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Royal Caribbean Unveils Tech on Quantum of the Seas "Smart Ship"

8/25/2014

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By John Roberts

Royal Caribbean made announcements regarding features that will be part of its revolutionary Quantum of the Seas ship when it debuts in November. Technology was the focus of a presentation before a group of gathered media members at Meyer Werft shipyard.

New tech will allow passengers to check in online at home and go straight onto the ship, bypassing the traditional check-in lines. Cruisers will be able to upload their own ID photo and receive digital boarding confirmation. Royal says you can go from the curb to the ship in 10 minutes. You also can monitor your luggage through your smartphone when an RFID chip is placed on your bags curbside as you enter the port facility.

Wristbands can serve as your room key, etc. while on your cruise. (You would pay $2 if you want a wristband instead of a keycard.) And bandwidth enhancements will greatly improve Internet connectivity performance, Royal says. At a new venue, Bionic Bar, passengers order up their favorite drinks from robot bartenders. Ummm, OK. But who do you chat with about the game or your troubles at work?   

The key details that emerged in the presentation for the frugal, adventure traveler to take away from all the tech talk, though, is that the active amenities all will be free onboard Quantum of the Seas. According to Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO Richard Fain, the line is not charging anything extra to passengers who want to use all the cool new toys.

Quantum of the Seas features a skydiving simulator and a North Star capsule ride. These and the bumper cars are first-in-the-industry amenities that some reports suggested would come with an added fee. Fain says it all will be included, as will standard Royal Caribbean favorites like the zipline, ice skating rink, rock climbing wall and FlowRider surfing simulator.

You've really got to stay on the move to squeeze all these activities into one week.



Journalists and members of the cruise industry participate in a media event at Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, about Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas.
Royal Caribbean unveiled further details about its Quantum of the Seas ship at Meyer Werft's shipyard in Germany.
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Elsewhere . . .

Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Sky will host a theme cruise for Spartan Race competitors. The Spartan Race series has been growing in popularity in recent years along with other obstacle-course competitions. You know these events. The participants swing on ropes, climb walls and slog through mud pits in a grueling challenge on courses ranging from three to 12 miles long or longer. 

Well, a special Spartan Race three-night cruise on Norwegian Sky departs March 6, 2015, from Miami bound for the Bahamas, where the race will take place March 7 (a Saturday) on a four-mile course set up on NCL's private beach at Great Stirrup Cay. After you finish, you'll have the rest of the day Saturday and Sunday to relax and recover while enjoying entertainment, food, drink, waters and white sand. For more information about this charter cruise, check out www.thespartancruise.com

Better start training now!

Norwegian Cruise Line also announced that it has extended its deadline until Sept. 30 for booking its new all-inclusive pricing package. The package includes such items as specialty dining, Internet, beverage packages, gratuities and excursion credit for an additional bundled fee. Norwegian says the all-inclusive package represents up to more than $2,400 in value per stateroom. The promotion is available for all 2015 sailings fleetwide for new reservations made by Sept. 30, 2014. The comprehensive package includes signature dining, alcoholic beverages, unlimited soda, shore excursions, Internet access, service charges and more.

The package, available for sailings from three to 14 days, is priced by the number of days and available for all stateroom categories. When adding the all-inclusive package to a cruise, you receive 10 percent off the cruise fare, NCL says. As an example: For a seven-day cruise, the $899 package includes the Ultimate Dining package (a meal each night at a for-fee specialty restaurant), Ultimate Beverage package, $200 per-person shore excursion credit, prepaid daily service charges, a 250-minute Internet package per person, 20 photos of any size, chocolate-covered strawberries, a bottle of wine, one bingo session and six bottles of water.

If you typically buy all these extras, the package will offer you a pretty nice savings. But if you have no interest in some items (I don't need the photos, wine, strawberries or bingo, and I book my excursions independently and pass on the spotty Internet service on cruises, for example), this would not represent a good deal for you.

Check out NCL.com for more details and pricing. 


JR

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Quantum of the Seas Floats Out in Big Test

8/18/2014

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Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas was successfully floated out last week at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.
By John Roberts

It floats!

That's a big check mark in the progress for the next big cruise ship revolution.

Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas floated out last week.

When it debuts, the 4,180-passenger ship will feature several first-in-industry amenities to entice adventurous travelers, such as a skydiving simulator, bumper cars, SeaPlex activities area and North Star ride, as well as the ever-popular FlowRider surfing simulator and rock-climbing wall.

Quantum of the Seas glided out of its indoor slip at Meyer Werft's shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, last week with no apparent problems. The shipbuilder will add the finishing touches to the onboard spaces during the next two months before Quantum debuts November 2 and makes its way across the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Liberty in Bayonne, N.J., for its first six-month season sailing the Caribbean. After that, Quantum will be relocated to sail out of Shanghai, China, beginning in May 2015.

Elsewhere, I see a couple of cruise lines with adventurous itineraries offering nice promotions.

Un-Cruise Adventures, a small-ship adventure line, is offering a $400 discount per couple for cruises booked by September 30 on a Sea of Cortes, Mexico, voyage on the 84-passenger Safari Endeavour. You'll pay $2,800 per person for a weeklong sailing between November 2014 and March 2015 from San Jose del Cabo through the Sea of Cortes, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The inclusive trip includes all adventure activities -- snorkeling, hiking, skiff excursions, paddle boarding, beachcombing, a burro ride into the arroyo and snorkeling with sea lions. The price also includes meals, wine, premium spirits, microbrews, hot tub, sauna, exercise equipment, yoga on deck and a massage. For details, contact  Un-Cruise Adventures at 888-862-8881 or sales@un-cruise.com.  

