Innovations

Ten Years and Counting! Radiances’ Revitalization will make Her Better than Ever

The revitalization of Radiance of the Seas is underway in Victoria, British Colombia. She is in dry-dock or “high and dry” in our parlance. I won’t re-cap all of the new features she will be getting as Lisa Bauer will give you a detailed update after she visits the ship in a few weeks. I will make a few general observations as the Royal Advantage revitalization program gets going in earnest.

I’m pleased that Radiance happens to be the first of our new generation of revitalizations. She is an important ship in our history. As the first ship in the four-ship Radiance-class (followed by Brilliance of the Seas, Serenade of the Seas and Jewel of the Seas), she led us into a new era of cruise ship design, particularly featuring a close connection between the outside and inside via acres of glass that produce a wonderful effect. Throughout the last ten years we have often placed two of the Radiance-class ships in Europe and two in Alaska, allowing us to compete favorably with any ships in those markets.

Behind the scenes, as I have mentioned previously, we took a fresh look at our shipboard organization during Project Radiance (1999 – 2001). Although the immediate effect of profound change was a challenged start-up period for Radiance after her delivery in early 2001, the new approach has been critical to our successful expansion to a 22-ship-fleet operating all over the world.

Our long-term fans will recall that Radiance of the Seas debuted with two specialty restaurants, Chops Grille and Portofino. Voyager of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas, which had arrived in 1999 and 2000, respectively, had only one – Portofino. So we really thought we were doing something dramatic by doubling the number of specialty restaurants. That thought seems quaint and naïve as we prepare to add multiple new dining establishments to Radiance during her revitalization.

Radiance of the Seas arrived in 2001 as the dot com crash was unfolding. There wasn’t a strong connection ten years ago between the online environment and the cruise ship experience. Just as with culinary variety, a sea change has occurred in our and our guests’ expectations of technology. Pervasive Wi-Fi, upgraded in-stateroom televisions, digital signage and electronic waivers are some examples of additions in the current project, which we regard as obviously necessary for Radiance today.

The revitalization of Radiance will make an already fabulous ship even more fabulous. I cruised on her with family and friends to Alaska in 2002. I could not have envisioned most of what we are adding to her right now. I might have to find time for a repeat cruise to experience the changes for myself. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, we are applying the final touches to the revitalization plan for Splendour of the Seas this fall.

BY:Adam|6th June, 2011 2 Comments

Through Camaraderie and Compassion, Radiance of the Seas’ Revitalizations Come to Life!

My name is Christian Compton and I am a project manager in our Newbuilding and Fleet Design department working with our Revitalization team, led by our Radiance Project Manager Dominick Flores, to revitalize our wonderful ship Radiance of the Seas. We have a wonderful team here of Engineers, Architects, Designers, Accountants, Ship Managers, Crew, Contractors and everything else we need to pull off this wonderful challenge. As I am writing this post, the ship is now in day 3 of our 21 day drydock, which will be sure to make Radiance of the Seas one of the most exciting ships in our fleet. You can see more of the details about what new venues we are adding here.

Radiance is the 3rd ship this year to receive new features under our Royal Advantage program after Liberty of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas. The revitalization of Radiance is the largest of the three projects. I can only say, wow, we are excited. For those of our guests who have followed our company through the years you may remember our team featured in a documentary called “Drydock: A cruise ship reborn.” Well that team has grown and through the years we have pushed ourselves to take on bigger and greater challenges so that we can deliver bigger WOWs.

A big revitalization project like this takes a team of nearly 700 contractors and nearly 75 managers from our shoreside departments. That doesn’t even include the more than 1,000 regular crew members who will stay and help out. Although the ship is only out of service for 3 weeks a project like this is culmination of thousands of man hours, days of planning, meetings, and coordination. Already several weeks before the drydock began on May 20 we had teams or “riding crews” loading materials and organizing plans and cleaning out ship stores. When we build new spaces, we don’t need that old carpet design anymore, what we will need is space for new spares.

The whole team arrived in Vancouver in the days prior to May 20 to make sure that everything was in place to organize time for loading materials, debarking our guests and embarking 500 contractors. So as Radiance of the Seas came into the port of Vancouver, a small army of forklifts and teams were busy organizing containers, pallets, tools and checking-in 500 contractors. Thanks to our outstanding guest services, logistics, and hotel teams 45 minutes after the last guest was debarked 10 containers, 200 pallets and 500 contractors were onboard and making speed to Victoria Shipyard in Victoria, Canada.

