Visit our travel agent friends at MEI Travel

Royal Caribbean postpones Dynamic Dining on Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas

In:
24 Dec 2014

Royal Caribbean has delayed the introduction of Dynamic Dining to its two largest cruise ships, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.

There's no new date when Dynamic Dining will be activitated, but Royal Caribbean did indicate it will occur "later this year".

In the meantime, both ships will continue to serve traditional dining experiences in the early and late dining seating.

Royal Caribbean had announced in August Dynamic Dining would expand to Oasis of the Seas and during a recent refurbishment, the ship's main dining room was re-arranged to create the Dynamic Dining restaurants.

Then in October, Allure of the Seas was included in the Dynamic Dining lot as well.

Dynamic Dining is the new twist on traditional cruise ship dining.  Instead of a main dining room with fixed dining times, smaller restaurants are spread all over the cruise ship to offer more choice in ambiance and cuisine.  Some restaurants will be complimentary while others will have a cover charge to dine there.

Royal Caribbean hit with fine for for breaking Dutch employment laws

In:
14 Oct 2014

The Dutch Social Affairs and Employment Inspection Agencey says Royal Caribbean is facing fines of thousands of euros for violating Dutch employment law.

Oasis of the Seas underwent work to update the ship as part of a two-week dry dock, when the Dutch agency claims hundreds of workers were flown in to Rotterdam to help with the work required, however many of them did not have a work permit or were underpaid. The agency also suspects that working time limits are being violated.

According to the agency, the fines focus on 48 Filipino workers who do not have permits. The fine is a maximum €12,000 per worker, which means the cruise company faces a €600,000 bill, the agency says.

Royal Caribbean launches newly refurbished Oasis of the Seas

In:
14 Oct 2014

Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas is out of a 14-day drydock and back in service with a lot of new upgrades, fixes and enhancements.

The changes to Oasis of the Seas include reimagined dining, game-changing high-speed internet, exciting new retail offerings, a new popular and favorite Broadway show, new suites with exclusive suite dining and lounge.

As we reported earlier, Oasis of the Seas is prepared for its conversion to dynamic dining, with new restaurants

  • American Icon Grill  (comfort foods)
  • Silk (Asian)
  • The Grande (every night here is formal night)

Guests will enjoy menus of the new concepts beginning March 14, 2015, onboard Oasis of the Seas. Guests sailing Oasis of the Seasprior to March 14, will enjoy the traditional dining room experience in the newly designed spaces. 

In addition, other new specialty restaurants were added:

  • Izumi Hibachi & Sushi
  • Sabor Taqueria & Tequila Bar
  • Wonderland
  • Coastal Kitchen

Other specialty restaurants that were previously on Oasis of the Seas remain, such as Giovanni’s Table, 150 Central Park and Vintage Wine Bar.

Another big change to Oasis of the Seas  comes in the technology department. New changes include:

  • Boatloads of Bandwidth, the game-changing partnership with technology partner O3b that will offer guests onboard Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas connectivity that matches fast broadband connections onshore and is greater than all other cruise ships combined. These new capabilities, allow the cruise line to offer affordable, easy-to-use Internet packages so that guests may watch streaming video, check email, share images on social media and enjoy face-to-face video conversations – even in the middle of the ocean. 
  • Royal iQ is a new app that puts guests in charge of their vacation choices.  Thanks to the dramatically improved connectivity, Royal iQ is able to continue dining reservations, shore excursions and spa appointments onboard, through both a downloadable app and at freestanding iQ stations around the ship.  Guests also can use Royal iQ as a convenient calendar that provides at-a-glance views of their program and to keep in touch with one another and home via phone and text capabilities. 

Royal Caribbean is introducing 10 new suites on Oasis-class ships, offering breathtaking views of the ocean or the ships’ signature AquaTheater and Boardwalk neighborhood and includes, two Royal Suites, six Grand Suites and two Royal Family Suites, which can accommodate up to six guests. These suites offer a new level of sophistication when paired with the variety of new exclusive suite amenities that include: 

  • The Suite Lounge, an exclusive lounge area for suite guests to relax offering unmatched expansive views of the ship and sea; 
  • The Sun Deck, a new sun deck area that gives suites guests the chance to soak-up and relax in the Caribbean sun with lounge furniture, shaded and seating areas and private service; 
  • Coastal Kitchen is a suites only full-service restaurant offering breakfast, lunch and dinner with a Mediterranean flare. 

Oasis of the Seas will also feature CATS as its Broadway show.  This replaces Hairspray, which debuted on Oasis of the Seas back in 2009.  

Sister ship Allure of the Seas will change its Broadway show from Chicago to Mammia Mia!, which is also the Broadway show on Quantum of the Seas.

Lastly, the Royal Promenade on Oasis of the Seas has been updated as well.  Here you'll find shops from Michael Kors and the Britto Art Gallery, as well as a whole new line-up of merchandise and fashion jewelry such as, Alexis Bittar, Uno de 50, Lauren G Adams, and Nina Nguyen. 

Sister ship Allure of the Seas will follow suit in May 2015 with nearly identical enhancements.

Oasis of the Seas deck plan changes coming after dry dock is complete

In:
09 Oct 2014

Royal Caribbean is going to be upgrading Oasis of the Seas as part of her upgrades while she is in drydock and there's quite a bit of changes coming to this ship.  After receving lots of questions related to how where the changes are onboard the ship, we've compiled a list of the changes coming visually.