Celebrity Cruises' onboard booking program, Celebrity Future Cruise Vacations, is giving cruisers the chance to use an instant onboard credit of up to $500. Book a future Celebrity cruise while onboard a Celebrity sailing, and you can immediately receive the credit to spend during your current cruise. Or you could use that $500 credit on a future cruise. The offer, available on the majority of Celebrity's ships, also is combinable with one of the benefits from the year-round Evergreen 123Go! promotion -- a choice of a free Classic Beverage Package, free gratuities or up to an additional $300 in onboard credit.

We have used these combinable promotions -- the incentives are especially good when you book a future cruise while onboard a sailing for most lines -- and secured a load of discounts on a Celebrity sailing we have scheduled for the Panama Canal in 2015, so I know this is a great way to save.

For you fans of classic TV, a fun note. Princess Cruises will celebrate its 50th anniversary year in 2015. So, the line honored the key role of the hit TV show The Love Boat by tapping the show’s cast members to serve as godparents for the beautiful new ship Regal Princess. All six Love Boat primary cast members -- who played the roles of Captain Stubing, Gopher, Isaac, Doc, Julie and Vicki -- will reunite to christen the ship on November 5 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The ceremony will officially launch the golden year anniversary celebrations for Princess Cruises, which will celebrate five decades of operation throughout 2015.

The actors include Gavin MacLeod (Captain Stubing), Fred Grandy (Gopher, the chief purser), Ted Lange (Isaac, the bartender), Bernie Kopell (Doc, the ship's doctor), Lauren Tewes (cruise director Julie) and Jill Whelan (Vicki, the captain's daughter).

As always, thanks for reading,

JR

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Carnival Cruise Lines to Build Port Stop on Haiti

8/11/2014

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Carnival Corp. developed Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas for its Holland America Line. Now, Carnival seeks to develop a port facility on an island off the coast of Haiti.
By John Roberts

Did you know that some cruise lines' have their own private islands? A stop at these islands serves almost like a sea day with a twist -- you get off the boat at a private beach resort with only your fellow cruisers sharing the space.

But you can spend the day any way you want. In solitude in a beach lounger, hammock or cabana. Or engaging in active pursuits like volleyball, snorkeling or even a 5K race, for examples.

The islands feature bar areas, barbecue buffet lunches and thrilling activities like ziplines and bike rides. Your ship is always within sight as you enjoy your day on the sands and in the waters, and you can go back onboard fairly easily if you've had enough sun or if you’ve forgot something.

You don't need to bring any cash ashore because -- like on the ship -- your stateroom key card serves as your credit card.

These islands are attractive to the lines because they get all the revenue for the excursion activities such as the ziplines, paddle boards, snorkel gear, cabana rentals, etc., as well as any drinks you buy while ashore.

Holland America runs Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas. Norwegian Cruise Line offers Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas. Royal Caribbean has Labadee in Haiti and Coco Cay in the Bahamas. Disney's Castaway Cay in the Bahamas is a wonderful outing, and the stop includes the chance to participate in the Disney Castaway Cay 5K run.

Now, Carnival Cruises says it will build a port in Haiti after it signed a deal to develop a new facility in Tortuga, an island just off the northern coast of Haiti.

It's not yet clear whether the development will be a private-beach-type stop for Carnival ships, but indications are that it will be similar to that or a facility developed like those in Costa Maya, Mexico, Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos, and Roatan, Honduras, that serve exclusively as cruise centers. 



"The development will create an exciting opportunity for our guests to enjoy a new, secluded and stunning destination on the island of Tortuga that the company expects will become a highly popular place for guests to enjoy for years to come," Carnival says. 

Elsewhere,

Australis, a expedition line that offers adventures to Cape Horn and Patagonia, is offering a four-day cruise that begins in Ushuaia, the world's southernmost city, located on the island of Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America. The Great Canadian Travel Company created an excursion onboard the Via Australis cruise from Ushuaia, Argentina. The voyage goes through the Beagle Channel to explore one of the most breathtaking wilderness regions in the world: southern Patagonia, which includes the Tierra del Fuego archipelago.

The ship will visit Garibaldi Fjord, where passengers can disembark for a hike through the forest up to a glacial waterfall to enjoy spectacular views. If you stay onboard, the captain will point the bow toward the blue Garibaldi Glacier so you can enjoy the panoramic view from the upper decks. Then, the ship navigates along the northwest arm of the Beagle Channel to reach Pia Fjord. A short hike takes you to a panoramic view of the Pia Glacier, which extends from the mountaintops down to the sea. 

The sailing continues through the Murray Channel and Nassau Bay to Cape Horn National Park, where, weather permitting, passengers will go ashore. Cape Horn, discovered in 1616, is a sheer 1,394-foot-high rocky promontory. For many years, it was an important navigation route between the Pacific and the Atlantic and is referred to as the "End of the Earth." The park was declared a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2005.  

The Australis will also stop at historic Wulaia Bay, originally the site of one of the region's largest Yamana aboriginal settlements. Charles Darwin landed there in 1833 during his voyage on the HMS Beagle. The ship then sails back to Ushuaia.

There are several departure dates for this program from October 2014 through April 2015. The cost is from $1,486 per person, based on double occupancy. Included are shipboard accommodations, all meals, drinks, and tours while cruising. Not included are transportation to and from Ushuaia and gratuities. Book by August 31, 2014, however, and the cost is $1,189 per person with a free cabin upgrade. Check out www.australis.com for details.

Crystal Cruises is installing a "Fitness Garden" along with indoor fitness center equipment upgrades during the drydock of its Crystal Symphony ship this fall. The outdoor fitness garden will exist as a circuit of fitness equipment laid out on three decks on the aft of the ship.

Another nice way to keep ship shape, right?

Thanks for reading,

JR

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