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

Posted on 30 April, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

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

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

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.

Latest ship launches illustrate a shift to Europe

Posted on 30 April, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

Harmony of the Seas

It seems like U.S. agents are having to wait longer to see brand-new ships, or to send their clients on them, unless they want to fly to Europe.

Nearly all the ships coming out of European shipyards this year will be dedicated in Europe and spend the summer and fall sailing there.

The exception is the Seabourn Encore, which will be even farther away, in Singapore, when it is christened next January.

Once the primary window for ships to be delivered was in the fall, when they could be pressed into service in the Caribbean. That was the case in November when the Norwegian Escape was christened by Pitbull and began a series of cruises from Miami.

But while the Carnival Vista, the Koningsdam and the Harmony of the Seas will all arrive in South Florida in November, and will have occasions for travel agents to tour them or sail on them, they will be six months into their service by the time that happens.

I don’t know when the shift began. Clearly the larger cruise lines have enough ships in their fleets that leaving newbuilds in Europe for the summer doesn’t disrupt their plans for North America.

That may be different from the past, when every ship counted in the strategy to beat the competition.

And it may be good luck that Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International and Holland America Line have some of their most attractive ships in Europe at a time when that region needs a boost.

Ironically, the next big ship introduction scheduled for North America comes in November 2017 when a European-based cruise line, MSC Cruises, debuts its MSC Seaside in Miami.

Empress of the Seas return postponed for another month

Posted on 25 April, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

oyal Caribbean International has canceled seven additional cruises scheduled on Empress of the Seas to do more work on the ship in drydock.

Previously, Royal had canceled six short cruises from Miami on the Empress, which is migrating back to Royal after sailing for sister brand Pullmantur.

Departure dates on the newly canceled cruises are April 25 and 30, and May 5, 9, 14, 19 and 23.

In a statement, Royal said that as work progressed in drydock, it discovered the need for more significant infrastructure and physical improvements across galleys and provisioning areas.

“We decided that instead of simply repairing the five galleys, we would completely rebuild them, starting from scratch with entirely new infrastructure and all new equipment at a cost of $10 million,” the statement said.

Royal is providing refunds plus 50% future cruise credits to those booked on the April 25 and 30 cruises, and refunds plus 100% credits for anyone on the original six canceled sailings who was rebooked on a newly canceled sailing.

Guests can also rebook on several other Royal ship at favorable terms.