Tag Archives: Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean puts Allure on Google Street View

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By Tom Stieghorst
Royal Caribbean International has created an online tour of its 5,400-passenger Allure of the Seas that can be accessed through Google Street View technology.

Google Street View, introduced in 2007, takes 360-degree panoramic pictures of locations around the world, which are then posted online via Google Maps.

The Allure tour is organized through Google Maps Business View, and Royal Caribbean said it is the first cruise line to take advantage of the technology to offer online tours.

Photographers took 20,000 images over the course of eight days to assemble a visual representation of the ship. There is no audio information with the tour.

Royal Caribbean said the photos were shot with a basic DSLR camera using a fisheye lens and a panoramic head resting on a tripod. This method takes 12 photographs at each point.

“Consumers go online to research their vacations and this is the closest they can get to actually being onboard,” said Jo Briody, Royal Caribbean’s director of marketing and public relations. “We are confident that once people get virtually immersed in Allure of the Seas’ various decks and features thanks to Google Street View technology, they’ll be eager to experience the real thing.”

Royal Caribbean already has its own virtual tours of most ships posted on its website.

Tour company in development at Royal Caribbean

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Tour company in development at Royal Caribbean

By Tom Stieghorst
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. confirmed that it is working on a new subsidiary that would be focused on developing and marketing land tours around the globe.

The company is still in formation, but RCCL has named John Weis, its former vice president of global tour operations, to spearhead development of the unit.

RCCL already offers cruise guests thousands of tours in hundreds of destinations. It said the new subsidiary, to be called TourTrek, will operate in 90 countries.

In a brief statement about the company, Royal Caribbean described TourTrek as a technology company that will be wholly owned by RCCL.

Weis will report to Larry Pimentel, president of Azamara Club Cruises and chief destination experience officer for Azamara, Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises.

Pimentel has made destination a core attribute of Azamara, starting with Azamazing Evenings, a program of customized night events for guests on Azamara cruises.

Celebrity has also been venturing into more elaborate shore excursions. In March, Celebrity said it would begin offering a a land-sea package this fall that combines five nights in Africa with an 11- or 12-day Black Sea cruise.

The land portion includes bookings at game lodges or four- and five-star hotels in Kenya and three safari expeditions, followed by transfers to Istanbul, where guests board Celebrity Constellation with stops on the Black Sea and in the Greek isles.

Celebrity President Michael Bayley said the tours quickly sold out.

RCCL said that it has hired longtime Carnival Corp. executive Roberta Jacoby to move into the role previously occupied by Weis. Her title will be managing director of global tour operations.

Jacoby retired in 2011 after 35 years with Carnival. Her final job was as senior vice president of corporate special projects.

RCCL said that further details about TourTrek will become available over the coming months.

Royal Caribbean finalizes Taiwan port deal

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Royal Caribbean finalizes Taiwan port deal

By Tom Stieghorst
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL) has agreed to co-develop a cruise port in Taiwan with the Taiwan International Ports Co.

The port would be the first to be developed in Asia by RCCL, although it also has a stake in the company that operates the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong.

In a statement, Royal Caribbean said its nonbinding memorandum of understanding is for a site that currently serves as a Taiwanese Navy and Coast Guard facility.

“The island, which has good infrastructure but is relatively underdeveloped for tourism, offers beautiful beaches, ancient culture, natural beauty and great local seafood cuisine,” the statement said.

In an article in the Taipei Times, RCCL’s vice president of commercial development, John Tercek, said that one of the main reasons Penghu was chosen is that it is convenient to Hong Kong and Xiamen, two base ports.

Earlier this year, Hong Kong and Taiwan founded a regional cruise development fund that will pay cruise lines that visit two or more participating ports in a single itinerary.

RCCL and Taiwan International Ports Co. plan to spend $33 million to develop a pier for the first phase of the project, scheduled to open in 2016, the Taipei Times said.