Tag Archives: Quantum of the Seas

Cruise curators

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Image result for quantum of the seas bear

By Tom Stieghorst

Increasingly, cruise ships are becoming galleries at sea.

In 2005, Denver artist Lawrence Argent crafted a 40-foot-tall blue bear out of fiberglass and posed it peering through the towering glass windows of the Colorado Convention Center.

“I saw it and I loved it,” said Joan Blackman, an art consultant for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. “And I said to myself, one day we’re going to have the opportunity to have this onboard.” 

Nine years later, the company’s Quantum of the Seas emerged from a shipyard in Germany with a 32-foot-tall bear, this one pink and made of stainless steel, affixed to the top deck.

“It became an identifier,” Blackman said. “And it says a lot about Royal, because they’ve given you not only something to talk about but it’s really kind of intrigued you and made you smile.”

Art has always been a background element on a cruise, but increasingly it is stepping into the spotlight. Some lines are spending millions of dollars on art with each new ship.

Blackman, a co-founder and partner at International Corporate Art (ICArt) in Coral Gables, Fla., said the emphasis on art helps drive home the quality of the cruise experience and give cruise lines an extra surprise, a different experience and a conversation item to offer guests.

“They’re trying to differentiate themselves, their brands, their ships and create something that is their [unique] characteristic,” she said.

Strategies are as varied as the brands. At some lines, art reinforces a national identity that it cultivates or emphasizes heritage and tradition. Other lines want to appear contemporary. 

And some are offering a curated art collection worthy of connoisseurs.

In general, art on cruise ships is becoming more three-dimensional, more interactive and more driven by technological possibilities than in the past, according to Blackman.

Royal Caribbean reverts to traditional seating in main dining rooms

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Dining room on the Independence of the Seas; photo credit Dave Jones

Royal Caribbean International has decided to end its main dining room format called Dynamic Dining, which was launched with Quantum of the Seas two years ago.

Starting with the Nov. 27 sailing of Anthem of the Seas, the main dining room will operate under the My Time Dining system. Ovation of the Seas will make the change on Nov. 23.

Dynamic Dining was conceived as a way of breaking up the main dining room into smaller venues. The Quantum-class ships were built with a quartet of 480-seat rooms that had different menus and themes. Diners could make reservations, and rotate among them.

When more tradition-bound guests complained, an option was added for a fixed early or late seating called Dynamic Dining Classic.

After Nov. 27, the same menu will be available in all four restaurants: Chic, American Icon, Grande and Silk. As on other ships that have My Time Dining, guests can choose their own dining times and table mates. Alternatively, they can choose the traditional early or late seating at a fixed table.

Royal Caribbean said guests booked on Anthem and Ovation who have already selected the Dynamic Dining Classic option for their upcoming cruise will be assigned to either early or late seating to match their original choice of time. Guests who have selected the Dynamic Dining Choice option will be assigned to the My Time Dining flexible option.

Royal Caribbean said guests on the flexible option will dine in the American Icon and Silk dining rooms while guests on early and late seating’s will eat at either Chic or Grande.

In a statement, Royal Caribbean said it decided to end Dynamic Dining after sifting through guest feedback. “Our guests have told us that they prefer the ease of a cruise vacation where they have flexibility without having to plan extensively,” the statement said.

For RCCL’s Fain, China a case of deja vu

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Two weeks ago I wrote about Frank Del Rio’s take on China and the obstacles he saw to further growth there, but the Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO is clearly not the only cruise chief thinking a lot about development in Asia.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. chairman Richard Fain delivered some insights into his thinking on China on a recent conference call with investors. He listed four areas in which China is similar to the industry in North America and Europe, at a comparable stage of maturity.

China has troubled cruise investors, most recently because of price softness in Shanghai.

Drawing on 30 years of decision-making experience, Fain said he’s seen it before. “It is striking how many parallels there are in China’s evolution today compared to other places in other times where we have developed a market for cruising,” Fain said.

Cruising in North America in the 1980s looked much like China does today, according to Fain’s analysis.

“It was poorly known to the population at large,” Fain said. “Distribution was through a small number of specialist agencies. There was little choice of itineraries, and growth was episodic and dictated by the arrival of new ships.”

In addition, favorable word of mouth was the main way people found out about cruising, he said.

Fain characterized travel agencies specializing in cruises in the 1980s as a “niche” business and said China’s embryonic cruise travel agency system will evolve with time, as in the U.S.

He said worries about the paucity of destinations in China parallel the same concerns in the U.S market years ago. When Royal Caribbean was trying to decide on a fourth ship, there was “a great deal of hand wringing” about whether there would be interest “beyond the established group of then popular destinations.

“Today we all look back on that concern and find it laughable, but then it was a real concern. Similarly in China, our attachment area today for customers is small and our itineraries are limited, but a quick look at the map shows just how enormous the potential really is.”