A Cruise Brochure For The iGeneration

Cruisers who are comfortable with their iPods and au fait with their iTunes will be interested to know Royal Caribbean has launched a new 2014 family cruise brochure specifically for tablets. Designed to coincide with peak booking season, the industry-first brochure is filled with videos and interactive content to help showcase all of the family-friendly features and amazing experiences available on a Royal Caribbean holiday.

Available to download free on iTunes, the new brochure also includes special early booking offers and a selection of the most popular itineraries. Featuring a range of helpful planning guides for mums and dads, including information on onboard restaurants and a link to the cruise line’s new kid-friendly Penguin Ahoy! app, the e-brochure is packed with great reasons to cruise.

Families seeking a star-studded cruise holiday can enjoy a break with DreamWorks favourites such as Shrek, Puss In Boots and more; watch special onboard productions of Let You Entertain Me, an ice skating show of How to Train Your Dragon; see the DreamWorks Animation parade down the Royal Promenade; and sample interactive character breakfasts in the main dining room and various other shows and activities.

For young princesses, The Barbie™ Premium Experience is the ultimate indulgence for Barbie enthusiasts. Guests can enjoy staterooms decorated in the iconic doll's signature style as well as exclusive, themed activities throughout the cruise – from an invitation-only tea party and mermaid dance class to a fashion design workshop and Barbie fashion show.

As well as two of the most popular experiences across the Royal Caribbean International fleet, the new e-brochure contains a whole host of information and interactive features to get families excited in advance of their cruise.

Jo Briody, director of marketing & PR, UK & Ireland, Royal Caribbean International explained: “Our new tablet friendly brochure is designed to allow families to plan their holidays together and to showcase all of our family-friendly videos and onboard features in one place. We hope its ease of use and inspiring content will urge more families to consider a cruise for the first time.”

Key offers for 2014 featured in the new family friendly e-brochure include:

• A seven-night Western Mediterranean fly/cruise onboard Liberty of the Seas from £1,272 per adult and £861 per child (based on a family of four sharing an inside stateroom, including flights from London Heathrow). Based on 24 August departure.
• A seven-night Greek Isles fly/cruise onboard Splendour of the Seas from £1,254 per adult and £744 per child (based on a family of four sharing an inside stateroom, including flights from London Gatwick). Based on 23 August departure.

More info: visit https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/royal-caribbean-international/id692839966?mt=8.

The new edition of World of Cruising is now out, and you can see the digital version online on our home page at www.worldofcruising.co.uk. To subscribe at our special offer rate of 50% off for 2014, see this link.

Time Spent at Sea has moved and can now be found at World of Cruising. You can follow World of Cruising on Twitter and Facebook for the very latest in cruise news.

If you haven't already, subscribe to the World of Cruising magazine today.

Quantum of the Seas - Too MUCH Innovation?

Royal Caribbean revealed their big Quantum of Solace new-ship details this week in a grand online presentation featuring godmother-to-be Kristin Chenoweth.

It was a glamorous and eye-catching show, with plenty of novel features aboard their latest-and-greatest, which builds on the dramatic success of their 220,000-ton Oasis class duo.

Quantum will add still more innovative elements to the Royal Caribbean line-up, including several headline-grabbing features, like the North Star - a giant mechanical arm with a glass capsule at one end to give passengers a genuinely different view of the ship (above) - and a breathtaking-looking 3-storey lounge venue, Two70, that provides a wide variety of entertainment options, including a night-time aspect where the glass windows become a giant LED screen (below).

Other innovations include inside staterooms with 'virtual balconies' (taking Disney Cruise Line's 'virtual' portholes idea and making it substantially bigger), an onboard 'skydiving' facility (like the land-based vertical wind-tunnels we see at places like iFly Orlando), bumper cars, a circus school, extensive Music Hall live entertainment venue and more. Much more.

And they have yet to unveil any of their dining options and other interior detail!

What we saw this week adds up to a truly mind-boggling array of headline features and amenities for the 4,180-guest ship, which will make its debut in autumn 2014 out of New York.

