Royal Caribbean revealed even more details of the Oasis of the Seas this week. The two areas of focus were the pool and sports deck, as well as the fitness and spa areas. Loyal cruisers on Royal Caribbean will recognize all of the features they have come to love, in new and enhanced forms aboard Oasis.

Two Flowriders are on Oasis, mirroring each other on the aft portion of the sports deck. The mini golf and full size basketball court are on either side of the Boardwalk gap as you move forward from the Flowrider. Windjammer will overlook the sports deck.

The pool deck will run along the two sides of the Central Park area below. Oasis will feature a “beach” style pool, which slopes towards the deepest water, with jets of warm water circulating through it. The H20 Zone returns for the self-mobile kids, and a new infant/toddler pool makes its debut for the diaper wearing set. Whirlpools and hot tubs flank most pools, DJ stations and dance lighting appears to be all about the area, and new, private cabana slots are located on the upper sun decks.

The Solarium adds more water features to divide the space, and a new Bistro, for informal dinning during the day, and one would presume a premium area at night.

In several cases, it is clear the plan is for two of the pool areas to be more actively used for night-time events.

The feeling you get, and I’ll work-up a gallery in the near future, is that Oasis may be bigger, but they have not lost the qualities that make cruising with Royal Caribbean special.

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Royal Caribbean and children’s cable TV network Nickelodeon are going to continue and expand their Nickelodeon Family Cruise program, which completed its first trip just this month.  With more details and booking information at  http://www.nickfamilycruise.com you will be able to select from travel on Mariner of the Seas or Freedom of the seas, giving cruisers a choice of which coast to set sail from.  Odds are the cost of gas and the growing hassle of air travel will trigger a growing number of bi-coastal events and ship positioning.

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Oasis of the Seas deck plans emerge online.

We are at a point in the construction and marketing of Oasis of the Seas, where details such as deck plans are cropping up online. This is only natural of course. And the first real insight into the historic new ship in Royal Caribbean’s fleet reveals a number of things which should give fans of the line reason to be happy.

Linked at https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/content/en_US/pdf/Oasis_Deck_Plans.pdf the partial deck plans show much we had not yet known in full detail.

There will indeed by a Windjammer, though it is now know as “Windjammer Marketplace.” This makes sense, because from the launch of Voyager, the single theme, informal dinning area has been divided into several areas. The “marketplace” theme fits the kiosks and variety the area provides.

There will be a Viking Crown Lounge, to the relief of those who have hoped this signature feature would not be lost to additional cabin space.

There will be a main dinning room, still three decks high. Further, given that Oasis of the Seas will be wider than any ship before her, the size may be much greater than what is seen on even the Voyager family.

Evidence suggests, in conjunction with several aerial photos on the net, that there will between two and four pools on the sun decks. Large spaces on the deck, opening to areas below, combined with a lack of cabins shown in the plans, would indicate pool space.

There is a lot of space forward, where the theater area is known to be located, and likely the location of the Casino Royale, which has not been revealed yet. Likewise, an enlarged ice rink is on tap for the Oasis, but the public space around it, is not yet being detailed. Likely this will change next week, for the online reveal. Royal Caribbean Fan will host a live chat later in the evening, to discuss the reveal.

Visit the photo gallery at Royal Caribbean Fan.

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Oasis’ next reveal to be online!

If you register at http://presentations.inxpo.com/Shows/ZiffDavisEnterprise/VTS/08-26-08/Website/home.htm

you’ll be able to join the rest of the world and discover what the next big detail of Royal Caribbeans big new ship will be!

Love Bird to Christen the Ruby Princess.

I would have say “christen the Princess Ruby Princess,” but that would have been a bit over the top. If you follow American prime-time reality TV, you might have heard of the show “The Bachelor.” Its follow-up, the Bachelorette produced a marriage, and that seems enough to warrant being Godparents to a cruise ship. Lest you think I am being sarcastic or knocking the choice, think again. The cruise line that gave us The Love Boat is only fittingly touching on a old and well worn theme. The Love Boat was campy, but its hard not to think of it when going on a cruise. The christening will take place November 6, at Port Everglades.

A sign of things to come?

A large travel clearinghouse has chartered the Celebrity Solstice for two days, at the end of the pre-inaugural series, and just before revenue service begins. Cruise lines already use the weeks after a ship is operational, to hold a series of cruises for crew training and publicity building. I took such a cruise on Liberty of the Seas this past year. A ships “maiden” voyage is often a high priced affair, much sought after by the general public. It makes one wonder if we are seeing the start of private, pre-maiden voyage sailings becoming a more common event. In the case of this charter, the cruise is a two day affair. Too short to be of much serious demand to most vacation cruisers. It is however of interest to people who want to experience a ship before the rest of the world does. To my mind, if such charters become open to any and all people, they ruin what remains of the value in traveling on a maiden voyage. Or even later cruises in the early months of a ships operation.

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Cruising Asia on Legend gets easier.

Royal Caribbean will deploy Legend of the Seas to Asia year round, starting in 2009.  Royal Caribbean has had its return to the Asian market underway for nearly three years now, and with the successful placement of Vision class ships in the market, they are stationing one there permanently.  The move makes a great deal of sense.  Obviously, the Asian market is already large, and well accustom to vacation cruises.  However, it is a market that should prove a fine home for older ships in the Royal Caribbean fleet.  With the move of the Sovereign out of the fleet, and shifting Empress as well, the six unit Vision class are the smallest vessels remaining.  Additionally, they are now the most “dissimilar” to the emerging standard of Royal Caribbean, seen with the Voyager family of ships. 

The Vision class are held in very high regard for their design.  They are a significant refinement over the earlier Sovereign class they followed, and have many years of life remaining in the Royal Caribbean fleet.  But the change in feel and experience a passenger coming from one or more cruises on a Voyager class would be dramatic.  Especially if the itinerary is in the same area.  Asia however is an “exotic” region, the culture sharply different, and that aids the transition for people cruising in the region.  The expectations are very different from the start. 

Trust that future years will see all of the Vision class sail to the edges of the Royal Caribbean markets.

Royal Caribbean is holding its own in rough economy.

Royal Caribbean, like the cruise industry at large, has been holding its own during what is either technically or effectively a recession in the U.S.  Despite substantially higher fuel costs, which have risen over 55%, the line managed a modest boost in yield.  Overall costs were up 6.7% but only 2% if you discount fuel from the numbers. 

The end of the Olympic building boom in China, a U.S. recession, and likely slow-down in Europe and Asia, should help stun the oil markets back into submission.  And those who can afford a cruise, are generally not proving the same as those who are being most hurt by the global economy.  This is bad if one is hoping for deeper discounts on fares.  But if you follow the industry at all, you know we are most likely going to see a steady increase in fares over the years to come. 

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