The first day of revitalization can only be compared to that first day of school after a long summer break. Just like our guests who build long term relationships with other guests through years of sharing wonderful cruise vacations on our ships, our contractors too have become long time friends. The first day is a chance to see old friends and make new ones to take on exciting new challenges. Even our crew and officers have grown with us. Our outstanding Captain Claus Andersen was Staff Captain during Sovereign of the Seas Revitalization back in 2004. So 7 years later we have been reunited, albeit both in new roles yet just as excited to do it bigger and better.

As we pulled into the drydock on a beautiful spring day here in Victoria, only 6 hours after leaving Vancouver, Radiance of the Seas was already becoming her dramatic new self. Up on top the turf was pulled to make room for new future teak and space for the big screen TV to adorn the pool deck. The golf course was ripped up to make room for a bigger and better one. But the real drama was happening inside.

The Seaview Cafe not only has a seaview, it now temporarily has an open air patio as the window wall was torn down to make room for the new enlarged glass facade of the future Samba Grill. Across the hall the Country Club was paved to make room for the new arcade, which will be bigger than most a float. And as the new arcade was finding its home the old arcade was already stripped down to make way for our new Nursery in the Adventure Ocean area.

Downstairs at the same time the old sports bar memorabilia in the Scorecard Bar was being carefully packed away as a an army of sledge hammer holding demolition crews geared up to bring in the dawn of our biggest and grandest Pub at sea, the “Quill and Compass”. By the next morning the only remembrance of the Scorecard Bar was a Royal Caribbean International pennant hanging on the wall to remind everyone where we are and what is happening.

Part of the fun of growing with this team and developing our skills brings the joy of finding new ways to do our jobs better. We like to call it “finding new toys” and for this Revitalization we have wonderful set of little demolition superstars we affectionately call Terminators 1 and 2. These little machines resemble a little cleaning car, except their brushes are swapped out for mean little blades and spears that can pull up teak, turf, carpet, tile, and anything in between. Before we arrived in Victoria our contractors were struggling with the deck demolition. So when Captain Claus rolled the terminators out onto deck, like “blue knights” riding to the rescue, I can assure everyone the cheers from all the teams were probably heard back in Miami. Ahh the smile of kids and their toys.

While all of this work is going on we have to thank our outstanding crew onboard for keeping us safe, housed, fed and happy. The thing with Revitalization is that we are all living onboard, so really, Radiance is just on a different type of cruise with a different type of guest. Imagine that if you went in for a makeover, however extreme, and that you had to keep working while it was happening, not even the newest smart phone can handle that task. Although we are on a drydock cruise I can ensure you there is no sleeping in. If you would happen to forget to wake up by 7 am there are enough jack hammers, grinders, and workers running around to make sure that you get your wake up call.

Speaking of jack hammers, Our Vice President of Newbuilding and Fleet Design, Kevin Douglas, likes to say you can smell and hear how the project is going. Today I heard jack hammers and smelled burnt steel, so we know we are just starting and demolition is at full speed. Once we get that “new car” smell we will all know that guests are packing their bags and we better be heading out.

Long hours and hard work aside, we are looking forward to moving into the construction phase during the coming days. The real fun is seeing all of the workers and crew get excited about what we believe will be some of the best dining experiences, anywhere. I already mentioned the Samba Grill, but right below will be Rita’s Cantina and Izumi Asian Cuisine. Both venues will be finding homes next to our fabulous Windjammer Cafe making this truly an international culinary destination.

Speaking of international, as we all know we have wonderfully diverse crews, and we have a wonderfully diverse group of contractors helping us as well. Right now there are contractors from more than 20 different nationalities working together to build our new venues. Out here we all speak the same language which translates to working safely and efficiently so that on June 10 our guests will confirm the goal that we are what we are all working towards. To DELIVER THE WOW!

