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Tag: Royal Caribbean

  • Royal Caribbean: Anthem Of The Seas Diverted To Miss Yet Another Storm

    Royal Caribbean is really suffering this cruise season thanks to stormy weather and a bit of what could be called bad judgement.

    The Royal Caribbean ship, Anthem of the Seas sailed through a massive storm with wind gusts strong enough to blow deck chairs around and pound the ship with 40 foot waves last month, but managed to make it to shore with 4500 angry passengers.

    Royal Caribbean has just narrowly avoided being in the same predicament this week.

    Royal Caribbean said in a statement, “Anthem of the Seas is heading back to Cape Liberty (New Jersey) immediately to avoid a severe storm and provide guests with a comfortable journey back home.”

    The statement continued, “We have been closely watching a weather system gaining strength off the coast of Cape Hatteras. Based on the most recent weather forecast, if Anthem of the Seas continues on its regular scheduled itinerary, the ship would encounter the brunt of the large and powerful storm on the return to Cape Liberty.”

    They were expected to dock on Wednesday.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gvBcwbfeyA

    The decision was the result of new and improved methods of operation that came about after last month’s fiasco.

    Royal Caribbean surely can’t afford another publicity hit like that one. Passengers recorded their dangerous situation on cell phones.

    One passenger from the first Royal Caribbean storm incident is suing the cruise line for severe injuries he suffered.

    Delaware resident Bruce Simpson filed the suit. He claims that Royal Caribbean officers knew the danger they were risking when taking the ship, staff and its 4500 passengers into a storm that had been forecasted.

    Simpson said in the lawsuit that at one point, he was “hurled across the room with such force that he was knocked unconscious.”

    After Simpson was hurled across the room into a door, he suffered from a concussion, a bruise on his left eye, an injured wrist and pains and bruising in his neck, ribs and torso.

    It seems Royal Caribbean at least made the right call in turning back this week’s Anthem of the Seas voyage. What do you think?

  • Caribbean Vacations Take A Quantum Leap Into The Future

    Caribbean vacations are what some might call the perfect getaway. It’s not all sunshine though as cruise ships aren’t exactly a favorite among all travelers. Some might even be more skeptical after a number of high profile disasters on cruise ships over the past few years. Royal Caribbean wants to change all that.

    Business Week reports that Royal Caribbean has created a cruise ship that’s been designed for those who hate cruises. The ship, dubbed Quantum of the Seas, has been designed to feel more like an urban building instead of a tropical cruise. While it may seem like the ship is a betrayal of the cruise mentality, the newest ship is designed for younger people who want to feel more at home even while sailing through the Caribbean.

    To accomplish this, Royal Caribbean is implementing a number of modern amenities, such as mobile baggage tracking and revamped dining reservations. Speaking of the latter, the ship will use tablets to keep track of food preferences so waiters will know how guests like their coffee or meat.

    The cruise ship will also be introducing a number of new activities meant to appeal to younger guests, such as on-deck surfing and wind tunnel skydiving. Gone are the days of shuffleboard and boring water sports.

    If all this sounds terrible, the traditional cruise experience will still be available. Royal Caribbean has only announced the above for its Quantum of the Seas ship. The company will also be building two more ships like it over the next two years, dubbed Anthem of the Seas and Ovation.

    Here are some shots of the Quantum in action:

  • Kristin Chenoweth is Now a Cruise Ship Entertainment Advisor

    Cruise ship company Royal Caribbean this week announced that actress Kristin Chenoweth has been hired as the company’s Quatnum Experience Advisor for Entertainment. Chenoweth, who is well-known for her Broadway performances and her roles in TV shows such as The West Wing and Pushing Daisies, will use her showbiz knowledge to schedule entertainment and activities for the cruise ship Quantum of the Seas.

    Along with other Royal Caribbean Quantum Experience Advisors, Chenoweth has sat in on an executive review committee and previewed the ship’s entertainment, giving set, music, and costume advice. Chenoweth was also named “godmother” of Quantum of the Seas back in April, christening the ship and serving as the ship’s “guiding spirit.”

