Adam, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to everything. Do you have any tips for newbie blog writers? I’d certainly appreciate it. – Wendy S.

Hi, Wendy thanks for your question. The most important thing to remember about blogging is to write what comes to mind.  If you’re not passionate about your blog topic, it will come through to your readers. Always inject your personality into your blog and keep a consistent tone in all of your communications.  Also, don’t be afraid to ask friends or colleagues for suggested blog topics.  You may find that you take certain topics for granted about your life that other people find interesting. Good luck! 

When docked next to other cruise lines we see them handing out cool wet towels to returning passengers. Will this be something Royal Caribbean will consider in the future? – Phyllis T.

Hi Phyllis, thank you for your input, we will be sure to pass this along to the correct department.

Hello, I’m from Spain and I would like to put Alicante as a frequent port. Last year we had Independence of the Seas, but it rarely stopped.  Alicante is within 50 kms of many of the cities with the highest number of tourists from all over Europe such as: Alicante, Benidorm, Torrevieja, Elche.  Please bear this in mind and call at Alicante! Thanks. – Andres

Thank you for the feedback Andrew. We will consider this for our future planning.

Dear Adam, we just returned from a cruise aboard the Independence of the Seas. On that cruise, as I have done on many cruises in the past, I went searching for the coconut ranger cookies, my favorite Royal Caribbean cookie. I have not been able to find them on every Royal Caribbean ship. This time I asked one of the attendants in the Windjammer to see if he could find some for me. He said he would check with the pastry chef. At dinner time, I asked our waiter in the Main Dining Room who said the same thing. I also checked the shop on the Royal Promenade, and no coconut ranger cookies. The next day the attendant in the Windjammer found me and brought me a plate with 16 coconut Macaroons. Not the same thing, but I thanked him for trying. And at dinner, our waiter brought me another plate of macaroons. No coconut rangers. The final day of the cruise my husband went on a galley tour, and had the opportunity to ask the chef who conducted the tour about my favorite cookies. He told my husband that they don’t make them anymore, not on any Royal Caribbean ship in the fleet. Please, Adam, tell me why. What do I have to do to get those cookies back? I will start a petition if I have to. – Sarah W.

Hi Sarah, the coconut ranger cookie has been a guest favorite for years, which is why we continue to serve it. Product sourcing can sometimes be a challenge, which was the case with your specific comment. Rest assure that we now have the coconut ranger cookies onboard all of our ships.

Hey Adam! I was just wondering will an Oasis-class ship ever call in Singapore? The new Marina Bay Cruise Centre just opened and it can comfortably fit these ships. Do you have any plan of bringing the ship here or is it just a matter of time? – Ethan W.

At this time we have no immediate plans to bring an Oasis-class ship to Singapore.  However, we never rule out any options as you can see from our recent announcement to have Oasis of the Seas offer a short season in Europe in September of 2014.

Can you tell us more about the dry dock plans for Oasis of the Seas? Is this mainly paint and carpet and the ship equivalent of a lube, oil, and filter, or will there be major construction changes? – Kurt U.

Dry dock plans for Oasis of the Seas will focus on a general refresh which our ships get every five years. At this time we have no plans to add or change any existing venues. 

Do robes and slippers come in all rooms? – Anonymous

We offer robes in suite staterooms (Junior Suite and above).  Platinum level and higher Crown & Anchor Society members receive robes for use onboard as well.  We do not offer slippers anymore for anyone.

Hi Adam, I was wondering why doesn’t Royal Caribbean acknowledge people who book multiple cruises by providing an onboard credit, unless they book onboard? I feel a little let down to find being loyal to Royal in a big way can mean nothing to the company in any way that is tangible to the customer.  We have booked three cruises as part of a single trip – a total of 39 days for later this year (on top of 14 days on Voyager of the Seas in January/February and 12 days last year on Radiance of the Seas). Yet because we didn’t book onboard we get no credit or multiple booking special offers, etc. in way of a thank you, nothing. Yet someone booking a 7 day cruise onboard gets $100 onboard credit? It doesn’t seem fair. Plus, because I book with an Australian travel agent we get no deals whatsoever. They don’t seem to be able to offer the great onboard credit deals and lower prices those in the USA seem to be able to benefit from. 

