I got the feeling grass was a bit of a sensitive subject at Celebrity Cruises on the transfer between Amsterdam Airport to the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, to see the new Celebrity Equinox.
A warning came through that the grass was brown - something I suspect myself and others in the group would have noticed when we went on board, so no doubt it was an attempt to forstall all jokes about the wrong-coloured grass.
It certainly was rather brown, but all was explained by Dan Hanrahan, Celebrity's president and chief executive officer, as he took the British group of journalists and travel agents on a tour of the new ship.
The brown grass was from warm weather seed (Bermuda grass, grown in Italy), which will be overplanted by cold weather seed so as the ship moves from one climate to another, the appropriate grass will grow and the other will hibernate.
It sounds logical and as it was more like March than April in the shipyard, I guess it made sense that the hot stuff wouldn't be looking its best. I just hope they get the cold stuff in and doing its green thing in time for the ship's arrival in Southampton next month.
Equinox is pretty much a carbon copy of Celebrity Solstice, which launched last November. That's partly because Solstice was so well received the guys in charge thought they might as well give their fans more of the same, but Dan Hanrahan admitted they were also so nervous about bringing out two big ships - each with capacity for 2,850 passengers - so close to each other that they decided to play safe and not tinker too much.
But there are one or two new things on Equinox. Safes have been moved out of the wardrobes to free up hanging space, there are a couple more heated loungers in the Persian Garden thermal suite and these rather elegant drapes have been fitted in the Sky Observation Lounge, creating some rather nice semi-private areas.
They have also teamed up with a liquid chef, who creates cocktails that have been frozen with liquid nitrogen. Margherita slush anyone?
I'm pleased to say the elegant white dining room has not been changed - it has to be the only dining room on a cruise ship with a wow factor - and it features this amazing floor-to-ceiling wine rack they first brought out on Solstice.
There are the also Aquaclass spa cabins that come with free access to the Persian Garden and have their own dining room, Blu, and the same lovely solarium - well it will be lovely once they get it kitted out with furniture. There are Italian, Pan Asian and Mediterranean-style speciality restaurants, a more lite-bite bistro and these rather funky chairs in the disco. Totally impractical but great fun.
And then there is that grass. Brown now, but when it greens up, which I really hope it does in time for the ship's Southampton showcase, it will look great. You can go putting or play croquet on it, run barefoot across it, and they are now doing picnics and open-air concerts there too.
Jane Archer
