Tag Archives: Allure of the Seas

New dining program postponed for Oasis-class ships

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Royal Caribbean International is postponing the scheduled introduction of Dynamic Dining on its two mega-ships, Oasis and Allure of the Seas.

The alternative-dining concept had been scheduled to debut on Oasis in March, but has now been put off until “later in the year” according to the line’s web page for Oasis.

Dynamic Dining, introduced on Quantum of the Seas in November, eliminates the main dining room in favor of four themed restaurants that serve about 450 diners each. There is also a separate complimentary restaurant for suite guests.

The main dining room on Oasis had been converted into separate restaurants on each of its three decks during a drydock last fall, but the actual implementation of Dynamic Dining is not yet in place.

The three new dining concepts for Oasis were to be American Icon Grill, Silk and The Grande.

Royal Caribbean said it will continue to offer early and late seatings in the main dining room on Oasis as well as the flexible My Time Dining program as an option.

Allure of the Seas is scheduled for a drydock in 2015.

No Freedom of the Seas cancellations, just free onboard credit

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No Freedom of the Seas cancellation, just free onboard credit

Several days ago Royal Caribbean had to inform passengers on Freedom of the Seas that they were unable to call at the private island of CocoCay, and also reduce the amount of time spent in St. Maarten due to an issue with it propulsion system. The cruise company has not cancelled the cruise or any future one, although they did issue free onboard credit.

Royal Caribbean has said the issue is due to the ships center fixipod, which is the same that affected Allure of the Seas, and that one of the bearings is not in good condition. The company made the decision to remove the propeller blade from the center pod and cruise 5 knots slower than usual, which will have repercussions on future sailings and their itineraries.

With the ship only being able to travel at 18 knots she will not be able to make all ports of call, and the time spent in certain ports will need to be adjusted. If this is the case, then Royal Caribbean will have to issue more onboard credit for free.

Royal Caribbean Blog reports that Freedom of the Seas is due a dry dock session in January 2015, which will be the perfect time for repairs to be made to the propulsion system. Once again, there will be no cancellation, just readjustments due to the ship moving at a slower speed.

Oasis of the Seas in Southampton

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Oasis of the Seas in Southampton

Oasis of the Seas has now finished having her refit and finally came into the port of Southampton earlier today. It was a big deal to have the world’s largest cruise ship (joint with her sister Allure) stop off at the UK’s port. Many visitors made their way to Southampton just to get a glimpse of just how larger Oasis is.

If you were not lucky enough to see Oasis of the Seas in Southampton, there are pictures over on the Daily Echo, as well as a video of her entering the port below. This was such a big occasion and so we had tug boats spraying water, as well as helicopters circling her as she manoeuvred into City Cruise Terminal.

Oasis of the Seas video 1

This is the first time that Oasis of the Seas has visited the UK, and so took a lot of skill to get such a large ship into port, although the experience of the Captain and pilots made certain everything went smoothly.

Many cruise lovers made the trip down to Southampton in order to see just how magnificent this giant of a cruise ship is.

She is due to set sail again later tonight, once the more than 6,000 passengers have boarded. Once she leaves port, the destination will be Fort Lauderale, Florida, calling at Vigo, Spain along the way.

Oasis of the seas in Southampton

Oasis of the Seas Video 2