I feel Royal Caribbean would be showing it truly appreciates loyal customers if it offered some sort of bonus for booking cruises in one year that exceed a certain total amount of days. Would Royal Caribbean consider doing something like this? – Disappointed Down Under

Thank you for booking back to back to back cruises.  Hopefully the main reason for booking them is because you will have a great vacation on every segment.  Having said that, as a Crown & Anchor Society member, you have access to some of our richest offers, such as our Balcony and Suite discounts which are available on virtually all our sailings. By booking several cruises in a row, you can use these discounts on each one of those bookings, which increases your overall savings. Depending on your Crown & Anchor Society tier, these discounts increase, plus we offer larger discounts for booking more than six months from sailing. While you’re onboard, you can book at our Crown & Anchor Society desk, and add the Onboard Booking Bonus to your Balcony and Suite discount for an even larger savings.

When will Royal Caribbean start sailing to some new ports in the Caribbean? We are tired of the same old St. Thomas, St. Maarten, Jamaica (got it, you built a port here and have a financial interest), Cozumel and especially Nassau. How about more sailings to St. Lucia, St. Croix, Turks & Cacaos, Antigua, Nevis, Bonaire, and Grenada? Even some to Costa Maya, Curacao, etc. Or, at least shift some of the newer ships (i.e. Allure, Freedom, and Adventure of the Seas) to a different route every year. I know the ships still sell high volume, but it would be nice to have an option other than the normal. – Brian F.

Hi Brian, I appreciate your feedback on this.  We actually do call on almost 40 different ports within the Caribbean including most of the ports that you specifically referenced.  There are physical, distances or various other constraints with most ports which influence which ships can call on as well as the type of itinerary which can be offered.  Our Deployment team continuously reviews our itineraries to maximize the appeal of each itinerary as well as the entire portfolio. We pay extremely careful attention to guest feedback on the ports of call.  If there are opportunities in the future to increase the appeal through more visits to certain destinations or with new destinations then that will be considered.

In addition to specific destinations, we have also increased the number of cruises offered for the Caribbean as well as the Panama Canal and we have a record offering for this coming year. A few examples include the return of Southern Caribbean cruises from San Juan this summer with Jewel of the Seas and the just announced summer cruises out of Galveston, Texas with Navigator of the Seas for 2014.  We are not done yet and have an additional announcement planned in the coming months.

My family and I have recently booked a cruise on Oasis of the Seas for September 2013. When trying to decide which cruise line to cruise with, our major concern was knowing what Royal Caribbean had to offer for children under the age of two. Royal Caribbean certainly beat out several other cruise lines but I will say that trying to find information on your infant program is quite difficult. Will you ever put together a better outline of your infant/toddler program and policies? It’s been very difficult to locate information on car seats (recommended to bring or not to bring) strollers, pool policies, where infants/toddlers aren’t allowed on the ship, if you have to reserve a seat on an airport transfer, etc.  Also, will you ever be able to reserve nursery and/or babysitting services before you board just like all the other services like excursions, specialty restaurants and spa treatments? – Michelle P.

At this point in time there are no plans to offer pre-booking for the nursery or Sitters at Sea, we do offer information here to give you an overview of what to expect for your child.  We also offer information in our FAQs on our different infant policies.  In the future we can definitely look at creating a section within the FAQs for all things infant/toddler related to make it easier for you to find all information. 

I love cruising and have enjoyed two Transatlantic cruises on Royal Caribbean in the last two years. I would cruise more, except my business requires me to be “wired” with internet to respond to my clients. As long as I can do so, I can be virtually anywhere. I know that others are in the same situation. I know that you have experimented with an unlimited, faster internet service on at least one of your ships. How did that go and are there plans to expand this service?  How can someone find which ships would offer it so that they can plan their cruises around this? Thanks. – Brent L.

 Hi Brent, thanks for your question. Through our revitalization program all ships received or will be receiving Wi-Fi accessible from most spaces onboard.  In addition, all of our ships have now received a substantial upgrade in bandwidth to support better and faster online connections.

Also, across the fleet we offer per minute packages that allow you to be connected in most areas of the ships with Wi-Fi.  However, there are still some ships with hot spots where internet access is limited. We are currently in the process of testing new software and price programs across the fleet to improve this service.

Thanks again to everyone for submitting questions, and remember if you have a question you would like to ask, please click here. If you have a customer service related issue, the quickest way to obtain a response is to complete our contact form here: http://bit.ly/c44GkU

I met Richard in 1984 and my professional relationship with him dates back to 1986 when I worked as a glorified intern for Gotaas-Larsen Shipping Company where he was joint Managing Director.  As I was finishing my MBA in France in 1988, he asked me if I would work for him in Miami where he would be Chairman & CEO of a new cruise group consisting of Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and Admiral Cruises while continuing in his position at Gotaas-Larsen.

