By Lisa Bauer
When we were thinking about ways we could differentiate Allure of the Seas from her sister ship Oasis of the Seas, one of the areas we discussed was the art program. We are very happy with the program we have on Oasis of the Seas that features artists onboard our ships, and wanted to continue that concept with a twist.
It is actually ironic how we ended up expanding our relationship with Romero Britto. (Many of you may know his work is featured on the pool deck on Mariner of the Seas (above) and we’ve sold his artwork across our fleet for years). I was casually speaking to Richard Fain and said I thought we should do a gallery and perhaps could approach Romero because I loved the look of the Britto store at the Miami Airport and the space on Allure of the Seas is almost exactly the same square footage. As fate would have it, Romero actually called Richard a few weeks later to have lunch and we all agreed it was serendipitous!
Romero has been involved in every aspect of the creative approval of everything and it has been very fun and exciting to see this partnership come together. He also has an amazing team that we’ve worked with and it has been a great experience. I am especially excited about an original piece that he is creating for us featuring our Crown and Anchor Society logo. If you view the webisode you can actually see Romero starting the painting! I have to admit I have already gotten a sneak peak and it is a WOW.
We are going to the shipyard in the first week of September for a press trip where Romero will be unveiling the original, on September 1st in Turku, Finland, and pictures of the finished piece will be available right after the reveal. Romero will make reproductions of the original painting to be sold onboard. We haven’t decided what to do with the original yet – where it should be displayed or kept, but I think it would look great in my living room 
In addition to the custom painting, Romero is also in the process of developing a custom bear that will incorporate elements of the original painting. This will be a limited edition piece and sold only on Allure of the Seas. Yes, you have to sail to get one of these collector’s items.
We’ve been keeping Romero busy because he is also working with our new build team to create a unique sculpture, from his well known Butterfly Sculpture, to sit in Central Park. This will be guaranteed to be a great photo opportunity.
I am also very happy to share that Romero will be joining us for the Maiden Voyage celebration on December 5th and will be hosting a number of fun activities including a paint party, meet and greet, photo opportunities, and signing events just to name a few.
We are all excited about this partnership and look forward to sharing this with you while onboard Allure of the Seas!
Wow!
Now, I’m really excited .His colors and lines are great and fun. Can’t wait to see the gallery and pieces in January. I’ve followed the art collection on Oasis, walked all the decks on all sides ,all levels,(no better way to walk off the calories,good for the body and for the art brain)took all the art tours this year and look forward to these as well.
Oh! so much to see and appreciate…so little time (only 7 days)to do it in!
thanks for this nice update
dominique
Dominique, it is great to hear you had the opportunity to explore our art collection onboard Oasis of the Seas. We can’t wait to see you onboard our newest ship, Allure of the Seas, and enjoying the artwork of Romero Britto.
Hi Mr. Goldstein,
We are scheduled for another Member Cruise on the Jewel in October. We were on the 2008 Member Cruise to Hawaii in May 2008. It was a great experience.
Are there any plans for additional Member Cruises as the website doesn’t show any other upcoming cruises?
Thanks,
John & Jacki Smith
John, you can find information regarding our upcoming Member Cruises here: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/cas/memberCruisesLoggedout.do . Be sure to check back frequently, as we update our website with new Member Cruises when they become available. We look forward to seeing you onboard Jewel of the Seas in October.
Richard D. Fain
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Adam M. Goldstein
President and CEO
Royal Caribbean International
1050 Caribbean Way
Miami, FL 33132-2096
Dear Mr. Fain and Mr. Goldstein:
Re: Guest Invoice for Reservation ID: 4314757 HENSON-MN
I am a 70 year old senior living on a fixed income (social security) in
Daytona Beach, FL. In August, 2011, my 74 year old best friend, Joan Henson, (also living on social security) of 35 years, visited me in Daytona Beach.
In celebration of our long years of friendship, spontaneously, we decided to search out a very inexpensive cruise. Your Nassau cruise the following weekend, was ideal! So, my friend Joey, paid for both our tickets on her credit card; with the understanding that I would make monthly payments until my portion was repaid.
Excitedly, Joey and I drove to Cape Canaveral to board the cruise ship. We had both visited Nassau when we were 20ish and looked forward to our revisit.
We were not allowed to board the cruise ship because we lacked proper documentation, i.e., passport and/or birth certificate. We were both surprised in that this was not a requirement during our prior visits and we had not read this stipulation in documentation sent, via email, to us.
We now find that Royal Caribbean will not give us credit, nor grant a rescheduled cruise. This is very unfair.
I am forwarding this letter to each of you to appeal to your sense of understanding. We are well aware of our oversight of failing read the paperwork, however, we were of the opinion that our driver’s license would be sufficient proof of our citizenship. At 70, I am not as astute as a younger person. We could not even afford this trip on our income; but, for your cruise line to just keep our money is unconscionable!
Mr. Fain and Mr. Goldstein, will you please intercede on our behalf and grant us a rescheduled cruise? Thank you in advance for your kind assistance.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Celesta. A member of our customer service team will be reaching out to you soon.
Thats great…
Happy to know that the opening of britto store..Thank you for sharing this wonderful updates for all of us..