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Port Canaveral's new cruise terminal will be able to handle Oasis class ships

In:
27 Aug 2011

Port Canaveral, Florida is celebrating the start of construction of a new cruise terminal with a scheduled completion date of July 2012.  The new terminal should be large enough to handle any cruise ship in the world, including Royal Caribbean's behemoth Genesis class ships such as Oasis and Allure of the Seas.

Port Canaveral Port Authority Chief Executive Officer J. Stanley Payne says the new Terminal 6 dock will be large enough to accommodate "the absolute largest cruise ships in the world," including Royal Caribbean's 6,200-passenger, Genesis-class ships.

Currently Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas is home ported in Port Canaveral, which was the largest passenger ship ever built (by gross tonnage) from 2006 until construction of Oasis of the Seas, so large ships are something Port Canaveral can handle.

Tropical Storm Irene Alters Royal Caribbean itineraries

In:
21 Aug 2011

Tropical Storm Irene has caused Royal Caribbean to change a few cruise itineraries.  Oasis of the Seas will reverse its itinerary and now visit Cozumel first on Monday, Tuesday is a sea day, stop at Falmouth, Jamaica on Wednesday, stop at Labadee on Thursday, sea day again on Friday and return to Fort Lauderdale on Saturday

Freedom of the Seas will also reverse its itinerary and left port today to go to Cozumel first on Tuesday, followed by Grand Cayman on Wednesday, Falmouth on Thursday and Labadee on Friday.

Allure of the Seas will now stop at Nassau, Bahamas on Saturday instead of Monday. The rest of her scheduled stops at St. Thomas (Wednesday) and St. Maarten (Thursday) will take place as planned.

Finally, Serenade of the Seas will have its cruise order changed as well. It left from San Juan, Puerto Rico today and will  visit Aruba on Tuesday, Curacao on Wednesday, St. Kitts  on Friday and St. Thomas on Saturday.

Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein evaluates Oasis of the Seas, Labadee and Falmouth

In:
19 Aug 2011

Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein has returned from a trip aboard Oasis of the Seas for an on-site evaluation of what's happening not only aboard the ship but he took a careful look at the operations at Labadee (Royal Caribbean's private island) and Falmouth, Jamaica.

Adam seemed pleased with how Oasis of the Seas was running and thought things were going well.   He did seem to have an issue with the art program aboard Oasis of the Seas, presumably related to the art auctions, "I did state in no uncertain terms that I was less than pleased with certain aspects of our art program."

While on Labadee Adam felt that things went exceedingly well and found the operation at Royal Caribbean's private beach to be top notch.  That being said, he thinks Royal Caribbean can do more to market Labadee and prepare its guests for what's waiting for them, "My takeaway is we need to do an even better job of marketing what Labadee is. I spoke to someone who had visited a number of the cruise industry’s private destinations prior to coming to Labadee. He said he and his people were just not prepared for how much there is at Labadee."

At Falmouth, Adam characterized the progress at the port as "90% done".  He mentioned that the most important task left to do here is to complete construction of the arrival/departure terminal building, which should have been done by now but Adam says it will be done in September.

In terms of merchants, Adam says Royal Caribbean expects 70% of the available retail space to be occupied in the next few weeks.  He also hinted that some new restaurants will be added in the near-future.

Royal Caribbean holding open auditions for Hairspray cast aboard Oasis of the Seas

In:
16 Aug 2011

If you're an aspiring actor and have a love for cruising, perhaps your dream job opportunity is finally here.  Royal Caribbean is holding auditions in Chicago, IL August 16-18 for its Hairspray show on Oasis of the Seas.  Auditions take place at Lou Conte Dance Studio.

The auditions, being held by Royal Caribbean Productions, are looking for Professional Singers, Dancers and Improvisational Comedic Actors to perform in its Hairspray show as well as another show on Oasis of the Seas, "Come Fly With Me".

Singers - Come prepared with your best 16 - 32 bars of 2 contrasting up-tempos: 1st style Musical Theater (a la Hairspray) and 2nd, a Contemporary Pop/R&B piece. Sheet music is required in the proper key. Singers will also be taught a movement combination.

Dancers - (not required to sing) - We are casting versatile dancers who are athletic with strong technique in ballet and jazz. Tap dancing and dancers who have aerial skills a plus, however not required.

Improvisational Comedic Actors - We are casting Improvisational Comedic Actors with at least 2 years performance experience. Play age range 30 - 40 yrs old (see below). Teaching experience a plus. Come prepared to improvise and read sides from the musical Hairspray.