The average tenure of CEO’s of publicly traded companies is approximately 7 years give or take two. Richard is now beyond 25 years. You only achieve that longevity through great dedication and a lot more.  Here are 25 notable elements of his tenure, in no particular order:

-          Work ethic and integrity

-          Commitment to safety and environment

-          Incredible ship design

-          Fidelity to travel agents

-          Appreciation for our employees

-          Attention to detail

-          Financial acumen

-          Anticipation of issues

-          Could have been a lawyer

-          Strong marketing orientation

-          Flair for the big event

-          Passions for trivia and gadgets

-          Pillar of CLIA (the industry association)

-          Major force behind local success of United Way

-          Keen interest in sustainability

-          Global orientation

-          Could have been a doctor

-          Endless storytelling

-          Passion for arguments

-          Long time trustee of the University of Miami

-          Preparing for and leading 100+ Board meetings

-          Could have been a naval architect

-          Savior of the bagpipe industry

-          Fain scholarships for employees, Little Cruisers day care and school in Haiti

-          Vision and strategic orientation

-          Athleticism (just kidding, plus this is #26 anyway)

Happy 25^th Anniversary Richard.

]]> http://www.royalcaribbean.com/connect/blog/25-years-25-notable-elements-of-our-chairman-ceos-tenure/feed/ 13 http://www.royalcaribbean.com/connect/blog/a-look-back-after-42-years-at-royal-caribbean/ http://www.royalcaribbean.com/connect/blog/a-look-back-after-42-years-at-royal-caribbean/#comments Fri, 10 May 2013 20:31:54 +0000 Royal Caribbean Team http://connect.royalcaribbean.com/connect/?p=5690 Continue reading →]]> Hi — My name is Jeannie Newton and I’m a Staff Accountant in the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Accounts Payable department. After 42 amazing years with Royal Caribbean, I am planning to retire this summer. While I’m very excited about my retirement plans, it is truly a bittersweet experience for me as I have grown up with this wonderful company.

I came to Miami in 1970 from Delaware and began working for Royal Caribbean about a year later.  My first job was in the Accounts Receivable department and I was quickly promoted to the Assistant Controller position in Accounts Payable.  In 1971, Royal Caribbean’s Accounting department consisted of five employees and was located in a trailer on Biscayne Boulevard.  There were probably a total of only 40 shoreside employees at that time.

At the beginning, as you can imagine, everything was done manually. I typed checks on a manual typewriter and then had to leave our building and walk down the pier to another building just to have the checks signed.  We had a huge NCR Accounting Machine that we used to post all receivables onto large ledger cards. Each time a ship returned from a voyage, the ledger had to be reconciled down to the penny. If it didn’t reconcile, we had to go back and do it again as many times as it took to manually reconcile the report. Of course, we had to have that done before the ship arrived back into port because we had to ensure that all cruise fares had been accounted for. The one thing I remember about that machine was how big and loud it was. Sometimes, we’d open the windows to the trailer to get some fresh air which created more of a problem as the manual stacks of papers sorted by vendor name blew around everywhere. We laughed a lot in that trailer. Who would have ever thought that by 2013 we would be almost “paperless”?

In January of 1972, our office moved to our first new small building at the Port of Miami. We didn’t have assigned seating and were told to find a spot on the floor and they eventually put our desks there.  For the first time, all shoreside employees were together under the same roof.  The company was still relatively small and it truly felt like we were a family. Back then, there was only one ship, The Song of Norway, and we worked Tuesday to Saturday each week since we were responsible for going onboard to recount the money by hand. We also counted all the coins in the slot machines, bagged it up and prepared it for a secure pick up, which was fun. Can you imagine thousands of dimes in a bag and then the bag breaks loose from the coil counter and ends up on the tile floor? Yes, many times we ended up recounting. As more ships were added to the fleet, the job became much more hectic. After we got off the ship we were never too tired to watch the ship set sail — we always waved to the guests and the crew before heading back to the marina for a cold drink.

While I have always challenged myself professionally when it comes to speed and accuracy, in the early days at Royal Caribbean, I was continually challenged with many different things. Everyone did much more than their “job description” required by doing anything that was needed. We all put in a lot of late nights to make sure all of the work was done. The individual job responsibilities were broader back then which is why we all seemed to have our hands in everything. This made each day go by much faster than if we’d done the same job day after day. Thanks to caring and having my hands in everything, I am today considered the “go-to person” by my colleagues, because if I don’t have the answer I will, at least, be able to direct you to the person you need to speak with. I take pride in being able to assist others in the office, shipboard and outside of the company.

