Liberty of the Seas

The Today Show Travel listed their favorite cruise ships for families and five of Royal Caribbean's newest ships made the list.

First up is Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.  The sheer number of amenities are notes for fun things for kids.

The two largest ships at sea each have pretty much everything you need to entertain the kids: a sprawling H2O Zone water park, a pair of rock-climbing walls, a miniature golf course, two surfing simulators, a basketball court, an ice-skating rink, and a hand-carved wooden carousel.

The Freedom-Class ships were also mentioned, including Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas and Independence of the Seas.

Aside from a huge playroom and video arcade aboard the Freedom-class ships, kids can't enough of the H2O water park, rock-climbing wall, ice-skating rink, surfing simulator, mini golf course, and basketball court. Kids of all ages love the Ben & Jerry's ice-cream parlor and the Johnny Rockets diner on board for burgers, fries and milkshakes (both venues at an extra charge).

A 47-year old woman died Monday night aboard Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas after she missed a step and fell down a flight of stairs and the FBI is now investigating the incident.

The Broward County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Veda Coleman Wright said their department's crime scene techs were sent to Port Everglades to investigate the death of woman on the ship. However, since she died in international waters, Coleman Wright said the investigation will actually be in the jurisdiction of federal authorities.

Despite the investigation, Coleman Wright confirmed that they do not suspect foul play.

Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas can add a new achievement to their list of accolades: they both feature the the largest of its kind, state-of-the-art automated wine serving system in the Vintages Wine Bar.

With just one swipe of a passenger's SeaPass card, guests can sample selections of wine from around the world using the automated WineStation intelligent dispensing system.

The WineStation preserves wines perfectly for up to 60 days by utilizing temperature control.  The system allows passengers to try 48 varities of wine not usually offered by the glass. Using the WineStation's LCD screen, guests can see the  the varietal, year and region, and the lit bottles encourage guests to experience the labels.

Royal Caribbean's Director of Fleet Beverage Operations, Bob Midyette, talked about the new system, "We pride ourselves on always seeking the newest and most effective solutions to provide our guests with an unmatched vacation experience.  The WineStation has become a very successful option to help our guests explore wines on their own, or with one of our knowledgeable, friendly and engaging wine tenders. We look forward to offering this on more ships in the future."

Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas is scheduled to make a stop tomorrow at the port of Santa Cruz de La Palma in the Canary Islands before heading westward to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Liberty of the Seas arrives at 07:00 am from Santa Cruz de Tenerife with 3,800 tourists and 1,300 American and British crew. The itinerary of the cruise lasts 15 days departing from Barcelona, ​​Cartagena, Malaga, Cadiz, seven days at sea-Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de La Palma - seven days at sea, and ends in Fort Lauderdale.

On the occasion of this first visit to the port of Santa Cruz de La Palma, at 11:00am, the president of the Port Authority of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Pedro Rodríguez Zaragoza, will present to the master of a commemorative wine metope Malvasia.

The cruise will be received by a folk group, will have free service buses and will be given maps and city maps for tourist information.
 

The port of Barcelona, Spain yesterday again left a record for its history: more than 31,000 cruise passengers embarked or disembarked in any of its terminals, a new record for the largest cruise port in Europe. Eight tall ships docked in Barcelona yesterday including Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas, which can carry more than 4,500 passengers.

Astronomical figures for a booming tourism sector in Barcelona and monthly figures are unstoppable. 31,000 passengers yesterday must be added the 1.3 million who have already passed through the port until the month of July, a figure that represents 16% of cruise passengers during the same period last year. Also the number of ships has been larger: 451 cruise accumulated during the first seven months of the year, representing more than 21 scales in 2010. A figure that will join the nearly 120 scales this August. One month, the most powerful of the year, they recorded another record: the contingent of ships docked in the same day. This new historical value will occur on Friday, August 26, when the port awaiting the arrival of nine ships, albeit smaller-capacity, move some 26,000 cruise passengers.

Royal Caribbean sources certify the pace of sales is having the latest ship: "While there are still some places, it is expected to go at full occupancy this summer," said Marc Pedrol, director of marketing and communication Royal Caribbean. According Pedrol, the ship is currently above the forecasts made for this year and estimate that volume will grow by 40% compared to 2010. "We see a clear upward trend in the Spanish market to the cruise product, and found that Northern Europe and the Greek islands begin to awaken the interest of all those cruisers who have done a cruise with us from Spanish ports."

