/Warnemünde - Today the keel laying ceremony for the first block of the new cruise ship Spectrum of the Seas was held at NEPTUN WERFT. Kevin Douglas and Sebastian Brunila from Royal Caribbean International placed the lucky cent under the block before the first block of the new ship was lowered into position.

This block is one of a total of 74 blocks for the new luxury liner and weighs altogether 938 tons. The keel laying ceremony marks the official start of construction for the Spectrum of the Seas. The ship will be one of the five largest cruise ships in the world with a gross tonnage of 168,800.

The first steel parts for the Spectrum of the Seas were cut to size in the MEYER WERFT Laser Center already back in August 2017. The completion of the ship is planned for spring 2019. Royal Caribbean took delivery of the similar sister ships Quantum of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

The Quantum-Ultra class ships will have capacity for about 4,200 passengers at a size of 168,800 GT.

The keel laying ceremony was held in Rostock-Warnemünde, where the ship's engine room unit is produced, attended by Thomas Weigend, Stephan Schmees (Executive Board Member) and Carsten Pengel (Project Management) from MEYER WERFT, Raimon Strunck (Managing Director) and Mathias Kopitzki (Project Manager) from NEPTUN WERFT, Thomas Murken DNV GL and the team from Royal Caribbean International. "It is our great pleasure to build these innovative ships for Royal Caribbean and to continue our long-standing business relationship", said Stephan Schmees.

Photo: vl.Thomas Murken (DNV GL), Thomas Weigend (Meyer Werft), Carsten Pengel (Meyer Werft), Mathias Kopitzki (Neptun Werft), Stephan Schmees (Meyer Werft), Raimon Strunck (Neptun Werft), Kevin Dopuglas (Royal Caribbean), Sebastian Brunila (Royal Caribbean

Photographer: Margrit Wild

Second Cruise Ship for Asia handed over to Dream Cruise

Today in Bremerhaven, MEYER WERFT handed over the new cruise vessel World Dream (151,300 GRT) to the Asian shipping company Dream Cruises, subsidiary of Genting Hong Kong. Together with the new design, this cruise ship offers passengers a wide range of special features and comfort. About 75% of the cabins are outer cabins and most of these have their own private balcony.

The new ship for Dream Cruises has a capacity for abt. 3376 passengers with a dimension of 151,300 GRT. The ship is 335 meters long, 39.7 meters wide and can reach a speed of more than 23 knots. This cruise ship also carries a small deep sea submarine that can take four guests down to a depth of up to 200 metres. There is also a motorboat which can be booked for excursions. This boat is up to 37 knots or about 68 km/h fast.

Entertainment on the ship is guaranteed state-of-the-art thanks to an interactive communication system and extensive stage equipment. Most modern marine engines as well as numerous energy saving measures are reducing operating costs. The ship has also been designed and built according to the latest safety regulations. World Dream offers 35 restaurants and bars; various entertainment facilities such as theatres, a climbing park as well as plenty of space for other outdoor activities and a large range of virtual reality applications.

“This is our 44th cruise ship we delivered. Our team made a great job. I am proud and thankful for their contribution”, said Tim Meyer, Managing Director of Meyer Werft.

The new cruise ship has been designed for the rapidly growing Asian cruise market.

After being handed over to the cruise company in Bremerhaven, World Dream will set sail to some of the loveliest destinations in Asia where it will offer cruises for two, five and seven nights. Sailing from Hong Kong, it will cruise through spectacular regions in Vietnam and China.

"On the WORLD DREAM with yard number S. 712 was promoted the first time application of innovative components with innovation aid of the Federal Ministry for Economy and energy (BMWi) and the country Lower Saxony."

Main Data World Dream

Saga cruises confirms second ship option with Meyer Werft
Spirit of Adventure will sail in Summer 2020 joining her sister ship Spirit of Discovery first sailing July 2019

Saga Cruises has today confirmed plans to extend its fleet of new build ships with a second new cruise ship. Spirit of Adventure is expected to be delivered in Summer 2020, joining the Spirit of Discovery which sails in July 2019.
Both ships will be built by the renowned Meyer Werft shipyard – a recognised leader in cruise ship construction.
Spirit of Adventure will be a sister ship to Spirit of Discovery and similar in external design, carrying less than 1,000 passengers, balconies for all cabins and retaining the intimacy and personal touches Saga are renowned for.

