Sea ViewsFrom President and CEO, Adam Goldstein

We’ve just completed our third month of our “Ask Adam Blog Series”. You can view March’s Answer blog here and April’s Answer blog here. Again, a big thank you to everyone who has contributed questions, they have been enjoyable. If you’d like to ask a question for June’s Answer blog please do so on our facebook discussion page.

Now let’s get to the questions.

Why don’t you plan stops on certain ports for the whole night?
-Marcia G

Thank you for your feedback.  You are right, a day might not be sufficient time to experience all there is to see in some of the wonderful cities that we visit around the world.  The process of determining how much time to spend in each port as well as which ports to call on is complex and one that our Deployment and Itinerary Planning team put a lot of effort into. 

Many factors go into this including operational considerations such as how far the port is from other ports and if we stay later would we still be able to reach the next port of call.  Usually if we spend more time in one port then we will spend less time in another port. Or in the case of an overnight it could mean not including another port on the itinerary.  The Deployment team has to balance these considerations.

While the majority of the ports we call are day calls there are some ports such as St. Petersburg, Russia offered by Jewel of the Seas; Venice, Italy offered by Voyager of the Seas and Splendour of the Seas; and Istanbul, Turkey and Haifa and Ashdod, Israel offered by Vision of the Seas where we have sailings overnight in a port.  Outside of Europe we offer overnights in a few other cities such as Buenos Aires, Honolulu, Dubai and Sydney.   An additional consideration for many destinations is the option to extend your trip on land with a Cruisetour before or after your voyage.  This is most popular for our Alaska sailings on Radiance of the Seas between Seward, Alaska and Vancouver, Canada.

Thank you also for giving me an opportunity to mention our boutique sister brand Azamara Club Cruises.  This deluxe two ship brand specializes in interesting itineraries featuring overnight stays in a variety of ports.  You may find an upcoming  itinerary to your liking on either Azamara Journey or Azamara Quest.
 

Why aren’t there military discounts on Oasis of the Seas cruises? Let me take it one step further, why aren’t there military discounts on all Royal Caribbean cruises?
-Shannon H.

We offer special rates to United States and Canadian military on select sailings, so please keep an eye out for sailings that offer these fares.  At this time, we currently offer military discounts on over 100 sailings throughout the brand, on many different itineraries, including several Oasis and Allure sailings. 

When searching for a cruise on RoyalCaribbean.com, be sure to click on “See if you qualify for exclusive rates” and then “check” the U.S. Military or Canadian Forces option.

Why can we not use our celebrity cruises towards Royal Caribbean?
-Patrick K. and Barbara M.

Currently we are not combining the Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises loyalty programs but we appreciate the feedback and will take it into consideration in the future.

Just so everyone is clear, the brands do provide reciprocal recognition to each other’s loyal guests while they are onboard.  So let’s take the example of a Diamond level member of Royal Caribbean International’s Crown & Anchor Society who has not previously cruised on Celebrity Cruises.  When this Diamond member takes her first Celebrity Cruise, she will receive onboard recognition as if she is Celebrity’s equivalent of Diamond level.  This reciprocal recognition has been in place for several years.

Why are there no listings for Allure or Oasis of the Seas for Fall/Winter 2012?
-Ed B.

On May 5th, we announced our new deployment schedules for Oasis and Allure.  Both ships now have Caribbean sailings available to book through September 2013.  You can view the sailings listed here. 

I read on a forum that maybe in the future Royal Caribbean Cruise Line build a third sister ship of Oasis of the Seas. True or False?
-Marco M.

Marco, I’m glad you are enjoying our deployment in Italy.  At this time we do not have plans to build a third ship in the Oasis Class.  Recently we signed a letter of intent to build the first of a new generation of Royal Caribbean International cruise ships.  We are using the code name, “Project Sunshine”.  While there is a lot I can’t disclose about Sunshine, there are some things that I mentioned in a recent blog post.

Why are the hulls of Allure and Oasis of the Seas light blue instead of white?
-Dale M.

Dale, glad you enjoyed your recent cruise on Allure of the Seas.  The hulls of Oasis and Allure are painted a very light blue. Please note that I am not in favor of gender stereotyping and do not always support blue for boys and pink for girls.  On the other hand, I am a traditionalist and the ship will always be a “she.”  We think the light blue looks terrific on her.

There was a lot of internal debate about moving away from the traditional white hull.  Ultimately we decided that the Oasis-class ships are so unique that we wanted a somewhat different hull color.  The difference is most visible when the sun is shining directly on the hull (never a bad thing!).  At other times you have to look pretty closely to notice much of a difference from the rest of the fleet.

What do all the employees get to eat onboard the ships?
-Alexander B.

We continually hear from our guests that they want to know more about crew life while onboard.  We offer a selection of freshly prepared meals in the crew dining area everyday generally in accordance with a 14 day meal cycle. We have a list of menu requirements for each meal of the day to ensure that the selection is satisfactory. The list is much more extensive than pasta with oil and does not include food from the guest dining areas.  In fact, we  also make a point to prepare foods from many different ethnicities which are very familiar to our International crew members.  By the way, any crew who wish to voice concerns or suggestions about their food or any other aspect of life onboard are able to do so to a committee of their peers who have regular discussions about shipboard life with the officers onboard.

Why do some of the Royal Caribbean ships have a car onboard in the Royal Promenade?
-Brad T.

The first car was on Voyager of the Seas and was a donation by Richard Fain, our CEO and Chairman of the Board.  A couple of years ago Richard posted a blog about the cars in the Royal Promenade, and I’d prefer that you read the post so you can get a sense of his enthusiasm, love of ship building and classic cars.

Link to Richard Fain’s Blog Post

Why won’t Royal Caribbean Cruise Line bring up a newer/bigger ship to sail out of Cape Liberty, Bayonne, NJ?
-Kathleen G-M.

We believe that Explorer is a great fit for the Northeast region and we are happy with her there.  We will introduce some new itineraries for Explorer. Specifically Explorer will offer 7 night cruises to Bermuda for the fall of 2012 which she has not had before.

For the New Jersey and Baltimore region I do want to point out that Enchantment is now deployed on a year round basis from Baltimore. We just completed the first winter season.  This provides a number of new options for the region.

Also, in the fall of 2012 we will bring a new ship to the Northeast region. Brilliance of the Seas, which is part of the beautiful Radiance class, will offer a new program of open-jaw sailings between Cape Liberty and Quebec City as well as round-trip Quebec City sailings.  We are very excited about this program as it is very unique and gives guests an opportunity to see the wonderful Canada Atlantic destinations and the dynamic city of Quebec.

I would love to see a cruise of the pacific coast. Maybe starting in San Diego, with possible stops in Catalina Island, Monterey, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle, then back to San Diego. Is there any possibility this can happen in the future since there is no more cruises being offered to Mexico in the West Coast?
-Delia G.

Thanks for the feedback.  We will continue to review this as an option but do not have any immediate plans to offer a Pacific Coastal cruise.

We hope everyone enjoys reading these answers, and if you have a question that you haven’t seen yet please feel free to share your question in this month’s discussion http://on.fb.me/jpzblX.