Phil Reimer of Canada.com recently took a cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas on a Mediterranean itinerary and wrote about his experience onboard. The cruise was out of Barcelona, Spain and visited ports in France and Italy.

Reimer shared his advice for those visiting Toulon, France and what he enjoyed, "The best place to start in this city of 200,000 is at the La Rotonde fountain, next to a tourist office and with a choice of five roads in the roundabout. If you pick Le Cours Mirabeau, you will quickly run into Les Deux Garcons, a brasserie that dates back to 1792, where Cezanne was a regular and luminaries like Pablo Picasso, Edith Piaf and - I was told - Ernest Hemingway hung out."

In Villefranche, Reimer enjoyed the variety of offerings to be found here, "From this port on the Cote d'Azur, better-known places like Cannes, Nice, Antibes, and Monte Carlo are all within reach. The train and bus stations are 15 minutes from the ship. The bus cost one euro, and in 20 minutes, I was in the heart of Nice."

Once Liberty made her way to Italy, the port of Livorno offered Pisa and Florence and Reimer tried to do both but regreted that decision, "I chose to visit both, but hindsight tells me going straight to Florence would have been a better idea, given the limited time."

For their stop in Rome, Reimer shared his plan for how he tackled this famous city, "From cruise ships, you walk 15 minutes from the Civitavecchia port gate and take the regular train to Rome for nine euros (return). You can get off at Rome's Saint Pietro station and visit the Vatican City to start your tour, or you can stay on to Romo Termini, the main station. The ``hop-on, hop- off'' buses take you right from there to watch your history lessons come to life - and to enjoy."

Classic rockers ZZ Top, Foghat, George Thorogood and other classic rock stars are set to headline a Royal Caribbean cruise in December.

Liberty of the Seas will host the Rock Legends Cruise for a 4-night cruise leaving December 1.  The rockers are also joining in on this gig raise money for the Native American Heritage Association.

The full list of acts include

• ZZ Top
• George Thorogood and the Destroyers
• John Kay and Steppenwolf
• The Marshall Tucker Band
• Dickey Betts & Great Southern
• Foghat
• Molly Hatchet
• Johnny Winter
• The Edgar Winter Band
• The Outlaws
• Artimus Pyle
• Blackfoot
• Pat Travers
• Devon Allman’s Honeytribe
• SwampDaWamp
• The Chris Hicks Band
• Preacher Stone
• Ryan Balthrop
• Whiskey Myers
• Crossfyre

The cruise will stop in Nassau, Bahamas and Coco Cay, Royal Caribbean's private island in the Bahamas.

If you're interested in booking, you can get more information on the Rock Legends Cruise site.

If you're a country music fan, there are two Royal Caribbean cruises in January 2012 that could be perfect for you.

First up is "Country's Family Reunion and Larry's Country Diner Cruise" aboard Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas that departs January 16, 21012.  This five-night cruise to the Western Caribbean will feature Country Music stars

• Gene Watson,
• Larry Gatlin
• Moe Bandy
• T. Graham Brown
• Barbara Fairchild
• Teea Goans

The cruise will also include activities such as

• 4 live shows (2 CFR shows and 2 LCD shows)
• An exclusive cocktail party to meet the stars
• Opportunities for photos, autographs and signings
• Country music workshop

Another country music cruise is setting sail on January 28, 2012 aboard Voyager of the Seas out of New Orleans. The "Opry Country Classic Cruise" will feature  country music stars such as

• Jean Shepard
• Jeannie Seely
• Jan Howard
• Mandy Barnett
• T.G. Sheppard
• Host: Ralph Emery

Some of the onboard activities are

• private shows where the artists perform their own hits as well as country classics throughout the wee
• country karaoke
• mingle during an exclusive cocktail party
• meet the artists you enjoy

Here is a belly flop competition on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas to help with those back-to-work Monday blues!

Royal Caribbean launched a new promotion today for its cruises to the western Caribbean, departing between July 16, 2011 and May 27, 2012. Guests who make reservations on Wednesday (06/22), will receive $100 onboard credit per stateroom on all cruises aboard Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas of seven nights, and $50 for itineraries of five or six nights on sailings between November 12, 2011, and April 19, 2012 on the Liberty of the Seas, Jewel of the Seas or Navigator of the Seas.

The offer applies only to new bookings, and cabins must belong to the categories or suites with a balcony outside. The credit can be used to pay expenses of board and spa treatments, shopping in stores or in the casino.