Tag Archives: Harmony of the Seas

Royal Caribbean takes delivery of Harmony of the Seas

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Harmony of the Seas is the world’s largest cruise ship, and its arrival was marked with a traditional delivery and flag changing ceremony in Saint Nazaire, France took place following 32 months of constructions.

Joining the festivities in the ship’s signature AquaTheater were Richard Fain, Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Michael Bayley, President and CEO of Royal Caribbean International together with Laurent Castaing, General Manager, STX France.

“Harmony of the Seas is the product of our zealous spirit of continuous improvement, where we have combined revolutionary ship design with the technological strides that have defined the Royal Caribbean brand,” said Richard D. Fain. “Thank you to STX France for their ongoing partnership in building our ships, which continue to introduce unexpected industry innovations.”

Harmony is truly magnificent in every sense of the word, from her architecture and design to the level of care and attention to detail with which our incredible crew are taking to prepare for our first guests,” said Michael Bayley. “The ship is the ‘best of the best’ of what our guests love most about Royal Caribbean, combined with new and thrilling experiences never before found in one place but it is the passion and dedication of our crew that will make everlasting memories for our guests.”

Harmony of the Seas will homeport in Barcelona, Spain and embark on the first of 34 seven-night sailings in the western Mediterranean on June 7, exploring some of Europe’s most beautiful locations. In November 2016, Harmony will arrive at her homeport of Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale, FL., from where she will offer seven-night eastern and western Caribbean sailings. The newest member of the fleet will join sister-ships Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, sailing from Port Canaveral and Port Everglades respectively, on the east coast of Florida.

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Royal Caribbean transiting the Grand Canal Venice.

Geopolitical events in Europe impacted North American bookings of Mediterranean cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. officials said during a conference call Friday to discuss RCCL’s first-quarter results.

CFO Jason Liberty categorized it as a “lull” in demand, which the company filled with bookings from European travelers, a market that the company said was robust. However, the sourcing shift was accompanied by a decrease in fares and a drop in onboard purchases because North Americans tend to spend more money than Europeans on Mediterranean cruises, Liberty said.

Outside of the Med, however, bookings to the Baltic region have proceeded apace, and executives noted the strength of the Caribbean, Alaska and Bermuda, positing that some of the bookings intended for the Med had been redirected to North America.

“Some of the softness we see in Europe, the Caribbean is the beneficiary of that,” said Michael Bayley, Royal Caribbean International’s CEO.

RCCL CEO Richard Fain said it was “interesting to note that strong last-minute demand helped our bookings at the same time that we were simultaneously enforcing our price integrity program.” He pointed to the Caribbean in particular.

Overall, robust sales during the first three months of 2016 and strong demand in the Caribbean helped fuel a bullish mood. Fain kicked off the call by saying it was “gratifying to report results that are so much higher than we have ever enjoyed in any winter quarter in our history.”

“We’re in the happy position that just about everything in the quarter that could have gone right, did,” he said. “Ticket revenue was stellar, onboard revenue was terrific, costs were well controlled and even below-the-line items helped.”

Monster of the deep: World’s largest cruise ship is so vast that guests will have to use GPS to find their rooms!

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Giant: Weighing 227,000 tons – and 124ft longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall – Harmony Of The Seas is the largest cruise ship ever to set sail

  • At 124ft longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall – the new Harmony Of The Seas is the largest cruise ship ever to set sail
  • It’s so vast it even houses scaled down version of New York’s Central Park complete with 10,587 plants and 52 trees
  • Across 18 decks, the ship, which cost over £800 million to build, has 16 restaurants, cafes and boutique shopping
  • Harmony Of The Seas also has a state of the art 1,380-seat theatre where guests can enjoy musicals such as Grease

She is a true leviathan of the oceans. Weighing in at 227,000 tons – and 124ft longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall – the new Harmony Of The Seas is the largest cruise ship ever to set sail.

The awesome vessel – which set out on its maiden trial voyage last week – is so vast it even houses a scaled down version of New York’s Central Park within its 18 decks – complete with 10,587 plants and 52 trees up to 20ft tall.

An astonishing feat of engineering, built at a cost more than £800 million, Harmony Of The Seas pulled slowly out of Saint-Nazaire in France, where she was built, with no fewer than three pilots on board – specially trained on computer simulators – to guide her through the difficult manoeuvres needed to exit the estuary.

Size: Harmony Of The Seas is 330ft longer than the Titanic and is as high as seven double decker buses stacked on top of each other

Size: Harmony Of The Seas is 330ft longer than the Titanic and is as high as seven double decker buses stacked on top of each other

Entertainment: Thrill seekers can test their mettle on four onboard water slides (left) or those hoping to enjoy a song and dance, can head to the 1,380-seat theatre where they can enjoy shows including Broadway’s hit musical Grease and high-flying acrobatics

Such is the scale of the quarter-of-a-mile long Royal Caribbean International ship, when its first 6,000 passengers board in Southampton in May they will be issued with GPS-style wrist trackers so they won’t get lost in her labyrinthine interiors.

And a squad of ‘Royal Genie’ butlers will be at the beck and call of VIP guests. Thrill seekers will be able to choose from four onboard slides, including the Ultimate Abyss, the world’s tallest slide at sea, boasting an impressive 100ft plunge.

Elsewhere, a zipwire will whizz adventurous guests nine decks above the open-air atrium, robots will pour cocktails at a ‘bionic bar’, and passengers can learn to surf on a ship-board wave simulator.

Entertainment includes Broadway’s hit musical, Grease in the full-size theatre, a state-of the-art multimedia ice rink spectacular and high-flying acrobatics.

Engine room: Three power pods, each with 20ft propellers, along with four bow thrusters for manoeuvring, power the ship forward
Engine room: Three power pods, each with 20ft propellers, along with four bow thrusters for manoeuvring, power the ship forward

The ship has 16 restaurants and cafes – including a Jamie’s Italian – boutique shopping on the Royal Promenade, and high-speed wi-fi in the staterooms. And for voyagers wanting a challenge, there’s the Escape Room where guests have to try to break out by solving a series of puzzles.

Vast and full of surprises, Harmony Of The Seas is like something from the imagination of Jules Verne.