MS Azalea Plains
| Azalea Plains | |
|---|---|
 Azalea Plains docked in Nui Loa, January 2022 | |
| Operator | Azalea Cruises |
| Entered service | 8 November 2021 |
| Gross tonnage | 34,493 GRT |
| Class | Arctic |
| Port of registry | New Singapore |
| ICSO Code | AZA-02-C-AZALEAPLAINS |
MS Azalea Plains is a cruise ship built for and owned by Azalea Cruises. Part of the Arctic-class family of cruise ships, its namesake is the MRT Plains Line. She is the larger sister ship to MS Azalea Arctic and MS Azalea Taiga. Her port of registry is New Singapore.
History
Azalea Plains and her 5 other sisters in the Arctic class were ordered on April 21, 2021, by Azalea Cruises.
In June 2021, shortly before construction of MS Azalea Taiga started, when asked about which Azalea cruise ship would serve the Mokupuni islands, CEO STthecat replied that the next Arctic-class cruise ship would homeport out of Nui Loa.
Azalea Plains’ keel was laid on October 19, 2021 off-server and was quickly completed on the same day. The following day, October 20th, Plains arrived at the azaleatwo yard in Wenyanga, where work began on her finalisation.
On October 22nd, Azalea Plains left Wenyanga and arrived at Nui Loa a few hours later, where sea trials are currently ongoing.
On October 26th, Azalea announced that Azalea Plains would start sailing on itineraries on November 8, 2021.
Ports of call
As of November 2021, Azalea Plains currently sails 4-night cruises from Nui Loa, her home port.
| Day | City | Info |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nui Loa | Leave port at 14:30z sharp |
| 2 | Azalea Cay | |
| 3 | Hau | |
| 4 | Nui Loa | Arrive port at 08:30z |
Facilities
Like her sister ships, Deck A of the Azalea Plains contains the promenade.ctrl shopping mall featured in all Azalea cruise ships, a 1-screen Dream Cinemas movie theater, and the Showdown Casino. It also serves as the entrance for docks which are small and has no empty space. Three new franchises, Zee Village, Chicago Style Gyros and Panera Bread will be debuting. Azalea Plains will also be the last Arctic-class ship to feature Comet Cafe.
| Store Name | Classification | Builder | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nex Arcade | Arcade | STthecat | Completed |
| Giovanni's Aglio Oilo | Food | STthecat | Completed |
| Wuster's Burgers | Food | STthecat | Completed |
| Comet Cafe | Food | Melecie | Completed |
| Sunset | Food | AlphaDS | Completed |
| Stirling Coffee | Food | Retle65 | Completed |
| Panera Bread | Food | Minecraft252 | Completed |
| Chicago Style Gyros | Food | Minecraft252 | Completed |
| Zee Village | Cruise Line | STthecat | Completed |
| revaty. | Clothing | STthecat | Completed |
| Pick 'n' Pay | Grocery | AirplaneNiner | Completed |
Decks B and C contain 26 staterooms each, for a grand total of 52. Each stateroom has 2 beds, a TV, and a balcony with 2 chaise lounges. They only have simple amenities, hence no bathrooms are available in the rooms. Deck B has an entrance for larger docks where Azalea cruise ships may stop at, as well as a medium-sized helipad.
Deck D contains 12 luxury suites, which are popular among VIP travellers. The suites are much larger than staterooms, and in addition to the basic stateroom facilities, also has a bathroom and a small jacuzzi. A suite-exclusive buffet area, known as the Grand Union, is located at the back of Deck D.
Deck E is the rooftop deck, which contains all of Azalea Arctic and Azalea Taiga’s features along with a slight modification of the mini-spleef arena by adding a glass wall, which was a safety feature suggested by AlphaDS, as well as a new tennis court also featured on Nansei Cruise Lines’ Diamond-class.
In addition to all aforementioned features, Azalea Plains also features a rebranded Azalea livery with the new tulip logo. Before Plains’ completion, all Azalea ships in operation at the time were refitted with the new logo.
Incidents
Collision with reef ledge
On October 22, 2021, as Azalea Plains was being led into Azalea Group’s Nui Loa port in fog, she partially ran aground before stopping just in front of the terminal. Plains was later moored to its left and docked without any incident. Investigations of the main cause of the incident are still ongoing.