Royal Caribbean Fans

Royal Caribbean has officially unveiled their anticipated Quantum of the Seas.

At the news conference in New York City, Adam Goldstein, Richard Fain and godmother Kristin Chenoweth revealed their new ship in style!

Some of the details they revealed were;

• North Star - An observation pod inspired by the London Eye that gives views 300 feet above the sea.
• RipCord by iFly - A sky diving experience located at the aft of the ship.
• SeaPlex - a multi-purpose complex featuring bumber cars, roller skating, a Circus school with flying trapeze and basketball courts.
• Two70° -  An entertainment venue which has 3-storey windows which turn into a giant video wall.
  
• Virtual Balconies - A new era of Inside Cabins that display live views of outside on an 80" screen.
• Music Hall - A venue for dancing and live acts and musicians.
• 9% larger cabins than the Oasis class
• Loft Suites
• Studio Cabins - Staterooms for single travelers, some with balconies.

Royal Caribbean International has launched its first ever 'Wow Factor' travel agent competition which will see the trade strut their stuff in a ‘dance-off’ onboard the Independence of the Seas.

The compition is in-line with the current ‘Designed for Wow’ campaign. The Royal Caribbean sales team has created a dance routine and are asking agents to follow in their footsteps by creating their own version of the dance.

The promotion is designed to help drive trade sales and enthusiasm around Royal Caribbean’s new campaign. Royal Caribbean is asking agents to send in short videos of themselves recreating the sales team’s dance moves and is encouraging them to post their own videos to the cruise line’s dedicated travel agents Facebook page.

Video entries can be uploaded to Facebook between March 1 and April 14 and agents will be able to vote for their favourite submissions until April 29.

During the promotion period, the Royal Caribbean sales team will also take part in sales visits, equiped with props such as sweatbands, leg warmers, visors and a video of the dance routine to get the trade excited about filming their own versions.

Agents can also view the sales team’s dance routine on cruisingpower.co.uk and via Blippar technology on new ‘Designed for Wow’ flyers, detailing the competition.

The top three finalists with the highest number of votes will get the chance to take part in a live dance-off onboard the newly revitalised Independence of the Seas in Southampton on May 4, where one overall winner will be awarded an exclusive prize to be revealed on the day.

Nicki Tempest-Mitchell, head of trade sales at Royal Caribbean International, said: “Whether it be bringing the magic of Broadway to the Caribbean or turning imaginary friends into best friends with the Dreamworks experience, Royal Caribbean’s ships are Designed for Wow and that is what we’re trying to communicate with our new ad and accompanying Wow Factor trade promotion.

“We’re expecting to be inundated with a host of weird and wonderful submissions and are confident that agents will get behind this competition with their usual enthusiasm.

“My advice to agents is ‘grab your dancing shoes, channel your inner Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers and make yourself known by posting a video to our trade Facebook page’. Who knows? You might end up dancing yourself onto the newly revitalised Independence of the Seas!”

Well what a year it has been in the cruise industry. The year unfortunatly started with the tragic Costa Concordia disaster, in which 32 people lost their lives. We've also seen the 'Royal Advantage' added to Rhapsody, Mariner, Grandeur, Serenade and Enchantment of the Seas and more recently the announcement of a third Oasis class ship.

This year we were fortunate enough to embark on 3 cruises (Brilliance of the Seas, Oceana and Queen Mary 2) We also went on 3 visits to Southampton. Watching Independence depart twice as well as meeting Patricia Dempsey and Dan Gosling to watch Vision of the Seas make a special visit to the port on 21st September. 