    “It has been such a wonderful experience to be the godmother for this incredible ship, and I am delighted to make my contribution as the Quantum Experience Advisor for Entertainment,” said Chenoweth. “I have been blown away by what I’ve seen so far from the entertainment onboard Quantum of the Seas and am just so impressed, and that’s not easy to do. This is the real deal, and audiences have a lot to look forward to.”

    The Quantum of the Seas is one of Royal Caribbean’s newest cruise ships. The ship has 18 decks and can carry 4,180 guests at double occupancy. Passengers on the ship will be treated to a variety of entertainment options, including a vast entertainment and sports complex called the “SeaPlex.”

    Chenoweth’s role as Quantum Experience Advisor was previewed in a new video released by Royal Caribbean. The video features a sad-looking red carpet walk at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and a preview of the live entertainment scheduled to be performed on Quantum of the Seas.

    Royal Caribbean last made headlines in January when dozens of passengers aboard its Majesty of the Seas cruise ship came down with a virus that caused uncomfortable gastrointestinal issues.

    Image via Youtube

  • Norovirus: 600 People Infected Aboard Cruise Ship

    The ship Explorer of the Seas is on its way back to port after an outbreak of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says is the norovirus. The outbreak has sickened 600 people aboard the Royal Caribbean cruise.

    Norovirus is a rapidly spreading stomach bug that became so bad onboard the ship, it literally forced the cruise line to cut the 10-day cruise short.

    CDC officials, who have boarded the Explorer of the Seas to investigate the outbreak, say the likely culprit is norovirus.

    “Our team is on the ship and will stay on board until it returns to New Jersey,” said CDC spokeswoman Bernadette Burden.

    The CDC says it is currently running tests to make sure they’ve identified the culprit, which spreads very easily in contained spaces such as cruise ships.

    The cruise ship had 3,050 passengers aboard, with a crew of 1,165 people, and left Cape Liberty on Tuesday for a 10-day cruise through the U.S. Virgin Isles, and Puerto Rico, with stops along the way in ports such as San Juan, St. Thomas and St. Maarten.

    The ship should have come back the following Friday, but due to the quickly spreading sickness, it is expected to arrive back in New Jersey on Wednesday.

    “After returning to home port on Wednesday, Jan. 29, we will perform a thorough ‘barrier’ sanitization program on the entire ship to make certain that any remaining traces of the illness are eliminated,” Royal Caribbean said in a statement.

    Adding, “It will be the third aggressive sanitizing procedure the ship has undertaken since we became aware of the issue, and will additionally provide a window of more than 24 hours where there are no persons aboard the ship, which is a significant help.”

    Even with scrupulous cleaning, the virus can still remain intact, according to Dr. Richard Besser, ABC’s chief medical correspondent.

    “The virus is not killed by alcohol sanitizers. It survives and can be infectious on surfaces,” he said. “People who are infected will shed the virus for days after their symptoms resolve. This is a real problem for food workers on cruise ships. Lastly, if you go into a bathroom that has been used by someone who has the norovirus, you can get sick.”

    According to the CDC, norovirus causes about 21 million cases of acute gastroenteritis in the U.S. each year, hospitalizing between 51,000 and 71,000. It isn’t very deadly, however, resulting in fewer than 1,000 deaths each year.

    Image via YouTube

  • Cruise Ship Death: FBI Now Investigating

    Though it seems an unthinkable tragedy, the high number of people who take cruises every year means that some deaths are likely to occur. This week, the FBI has begun investigating one such death that happened aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship this past weekend.

    According to an Associated Press report, a 62-year-old woman was found dead in her cabin on the cruise ship Enchantment of the Seas on Sunday, March 24.

    The woman has not been identified, except to the extent that she is an American citizen. Royal Caribbean Cruises told the AP that her husband was the person who found her.

    The ship was scheduled to dock in Baltimore on Monday, and the company reportedly called both the FBI and Baltimore Police, as policy dictates. The ship docked on time and FBI agents boarded the ship to investigate.

    Cruise ship mishaps have been gaining more attention in the news lately, due to an incident in which the Carnival cruise ship Carnival Triumph became disabled at sea, leaving passengers with limited water, food, and working sewage facilities for days.