BY:Christian Compton|2nd June, 2011 8 Comments

Liberty of the Seas and Saturday Night Fever Dazzle

Although I had just written my “LB from LB” update after visiting Liberty of the Seas post dry dock, I traveled to Barcelona this week to sail with her again. I don’t want to get accused of playing favorites with the ships, but I promised the entertainment team I would be onboard when we premiered our latest Broadway Show, Saturday Night Fever the Musical. I also wanted to see how Liberty and the team onboard did after her first embark in Barcelona, as this is her inaugural season in Europe.

The guest reaction to SNF (That’s how we refer to Saturday Night Fever internally) was nothing short of amazing. The first song started and the guests were already clapping and totally into the show. The audience participation continued through the one hour and twenty minute long show, and culminated in a six minute finale that had the guests on their feet the entire time singing, dancing and clapping wildly. The cast is incredibly talented, in fact, the lead “Tony” actually just came from playing the lead in Grease on the West End in London. The caliber of the cast is unbelievable, because not only do they have to be great singers, but the level of dancing is also highly complex. I know I am biased, but this is the best show we have done yet. I don’t want to spoil too much, so everyone will have to sail on Liberty to experience this special show.

As I did my incognito walk around, I always enjoy watching the guest reaction to our product. This sailing was 4 nights and over 2,300 guests were Spanish. This is more than three times the usual amount of guests on this itinerary. It was very interesting to see what a great asset the digital signs were for our non English speaking guests. These signs are in five languages, and they were used extensively by our guests and got rave reviews. I stood behind a number of guests and asked if I could help them with anything and they said no, that they loved the signs and got the information they needed.

Captain Charles Tiege invited me to dine at the Captain’s table, and it was truly a reflection of the global nature of our brand. We had a number of our most frequent cruisers at the table, and it included couples from Texas, Germany, Canada, and two couples from Spain. As we introduced ourselves around the table, it was interesting to hear the Spanish guests say this was their 43rd cruise, and the German guests had just returned from Allure.

I’m headed home today and sailing on Majesty of the Seas this weekend for a Make a Wish Board retreat and also our Anchored in Excellence program, so I will be sure to update everyone on what is happening on Majesty next week!

BY:Lisa Bauer|9th May, 2011 4 Comments

Adam Returns with Revitalization News as the Royal Advantage Spreads through Radiance

Maybe it is time to end my sabbatical. I want to express my appreciation for all of my colleagues who have been writing entries about diverse aspects of the business. I will certainly continue with this practice as there is nothing like having people write in the first person about their passion to improve their part of our world.

I really cannot put my finger on why it suddenly became harder to write. Some of it was working on topics that were confidential for a sustained period, such as Project Sunshine, which we have now announced will yield our next new ship in 2014. Some of it was an even greater abundance of incoming emails than I would have ever thought possible. In any event, I apologize and will try to write more regularly going forward.

There is certainly no lack of excitement to write about. We are really pleased with the changes we have made to Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas. Now we are only a few weeks away from undertaking the revitalization of Radiance of the Seas as the next element of the Royal Advantage.

Our Radiance-class ships are truly beautiful and it is fantastic that the first of the class will receive additional features inspired by our newer ships. Radiance of the Seas pioneered many operational and management approaches that have become fleetwide over time. Some of those approaches contributed to her rough start back in 2001. In hindsight, we simply asked for trouble by having too many crew without prior shipboard experience take a new ship class into service. We wanted to (and did) break our previous paradigm of operations, as successful as it had been up until that point. But in so doing we caused guests, travel agents and ourselves more problems than we should have done. Eventually, however, “Project Radiance” led to the successful global, 22-ship operation that Royal Caribbean International is today. And our beautiful Radiance is about to become more beautiful still.

Although I am blogging about the revitalization of Radiance of the Seas, in the office this project is already old news. Next up this fall is the revitalization of Splendour of the Seas. That is one of the projects currently occupying us at headquarters.

BY:Adam|28th April, 2011 14 Comments

Royal Caribbean Is Celebrating Our Amazing Planet! Are You Celebrating Earth Day?

Hi, my name is Jamie Sweeting and I’m a recovering conservationist. At least that’s what some people seem to think. Actually, I’m the Vice President for Environmental Stewardship and Global Chief Environmental Officer for Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., which essentially means that if it has anything to do with the environment or sustainability then it’s my responsibility to take care of it. Think of me as the Green Cruise Guy!