It certainly adds to the improbable-but-impressive Oasis-class ships, but I have to wonder - at what point do we try to put too MUCH innovation on what is still, essentially, a floating vessel for a week's holiday?

We've seen rock-climbing walls, ziplines, surf pools, ice rinks, bowling alleys and self-levelling pool tables, not to mention a wide array of water slides, extravagant open-air venues, giant video screens and all manner of 'virtual reality' gadgets.

But this is still supposed to be a cruise ship, right? And much of what is being presented here (the likes of bumper cars, rock-climbing, ziplines, etc) can all be done on land, and substantially better.

So why do cruise lines think it is necessary to bombard us with more and more "cruise innovation"? By all means provide new entertainment; the likes of Norwegian Cruise Line's onboard Blue Man Group and Legends In Concert shows are a great addition, as is Royal Caribbean's DreamWorks tie-up to provide onboard character interactions. And the expansion in dining options is very welcome and a notable feature of just about every new ship these days.

But, to be honest, much of what has been released about Quantum of the Seas smacks of sheer gimmickry, providing new ideas simply because they can, not because they are necessarily good ideas. There has to be an unknown safety question to things like North Star and onboard skydiving (which is an incredibly difficult - and expensive - skill to master, if you've been to anywhere like iFly Orlando) and, while the idea of a 'virtual balcony' is pretty cute, how much does it ratchet up the price?

I have always thought that the Oasis-class finally broke the mould of what could realistically be called a 'cruise ship.' They are, in fact, floating resorts with no connection to the sea. They might just as well be moored on a lake in Las Vegas for all the real 'cruising' they do (just adding to the handful of standard and rather dull Caribbean ports of call that can handle these behemoths). 

So you'll have to excuse me if I reserve judgement on the Quantum experiment for now. Because that is what it seems - an experiment in what people will actually accept in cruise terms. And safety.

PS: for the full video 'reveal' on Quantum, see this link to our friends at Cruise Radio.

Time Spent at Sea has moved and can now be found at World of Cruising. You can follow World of Cruising on Twitter and Facebook for the very latest in cruise news.

If you haven't already, subscribe to the World of Cruising magazine today.

Florida & Freedom With Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas will sail 26 new cruises between May and October 2013 every Sunday from Port Canaveral of Florida’s Space Coast. The cruises – alternating between seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries – will also feature stars of DreamWorks entertainment such as Alex the Lion, Po the Dragon Warrior, Shrek and Fiona.

The proximity of Port Canaveral to the theme-park packed destination of Orlando means  holidaymakers can combine the cruises with three and four-night stays at Universal Orlando Resort and enjoy unparalleled savings. The package to experience the best of land and sea in one amazing holiday includes hotel and shipboard accommodations, multi-day passes to Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure, complimentary admission to select live entertainment venues at Universal CityWalk and ground transfers between airport, hotel, theme parks and the ship at port.

On board the ship, families can continue their entertainment theme with activities from the DreamWorks experience such as character breakfasts, parades and themed shows. 

On the Eastern Caribbean sailing, guests will call at St. Thomas, St. Maarten and CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas. The Western Caribbean itinerary calls at Falmouth, Jamaica; George Town, Grand Cayman; Cozumel, Mexico; and Labadee, Royal Caribbean’s private beach destination on the north coast of Haiti.

Freedom of the Seas’ summer 2013 season is now open for bookings. Prices for a nine-night fly/cruise including return flights from Manchester airport, one-night’s pre-cruise hotel accommodation and a seven-night cruise including all meals and entertainment costs from £1,595 per person for departures in June 2013.  

For all Royal Caribbean bookings, follow this link to The Cruise Line Ltd, the UK's leading cruise agent specialists.

Time Spent at Sea has moved and can now be found at World of Cruising. You can follow World of Cruising on Twitter and Facebook for the very latest in cruise news.

If you haven't already, subscribe to the World of Cruising magazine today.