They will also be casting for all 21 ships.

AUGUST 16TH
9:00AM - Singer Open Call Sign-in
9:30AM - Singer Open Call Auditions

AUGUST 17TH
9:00AM - Singer Callbacks
3:00PM - Improvisational Comedian/Actor Audition (please plan to stay for
the afternoon)

AUGUST 18TH
9:00AM - Dancer Sign-in
9:30AM - Dancer Audition

Casting Improvisational Comedian/Actors to fill the following roles:

VELMA VON TUSSLE
Female, Caucasian, plays 40s, may look younger. A former beauty
queen. Upscale, attractive, and prejudiced snob who always wants
her daughter in the spotlight.

PRUDY PINGLETON
Female, Caucasian, Actress plays various zany roles including Prudy
Pingleton, uptight and small-minded mother. Also plays a sadistic
high school gym teacher. Must be a sharp, funny, inventive character.

WILBUR TURNBLAD
Male, Caucasian, plays 40s - 50s. A working class inventor. Sweet, goofy,
childlike personality. Funny, good character singer (vocal ability
preferable and not necessary.) Also plays various zany roles including a
condescending high school principal; a flamboyant fashion boutique owner; a
cop. Must be an inventive character actor. We will be casting Singers to
fill the following roles:

EDNA TURNBLAD (STARRING ROLE/COMEDIAN/BASS-BARITONE)
Male to play female, Caucasian, large physique, plays 40s-50s. Sincere and
honest, not camp drag. Strong acting and comic ability a must. 60's
Baltimore housewife, "larger-than-life" character actor with singing
ability to convincingly play mother of Tracy.

TRACY TURNBLAD (STARRING ROLE/SINGER/ MEZZO)
Female, Caucasian, 5'3' or shorter, to play high school age. Must be
heavyset. Outgoing, unstoppable, goodhearted with vibrant, lovable,
spirited personality. Loves to dance. Strong pop belt singer and great
mover.

LINK LARKIN (SINGER/HIGH BARITONE)
Male, Caucasian, to play high school age. Handsome, sexy, clean-cut,
goodhearted, down-to-earth. The heartthrob of the local TV teen dance show.
Strong pop singer and great mover.

MOTORMOUTH MAYBELLE (SINGER)
Female, African-American, plays 40s - 50s. Seaweed and Little Inez's
mother. Queen of Baltimore Soul, a radio DJ. Powerful and inspiring, with
infectious, brassy personality. Strong, soulful, gospel/pop singer.

CORNY COLLINS (SINGER/TENOR)
Male, Caucasian, plays 30s. Host of the local TV teen dance show.
Handsome, charming, engaging, smooth. Strong pop singer, movement a plus.

SEAWEED J. STUBBS (SINGER/TENOR)
Male, African-American, to play high school age; Penny's boyfriend. Cool,
sexy, street smart, goodhearted. Strong, soulful, tenor pop singer and
great mover.

PENNY PINGLETON (SINGER/HIGH BELT)
Female, Caucasian, to play high school age. Ditzy, neurotic, devoted best
friend of Tracy. Very funny with good physique. Pop singer with strong
belt, good mover.

LITTLE INEZ (SINGER/HIGH BELT)
Female, African-American, plays young, Seaweed's lovable little sister.
Spunky, tough, streetwise, outgoing, older than her years. Soulful voice,
strong belt, great mover.

AMBER VON TUSSLE
(This role will be cast out of the dancers. It is a speaking role with
non-singing requirements)

Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas makes top five family cruise liners list

In:
13 Aug 2011

Cruise Compare published its list of the top five family cruise liners and Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas made their list.  The list was compiled from input from the websites' social networking fans.

  1. Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas
  2. Carnival Magic
  3. P&O Cruises Ventura
  4. Disney Fantasy
  5. Norweigian Epic

Oasis of the Seas was picked for having a lot for the family to do, including an ice rink, tropical gardens, Zip Line’s carousel, youth zone, DreamWorks Experience and water park.

Royal Caribbean diverts Oasis of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas due to Tropical Storm Emily

In:
02 Aug 2011

Royal Caribbean has canceled port stops for the Oasis of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas in St. Thomas and St. Maarten. The passengers on the Oasis of the Seas will have the biggest effect to their route.

The Oasis of the Seas will spend Monday and Tuesday at sea, leaves on Wednesday to Costa Maya and Cozumel on Thursday after, as planned before it goes back to Fort Lauderdale. The Freedom of the Seas will be diverted on Wednesday to Grand Cayman on Thursday and is also in Cozumel.

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