Today we have the honor of talking to DJ Big Phyll, a Celebrity DJ for Royal Caribbean, who has recently been DJ'ing on Oasis of the Seas.  Big Phyll talks to us about his thoughts on where to have a great time on Oasis of the Seas, as well as sharing his favorite aspects of Royal Caribbean's newest ship.

Tell us about what your role is and has been on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship?

I am a Celebrity DJ for Royal Caribbean & Scratch Events.  I'm the headlining DJ for the featured parties aboard the cruises, as well as guest DJ appearances in the nightclubs.  I'll also play some sets on the Boardwalk, Promenade, & other areas.  I also teach DJ courses to teenagers on the cruises.

 

Of the places you DJ onboard the ship, what is the busiest/most popular time for dancers?

The most popular time is between midnight-3am.  There are so many activities, shows, great restaurants, & casinos on the ships, guests are well occupied until late night.  But they seem to enjoy finishing their nights at one of the featured parties, or the nightclub, having cocktails with other guests & dancing.  The nightclub stays open past 4am, and most nights it's crowded until the music ends. 

 

You DJ'ed on Oasis of the Seas recently. Talk to us about the dance and music venues you either worked at or saw.  Which ones stood out to you as great places to have some fun dancing or enjoying music?

The Oasis is an amazing ship, and it's wonderful that music is a major entertainment piece onboard.  There are great venues aboard for dancing, including Blaze Nightclub, The Royal Promenade during the 70's Party, Dazzles Nightclub during the 80's Flashback Party.  My favorite venue for parties is the Solarium.  Dancing under the Caribbean sky at night is an amazing feeling!  Two of the featured parties is on the Solarium deck, and there is always a great turnout.  The hot tubs & pools are open, so cruisers can choose to take a dip, dance, and relax.  

 

What story sticks out in your mind as the most memorable from being a DJ on a cruise?

There isn't any single event that sticks out in my mind because being on the Oasis for a month is a story in itself!  The most memorable aspects for me were the interactions with such a diverse group of people.  The staff was amazing!  They are genuinely nice people who will do whatever it takes to make their guests happy.  Interacting with the guests was wonderful.  I dined at the specialty restaurants nightly, usually alone, but I always seemed to have a dining companion.  Whether it was a sushi chef at Izumi, or a couple at the next table at Giovanni's, conversations were easy to strike up & enjoy.  When I would DJ for the guests, they danced & had fun, and were very appreciative of Royal Caribbean bringing me aboard to DJ for them.  They would thank me verbally, & with drinks sent to my booth!

 

Any suggestions for cruisers looking to have a great time onboard their ship if they enjoy music and dancing?

Be ready to have fun!  The dance parties are high-energy, and you'll find yourself dancing hours on end without realizing it...so wear comfortable shoes!

 

Let's get to know a little about you....

• Favorite restaurant on Oasis of the Seas: 3-way tie between Giovanni's Table, Chops Grille, & Izumi.  I also love Vintages, which I enjoyed tapas & wine flights daily.
• Preferred drinks on a cruise ship: Tiger's Blood - equal parts Courvoisier & port wine (introduced to me by a bartender at Blaze Nightclub); Italian wines;  Louis XIII de Remy Martin.  
• Favorite port of call to visit:  Nassau, Bahamas.
• Favorite track of the moment that you love to play when you're working:  "Shots" by LMFAO.

Be sure to check out DJ Big Phyll's podcast "Mixes for Music Lovers" and be sure to add him as a friend on Facebook.

Royal Caribbean detailed some of the new updates that have come to Monarch of the Seas in a report from the ship.  Royal Caribbean gave some TLC to its crew areas by adding an updated gym, new food stations and the crew outdoor deck areas.

Also of interest was the fact that Monarch of the Seas is the "number two ship in the fleet and her ratings are consistently improving and above target".  Legend of the Seas currently holds the number one position.

In addition there was a bit of trivia. Monarch of the Seas was a "test bed" for the Izumi restaurant that is currently on Oasis of the Seas and can still be found on here as a treat for those who love sushi.

Photo by Marchel Auguste

Last week we posted an article detailing the lighting that was installed on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, which gave a behind the scenes look at the inspiration and design of the interior lighting aboard Royal Caribbean's latest and greatest ship.  This week, part two of the article has been posted which explores the interior design of more of the ship.

Michael Riotto of Michael Riotto Design LLC was in charge of the lighting and for the nightclub "Dazzles", Riotto had an easier time than in other locations where the height of the room was an issue. Being three decks high, there's lots of room to work with.   Riotto used a selection of Elation Professional Impression LEDs above the riser, and some of his looks catch the steel beams and reflect off the glass, creating unique looks behind any band performing on the stage.

