Mistral breezes onto European cruise scene

Further demonstrating the current enthusiasm of Greek shipping companies for the cruise market, Piraeus-based Festival Cruises took delivery of its newly-built 47,900g flagship,

Mistral

, from the Saint-Nazaire Chantiers de l`Atlantique yard on June 26 – ahead of schedule. The vessel – which will actually be owned by Auxiliaire Maritime J31 and leased on a long term basis to Festival – will start its advertised cruising season from the port of Genoa in July this year, following a promotional cruise of key European ports.

At a time when some other well-known European yards have not been able to keep up with demanding cruise ship delivery schedules, the prompt hand-over is a considerable feather in the cap for the French yard. Indeed, Festival`s managing director Theodore Kontes, acknowledges, “It is to the credit of Chantiers de l`Atlantique and the entire construction and design team that they are completing such a major project not only on time, but early.”

Mistral, which flies the French flag, is Festival`s first newbuilding, and will join an existing fleet that consists of Azur, Bolero and Flamenco. The company has, however, ordered two virtual sisters to Mistral at Chantiers de l`Atlantique, and these will be delivered in 2001 and 2002.

Festival has taken advantage of this first opportunity to design its own cruise liner, having previously had to content itself with adapting existing tonnage to its cruising `philosophy`. The result is a vessel that is specifically tailored to meet the requirements of European cruise customers. Mr Kontes goes so far as to suggest that Mistral is “virtually unique as a newbuilding designed for the pan-European market without bias in favour of any particular nationality.”

A host of features of the contract and the vessel design emphasise the European slant. Mistral is built at a European yard; a European firm, AMK Limited, is responsible for the interior design; it will be managed from Europe by Festival itself; all officers will be European; deck and space names are derived from European cities and landmarks; and the cuisine onboard will be based largely on French and Italian food.

The size of Mistral also reflects what Festival perceives to be the European preference for a `human scale in the onboard environment.` The company has thus opted for 600 passenger cabins, giving a maximum passenger intake of around 1,200, which is considerably smaller than some recent cruise ships delivered mainly for the North American market.

According to Mr Kontes, “Even in the grandest spaces onboard, for example Mistral`s two deck-high main entrance lobby, we have not set out to over-awe passengers. In a nutshell, her design reflects the company policy of treating passengers as guests rather than consumers “.