Today is Earth Day. For some it’s a day to reflect on the world around us and how it seems nature is hanging in the balance - to be honest, this can get a bit depressing when we hear about the seemingly ever-increasing ways that our lifestyles impact and alter the environment on which we depend. How, despite all the talk of the advancement of the “green movement,” climate change will have profound affects on the planet and it seems we aren’t doing enough to stop it. How our ocean resources are being ever more depleted and impacted by our collective irresponsible actions that one wonders whether there will actually be any coral reefs left to show our grandchildren. Despite the pervasive doom and gloom, for me, Earth Day is a day of celebration. It’s a day to think of how much is being done to address these challenges, to be proud of the part we are playing to make the Planet a more hospitable place for us to inhabit, not just in the distant future but also today. It’s a day to think of all the remarkable places, ecosystems and species that our Royal Caribbean guests are able to experience and enjoy when they cruise to over 400 destinations with our company.

At Royal Caribbean, we believe that we have both the immense fortune to take our guests to so many incredible destinations, but also the inherent responsibility to protect those environments and ensure that peoples’ lives are improved by cruise tourism. I’ve spent nearly twenty years trying to demonstrate how travel can be an overwhelming force for good around the World. I started work as a “Dive Master” and the environmental connection was so clear - protect the reefs and you are nurturing the goose that lays the golden eggs. I then started working in the emerging area of “ecotourism” - promoting travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people. I spent nearly 15 years working for a leading conservation organization (Conservation International) and in 2001, I started researching the cruise industry. Why the cruise industry you might ask? Well, back then, some seventy percent of cruises operated in areas defined as “biodiversity hotspots” - those places on Earth that have the greatest concentration of plant and animal species and also serious levels of habitat loss. Again, the environmental connection was pretty clear.

Today, Earth Day, marks three years to the day that I started working at Royal Caribbean. I’m glad to say that I remain convinced that I am doing more for conservation working at Royal Caribbean than I was before working at Conservation International. Surprised by that? Well, here are a few facts about our company’s environmental work that might also surprise you:

  • We have a dedicated Environmental Officer on each of our ships to oversee our environmental stewardship policies and practices.
  • We consume about 20 to 50 gallons less of fresh water per person per day on our ships, compared to the average person living in the United States
  • We are committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by one-third per person per day by 2015, from a 2005 baseline. In fact in 2010, these efforts translated into a 4.7-percent reduction in fuel consumption per average passenger cruise day over 2009 levels. Our goal for 2011 is to reduce our fuel consumption by another 5.4 percent.
  • In 2010, we reduced the amount of waste landed ashore from our ships to just 1.15 pounds per person per day, a reduction of 19 percent from the previous year and 47 percent from 2007 levels. As a point of comparison, the average solid waste footprint per person in the United States is approximately 4.3 pounds per day.
  • In 1996, we launched the Ocean Fund, which supports marine conservation organizations in safeguarding the health of the world’s oceans. Since the fund’s establishment, we have contributed more than $11 million to 66 organizations around the world.

These are just some of the reasons I am so proud to work here at Royal Caribbean and I am confident that we are doing the right thing when it comes to taking care of the environment. I hope you will all join me today in celebrating this amazing Planet and all the things each of us does on a daily basis, both big and small, to protect the environment for future generations. HAPPY EARTH DAY!

BY:Jamie Sweeting|22nd April, 2011 No Comments

Freedom of the Seas Reaches New Heights with the Royal Advantage

Captain Bill and I just completed our Anchored in Excellence (AIE) visit to Freedom of the Seas. Freedom just came out of dry dock on Sunday, March 27th, so we wanted to see the result of how everything looked and was operating. One of the other objectives on our AIE visit was to see what else we could be doing to support the ship with any key operational challenges they were facing.

We boarded the ship in Port Canaveral, there we found some definite challenges with the check in process and the security screening. I was very concerned by the security processes and lack of customer service. When something like this happens that is part of another division, we reach out the department head and raise the issue, then we get together to discuss the situation or challenge. In this case, I immediately raised the issue to Gary Bald, our SVP of Safety, Security, Medical and Public Health, and we will be jointly reviewing our fleet wide security screening standards and expectations. We have a Shoreside Executive Committee that is comprised of all the department heads that support the operation and it is great to be able to reach out and receive the support to address whatever issues we have cross functionally.

