Royal Caribbean hikes price for drink packages

Posted on 16 October, 2018 by Spacejunkie2

Image result for royal caribbean drinks package

The cost of quenching your thirst on Royal Caribbean International is going up in 2019, at least if you buy a bundled package of beverages in one of three plans.

The Deluxe Beverage Package, which includes alcoholic drinks as well as most types of nonalcoholic beverages, is rising to $63-70 a day, up from the 2018 rate of $57-63. The cost varies from ship to ship and sailing to sailing.

The Premium Refreshment Package charge will be $29 a day, up from $26-29 currently. The packages include premium coffees and teas, bottled still and sparkling water, fresh squeezed orange juice, non-alcoholic cocktails and fountain sodas, as well as Coca-Cola Freestyle beverages.

The Soda Package will cost $12.99 a day, up from $8.50-9.50.

Raising the prices amounts to an 11% increase on average for the Deluxe package, an 11.5% maximum increase for the Premium package and a 44% increase on average for the Soda Package.

Inflation in the overall economy in September was reported at an annual rate of 2.3%.

Royal goes big with Mariner of the Seas’ makeover

Posted on 22 August, 2018 by Spacejunkie2

The Skypad is a new bungee/trampoline/virtual reality attraction on the top deck of the renovated Mariner of the Seas. Photo Credit: TW photo by Tom Stieghorst

Royal Caribbean International is raising the bar on short cruises from South Florida, starting this summer with the Mariner of the Seas, fresh off of a $120 million Royal Amplified refurbishment.

The upgrades mean that not only will the 3,114-passenger Mariner be the largest ship in the three- and four-day market, it will be one of the most full-featured.

Previously, Royal Caribbean devoted ships such as the Majesty of the Seas to the short-cruise product. These ships were generally among the smallest and least modern in its fleet. Although guests rated the Majesty well, it wasn’t because of its hardware.

“Majesty was older, and it didn’t have the chills and the thrills this one does,” said Christina Pinto of Expedia CruiseShipCenters in Boca Raton, Fla., after a tour and ice show on the Mariner for travel agents last month.

The package of improvements had already been in the market for several weeks by the time the launch took place.

“I’ve had good feedback from people who have sailed already,” said Roberta Schwartz, a Cruise Planners franchisee in Plantation, Fla.

Among the new features, one of the most visible is the Skypad trampoline/bungee/virtual reality combination on the top deck that figures to be Royal’s rock climbing wall for the coming decade.

Housed in a 30-foot, perforated sphere made of marine-grade aluminium, the brightly painted Skypad is an intriguing structure to anyone seeing the ship from a distance, especially lit up at night.

Within the Skypad are four bungee harnesses fastened to the sphere and suspended over one-person trampolines. Riders can bound up and down on the trampolines safely guided by the harnesses, either with or without a set of virtual reality goggles that add a fourth dimension to the already rich experience.

The Skypad is part of a makeover of the rear of the sports deck that also includes the addition of waterslides and a FlowRider surfing simulator.

Another attraction at the top of the ship is the Observatorium, an escape room game in the former chapel that gives groups a limited amount of time to decipher clues and get out of a locked room.

Farther down, the Mariner has gained two new bars. One, Playmakers Sports Bar and Arcade, is a version of a feature first added to the Symphony of the Seas, a newer, larger ship. The other, unique to the Mariner for the moment, is the Polynesian-themed Bamboo Room, a tiki bar on the Royal Promenade. It’s a retro hangout with umbrella drinks to spare and certainly an upgrade over the retail space previously there.

The Mariner of the Seas features a new ice show, “Ice Under the Big Top,” in Studio B. Photo Credit: TW photo by Tom Stieghorst

And in the depths of the ship, in Studio B, Royal has developed Escape From Planet Z, a laser tag game. That’s in addition to a terrific new ice show, “Ice Under the Big Top,” excerpts of which were previewed for agents.