Deck 3

  • Opus DIning Room changes to American Icon Grill

Deck 4

  • Private dining (port side) becomes Izumi
  • Private dining (starboard side) becomes Diamond CLub
  • Opus Dining Room becomes The Grande

Deck 5

  • Opus Dining Room has become Silk restaurant
  • Cupcake Cupboard has come Kate Spade Store
  • Focus store has become Michael Kors store
  • Guess store has become Regalia store

Deck 6

  • Seafood Shack has become Sabor
  • Boardwalk Bar has become Sabor Bar
  • Pets at Sea has become Britto shop
  • Ice Cream Parlor renamed to Cups and Scoops
  • Boardwalk Donut Shop has become Boardwalk Dog House
  • Inside staterooms added (6279, 6281, 6679, 6681)
  • Diamond Club replaed with staterooms (6593, 6591, 6589, 6587, 6585)
  • Pinwheels has become an Arcade

Deck 7

  • New staterooms added (7279, 7679)

Deck 8

  • Public restrooms in Central Park forward reduced in size
  • New staterooms added at Central Park forward (8450, 8452, 8454, 8456)
  • New staterooms added near Dazzles (8279, 8679)

Deck 9

  • New staterooms added (9279, 9679)

Deck 10

  • New stateroom added near forward elevators (10458)
  • New staterooms added near central elevators (10279, 10679)

Deck 11

  • New staterooms added at aft (11330, 11730)
  • Concierge Club is now Concierge Club & Wonderland restaurant
  • New staterooms added near Concierge Club & Wonderland (11279, 11679)

Deck 12

  • Concierge Club is now Concierge Club & Wonderland restaurant
  • New Grand Suites added to aft (12330, 12730)
  • New staterooms added near Concierge Club & Wonderland (12279, 12679)
  • Royal Suite 12240 replaced with new staterooms (12238, 12240, 12242, 12244, 12246, 12248)
  • Presidential Suite 12640 replaced with new staterooms (12638, 12648)

Deck 14

  • New staterooms added near Card Room (14279, 14679)
  • New Grand Suite staterooms added at aft (14330, 14730)

Deck 16

  • Izumi removed and becomes part of the Windjammer

Deck 17

  • Viking Crown Lounge has become the Suite Lounge and Coastal Kitchen restaurant
  • Pinnacle Lounge has become a Royal Suite (1701)
  • Pinnacle Chapel has become a Royal Suite (1758)

City of Malaga preparing celebrations for arrival of Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas

In:
10 Sep 2014

The city of Malaga, Spain is getting ready to celebrate the arrival of Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas with festivities to commemorate the occasion.

Oasis of the Seas arrives on Thursday and will be the first stop in Europe for this giant cruise ship.

Malaga's Department of Tourism has prepared musical activities in different parts of the historic center.  Activities are planned between 10:00am and 2:00pm. At noon the Flamenkura group will perform on stage on the main square of the Constitution. Between 12:00 and 2pm Alcazabilla street will host performances of Laura León Sánchez, Isa and the Flemish Flamenco Group.

At 11.00am, the mayor, Francisco de la Torre, and the Councillor for Tourism, Julio Andrade, will go aboard Oasis fo the Seas to deliver a commemorative plaque to the ship's captain.

Royal Caribbean announces Dynamic Dining will expand to Oasis of the Seas

In:
27 Aug 2014

Royal Caribbean's new way of dining on a cruise ship that is debuting first on its Quantum-class of ships will start spreading to other ships in Royal Caribbean's fleet.

During a Quantum of the Seas media event in Germany, a Royal Caribbean executive announced that Oasis of the Seas will get Dynamic Dining during her upcoming refurbishment.

No other details have been released yet but the idea behind Dynamic Dining is to remove the Main Dining Room and replace it with a combination of complimentary and additional fee specialty restaurants that guests can choose from to dine each night.

Dynamic Dining is a fundamental shift in how Royal Caribbean offers its guests dinner, opting to forgo the formality of a main dining room and make dinner more convenient with no set times and a relaxed dress code.

Oasis of the Seas is scheduled to go to Europe in October 2014 and have her refurbishment shorthly thereafter.

UPDATE: AUGUST 28: Royal Caribbean has tweeted out more information related to the Dynamic Dining changes coming to Oasis of the Seas. 

The main dining spaces will be remodeled during Oasis of the Seas' drydock later this year but Dynamic Dining itself will not begin until March 2015.

Video: Drone video of Oasis of the Seas leaving Port Everglades

In:
26 Jul 2014

The Port Everglades webcam posted this neat video of Oasis of the Seas leaving Port Everglades earlier today. 

I love these drone videos and this is a great perspective. Enjoy!

Royal Caribbean to bring Broadway show Cats to Oasis of the Seas

In:
04 Apr 2014

Royal Caribbean announced today Andrew Lloyd Weber's Broadway musical CATS is coming to Oasis of the Seas following the ship's refurbishment in the fall of 2014.

CATS will replace Hairspray on the ship, the Broadway show that has played on Oasis of the Seas since the ship launched.

Based on T.S. Eliot's “Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats,” CATS was one of the longest running productions on Broadway and is the winner of numerous awards including seven Tonys, two Oliviers and a Grammy.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with the Really Useful Group to bring one of the world’s most beloved musicals to Oasis of the Seas,” said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, Executive Vice President, Operations, Royal Caribbean International. “Adding CATS to our already amazing line up of Broadway musicals such as Hairspray, Chicago: The Musical, Saturday Night Fever and Mamma Mia exemplify our commitment to bringing top quality entertainment to our guests at no extra cost.” 

Oasis of the Seas will be going into drydock in while in Europe on October 2014.

Subscribe to Oasis of the Seas