These 10 stories are our picks of the biggest stories of 2012;

1. STX France to build 3rd Oasis class

2. Royal Caribbean among other cruise lines featured on Watchdog

3. RCI Australia PR manager Allison Brennan dies

4. Possible models of Project Sunshine ship facilities emerge

5. Independence of the Seas to leave Southampton in 2014?

6. Coke Freestyle Machines are a hit with passengers

7. Cruising from the UK: Why Southampton?

8. Engine room fire on Allure of the Seas

9. Adventure of the Seas to cruise out of UK

10. 5 most disgusting norovirus cruise ship outbreaks

These are the top 5 stories from the past year based on comments and views;

1. Norway Strikes spread across the country

2. Ocean Olympics

3. Coca Cola to add Freestyle Machines on Royal Caribbean ships

4. Family of man overboard on Allure, speak out about their experience with Royal Caribbean

5. Engine room fire on Allure of the Seas

Always wanted to give someone a gift they'll never forget? Well for a limited time, you can give the gift of a Royal Caribbean cruise for a future birthday, holiday or anniversary with Royal Incentive Rewards cruise certificates.

From November 1 until December 15, 2012, you can buy Royal Incentive Rewards certificates, which can be redeemed for a future cruise of your choice. These certificates are essentially pre-paid cruise certificates that offer flexibility for the recipient to plan a trip at their convenience with the ability to upgrade or transfer their certificate, and no expiration date.

Certificates come in amounts of $50 USD, $100 USD, $250 USD, $500 USD, $1,000 USD, $1,500 USD, $1,700 USD and $2,000 USD.

Those purchasing the certificates can choose among a variety of Royal Incentive Rewards certificate levels for different cruise regions and itinerary lengths. Once the recipient is ready to redeem their certificate and book a cruise, they simply call the Royal Incentive Rewards Desk, and the cruise line will handle the rest.

Certificates can be purchased from your travel agent or at https://www.royalcaribbeancertificates.com.

Royal Caribbean has confirmed that it is in negotiations for the possible construction of a third Oasis class cruise ship that would delivered in middle to late 2016.

Royal Caribbean announced the news during its third financial results meeting. Royal Caribbean first commented on the news in early October as 'just a rumor' however they have now confirmed, there is a possiblity for a third ship.  

Royal Caribbean has not entered into any sort of agreement at this time, it does hope to place an order by the end of the year. The new ship is expected to cost less on a per berth basis than either of the first two Oasis-class vessels.

Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain confirmed the news during his talks, "The Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas have proven themselves to be exceptionally attractive ships by generating the highest guest satisfaction ratings in the fleet coupled with very compelling financial returns. Ordering another such ship for delivery in 2016, at a lower cost, with better energy efficiency is very consistent with our balanced goals of prudent growth, return improvement and debt reduction."

This third Oasis class ship would be in addition to the other two Sunshine Class ships Royal Caribbean has already ordered and is in the process of being built.

Royal Caribbean is partnering with Barbados Port and SMI Infrastructure Solutions to build a brand new state-of-the-art cruise terminal in Barbados that will cost over $300 million. The new facility will allow some of the world's biggest cruise ships to dock at the island.

George Hutson, Barbados Minister of International Transport and International Business, announced the two year project at the recent Barbados Port Inc.’s 50th anniversary staff awards ceremony.

“If we are going to remain relevant, if we are going to capitalize on the opportunities available from cruise tourism, we must renew our plant from the basic infrastructure currently existing to one which will accommodate and service the increasingly large cruise ships."

Barbados is hoping the new cruise terminal will attract more cruise ships to the island, which in turn will lead to increasing revenue generated by cruise passengers on the island.

The new terminal will be completed in two phases, the first phase will cost $300 million and will include two cruise piers, arrival and departure facilities, along with parking lots. The development will take involve reclaiming 15 acres of land from the sea, 100,000 square feet of which will be provided for commercial activity. Dredging is slated to begin in November.

Cruise tourism in Barbados has grown from 127,000 in 1985 to 726,543 last year. The best year ever for cruise passenger traffic to the island was 2004 when 812,863 people visited the island.

We have just been informed by Royal Caribbean International that our cruise on board Brilliance of the Seas which was supposed to call at Geiranger, Alesund, Molde and Bergen, will instead now make stops in Denmark and Germany.

Due to the port pilot strike in Norway, ships are unable to dock as they need a pilot to safely direct them into a port.  

We have also recieved $200 on board credit per stateroom on top of our original $100 as compensation. 

