Royal Caribbean’s Fain recalls milestones that broke new ground in cruising

Posted on 30 May, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

Richard Fain started his history of milestones in 1962 with the S.S. France, which he called “a remarkable ship.” Photo Credit: Jamie Biesiada

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Whenever Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. starts a new project, CEO Richard Fain said the company likes to start with history.

Celebrity Cruises is currently working on Project Edge, which will bring a new class of ships in the fall of 2018, and the line has been considering milestones in cruise ship design leading up to that project — the key innovations in cruising that have changed the way ships are built.

Fain shared some of those milestones with travel agents at Vacation.com’s annual conference at the Diplomat Resort and Spa this week.

“The pace of change has been growing very quickly,” Fain said.

He started his history of milestones in 1962 with the S.S. France, which he called “a remarkable ship.”

“It was designed for transportation,” Fain said, and everything about the Compagnie Generale Transatlantique ship (like its long, sleek design) was aimed at transportation.

Fain jumped next to 1970 and the “transformational change” that Royal Caribbean International’s Song of Norway brought to the industry.

“This was a ship that was really built for cruising,” he said. Decks were open and cabins were designed differently than those on the France — instead of keeping the passengers in them while being transported, Song of Norway’s cabins were designed to get passengers out of their cabins and into public spaces.

“A fundamental shift was taking place,” Fain said, in what the purpose of the vessel was.

Then, in 1975, another influencer came into play, this time in the form of a television show: “The Love Boat.” Fain said cruising was shifting in how it presented itself to the world, becoming open to mass markets.

Then Carnival Cruise Lines came out with Kathy Lee Gifford’s “Fun Ship” commercials in the 1980s. Cruising was no longer something limited to an older, wealthier clientele. It was becoming something for everyone.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/xS5rUgRAzDc?rel=0Princess Cruises’ Royal Princess in 1984 brought the concept of more outside cabins and more balconies.

The Sovereign of the Seas, “a dramatic new vessel,” arrived in 1988. The Royal Caribbean ship introduced an atrium and more activity choices onboard, and was the largest ship in the world when it was built.

In 1999, Royal Caribbean again introduced a ship that was the largest built at the time: Voyager of the Seas. It had an ice-skating rink and rock-climbing walls, a promenade and a plethora of other activities.

“You wanted things that helped convey that this [cruising] was an unusual activity, that you could do what you wanted,” Fain said. He said Voyager of the Seas was instrumental in continuing to shift the idea that cruising was for everyone.

Fain considered the Celebrity Solstice, which started sailing in 2008, as the next innovative vessel because it brought a level of elegance to a large ship.

And the next year, 2009, Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas arrived, offering even more choices to cruisers. The model in the days of the Song of Norway was dinner, show, bed, Fain said. But with Oasis of the Seas, “that evolved to the point where you have 28 places to eat on board this ship,” he said. It offered specialty dining rooms and suites that appeal to a different crowd, and activities like the FlowRider surf machine for yet another.

The Disney Dream started sailing for Disney Cruise Line in 2011 with a focus on the outdoor decks, and making children the center of many offerings. It introduced all kinds of activities, like waterslides, that many would go on to follow, according to Fain.

Three years later, Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas added more unexpected amenities to a cruise ship: a gondola-like ball that raises passengers in the air for a bird’s-eye view, a skydiving simulator and the Bionic Bar with its robotic bartenders.

Fain said he believes Celebrity’s Edge-class ships will bring the next milestone to cruising, but was tight-lipped on the details.

Fain’s history lesson was well-received by agents, who largely agreed with his sentiments of game-changers in the industry.

Sandra Cleary is the CEO of CruCon Cruise Outlet Plus in New Hampshire. She started her cruise-only agency 20 years ago, and in her mind, the Voyager of the Seas was one of the biggest milestones in the cruise world.

“We want the ship with the rock-climbing wall,” was a frequent call she got in the late 1990s.

Customers didn’t even know the ship’s name, but were attracted by the many activities it offered, she said. She also pointed to the Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas as game-changers.

Mark Comfort, owner of Cruise Holidays in Kansas City, Mo., said Fain and Royal Caribbean are “arguably the biggest innovators in the cruise industry.”

Comfort says Sovereign of the Seas was the greatest game-changer.

“The design was unthinkable — undoable,” he said. Most predicted it wouldn’t work, Comfort said, but it did, and the “unthinkable” ship went on to change the industry.

Royal Caribbean criticised over Harmony construction work

Posted on 27 May, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

Royal Caribbean International faces accusations from passengers that construction work was still taking place on board the world’s largest cruise ship during its first sailing.

Harmony of the Seas left Southampton for Rotterdam on a four-night cruise on Sunday, but the first paying passengers complained about closed attractions and ongoing work, the BBC reported.

One was reported as describing the vessel as a “construction site and a serious risk to all passengers”. Passenger Georgina Davie described “queues of complaining guests and distressed families”.

“Ninety percent of the kids attractions that it was marketed for have been shut for the whole cruise and are still being worked on,” she said. She also claimed drilling went on near cabins through the night.