Before the show, Vicki Freed, senior vice president of sales, trade support and service, said the Mariner is positioned to draw more new-to-cruise guests. “We need to get people who have never thought about a cruise vacation to kind of take a test drive with us, and we thought to put this magnificent hardware in the short-cruise market would do exactly that,” she said.

After three weeks in service, Royal was sourcing a higher percentage of first-time cruisers on the Mariner than on any other ship, she said.

Part of that might have to do with pricing and perceived value. “It’s almost like having a brand new ship but at old prices,” said Kyle DeDomenico of Cruise Planners in Boca Raton.

Beyond attracting those new to cruise, another function of the Mariner is to serve as a delivery vehicle for Royal’s vastly improved CocoCay private island, which is being upgraded with a waterpark, a pier, a wave pool and several other attractions.

Freed warned that the prices won’t last.

“Right now the prices are very low for all of the ships that are calling at CocoCay, but once we start to ramp up, the prices will go higher because it’s such a great attraction,” Freed said. “So if you have clients that are thinking about 2019, book them now because they won’t find prices like you currently see.”

The Mariner will be the short cruise offering from Miami through May when the next ship to receive Royal Amplified upgrades, the Navigator of the Seas will take its place. The Mariner will then be redeployed on short cruises from Port Canaveral.

Royal Caribbean Introduces SoundSeeker

Posted on 7 August, 2018 by Spacejunkie2

Royal Caribbean International has designed and built a first-of-its-kind tool that transforms photos into an original, shareable soundtrack with a video to match. More than a year in the making, SoundSeeker is powered by artificial intelligence.

The tool is specifically designed to use machine learning to seamlessly create original soundtracks based on the content of each photograph, the company said.

By simply visiting http://www.SoundSeeker.com, users can upload three photos of their choice, and the AI analyzes them based on colour, landscape, backdrop, emotion, body language and facial expression. SoundSeeker then turns them into a shareable and soundtrack – virtually DJing life’s most brag-worthy moments, Royal Caribbean said.

“SoundSeeker is the latest proof point of Royal Caribbean innovation and how we focus it on delivering unexpected, memorable experiences; whether that is the SkyPad, which uniquely combines bungee jumping with virtual reality or live streaming your favorite shows from the middle of the ocean using VOOM, the fastest internet at sea,” said Jim Berra, chief marketing officer, Royal Caribbean International. “People of all ages crave new ways to share their best experiences on social media. This unprecedented tool allows you to put a completely unique, multisensory spin on sharing those memories – now friends and followers can see and hear your life’s adventures.”

Royal Caribbean teamed up with experts from Berklee College of Music, and technologists from around the world, to create the unique song generator.

“We were excited to work with Royal Caribbean International on this new technological innovation, and in the process, redefine what creative collaboration means,” said Panos A. Panay, Berklee vice president for Innovation and Strategy and managing director of BerkleeICE. “The work of BerkleeICE expands our students’ definition of what can be accomplished with music education by pushing the boundaries of creative expression utilizing technology. By harnessing AI to develop customized soundtracks for treasured memories, together, we have created a new way for people to share their experiences with one another.”

SoundSeeker uses machine learning, an artificial intelligence technique that enables computers to simulate human intelligence and make decisions on their own without explicit instructions. The learning process entailed more than 600 hours in which Royal Caribbean and a team of musicians and technologists reviewed hundreds of music tracks along with 10,000 photos, matching each of the 2.5 million combinations to one of 10 moods.

The AI in SoundSeeker uses Google Cloud Vision to identify objects, facial expressions and colours in a user’s photo by referencing the roadmap developed by the leaders in music theory at Berklee. SoundSeeker then finds the musical elements corresponding to each mood in the photo to compose a genuinely distinct audio and visual photo album. The Royal Caribbean tool is equipped to generate over one million unique tracks, based on custom base tracks, composed exclusively for the cruise line. The customized tracks take inspiration from a wide variety of music, including 90s hip-hop, rock, modern and electronic dance music.