Isn't she beautiful!!! (a parade of ugly cruise ships!)

[luzparis]

and this magnificent ship? after this ship the oasis look like a beauty queen?

[Kathy M.]

Thanks, Louis - I will mark it on my calendar so I can see how unattractive it is in person!

[Rob Lightbody]

Ugh.  I mean really.... UGH!!

http://www.meretmarine.com/article.cfm?id=107680

[Kathy M.]

It looks so top heavy!  And is that a pool in the bow?

[Twynkle]

2nd pic down in Rob's post (earlier today)

What's that creature doing - looks like it's have a ciggie ......?

(Doesn't the name Fincantieri ring a bell?!!....Uh-hm!)

[Louis De Sousa]

Check this out

http://www.watg.com/?pageid=02C92534-3048-7B3D-C5276D5E1CE8D59A#


Louis

[Kathy M.]

For some reason, the bow and stern views remind me of the Death Star from Star Wars!

[Twynkle]

Is this ovesized monsteress expecting to carry animals?
There's some grass waiting......

[Andy F]

Having seen Equinox while down in Southampton recently, I can certainly vouch for her unattractiveness

https://www.flickr.com/photos/andyfitzsimmons/3741043610/?editedcomment=1#comment72157621634447515

[Isabelle Prondzynski]

Crown Princess, Celebrity Equinox, Ventura and Arcadia all met in Southampton yesterday :

https://www.flickr.com/photos/31404389@N03/

Here caught very well by foreshore ...

... what a parade of ugly cruise ships...!

[Chris]

The most attractive part of all of those ships is the QE2 inspired mast aboard Arcadia.

[foreshore]

As much as I love any opportunity to sail on cruise ships, or watch them heading in & out of Southampton (so fortunate to have a view over the water!), the increased absence of beautiful lines & external style is quite saddening - recent Flickr photos a case in point.

Many new ships seem to have odd elements taken from 'real' liners - thrown in as a reminder they are actually ships - but function over form reflects corporate design for a new era of cruise vacation demands... Scale & size are often breathtaking, but its a pretty shortlived sensation.

I lost count of the amount of times I'd get up early to watch dear old QE2 arrive, and race over to dock head
to watch her sail up close any chance I could... a profile you could never get enough of, from absolutely any angle..

[Andy F]

Absolutely Rob and well said (no need to rub it in about living in close proxity though lol!).

[highlander0108]

The most attractive part of all of those ships is the QE2 inspired mast aboard Arcadia.

The foremast and the funnel of the Arcadia are remnants of the original Queen Victoria, before the decision was made to allocate the ship to P&O during her construction.

Regarding the Ventura, we have several versions of this design cruising around the Carribean as Princess ships and they are just as ugly on this side of the pond.  We have a few names for them such as the shopping cart or the spoiler for the same design that has that weird appendage at the upper stern.  To me, when comparing the Princess design to the new Solstice/Equiinox, they are downright beautiful.   Shhh...I actually like the interiors of these Celebrity ships from an architectural design standpoint.  The Ventura just looks like it will roll over in any decent sea conditions and what is with the ugly bridge wing extensions highlighted with the support strut.  I guess its a good thing they did not try to make that design into a quazi-queen ala Queen Victoria.

[Jem]

These new cruise ships (Blocks of flats on steel barges) have no soul at all. They look cheap and tacky and must have been designed by town planners from the 60's-70's!
The vessels look top heavy and one day I feel one will get hit broadside by a huge wave, the lose of life will be in the thousands and we think Titanic was bad!

Cheers
Jeremy.