Brilliance of the Seas is to depart Amsterdam as scheduled before cruising to Copenhagen for an overnight stop, Berlin and Aarhus.

The revised itinerary is as follows;

02/06/12 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Depart: 1630

03/06/12 - At Sea

04/06/12 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Arrive: 0800

05/06/12 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Depart: 1700

06/06/12 - Berlin (Warnemunde), Germany - Arrive: 0800 Depart: 2230

07/06/12 - Aarhus, Denmark - Arrive: 0800 Deaprt: 1700

08/06/12 - At Sea

09/06/12 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Arrive: 0500

The pilot strikes in Norway which closed Oslo Fjord Port earlier this week has spread to ports along the west coast of the country including Tromsø and Alesund.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has already been forced to alter the itinerary for Balmoral's Norwegian Fjords voyage, which departed Southampton yesterday (30 May).

Brilliance of the Seas, P&O's Adonia, MSC Magnifica and Holland America Line's ms Eurodam and ms Rotterdam are all due to dock in Tromsø or Alesund in the next week.

All the cruise lines have confirmed they are putting contingency plans in place should the strikes continue.

Balmoral's revised itinerary is as follows: Kiel Canal (May 31), Warnemunde (June 1), Copenhagen (June 2), Gothenburg (June 3), at sea (June 4), Zeebrugge (June 5) and Southampton (June 6).

A statement from Royal Caribbean said: "Today, Vision of the Seas is in Bergen, Norway, and Brilliance of the Seas is Flam, Norway. Both ships are expected to depart their ports of call today as scheduled. However, we are currently preparing contingency plans in the event the strike continues and either ship is unable to make their next scheduled port of calls in Norway."

Other ports affected by the strike are; Kristiansand, Stavanger, Bergen, Geiranger and a few others.

The port of Southampton's famous dock gates have been saved.

The Government have listed them as Grade II buildings, just days before they could have been knocked down to rubble.

When plans by Associated British Ports (ABP), owners and operators of the city’s docks, emerged last month to demolish the distinctive structures, there was a local outcry to save the long-standing landmark gates.

English Heritage campaigned to the Government to protect them. The iconic entrances at Dock Gate 8 and Dock Gate 10 have now been safeguarded for future generations and are officially listed as Grade II buildings.

Heritage watchdog the City of Southampton Society was so concerned over the planned destruction it submitted an application straight away once details of the proposed scheme were made public.

Arthur Jeffery, the society’s vice-chairman, said: “These are art deco style gates and the society feared that they could have gone the same way as the former Ocean Terminal in the Eastern Docks back in 1982.”

Southampton City Council also recommended the gates to be listed, describing them as “a rare and evocative survival of inter-war maritime port structures of clear special architectural and historical interest”.

ABP had wanted permission to demolish the gates and was making preparations for the work to be done at the end of this month.

The port operator argued that the gates, which have stood since the development of the Western Docks in the 1930s, were obstacles standing in the way of progress and demolition would allow bigger loads to enter the port, ease traffic delays and provide extra security facilities.

An ABP spokesman said: “We understand that the Southampton Dock Gates have been listed as Grade II structures. “ABP is of course happy to respect the decision and will take the existing infrastructure into account when planning any future developments.”

Royal Caribbean has secured the rights to show the European Football Championships on board its ships this summer.

All 31 football matches will be shown between June 8 and July 1live on Royal Caribbean ships that are sailing in Europe, including its sister brand, Celebrity Cruises.

Passengers will be able to watch the games in select bars around the ship or on the TVs in staterooms.

Royal Caribbean vice president and EMEA managing director Dominic Paul commented, “Being able to show the games live is brilliant news for our guests, many of whom we know are passionate football fans. Often, holidaymakers are put off from going away when the big tournaments are on as they don’t want to miss the action – this way they can enjoy a fantastic cruise and, hopefully, cheer their team to victory.”

Ships that will show the games include;

Adventure of the Seas, Brilliance of the Seas, Grandeur of the Seas, Independence of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas, Serenade of the Seas, Splendour of the Seas and Vision of the Seas.