In 1986, I was told that I needed to work in Norway for one week as we were moving all of the accounts payable functions for foreign currency to Miami. I was in charge of this “move” and was told to sit with our Norwegian colleagues to make sure I understood all of it. I have a fear of flying, and incidentally I’m not too fond of water, so I was terrified. Once on the plane from New York to Norway, I was in tears. I had to remind myself that I was the first female employee sent to our parent company in Norway and I was the person in charge, so I could not fail my company! I’m happy to share that I went on the trip, learned a lot and had a great time. Thanks to my Norwegian friends, I even learned a few words; for example “god dag” meaning good day. Wow! I really thought I now could speak the language — until I began getting letters in Norwegian. After having “letters” of fun, my friends finally sent me books to help translate.  Now they really put me to work when they sent all correspondence in Norwegian.

I had completed only one year of college when I came to work for Royal Caribbean.  Once I was promoted to a Manager, I was required to go back to school and earn my Bachelor’s degree. So at the age of 39 I went back to school, which was yet another challenge. I went to school every night during the week except Friday. One semester, I was going every other Saturday, as well, and after a few years I earned my degree. The day I walked across the stage and received my diploma was the proudest moment for me.  It proves that when you work hard for something, you learn to appreciate it.

Today, my main responsibility is the issuance of checks, including accounts payable and refunds, and I audit the address book setups, which control the funds distribution. I also took on another responsibility which pertains to locating crew members that are on vacation or have left the fleet and have payments due to them. Many crew members provide a mailing address when they apply for positions and when they are hired but by the time they end their contract with us their permanent mailing address has changed.  Verifying addresses in foreign countries is difficult and I’m currently working on a plan to streamline this process before my retirement. Thank goodness for e-mail, as it makes it much easier to locate many of our crew members when they are off the ships. I feel a huge sense of accomplishment when I’m able to take care of the crew.

All in all, I am so happy to be part of this great company and serving our ships over the last 42 years.   I’m happy to say that I’ve also grown a lot, appreciate all of the fine contributions I have made through my tenure with RCL and most of all the friends both shoreside and shipboard that I’m still friends with today, which is one of the things I am most grateful for and will truly miss.

In foster care and related services, Our Kids of Miami-Dade, the lead agency for child welfare in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties, continues to go from strength to strength.  Although it has now been over three years since my term as Chairman of the Board ended and I got kicked upstairs to the Advisory Board, I try to stay connected behind the scenes.  Our long time CEO Fran Allegra and today’s Board of Trustees are doing a marvelous job.  Besides demonstrating strong day to day operation of a system of care that is responsible for approximately 4,000 children, Our Kids continues to win plaudits for the technology solutions it has pioneered to enable case managers to keep contact with and assist foster children.  Our Kids has also led the state and probably the US in pioneering ways of keeping the medical and dental records of foster children complete and up to date so that doctors do not have to guess at what treatment has occurred in the past, whether the child is allergic to certain medicines and so forth.

A few months ago, the case that led to the privatization of child welfare in Florida and therefore the creation of Our Kids, came to a conclusion after more than 10 years in the judicial system.  The guardian of then four year old Rilya Wilson, the child whose body was never found, was convicted of various crimes in connection with the disappearance.  The guilty verdict led to a 55 year prison sentence.  The outcome of the case and the progress engineered by Our Kids ensures that Rilya’s death was not in vain.

Meanwhile, the Energy Security Leadership Council (ESLC) has reason to believe this could be a productive session of Congress as it relates to improving the energy security of the U.S.  I’m sure many readers wonder whether a sane writer would include the words “Congress” and “productive session” in the same sentence.  And you may be right in your skepticism.  But we really do believe there is momentum for bipartisan legislation either this year or next.

The ESLC’s idea for an Energy Security Trust Fund would take a portion of the royalties from oil and gas drilling and devote them to research and development of renewable energy sources has caught the attention of President Obama as well as the Congress.  He mentioned it in his State of the Union Address giving the ESLC credit for the idea, then raised it again in a subsequent speech.  As a consequence, I was able to have a 10 second conversation on the topic with President Obama when he spoke at the Port of Miami at the end of March.  I mentioned my participation on the ESLC and the Trust Fund idea.  The President said “That is a good idea.  Thank you.” I was very pleased to be able to have even this brief conversation with the President on behalf of our CEO Robbie Diamond, our co-Chairs Fred Smith (CEO of FedEx) and P.X. Kelley (former Marine Corps Commandant) and the other distinguished CEOs and retired four star Admirals and Generals on the ESLC.

