Gate 1 River Cruises

There is a saying in German and to wish someone, halten Sie eine unter Ihrem Wassers Handbreite of Kiel - keep a hands width of water under the keel.

And when you float a ship 122 000 tonnes at the shipyard in the small river Ems, which means that you can imagine, comes easily to mind. There really was not much more than width of a hand release. And if it was tight below, it was not much better on both sides. But first things first.

The party of 50-strong media personalities, European and American media was there to "cruise transportation" of the new ship Celebrity Solstice Class, Equinox. The ship was built at Meyer-Werft shipyard in Papenburg, northern Germany, the largest covered dry dock in the world. They have been building ships since 1795 there despite the fact that they are 26 miles from the sea even in the harsh economic climate in the courtyard, which is still owned by the founder's family, has a full order book, including more ships for Celebrity.

As one of only 50 people, including senior management celebrity on a ship that takes 2850 makes you feel very privileged. But there was no doubt that this was a work in progress. The workers were everywhere, finishing and snagging. There were cables lying around. Plastic sheeting covers all carpets, chairs and stairways.

But already the vessel seems enormous. Everywhere you look, there's something nice, or exceptional, or frankly astonishing. We split into small groups for our tour of the ship. Chairman and CEO of Azamara and Celebrity Cruises, Dan Hanrahan, head of our group. (To my mind frames do not get their hands a lot more than that!) So what's Equinox like? She is beautiful, just beautiful, bold design concept to the attention to detail.

For example, the cabins are configured in pairs. In one, the layout is a balcony, a bed, a sitting area. Next door is a balcony, sitting area, bed. Some people may prefer the first, others second. Most people have no preference because all cabins are delicious. The cabin layout, of course, did not happen by chance - nothing happened by chance on this amazing boat. The layouts have been designed to give more room in the cabin, and make it easier for customers to maneuver in the room. You will soon notice that you no longer wring spend the end of the bed. The presentation also allowed fame to get some more cabins on the ship. Why the cabin doors instead of opening to the outside to the inside? Each pair of doors in the cabin next door is recessed into an alcove in the hallway. If people book cabins adjacent alcove can become a private crossing them. So that's why! Each day a school day, as they say.

gigantic size may induce tiny doubts. Is it too big? But once you're on the ship, the dominant impression is not great, but space. The sidewalks are so wide that they are more like boulevards.

Everywhere is open and airy. Nothing is cramped and narrow. How to face lift the large number of guests? boarding manager, Ken, gives the answer. He said the research they had done and the special programs they had installed to regulate high-speed elevators to ensure minimum space even in peak traffic. question: my cabin from 1295, so I'd expect it to be on deck 12, but he is on deck 10. Why?

As the numbers of cabin on Deck 10 go from 1001 to 1409. Live and learn. Dumb questions are treated with the same courtesy as more intelligent.

Most reactions on other aspects as well as the ship comes from the experience of sister ship, Solstice, which entered service last year. "How can we compare to Equinox Solstice? I asked one of the engineers. He said: "It is the same except that it is younger, and she is prettier!

At the cocktail evening, Bernard Meyer, owner of the yard, greeted us with a gracious speech - in English of course. I noticed.