This week the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Harmony of the Seas suffered a tragic accident while docked in Marseille, France. As is routine when docked with a side of the ship unobstructed, to conduct drills with the boats. A lifeboat detached from it's winch and fell to the water below. One crew member died of it's injuries and four others were hurt.
Mobile Terminal Set to Host Carnival Following Renovations.
Having withdrawn from the Mobile market in 2011, Carnival Cruise Lines is due to resume service out of a newly refreshed terminal in November. The city of Mobile refreshed the decor and upgraded the facilities to add check-in desks along the same standard seen at the major ports in Florida.
Thomson Cruises to Acquire Legend of the Seas-
The Vision class ship, Legend of the Seas, will move from Royal Caribbean’s fleet to Thomson Cruises in May 2017. Launched in 1990 she is one of six ships of her class which preceded the Voyager of the Seas and current move toward substantially larger vessels throughout the industry. Though smaller by half than Voyager, the Vision class is well regarded. The move of Legend and eventually her sister ships to another fleet is less a mark of quality than simply the growth of Royal Caribbean.
Sometimes You Get the Bear, Sometimes the Bear Gets Stuffed-
Carnival will add Build-A-Bear Workshops starting with the Carnival Dream in summer 2017. If you have kids, simply plan on spending now. If you are a parent, you realize as this author does how inevitable buying something will be.
"Sometimes a daddy has to do what a daddy has to do."
Adventures in Drydocking-
Royal Caribbean’s third Voyager class ship, the Adventure of the Seas, will undergo a sixty-one million dollar series of upgrades. A FlowRider surf simulator, water slides and new children’s water park are being added. In addition, Izumi, Chops and Boleros will be added to the ship. What is going to prove interesting is where on the ship an additional 100 cabins will be placed. Were one to speculate, the Viking Crown Lounge is likely to be cannibalized, as will the deck space above the bridge. The shame of this is an ongoing compromise of the ship as an environment one can escape within, enjoy the sea, the air, the discrete nooks which one could find a sense of privacy.
Captain Cave Innovation
The Innovation Lab is a new facility noted on Cruise Aficionados previously. It is a state of the art research and design center for Royal Caribbean designed to aid it in keeping pace within an increasingly aggressive industry. Royal Caribbean released this video giving an overview of the structure.
