Travelers Dominion

The Royal Caribbean Fan Blog

"Saxonia, Long Beach and the Love Boat" - The Royal Caribbean Fan.

"Love Boat soon will be making another run
The Love Boat promises something for everyone
Set a course for adventure!"
~Charlie Fox / Paul Williams

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One of my favorite TV shows to watch when I was having sleep-overs at my grandparents or great aunts house was the Love Boat. Another Aaron Spelling gem with corning plots and ensemble casts of guest stars I recognized from watching entirely too many old movies and "re-runs." The implied maturity of some things was utterly lost on my young mind. I was more interested in the ship, captains table dinners, etc.

In 1983 friends of my parents took us to the cruise terminal at the Port of Los Angeles. They had taken a honeymoon cruise aboad the Sitmar Line "Fairsea." The Fairsea was a Saxonia class ocean liner built by Cunard in the 1950s. She was intended for passenger trade between the UK and Canada. Like most ocean liners she was sold and rebuilt as a tropical cruise ship.

Fairsea was moor at the east terminal. Back in those days you could actually walk right onto a cruise ship without passing through any security, which is exactly what we did. For the next four hours we walked all around the ship, even visiting the stateroom my parents friends had staid in. Years later when I learned what "turn around day" was like for the crew I understood the curiously unhappy look the steward gave as six people showed-up while he was stripping bed sheets off the bed.

Over the four hours we were on the ship I saw every public space, bar and even the small arcade for the kids.

It was standing outside leaning on a wide teak wood railing along the lowest pool deck that hooked me on cruising. The railing was warm though not hot from the sun. There was a cool breeze. And looking out over the water around the port I decided I wanted to take a cruise. Everything around me just resonated.

The day ended with walking around the late "Ports-o-Call" shops south of of the terminal. There, we ate dinner at a restaurant seated at a table along the waters edge. Around five p.m. the Fairsea, brightly lit, sailed by. Half an hour later, none other than the Pacific Princess passed by, her white paint seeming to glow. Hanging along the side all the way to the waterline was a mass of streamers from the traditional send-off celebration. It was like seeing a childhood myth emerge from a TV screen. It was a real ship, there really was a Pacific Princess. That I knew the show was mostly filmed on sound stages was beside the point.

My first cruise would not come until August of 1999, but that day was the time and place which hooked me on cruising.

"If it doesn't move, it's a hotel." - The Royal Caribbean Fan

If it moves, it is a hotel.

It was scarcely 5:30 in the morning, the October morning sky was still pitch black. The Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina afforded a sweeping view of Port Everglades, the 17th Street draw bridge and beyond them the condo lined channel leading to open water. Bleary eyed I managed to drag myself to the balcony and turn on my camcorder then flop in a chair. My son and daughter surprised me entirely by waking up as though it where Christmas morning. Ben emerged first and marveled at the twinkling cityscape. Vicky, two years his senior came out next. The show I had promised them for weeks could be seen at the two mile bouy outside the channel. The Oasis of the Seas was holding station awaiting the harbor pilot, her bow facing the port. With all the lights forward of the bridge dark while at sea she was almost invisible. The ship began to make her way into the channel. Midway in the channel the Oasis slipped behind a block of condos and hotels. Vicky asked again where the ship was and her brother pointed to the condos and replied "If it doesn't move, its a hotel."

Oasis of the Seas arriving in Fort Lauderdale

The morning ahead would be the culmination of decades of following cruise travel that began with scouring old editions of Sea Classics, touring historic ocean liners to watching the Love Boat depart the Port of Los Angeles. The adventure that started two days ealier as we began our drive to Florida was more than just a family vacation. Here I was about to have the classic "family vacation" but also share a deep personal love for cruising.

In 2019 Royal Caribbean International began to celebrate its fiftith anniversary. The first scratch built cruise line, which decades earlier had eletrified the emerging industry with the first purpose-built caribbean cruise ships sailing out of Miami was the first I sailed on. During the next year I am going to share my experience of cruising and how from that I began the Royal Caribbean Fan in 1999 from a single HTML webpage. I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I have living it.

From the Blogs

Uniquely Celebrity Tours

Celebrity pushed forward with Uniquely Celebrity Tours in 2015. The up-scale cruise line, part of the Royal Caribbean family, introduced the customizable and exclusive excursion program and it continues into 2016.

Hurricane Irma Comes to Claim Your Soul! (Or just cruise plans.)

Hurricane Irma is picking up speed and power. Per our updated image here, thanks to the National Weather Service's National Hurricane Center, Irma is expected to be near or ashore in the Florida Keys and possibly the greater Miami area. Major cruise lines are already canceling cruises ahead of time and sending ships to alternate ports ahead of time. If you are cruising within the next two weeks you should contact your travel agent or cruise line today.

Symphony of the Seas - the Fourth Oasis Class.

: Category: Cruise Aficionados Cruise Aficionados

Leave it to the wonders of social media to break the news that Royal Caribbean's fourth Oasis class will be named "Symphony of the Seas."

Symphony of the Seas, as seen by Lloyd Marchand

An image shared online by "Lloyd Marchand" shows the aft portion of the ship still being assembled at STX France was photographed and the news has spread widely online. What you are able to see here is actually several things. The ship is put together in large "blocks" which are in-turn moved with large cranes and lowered into position where they welded into place. There are at least three blocks in this picture. The middle block is where you see the name highlighted against the bear steel. It is the section hosting the Aqua Theater, one of the signature features of the Oasis class. Behind this block appears to be a section intended for the bow of the ship. Finally a larger and flat section is seen in front of it that might be related to the lifeboat deck.

Symphony of the Seas - the Fourth Oasis Class.

: Category: The Royal Caribbean Fan Blog. The Royal Caribbean Fan Blog.

Leave it to the wonders of social media to break the news that Royal Caribbean's fourth Oasis class will be named "Symphony of the Seas."

Symphony of the Seas, as seen by Lloyd Marchand

The Carnival Conquest Arriving at Port Everglades

: Category: Cruise Aficionados Cruise Aficionados

Deep in the night when you are still asleep and trying not to think about having to leave the ship, you cruise comes to an end as the slow process of docking takes place in the dark. Here the Carnival Conquest glides to dock at Port Everglades as seen from the Hilton at the Fort Lauderdale marina. The hotel offers some of the best views in the area of cruise ships. Sailed on the Carnival Conquest? Share a review and tell us about it!

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Symphony of the Seas - the Fourth Oasis Class.

Symphony of the Seas - the Fourth Oasis Class.

The Carnival Conquest Arriving at Port Everglades

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