Our President and CEO Shares Some Random Thoughts

Randomness:

- Someone once said the business of America is business. Even taking that into consideration, the outpouring of grief and accolades for Steve Jobs after his death was remarkable. And it wasn’t limited to America. There is a global recognition that his leadership and accomplishments were transformational. As both an admirer and a customer, I join in the mourning of his untimely passing and wish the leadership of Apple well in the daunting task of carrying on with Jobs’ vision. He obviously inspired a lot of people. Who else do you find similarly inspirational?

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BY:Adam|28th October, 2011 5 Comments

From National Ice Champion to Allure Ice Captain

My name is Åsa Persson, I am from Sweden and I am the Ice Captain onboard Allure of the Seas. I was five years old when I started to skate and little did I know back then that my ice skating was going to give me a career onboard a cruise ship! I started in the local skating club because my sisters skated and I thought that it looked like a lot of fun. I ended up loving the sport. When I was ten I was selected by the Swedish Figure Skating Association to be part of a small group of young skaters who showed a lot of promise. At the age of 13 I won my first National Championship and before I retired as an amateur I won four National titles and had been a finalist at the World Championships.

I traveled all over the World for International competitions and I am very fortunate for all the amazing experiences my skating had given me. However, my last couple of years as an amateur were difficult for me because I kept getting injured. Any sport at a high international level is very strenuous on the body and mine couldn’t handle it. I lived and trained in Canada at the time and I started to worry that I was going to become injured for life.

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BY:Asa Persson|25th October, 2011 7 Comments

Enjoy a 5-Course Meal Onboard Oasis with Master Chef Michael Schwartz

In today’s post we are going to do something a little different. Instead of writing about the new delicious dishes coming October 29th to Oasis of the Seas’ 150 Central Park by Chef Michael Schwartz, we are going to show you. So please sit back and relax as you enjoy a 5-course meal.

BY:Adam|21st October, 2011 11 Comments

The Rise to the Top: A Day in the Life of a Royal Caribbean Stage & Production Manager

Hi, my name is Desmond Elvis Reggie Charles and I am one of the Stage and Production Managers onboard the world’s largest cruise ship, Allure of the Seas. I come to you all the way from the Spice Island of Grenada.

I have been working for Royal Caribbean International for the past 17 years. I started back in October 1994 where I had the privilege of joining Royal Caribbean International’s Sovereign of the Seas as a drummer/vocalist in a Caribbean band called “Heat Wave”. I eventually formed my own band called “Blue Orchid”. This was followed by a transfer to the entertainment technical department onboard Voyager of the Seas. After three months as a Lounge Technician I was promoted to Sound Technician for the first ice rink at sea. I continued to move up the ranks of the technical team going from Sound Technician to Head Sound and Light Technician and now to the company’s most senior entertainment position, Stage and Production Manager. Today, I work onboard Allure of the Seas managing the operations of a 1,400 seat theater.

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BY:Desmond Charles|18th October, 2011 20 Comments

The Royal Oldies: An Ocean-Sized Reunion

My name is Michael Bayley and I am the Executive Vice President, International at Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Since joining Royal Caribbean in 1981 as Assistant Purser on the Nordic Prince I have worked with so many wonderful and talented people. Too many to count and too many to remember.

Over the years as I bumped into former shipboard and shoreside colleagues literally all over the world we would share our many memories and re-live some magical moments. Many times we would say good bye with the words “we really should get all the oldies together, it would be a blast”.
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BY:Michael Bayley|14th October, 2011 13 Comments

Ask Adam Blog Series - September 2011 Answers

Fall is in full swing and so is the September edition of the “Ask Adam Blog Series.” To see the answers to August’s questions please click here, or if you have a question you would like to ask Adam regarding Royal Caribbean news, what he’s have been up to or just curious about anything Royal related, please follow this link to our Facebook discussion page.

Do you plan on having a ship stay year round in Tampa? Other cruise companies do. Thank you.
- Karol W-W.

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BY:Adam|11th October, 2011 14 Comments
CATEGORY: Our Company

Meeting Presidents, Heading to DC, and Visiting Europe: All in Days Work

I’ve been on the road a bit lately. We are all quick to highlight the hassles of travel but with those hassles usually come a variety of interesting experiences.

Richard Fain and I recently spent a day in Port au Prince, Haiti. We met with Haiti’s new and energetic President Michel Martelly. Given our status as Haiti’s second largest foreign direct investor, it made sense to take the time to meet the President and a number of his advisors. The outlook for the new government is uncertain given the President’s struggle to obtain the Parliament’s approval of a Prime Minister. It was apparent that President Martelly and his team understand the role of tourism in generating sorely needed economic activity. We hope and expect the government will actively support the necessary steps to establish the Citadelle and the Palais Sans Souci as first tier attractions.

citadelle-laferriere-mountaintop-fortress-at-the-top-of-labadee-in-haiti

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BY:Adam|6th October, 2011 4 Comments

One Last Performance: Royal Caribbean’s Director of Entertainment Takes Her Final Bow

Over recent months we have featured a number of our crew in “day in the life” entries such as the one immediately below. The response to them has been very favorable but I would like to hear a little more about specifically what makes them enjoyable to read and how we might make them even more so. From my standpoint, I find it interesting that the authors of these guest blogs appear to be so schedule driven. Our shipboard colleagues rightfully speak about how flexible and guest-centric they must be because just about everything is happening onboard at all times. Their blog entries indicate that the way they accomplish the seemingly impossible is to inject structure (i.e., a schedule) into their endlessly unique days. When we ask them to tell us about their “typical” day they often respond by reciting their schedule. When I see this I sometimes ask them to give us more “color commentary” to go with the “play by play”. The goal is to give you (and me!) as much insight into their world as we can bring to a blog entry.
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My name is Maryann Delany and I am the Director of Entertainment for Royal Caribbean Productions. My team and I are located in Hollywood, Florida in a 38,000 square foot rehearsal facility. We are approaching our 11th year here where we audition, cast, contract, house, costume, teach and rehearse singers, dancers, actors, flyers, gymnasts, ice skaters, swimmers, divers and DreamWorks® costume characters, to name a few, We create and produce all entertainment and entertainment-related activities for 22 Royal Caribbean International ships, and two Azamara Club Cruises ships. Collectively we have 14 ice shows, 18 Parades, four water shows, 56 theater productions and three Broadway shows, Hairspray, CHICAGO: The Musical and Saturday Night Fever.

Sovereign of the Seas

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BY:Maryann Delany|4th October, 2011 25 Comments
 

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