Last but not least, on the concussion front, the ImPact computerized baseline testing is in place throughout Miami-Dade County’s public school athletic programs (contact sports).  Over 15,000 students have been tested with the University of Miami’s sports medicine clinic providing follow up care to victims of concussions.  Our family is incredibly proud that our son David who raised the money for this effort as well as being the voice and face of the effort to achieve concussion awareness and prevention legislation that led to passage of a Florida law last year is the recipient of the Spirit in Sport Award from the National Federation of High School Associations for Section 8 which is essentially the southeast U.S.

I would be more than happy to hear about the community service efforts of our readers.  There is so much that needs to be done in so many areas.  It is never too late to start helping.

-Adam Goldstein

First allow me to introduce myself. I am Mr. Wes Bower and am pleased to meet your acquaintance. Please make yourself comfortable as I take you through a journey of floating vessels, impeccable service and one incredible wedding.

In November 2011 my wife, Celeste, and I got engaged onboard a traditional Thai boat just off the coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea. We were soon faced with the difficult challenge of deciding where to celebrate our wedding and quickly started researching ideas. It wasn’t until May 2012 when Celeste’s folks asked “Why don’t you two get married on a ship”. Instantly we knew that that this is exactly what we wanted to do; and with even more excitement and determination we sorted out to find a cruise line that a) provided the service and b) was financially within our means.

It didn’t take long until we landed ourselves on Royal Caribbean’s Royal Weddings page.  At the time Royal Caribbean International only offered weddings on the day of sailing and destination weddings due to restrictions with getting married in International waters. In our mind it wasn’t ideal but having researched the ship, Radiance of the Seas, and reading about the multi-million dollar renovation we were sold.

Since we live in Australia, contacting Royal Caribbean’s wedding team is not an easy task due to time differences; however the team is very attentive with responding to emails and will call you if absolutely necessary.

December 2012. Every detail had been confirmed except the location on the ship where the ceremony would take place when I received an email informing me that Royal Caribbean is now able to conduct weddings out at sea. Instantly and faster than you could say “Radiance of the Seas” I was on the phone with our Royal Caribbean Wedding Specialist requesting this change which was quickly executed and reflected in our wedding contract.

Early January 2013 and less than 30 days until embarkation we were informed that there were changes in the process for obtaining the marriage license.  Royal Caribbean was working with the Attorney General and Registrar General of the Bahamas to finalize the process which would allow Royal Caribbean to wed couples at sea. SHOCK! This is when stress overload started to really kick in. We were scheduled to depart in 30 days with 30 friends and family who were going on a cruise to see us get married.

We started to look at destination weddings on the islands as a backup and managed to find a resort that would place an entire wedding on standby with a small deposit. But in the end we were determined to get married on the cruise adventure no matter what.

What an experience it is dealing with the Royal Romance department. They just make the whole process of getting married out at sea so simple. They provided all our options via email and all we had to do was tick exactly what we wanted. Brilliant.

Upon our arrival at the ship we were happy to see that the luggage drop-off was extremely quick and we immediately started the check-in process. Celeste was carrying her wedding dress so all Royal Caribbean staff waived us through and put us in the express line. Within 10 minutes we were hanging our clothes in our stateroom and reading our welcome note from the Cruise Program Administrator (CPA). It was now time to explore the ship.

This was our first cruise on a ship of this size and our expectations had been exceeded. We were keen to look around the ship for locations for our ceremony.  Typically the location of the wedding is confirmed with the ship before the bride and groom get onboard.  However the Royal Romance team made an exception for me.  At 5 pm we met with our CPA who explained that we wouldn’t be able to get married on the deck due to wind, which we guessed made sense because Celeste didn’t want to have her hair blowing in the wind.

On the ship, there was a buzz from everyone we met regarding this wedding that was going to take place onboard. It seemed that word had got out around the ship that this wedding, the first Royal Caribbean wedding at sea, was taking place on their cruise. We even met a lady who was talking about our wedding as if she knew us. Ha ha the look on her face when we told her we were the wedding couple was priceless.