Lance Batchelor, chief executive officer, Saga plc who announced the decision at the company’s interim results today said:“Our first new ship, Spirit of Discovery, will be in service in June 2019 and with pre-sales being very strong, this confidence in demand has supported our decision to expand the new build fleet and purchase our second new ship, to be delivered in August 2020.”

Robin Shaw, chief executive, Saga Cruises, said: "Our loyal customers have played a key role in the design process for our first new build ship 'Spirit of Discovery'. To date almost 7,000 passengers, who had pre-registered to sail on her have already gone on to book one of our new itineraries. This is a phenomenal conversion of over 80%.Thanks to this strong demand, the desire of Saga members to keep doing the things they love and the forecast growth in the cruise industry, I am absolutely delighted that we are today confirming that we have now agreed to build a second new ship, ‘Spirit of Adventure’ for delivery in Summer 2020. This is an incredibly exciting time for Saga cruises and I am immensely proud of my team, both onboard and ashore, and the customers that will continue to help shape the look and feel of our future fleet."

Bernard Meyer, managing partner of Meyer Werft said: “We are very happy and honoured to continue to work with Saga Cruises. Their decision to build now two vessels with us makes us very proud.”

The 58,250 GT vessel will be approx. 236 metres long, 31.2 metres wide with a planned completion date of Summer 2020.

New LNG-powered cruise ship starts to take shape. This is Carnival Corporation's first vessel in a new series of extremely environmentally friendly ships with reduced emissions.

Today the keel laying ceremony was held for the first block of the new cruise ship AIDAnova (S.696) for the German shipping company AIDA Cruises. The traditional lucky cent was placed under the first of altogether 90 blocks by the two trainees Louisa Tröbner (AIDA Cruises) and Martin de Boer (MEYER WERFT).

AIDAnova is the first of two new ships for the AIDA brand. Carnival Corporation has ordered another five ships in Papenburg and Turku. The AIDAnova will be setting new standards on the high seas with its modern LNG technology. The ships with a volume of more than 183,900 GT and capacity for more than 2,500 cabins each will be reinforcing the AIDA fleet at the end of 2018 and 2021. The ship's modern power plant was built at NEPTUN WERFT in Warnemünde. It is powered by four innovative, low-emission LNG engines by Caterpillar (Kiel/Rostock) for shipping and hotel operations.

"We are very grateful to Carnival Corporation and AIDA Cruises for the trust they have placed in our shipyard and for their pioneering decision to use LNG technology. The corresponding infrastructure is now being implemented in numerous ports. Carnival has thus taken a decision for the good of the environment that is of great significance for the cruise industry", says Bernard Meyer, managing director of MEYER WERFT shipyard.

“Our team will be working together with experts AIDA, Carnival, our affiliated companies such as Caterpillar and the classification society RINA to ensure that this is a successful step towards an environmentally friendly future of cruise ships”, adds Tim Meyer.

AIDAnova will leave MEYER WERFT in autumn 2018 for the North Sea and will then be handed over to the cruise company after a period of thorough trials. You can follow the construction of the new flag ship for AIDA Cruises both in the shipyard visitor centre and also on the internet at www.meyerwerft.com.

New-build is moved to the out-fitting pier

The second cruise ship for Dream Cruises, the World Dream, will leave MEYER WERFT's covered building dock on Saturday, 26 August 2017. Extensive tests of the safety systems have been carried out in recent weeks, together with machine and equipment trials as well as interior completion. The ship will start to leave the dock at around 12 am. After leaving the dock, the ship will berth at the pier in the shipyard port to be fitted with its funnel.

There may be some adjustments to the timing of this manoeuvre on account of the weather.

The final work and trials will then be carried out on the ship during the following days while it is still at the MEYER WERFT's out-fitting pier. Just a few days later, the first members of the crew will move into their cabins and start to make themselves familiar with the ship and all its many varied items of machinery and equipment.

Before passing through the river Ems towards the North Sea mid September for its sea trials, firstly the ship will act as an impressive backdrop for the NDR 2 Papenburg Festival on 9 September 2017, one day after the Udo Lindenberg concert.

The new-build with a size of 151,300 GRT has an overall length of 335 metres and is 39.7 metres wide. It has been built according to the very latest safety regulations.

A webcam will be broadcasting the manoeuvre as the ship leaves the dock and can be viewed on

www.meyerwerft.de

.