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Pearl Mist sailing marks Port Everglades’ return to Cuba cruising

Image result for pearl mist ship

Pearl Seas Cruises’ Pearl Mist left Port Everglades on Jan. 17 bound for Cuba, the first ship in recent memory to depart on that itinerary from the Fort Lauderdale port.

“It’s a big deal for us,” port spokeswoman Ellen Kennedy said.

The 10-day voyage will touch seven ports in Cuba, and spend two days in Havana, making it the most destination-intensive Florida-Cuba cruise.

Pearl Seas plans 11 more such voyages before wrapping up its Cuba season in April.

Previously, only one other ship has sailed from Florida to Cuba, Fathom’s Adonia. It departs from Miami.

Later this spring, several other brands are scheduled to make inaugural trips to Cuba from Miami, including Azamara Club Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Royal Caribbean International.

In an intricate spectacle, Harmony of the Seas christened

From left, Harmony of the Seas captain Gus Andersson, Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley and ship godmother Brittany Affolter.

FORT LAUDERDALE — Royal Caribbean International turned the Harmony of the Seas naming ceremony into a technology demonstration, using its robotic bartenders as part of the process.

The ship was christened at Port Everglades by Brittany Affolter, a 23-year-old Teach for America educator in Miami who won a contest for teachers that drew over 1,000 nominees.

Far from a typical christening, Royal Caribbean cooked up a Rube Goldberg-style procedure that started with Affolter and Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain on stage in the ship’s open-air Aqua Theater.

An aerialist descended from above on guide wires with a button to activate the process. When Affolter pressed the button, it sent a signal to the robot, which did a spin and punched a second button, which then released a bottle of champagne rigged to the ship’s zipline.

A 3-foot bottle of champagne smashes into the Harmony of the Seas.
A 3-foot bottle of champagne smashes into the Harmony of the Seas. 

The bottle, a 3-foot tall sovereign custom-made for Royal Caribbean by Veuve Clicquot, then whizzed down the zipline course and crashed into a steel nameplate above the ship’s pool deck.

Back at the Aqua Theater, a blizzard of blue confetti was unleashed and singer Jon Secada, who once performed on Royal Caribbean ships, gave a concert.

Witnessing all of the festivities via a giant TV screen in the ship’s Studio B ice skating arena were 500 travel agents from Travel Weekly’s CruiseWorld conference, who were invited to participate in a launch viewing party onboard.

The Harmony entered service last May and spent its first few months sailing in Europe. It arrived in Fort Lauderdale earlier this month, and will sail seven-night Caribbean voyages from the port.

Royal Caribbean’s three Oasis class ships meet for the first time at sea

Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class ships, Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas and the new Harmony of the Seas, all met at sea earlier today.  This marked the first, and possibly only time an meeting like this might occur.

The three ships rendezvoused off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida in a celebration of the arrival of Harmony of the Seas to her new homeport of Port Everglades.

Harmony of the Seas is the largest cruise ship in the world, just edging out her sister ships Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.  The three ships represent the meeting of the largest cruise ships in the world, in one place.