We had made the decision to be married in the Star Quest Lounge which is located on the top deck in the newly renovated Viking Crown. The room looks like it could hold at least 500 people so you can imagine my shock when they agreed to lock down this room for five hours. The room has a revolving bar and 180 degree windows looking out to sea… it was perfect. I have to admit that I started my day with a Royal Caribbean long island iced tea to ease my nerves whilst Celeste was in her stateroom surrounded by photographers and her minions who were helping her get ready.

3 pm wedding time. Ice sculptures, carved fruit and a mountain of food was scattered around the tables. An amazing floral arrangement had been strategically placed around the altar. This was the Captain’s first wedding.

I was waiting nervously at the altar when the music started to play. The bridesmaids started making their way into the room. The moment in between the last bridesmaid entering the room and Celeste entering the room seemed like an eternity.  Celeste approached the altar with beauty, grace and fighting back tears in her eyes…the true radiance of the sea. The ceremony went so quickly and before you knew it we were in each other’s arms shaking our booty around the dance floor.

The rest of the night we spent getting our photos taken around the ship while guests on the cruise continually came up to us to offer congratulations and to oooohhhh and ahhh over Celeste’s dress.

The team at Royal Caribbean really treated us like royalty and helped to create the most amazing day of our lives. A day we will never forget. We could go on and on about the amazing service but this blog has to end sometime. Would I do it again?

If you have any questions you would like to ask us throw them our way we would be delighted to help and provide advice based on our experience. I would like to leave you with this question.  What is the strangest place you have known someone to get married?

I am also proud of the steps that our company has taken to help make this goal a reality, specifically installing electric car charging stations in the “Green Parking” lot.  This service will also make life a little easier for the employees in our Miami office who drive electric vehicles.  I have asked Sam Carr who was instrumental in getting this accomplished to share this story with you.

-Adam Goldstein

My name is Sam Carr and I’m the Building Systems Engineer for Shoreside Facilities at Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD. I’m in charge of all Facility related systems such as air conditioning, lights, electrical power, and fire alarms just to name a few. As a result of the newly adopted green vehicle parking spots in our Miami office we discovered that there were some electric vehicles parked there along with several hybrid vehicles. At a recent Facility trade show I met a representative of a company that was supplying electric car charging stations at certain locations around South Florida. I am proud to say that Royal Caribbean’s Miami office now has one of the first electric car charging stations in Miami-Dade County. I predict that someday, in the not too distant future, electric car charging stations will be as common as gas stations are now.

Our new car charging station is a small step in a new direction to reduce our dependence on oil. I know one charging station is not going to change the world overnight but it’s a start. Having the ability to charge an electric car at work might be what it takes to convince someone to purchase an electric car.  The ability to recharge the car’s battery at work doubles the employee’s mileage range.  It wasn’t that long ago when owning a hybrid vehicle was thought to be a crazy idea. Now you can see they are everywhere.

I recently watched a movie about a man who was fired from his job for taking too many risks. Another employee in the film said that the leaders are always the first ones to fall off the cliff and that it was safer to stay in the middle of the pack. I couldn’t help thinking that if the Fords, Thomas Edison or the Wright Brothers of the world ever felt that way where we would be now. No, it is the risk takers that will always continue to move this country in the right direction. I am happy to be part of this new direction that we are moving toward.

Before I comment on some of the features of our next beautiful baby, I should mention we hosted a marvelous event at the IAC Headquarters building in Manhattan yesterday morning to deliver our news in person to the media, member of our Travel Agent Advisory Board, selected Crown & Anchor Society members, representatives of our marketing partners (DreamWorks, Starbucks, Coca Cola, Fisher Price, etc.) and a few select others.  Congratulations to Lisa Bauer, Tracy Quan and their teams for orchestrating an outstanding launch event for Quantum of the Seas.

Quantum of the Seas has some truly notable WOW features consistent with the very high expectations that our customers have of us.  On top of the ship there are two industry firsts that extend the Royal Caribbean tradition that encompasses the Rock Wall, the Flowrider and the Zipline and other inspirations. One is the North Star, a “jewel-like capsule” (I have seriously been instructed to say that!) that elevates our guests to more than 300 feet above sea level and move them around far above the top deck for memorable views of the water and our destinations.

The other standout feature visible on top of the ship is RipCord by iFly®.  This sky diving wind tunnel, which exists in a couple dozen venues on the land, simulates the feeling of sky diving to such a degree that even precision military skydiving teams regularly use such facilities to practice their craft.  I tried this out in Orlando during our decision making process and found it to be a blast.  Imagine, you’re on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean having a great time while not actually touching a solid surface for a minute or more at a time.