Once onboard, we did a full ship tour to see the new venues. Our guests were already enjoying the new outdoor screens. They were watching the NCAA Tournament and having a great time. Because our guests have been enjoying the outdoor screens so much, we’ve decided to add them to Radiance and Splendour later in the year as well.

I was doing my full walk around and ran into two guests that were looking for the screening room. I walked them over and showed them where it was, and they asked me how I knew where it was since it wasn’t on our signage or the new digital signage. I laughed and said I should know where it is because I work here, and thanked them profusely for the feedback that we had indeed neglected to list the screening room in our signage and our new digital screens. Guest feedback is always appreciated and it helps us become our best!

While onboard, we also had the opportunity to try the new Chops Grille menu. I heard lots of great commentary from the guests on the new menu additions, and I personally loved the new goat cheese soufflé and the red velvet cake. I didn’t think it would have been possible to find a better dessert than the Mississippi Mud Pie in Chops, but somehow Chef Josef came up with the Red Velvet Cake and it is amazing. I actually think he was inspired by the Cupcake Cupboard because the Red Velvet cupcakes continue to be the top seller, which is closely followed by the Turtle Cupcake. By the way, the new Cupcake Cupboard on Freedom was greatly received by the guests and we sold out of cupcakes the first day!

We met with the division heads, and updated everyone on our key areas of focus for 2011 and then they brought areas to light where we can provide more support. An area that surfaced was our new pervasive Wi-Fi. While the entire ship now has pervasive Wi-Fi, we are still limited by the number of users that can be on the system at one time. When we encounter an issue like this, we bring it back to Miami and meet with our IT team to address and then solve the issue. We get great support from Bill Martin and his team who have already begun working on a solution so the ship will be able to take full advantage of the enhanced Wi-Fi coverage.

On Freedom, we are adding a Britto Gallery like we have on Allure of the Seas. It is right on the Royal Promenade and I believe it will be very popular with our guests.

Overall it was a great visit. The crew is very proud of what they have accomplished in dry dock, and are also very excited about the new areas and programming. Freedom was already an amazing ship, and with these new additions under the Royal Advantage program, she offers even more now than ever.

BY:Lisa Bauer|15th April, 2011 34 Comments

Find out which Splendid Ship Won Ship of the Year in South America!

Captain Bill and I are just wrapping up a considerable schedule of ship visits to Splendour of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas and Vision of the Seas. It was a great opportunity to see how all three ships were doing in South America.

Prior to joining Splendour in Buenos Aires, I had the opportunity to spend the weekend with Captain Zini (Allure) and his wife Anja. They were great tour guides and Buenos Aires is an amazing city. As Adam will attest because he always teases me, I am quite the food critic when it comes to steak. I definitely had the best steak I’ve ever had in Buenos Aires - every meal was a great experience.

The ship visits were a great opportunity to see a full immersion product come to life. Portuguese is the primary language spoken onboard, and the entertainment and dining are reflective of the local culture. There is a great atmosphere onboard, and the pool deck is the central gathering spot with lots of music, dancing and even a poolside barbeque. We also have a large number of Brazilian crew members and they do an amazing job and are very engaging and really deliver our signature GOLD Anchor service.

The timing was great to start with Splendour, as we were able to announce to the crew that Splendour was Ship of the Year! It was also good timing because we were able to review all the exciting plans for her extensive revitalization in November of this year. We had our colleagues from the New Build department and architects join us for this leg of Anchored in Excellence (AIE) so we could confirm all the locations of the new venues and ensure we finalized all our plans. Splendour will have an extensive 28 day dry dock in November, and the revitalization scope includes everything from fully refurbished staterooms, to the addition of 124 balconies, Giovanni’s Table, Izumi, a Park Café, and Pervasive Wifi, a Diamond Club, a nursery, an upgraded Concierge lounge and an outdoor Movie Screen.

Mariner was making her way around the Horn and had the opportunity to do a few extra sailings in South America during Carnaval. This was definitely an experience! Mariner is getting ready for her transatlantic crossing for her first ever European season. There is a great spirit onboard as the crew is really looking forward to visiting new ports.