Royal Caribbean admitted “final finishing touches” were being made after pictures of work being carried out during the sailing were posted on social media.

A spokeswoman told Travel Weekly: “We are excited to welcome our first guests onboard Harmony of the Seas for her pre-inaugural sailings this week, ahead of her official maiden voyage on Sunday, 29th May.

“Whilst the ship is cleared for operations and many of its features are already being enjoyed by thousands of guests, as with any new build, we are still finalising some finishing touches, and thank guests for their patience as we complete these.

“As always, Royal Caribbean’s highest priority is to ensure the safety of all its guests and crew members and any final maintenance is being carried out in accordance with strict safety guidelines.

“These early sailings were made possible due to the early delivery of the ship and we hope this has been reflected in the great value offering guests secured for their holiday.”

Harmony of the Seas left Southampton again for a three-night cruise to Cherbourg yesterday, before finally departing for its summer base of Barcelona on Sunday.

The ship can carry 6,780 passengers. It has 20 restaurants, 23 swimming pools and took more than two-and-a-half years to construct.

Royal Caribbean, taking its best from two classes, creates a Harmony

Posted on 23 May, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

Harmony of the Seas Cut out.

ONBOARD THE HARMONY OF THE SEAS — The brand-new Harmony of the Seas, currently holding the title as the world’s biggest cruise ship, is technically a sister ship of Oasis-class twins Oasis and Allure.

But more than six years have passed since the Allure sailed out of the yard; and since then Royal Caribbean International has launched another ship series, the Quantum class, which incorporated new guest technology and amenities.

The Central Park neighborhood is an oasis of green within the ship. Photo Credit: Rebecca Tobin

The Harmony is like a Quantum-Oasis combo: The size and layout of the Oasis (albeit slightly larger at 223,963 gross tons and 5,479 passengers) with many top features of the Quantum ships.

The speedy check-in process that premiered on the Quantum in New Jersey was working well here at the Southampton terminal. Restaurants Jamie’s Italian and Wonderland (expanded to two decks on the Harmony) are both on the Harmony. Royal preserved the open, three-deck main dining room from the Oasis, though each floor has a different design that corresponds to one of the contained restaurants on the Quantum.

On the Oasis-class side, the Promenade, Boardwalk and Central Park neighborhoods are here. Rising Tide, a bar masquerading as an elevator, floats between the Promenade and Central Park. Caffeine addicts will be happy to know that a Starbucks, which first opened on the Allure, is planned for the Harmony’s Boardwalk.

Passengers line up for their turn on the Abyss slide. The entrance is through the mouth of an anglerfish sculpture. Photo Credit: Rebecca Tobin

But one can even take a longer view of the Harmony’s offerings, which I did on the first day of a two-day cruise from England, when some media and European travel agents were invited by Royal to preview the vessel.

For example, the general structure of the long, interior Royal Promenade is still going strong. The robot bartenders at the Bionic Bar whir and mix and shake and pour across the hall from one of Royal’s longest mainstays, the decidedly old-school Schooner Bar. The Latin-themed Boleros, which made its debut on the Navigator of the Seas, is down the hall. On the lower decks is the ice-skating rink, and up top is the rock-climbing wall, the two features that broke molds at Royal and, arguably, the industry when they debuted on Voyager of the Seas.

Royal has continued to refine its “neighborhood” concepts on the Harmony. For an escape from the busy-ness of other parts of the ship, nothing beats Central Park, a 12,000-tree midship oasis (this is also where two upscale alternative restaurants, 150 Central Park and Chops Grille, are to be found).

The Royal Promenade, a feature Royal Caribbean introduced on its Voyager-class ships, is still going strong. Photo Credit: Rebecca Tobin

If busy-ness is what you’re after, proceed directly to the sports deck, which contains miniature golf, a zipline, two FlowRiders and one of the Harmony’s showcase features, the 10-deck Abyss slide. (Also new on the Harmony is a group of three of waterslides called the Perfect Storm, but since it was a breezy 60 degrees, most passengers were content to admire them from afar.)

The entrance to the two Abyss tube slides are encased in a colorful metal structure that looks like an anglerfish. The entrance, of course, is through its mouth. Each rider is given a mat that acts like a toboggan, and they’re required to sit on it and hold the reins for dear life. The ride is fast and furious. And, dare I say, awesome.

Kid-sized lounge chairs were set up next to the splash park. Photo Credit: Rebecca Tobin

The tube starts out bright with LED lighting, but about halfway through riders are plunged into pitch black and the mat picks up tremendous speed; that’s when most will let out a scream or “wooooo!” that can be heard back in the anglerfish’s body on Deck 16.

“There we go,” the crew members said and nodded with satisfaction whenever the “wooooo!” wound up from inside the tube.

The slide ends in the Boardwalk neighborhood on Deck 6. Some riders might stagger right into the perfectly-positioned adjacent Sabor restaurant for a stiff (or celebratory) margarita.