Inside the ship there are some real gems.  One of them is Two70°, an unprecedented architectural space featuring a huge expanse of glass and lots of ways to enjoy oneself day and night.  The ocean views while the sun is shining will give way in the evening to state of the art performances that will turn Two70° into just about anything the entertainment team wants it to be.

Another WOW is the SeaPlex. We have taken some of our favorite action-oriented spaces from other recent ship classes and brought them indoors.  This is where basketball and soccer will take place, but also bumper cars (yes, bumper cars!) a circus school and roller skating.  We have also designed SeaPlex in such a way that at night it will be a first of its kind dance party venue with a DJ booth that hovers above the revelers. Lest anyone worry, yes there is still table tennis.

My comments here barely begin to do justice to Quantum of the Seas, but one has to start somewhere.  There is still more news to come about culinary and entertainment options and much more.  I will say we are very excited about the staterooms, especially the Family Connected Staterooms offering new configurations to benefit our rapidly growing multigenerational family guests.  Also, the Virtual Balconies in our inside staterooms have to be seen to be appreciated.  We are so excited about the Virtual Balconies that we cannot wait for Quantum of the Seas and are going to begin to install them on Navigator of the Seas when she is revitalized in January, 2014.

Royal Caribbean International, the brand that is Designed for WOW, is proud to bring you these innovations on our next new ship.  Stay tuned for 18 months of news as we count down to delivery.

Hello, Adam! Do you think any line will ever build a ship bigger than Royal Caribbean‘s Oasis class? Why or why not? – Jennifer B.

Hi Jennifer. It wouldn’t surprise me if a cruise line decides to build a ship larger than our Oasis class of ships. History shows that over time ships get larger.  But it’s not something that concerns us.  When building a new ship, including the Oasis class, we think hard about features that will be responsive to the emerging tastes of our guests. We encourage our people to be imaginative during the new build process. We believe there truly is something for everyone to discover on our Oasis class of ships, including several first-at-sea experiences, but many of the areas within the ships are small and intimate spaces. It’s really not about the size of the ships.

We recently went on a cruise on the Jewel of the Seas. Everything was wonderful as usual but our main reason for taking the cruise was to see Key West. We were disappointed that the ship only stayed in port for five hours. We had to be back on the ship by 12:30pm which really cut our visit short. Most of the ports (in fact all I think) were all day visits. Will there ever be a Royal Caribbean cruise that will stay in Key West for a longer period? Thank you. – Anne C.

We have many itineraries which call upon Key West for full day calls of up to 8 hours departing from Baltimore, New Orleans, and Miami.  However with some itineraries, it is not possible to extend call times as it would delay the arrival to the next port of call, as in this case.

When will we find out more details of the Quantum of the Seas, such as what features it will have and what home port it will have? – James V.

Hi James, a very good question. We will be sharing information for Quantum of the Seas soon, please stay tuned to our social pages.

The new Barbie program for little girls is pretty cool, but when will there be a similar program for boys? – Leslie P.

Hi Leslie, there are many activities available for boys including many aspects of our award winning Adventure Ocean program.  In addition, we have the DreamWorks Experience with Shrek, Po and Alex, as well as the Just For Kids items available on Gifts & Gear.

Is there anything that can increase the likelihood of ships being able to call on CocoCay? We’re two for four on our attempts at several different times of the year. 50% seems to be the common success rate on cruise message boards, which is disappointing on three night cruises. What’s the possibility of a backup port of call? – Ken S.

Hi Ken, the time of year has an impact on the tender success rate in CocoCay.  During the winter and hurricane seasons, it is more likely that you could miss this port but even in the winter season our percentage of missed calls at CocoCay is far lower than 50%. Safety is the top priority and we do not want to tender in adverse conditions. Unfortunately, given CocoCay’s location it is usually not possible to call at a substitute port.

Are we going to get Royal Caribbean ships docking in Liverpool, UK in the near future? You would get loads of new customers from the North of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland if you did. Harwich and Southampton are no good for us. – Karen G.

Last year, Vision of the Seas, called upon Liverpool as a port of call on her British Isles itinerary.  The feedback from the call was very positive, and we will continue to evaluate the inclusion of Liverpool on more itineraries in the future.  Stay tuned.

Could Royal Caribbean add a feature to the “my cruises” page that allows us to identify what onboard credits we have for upcoming cruises? I often do the onboard booking as well as apply onboard credit from the Royal Caribbean Visa card. Sometimes when booking several cruises at a time it gets lost what onboard credit I have on which cruise.  Is there no way for us to identify this on your site?  – John S.