Over at the Comedy Live nightclub, Riotto built a scale mockup to demonstrate the different LED colors and intensities. “It ended up being a very collaborative process that turned out to be a very creative transition space from a public gathering space outside, to a colorful entertainment venue inside".

Today it seems like every cruise ship has lots of different amenities to choose from like water slides, pools or other fun recreational activities.  HospitalityNet wrote an article about the advent of water based fun on cruise ships and looks back to Royal Caribbean pioneering the idea of physical entertainment on a cruise ship when they debuted rock climbing walls, mini-golf and ice-skating rinks in 2005.  Then in 2006, Royal Caribbean launched the industry’s largest passenger ship at the time, Freedom of the Seas, with an onboard surf simulator called a FlowRider and an H2O Zone aqua park. Ever since then, it's been a competition among the cruise lines to out do each other.

The article talks about what the different cruise lines have, but here is the write up on Oasis of the Seas.

Charles J. Adams III took a cruise recently on Oasis of the Seas to see what was so great about the ship and he came back with a simple conclusion: everything!  From the amenities to the layout of the ship, Charlie (as he's often called), liked all of it.

I found it surprisingly easy to find my way through the Oasis, despite its enormity. It is divided into distinct "neighborhoods" and "zones" and each passenger is provided with a pocket-sized map and guide. Interactive and static signs throughout the common areas also were very helpful.

Even after a week, Charlie admits he was hard pressed to find anything to complain about on Oasis, but did mention that some of the issues raised about Oasis are being addressed with its sister ship Allure of the Seas.

The Royal Caribbean International Cruise Line's bar-raising behemoth is incomprehensibly immense and, at first, intimidating. But after a bit of exhaustive virtual and exhausting physical exploration, I quickly became comfortable within the confines of the ship that is taller than the Berks County Court House and almost as long as the Maple Grove Drag Strip. Stood on end, it would easily be the tallest building in Philadelphia.

In the United Kingdom, National Geographic aired a show called "World Record Cruise Ship" that profiled the building of the Oasis of the Seas earlier this week and Travel Daily UK reports that cruise retailer, Cruise118, has witnessed a 20% increase in sales for bookings on Oasis of the Seas.

Why the sudden jump in sales? “Feedback from customers is that the recent media coverage of the Oasis of the Seas ship has really shown them the appeal of modern cruise holidays,” said Cruise 118 director, James Cole.  Old myths that cruises are for retired people are being debunked by television shows like this and it has resulted in more people wanting to cruise.

Our friends at Cruise Critic alerted us to the newest cleanliness report on Oasis of the Seas.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a government agency in the United States gave Oasis of the Seas a perfect 100 on its vessel sanitation inspection.  This inspection is a very stringent cruise ship cleanliness exam conducted twice a year and is done by surprise.

There were some minor infractions, but nothing large enough to cause the ship to lose points. An example is at the Buffet Solarium Center Island, "There was no serving utensils for the container of apples or containers of pears.".  Royal Caribbean responded to this by instructing the crew to ensure that there is a utensil for each food container on the buffet.

You can view the report in it's entirety on the CDC website.

Oasis of the Seas is the largest cruise ship in the world currently and it's been celebrated from bow to stern.   An interesting article has been written by LiveDesign about the lighting onboard Oasis of the Seas.  Michael Riotto of Michael Riotto Design LLC designed the lighting for many of the entertainment venues found on Oasis.

He worked on the lighting found in the nightclubs Boleros, Blaze, and Dazzles, the Jazz Club, the Comedy Live club, and the Viking Crown Observation Deck.  Each area he worked on had its own unique theme, “There needed to be a common thread from a consistency standpoint in terms of control. We didn’t want to have different types of consoles in all the venues, for all the obvious reasons, but maintenance was a consideration.”

Design changes for the ship forced Riotto had to change his ideas for lighting.  In one example, he was working on the Latin dance club Boleros and had an idea for a backlit ceiling, but when designed changed the height of the ceiling, it forced him to cancel the idea.

The design for Blaze nightclub, a Live Design Excellence Award winner this year, was also adapted after the space was changed from a two-story venue to just one level. However, the size of the oval-shaped dance floor stayed the same and gave the lighting designer the opportunity to create an innovative ceiling. “The architect didn’t have anything planned for it,” he says. “It was just a matte black ceiling with a mirrored soffit running around it for lighting.”

If interior design and lighting is of interest to you, then be sure to check out this article for an in-depth look at Oasis' unique lighting and design.