The final leg of our AIE experience was a visit to Vision of the Seas. The ship is doing great, and is currently the number one performing ship in our fleet. It was great to see the Captain, Srecko Ban, who learned to speak Spanish during his time on Enchantment, also learning Portuguese now. The guests loved it!

BY:Lisa Bauer|31st March, 2011 4 Comments

Pushing the Envelope: Guest Blogger Bill Martin Discusses How Royal Caribbean Stays Ahead of the Curve

 

I am the Chief Information Officer for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, which basically means that my desk is where the proverbial “buck” stops if it involves technology. Our IT organization is responsible for all of the technology onboard the Royal Caribbean International ships as well as those of her sister brands. We also have more than 40 shore side offices around the world that we operate.

2010 was a year of major technological innovation, from redesigned websites to the delivery of Allure of the Seas, who along with her sister, Oasis of the Seas, are the two most technologically advanced ships at sea. It was also a year of awards, winning Information Week magazine’s top innovation honor in the category of customer intimacy. And 2011 is shaping up to be even bigger.

It’s difficult to talk about my role without recognizing the 500+ technology employees on our ships and on shore that make nearly half a billion dollars worth of technology assets work. We have an amazing team of technology professionals. Combine this team with the best operating teams in the industry and you’ve really got a powerful combination. It’s partnerships like this that create the many award winning innovations you’ll see on our ships. From facial recognition applications that eliminate the “Photo walls” where you had to look at almost every professional photo until you found yours, to interactive digital signs that let you know where the action is, it all comes together to make an amazing vacation experience even better.

Many in our organization refer to me as a “rogue CIO” (a moniker I wear proudly by the way). This doesn’t mean I break the rules, it simply means I press our teams to “push the envelope” of what can be done with technology. I am an avid user of technology, and trying new stuff is something we must do if we expect to stay ahead of our guest’s expectations. It’s this constant experimentation that gave me the nickname.

When Adam asked if I would write a guest blog post about going from “Res to glitches” (a cute way of covering my 27 year career here at Royal Caribbean), I was proud to take a shot. I won’t bore you with a lot of career details but suffice it to say that I have been very lucky at Royal Caribbean, finding the right opportunities at just the right time over the years, to maintain a career with the same company. That’s very rare these days, so I consider myself very lucky. As the phrase implies, I started in the call center taking reservations over the phone way back in 1984 while I put myself through college. Computer reservations in 1984 were very different … everyone agreed that seeing available staterooms in less than TWO minutes was a real step forward from the “berthing books”, but the system would frequently go down, so the computers could be a real pain! Today we measure down time in minutes per year. So I guess it has gotten a little better.

There have been many steps along the way, including stints in Accounting, Revenue Management, Customer Service, even running all of the call centers in North America, and finally, to my current role as CIO, which started a little over three years ago.

Funny side note about my current role, I called my brother to share the news of my move to the CIO role. His reaction? “ARE YOU CRAZY! CIO stands for Career Is Over!” He said I wouldn’t last two years in the role. I’m happy to report that Tom was wrong.

On a personal note, I have 4 children (ages 21 to 8 ) and have been happily married going on 25 years (I guess I have a thing for sticking around)! We love living in South Florida (even if it felt like Chicago this past December – Yea yea, spring time in Chicago We’re planning to vacation in Hawaii this summer but still have to convince the kids of this since they are hoping for another cruise on Allure! LOL

We produced a webisode about some of the technology highlights on Oasis and Allure. Take a look. It’s pretty ground breaking stuff.

BY:Bill Martin|25th February, 2011 10 Comments

“Lady Liberty” is back at Sea and Showing off her New Enhancements!

Guest Blog Post: Lisa Bauer on Liberty of the Seas After Dry Dock

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Last week was a great opportunity to combine our Anchored in Excellence (AIE) visit to Liberty of the Seas with the chance to sail on her immediately after her dry dock last week to access the impact of the new venues and programming.

It was actually hard to believe what the team accomplished in seven days! When we boarded the ship, there was no evidence of construction, not a ceiling panel out of place, and all the new venues looked like they had been there forever. I’m very proud of the team. The only venue that we weren’t able to complete was the nursery, but we knew that would take longer and it will be open beginning this week.