Hi John, we are always grateful to hear ideas for new features from our loyal guests and take all of them into our product planning process.

Please help! We cruise Royal Caribbean every year with our special needs son with CP. Every year I inquire about getting a tandem harness for the zip line on Labadee, so that my son can experience with me, and go with me. No one ever answers or replies! My son cries every year as he watches mom and dad go down, but he sits on the beach by himself… how can we make this happen? – Michael S.

Unfortunately, the design of our zipline does not allow tandem riders. This is a consequence of designing one of the longest and fastest ziplines in the Caribbean.  If your son has use of his arms to hold on to the straps and meets the minimum weight of 75 pounds and minimum height of 60 inches we may be able to organize an experience for him to go on the zipline on his own.  Please send an email to special_needs@rccl.com with your future sail date and we will explore this opportunity.

Thanks again to everyone for submitting questions, and remember if you have a question you would like to ask, please click here. If you have a customer service related issue, the quickest way to obtain a response is to fill out our contact form here: http://bit.ly/c44GkU

The newbuild design process has been a fundamental building block of our culture from Song of Norway to Song of America to Sovereign of the Seas to Nordic Empress to Legend of the Seas to Voyager of the Seas to Radiance of the Seas to Freedom of the Seas to Oasis of the Seas to Quantum of the Seas. It has been an incredible honor to have participated personally in the last seven of these processes. We are confident that Quantum of the Seas will do justice to the tradition.

It is impossible to do justice to everyone and everything that contributes to this effort.  Of course, a lot of the effort takes place within the newbuild organization under the direction of Executive VP Harri Kulovaara and VP Kelly Gonzalez. But many other areas from Finance to HR to IT to Supply Chain to Sales & Marketing are also immersed.  Over the next 18 months until Quantum of the Seas’ delivery, we will try to give a flavor for various aspects of the process, especially the Operations team’s preparation to operate the ship and deliver the Wow as we have conceived of it. I will look primarily to Lisa Lutoff Perlo, our Executive VP of Operations, to keep you entertained about our doings in this regard. It’s worth mentioning that we will take delivery of Anthem of the Seas, sister ship to Quantum of the Seas, a mere six months later. So take all of the excitement and multiply it by two.

Walk for Wishes is a fundraiser that Royal Caribbean hosts each sailing on every ship in the fleet to raise money for Make-A-Wish^®.  Guests donate $10 and receive a free t-shirt which they wear while they walk a mile at sea to show support for Make-A-Wish.  All the proceeds are donated to Make-A-Wish to help grant wishes for kids with life-threatening medical conditions. I have been involved with the Walk for Wishes partnership from the start back in early 2009 when it took off like a rocket and has been a great success ever since! On average Allure of the Seas raises enough money in 3 weeks to grant one wish which costs $5,000.

Many children wish for a cruise and are granted a cruise vacation, which is a great opportunity for the entire family to have a positive experience together.  Each department onboard comes together to make the Wish cruises truly unforgettable. Their experience onboard can include but is not limited to a tour of the Bridge, dinner with the Captain, backstage passes to meet all of our performers and VIP access throughout the cruise.

I am responsible for showing our wish families a great time on the FlowRider®. We arrange a private session for the entire family and get them on for the ride of their life. It is such a great feeling seeing the Make-A-Wish child and their family laughing, smiling and just having a great time. The kids will be riding while the parents watch and take pictures. It is a really great time for everyone including myself. In that hour they forget about everything else, including their illness, and just enjoy the moment.

Every couple of years the company hosts Make-A-Wish cruises on our ship in which several children will have their wish granted onboard during one cruise.  Three years ago I was fortunate to participate in a sailing with 9 children and their families onboard.   This experience was truly unique and many of the parents and children found it to be a great bonding moment.

During the months of June and December we offer Destination Joy months onboard each of our ships.  During these two months each ship challenges each other to raise as much money as possible for the foundation.  Last year, the competition was very intense and we were neck and neck with another ship so our Captain decided to raise the stakes.  He auctioned off himself diving into the Aqua Theater pool in full dress uniform!  The money raised during this event pushed us ahead of all the other ships and we were the most successful fundraising ship in our fleet during Destination Joy.  Our involvement with the Make-A-Wish Foundation brings out the best in our crew onboard.  Being a part of a Wish is an amazing experience.