Metamorphosis - Cruise Ship Portal

Peter Fetten’s career spans 30 years.
also has access to a large corporate
newbuilding group, and similar groups
within some Carnival cruise brands that
have their own heads of refitting.
“However, we should not take away the
responsibility of the individual lines,”
Fetten emphasises.
Rather, he sees himself and his group
as defining processes and reinforcing
success by analysing what has worked
best across the entire fleet. Without
such a conscious effort to institute best
practice, a lot of individual knowledge
may not be communicated.
“
“Most of the job is defining the right
designs and the right people for the task,”
Fetten says. “We don’t have a formal
database where you put in a profile and it
pops out a name, but we keep a huge
database on the latest performance
statistics in the cruise industry.”
This data includes information on
shipyard and contractor selection and
pricing. Fetten is adept at analysing data
to achieve results. In the 1990s, as head of
his own consulting company in his native
Germany, he saved upwards of $10 million
per ship for clients by building in China.
Rate of change
There is no way to be an expert in all
aspects of cruise life. “A cruise ship is
basically a town,” says Fetten.
Hence, Carnival draws on a lot of outside
partners, working with many of the world’s
major retailers, casino and spa operators to
stay abreast of current trends.The two
biggest trends Fetten sees for the coming
decade are an even greater escalation in
the speed of refurbishment cycles, and
more sophisticated customers.
Customer awareness will see a
continuation of the focus on health
and wellness, bringing increased dietary
options, activities and, notably, spa
services on board.
“Historically, a ship was modernised
after 25 years; now it’s every ten years,”
Fetten says. “It’s a constant adaptation to
keep ships fresh and in line with the latest
building philosophy and trends.”
Fetten notes there must be balance
between the renewal of some ships and
ensuring others do not look jaded by
comparison, adding that there is a
constant recycling within fleets since
it takes up to four years for a single
refurbishment. The slowest change
to make is cabin upgrades, he notes,
because there are likely to be somewhere
between 1,200 and 1,500 cabins.
Refitting projects can also be deceptive
in their intensity. High on the list of timeintensive
makeovers are menu changes,
which at first thought might seem
superficial, however, the increasing
It’s a huge task to take a ship out of service and
modernise it in the quickest time possible.
Insight > Shipbuilding, maintenance & repair
”
culinary sophistication of passengers
means that a cruise ship, instead of having
one main dining room, must have several.
“If you don’t have a primary speciality
restaurant, at least one – even sometimes
five or six – it’s possible you’ll lose
customers,” Fetten says.
A spa-styled restaurant may require
juicers and copious amounts of raw food,
while a casual dining option, which ten
to 15 years ago meant pizza, hamburgers
and hot dogs, today also means sushi,
tapas, Indian and Mexican.
“It seems easy to change a menu, but
this requires hardware changes in the
background that nobody sees,” he adds.
However, Fetten notes how themed
cruises, which have become a recent
industry trend, have had less of an impact
on refits. In this area, Carnival has hosted a
theme cruise based on US rock group
Lynyrd Skynyrd, which included live
performances by the band.
In Fetten’s experience entertainmentrelated
changes have commanded the
least investment from refitting budgets.
With the exceptions of the recent trends
of big screens and films screened
outdoors, entertainment arenas were
originally designed to be multipurpose.
Geographical influences
By contrast, new itineraries require
changes that were not envisioned when
traditional routes applied.
“For example, ships now might change
from sailing in Alaska to a route in the
Caribbean,” he explains. “In Alaska you
need a more closed ship whereas in the
Caribbean you need a more open ship. A
lot of ships need a lot of adaptations that
nobody sees.”
That’s not to mention changes required
for ships on new cruise routes to Australia,
Asia and South America. And with cruising
attracting a younger demographic, a new
segment is opening up for casual cruises.
“Within Carnival Corporation there is the
fun ship concept, Holland America for older
people and Princess for the baby boomers,”
says Fetten, who is also aware of the
differences between markets.
“Not only is the European market
different from the US, but within European
countries Spain is completely different to
the UK,” he says. “The speed of change is
increasing year by year. It’s a huge task to
take a ship out of service and modernise it
in the quickest time possible.”
While Fetten is aware that it is his job
to ensure that each customer gets to
enjoy “a four-or five-star experience”, he
is also aware that there is no alternative
to facing this challenge: “The more you
adapt the better you perform.” �
Profile
Peter Fetten is senior vice-president of
refits for Carnival Corporation. His previous
work experience includes vice president
new building and fleet design for Royal
Caribbean Cruises, managing director and
deputy board member for Blohm + Voss
Repair and deputy managing director for
Barthels & Lüders. Work for his own firm,
Fetten Consulting, involved projects for
A&P Group, Carnival Corporation, Grand
Bahama Shipyard and RCCL.
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