The Cupcake Cupboard is prominent on the Royal Promenade and by the time I got there, my favorite flavor, Red Velvet was sold out! Thought everyone might enjoy a picture of the third Cupcake Cupboard in the fleet.

Another Royal Advantage enhancement was within Vintages. Our guests really loved the new furniture and atmosphere of the Vintages on Oasis class, so we remodeled the Vintages on Liberty, added a wine tasting table, and the very popular Wine dispensing technology. These new machines offer the ability to have 1, 3, or 5 ounces of wine and it is a great way to try new wines.

The new screen on the pool deck is already a huge hit with our guests. We showed Secretariat the first night it was up and the pool deck was packed. I can’t wait to see the reaction when our guests get to watch popular sporting events, like the Super Bowl, on the screen.

We were busy, because not only did we add the screen on the pool deck, we also added the 3D movie capability in the theatre. This 3D programming is one of the many elements of the DreamWorks® Experience that we launched this week on Liberty. The sail away party was very festive, and adults and kids alike approached the characters for a hug or picture. We did two character breakfasts this week, and I was very happy to have had chocolate waffles for breakfast! The parade is amazing on Liberty, and Shrek, Fiona, Po and the gang seem to “pop” up around the ship.

I really enjoyed watching our guests interacting with the digital signage. It was such a huge success on Oasis that we added it to Liberty, and it has quickly become a great resource for our guests.

During dry dock, we also greatly extended the WIFI capabilities of the ship, what we now call pervasive WIFI, so I was able to keep up with my colleagues in Miami from the comfort of my stateroom. The entire ship now has WIFI instead of just select areas.

I will be back on Liberty in late April, as our timeline to officially open our Broadway Show Saturday Night Fever is the April 21st sailing, and I can’t wait!

Not only was I able to sail and spend time on Liberty, but Radiance of the Seas was docked right across from us in Cozumel, so I joined Captain Claus and Hotel Director Clunis for a total walk around of Radiance to review all the new venues that Radiance will receive when she goes into dry dock in May this year.

Allure became known as the Ship of Entertainment, and now I am going to name Radiance the Culinary ship! When we did the full tour, the totality of all the new food & beverages was overwhelming. Radiance will feature a Samba Grill where the current SeaView café currently is located, a Rita’s Cantina, an Izumi, our highly acclaimed Chef’s Table, Giovanni’s Table will replace Portofino and both the Boardwalk DogHouse and the Park Café will be added! We may need to add more equipment in the gym with this plethora of food offerings. Of course there is a lot more to the revitalization than dining, and I believe the new Diamond Lounge will be beautiful, as will the new Concierge Lounge.

BY:Lisa Bauer|10th February, 2011 32 Comments

Keeping up in the Cruise Industry: Why Royal’s Revitalizations Offer an Advantage

Liberty of the Seas recently left the Port of Miami headed for Grand Bahama Island and her significant dry-dock that will underscore what we mean by the Royal Advantage. This is a historic event in the sense that we are going to enhance the offering of a ship that is not even four years old and very much still at the forefront of the industry. Why? Because we created possibilities with our Oasis-class that we can and will bring to Freedom-class beginning with Liberty of the Seas this week.

We have already promoted the new features and Lisa Bauer and others will describe the dry-dock and its aftermath in more detail. I simply want to emphasize that this dry-dock commences a program of revitalization that will keep our fleet preeminent in the cruise industry. Next up after Liberty is a similar body of work on Freedom of the Seas in March. Later in the year we will refresh Radiance of the Seas and then Splendour of the Seas. Although no decisions about further revitalizations have been made as of yet, we certainly hope to enhance the Royal Advantage on other ships in the fleet in the future.

Click here to see photos of Liberty of the Seas in dry-dock: Liberty of the Seas Revitalization Album

Note: Last week we found out that Royal Caribbean International won a Cheers Beverage Excellence 2011 Award for Best Chain Hotel Beverage Program. Our Beverage team, under the direction of Frank Weber, VP Food & Beverage, and Bob Midyette, Director, Fleet Beverage Operations, is justifiably proud to have won this prestigious award. Our competition includes all land based hotel groups in the U.S. and abroad, e.g., Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton, InterContinental, MGM, Ritz Carlton, Conrad, etc., plus of course all cruise lines. Well done!

BY:Adam|27th January, 2011 34 Comments
 

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