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Royal Caribbean Firsts


JB1082

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I'm having a debate with a friend, they are saying that Windjammer has been on every ship from the start of Royal - but in the cookbook it says that Voyager was the first ship to get the Windjammer, did all those other ships not have a Windjammer or Buffet to start? Anyone our resident Royal historian 🙂 

 

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Windjammer pre-dates Voyager class.  

In fact when Royal acquired Admiral Cruises in 1988 there was a ship that Admiral had on order that was partially completed at the time of the acquisition.  They couldn't make significant modifications to the ship since it was partially complete but there were two Royal Caribbean signature features added in the shipyard.  The first was a Viking Crown and the second was the Windjammer.  That ship was renamed and launched at Nordic Empress which later became Empress of the Seas.

This predates Voyager class by more than a decade.

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Our first cruise was Nordic Empress in 2002.  At the time, Windjammer was a buffet for breakfast and lunch.  For dinner, appetizers were buffet style and dinner was ordered from a menu and served.  It was very similar to My Time Dining.  You showed up and tables were on a first come first served basis.  We ate there every night.

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16 hours ago, twangster said:

Windjammer pre-dates Voyager class.  

In fact when Royal acquired Admiral Cruises in 1988 there was a ship that Admiral had on order that was partially completed at the time of the acquisition.  They couldn't make significant modifications to the ship since it was partially complete but there were two Royal Caribbean signature features added in the shipyard.  The first was a Viking Crown and the second was the Windjammer.  That ship was renamed and launched at Nordic Empress which later became Empress of the Seas.

This predates Voyager class by more than a decade.

Amazing info - so potentially Empress was the first Windjammer?  Song of Norway, Nordic Prince, even Sovereign - which all predate Empress, would be without a  "Windjammer' at launch 

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1 hour ago, JB1082 said:

Amazing info - so potentially Empress was the first Windjammer?  Song of Norway, Nordic Prince, even Sovereign - which all predate Empress, would be without a  "Windjammer' at launch 

The Windjammer was considered a signature feature when Nordic Empress was launched.   I think the world's first mega ship and the world's largest cruise ship (at the time) first introduced the Windjammer - Sovereign of the Seas.

Sovereign was so big it had room for the Windjammer. 

The first ships served 3 meals in the main dining room but some also had a "Verandah Cafe" for something quick.

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I didn't sail on Royal in the 80's, but I did sail on an NCL ship in the mid 80's, so a dedicated buffet restaurant not showing up on new, bigger, ships until the late 80's sounds about right.  On NCL's Skyward in 1986/87, there was no buffet.  There were two seatings in the main dining room for breakfast and dinner.  On sea days they would setup a lunch buffet in a conference room on the pool deck, with some hamburgers and hotdogs and such.  I assume you could also go to the MDR for lunch, but I was 12 and in no mood to go sit down in the MDR for lunch.

Kids were also banned from using the elevators!   But I was allowed to visit the bridge on sea days!

And there was no "kids club", but they did have some activities for kids on one of the open decks in the morning on sea days.  I still have a metal that I won when my team won some kids cruise ship olympics thing.  

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On 1/13/2022 at 5:00 PM, twangster said:

Windjammer pre-dates Voyager class.  

In fact when Royal acquired Admiral Cruises in 1988 there was a ship that Admiral had on order that was partially completed at the time of the acquisition.  They couldn't make significant modifications to the ship since it was partially complete but there were two Royal Caribbean signature features added in the shipyard.  The first was a Viking Crown and the second was the Windjammer.  That ship was renamed and launched at Nordic Empress which later became Empress of the Seas.

This predates Voyager class by more than a decade.

Church! 😎

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In March 1984 the Song of America had only the "Madame Butterfly" MDR and the "Verandah Cafe" (sandwiches and beverages).  On 2 of the 3 port days, lunch in the MDR was buffet-style; the other port day (like sea days) lunch was 2 sittings.  At boarding time, the only food listed was snacks at the Verandah Cafe.

Holland America was the only line that I sailed on in the 80's that had purpose-built buffet restaurants (the Lido Cafe); other lines usually crammed their buffet operations into a bar or lounge.  Of course back then the majority of Caribbean cruise ships were converted liners.

 

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On 1/13/2022 at 3:00 PM, twangster said:

Windjammer pre-dates Voyager class.  

In fact when Royal acquired Admiral Cruises in 1988 there was a ship that Admiral had on order that was partially completed at the time of the acquisition.  They couldn't make significant modifications to the ship since it was partially complete but there were two Royal Caribbean signature features added in the shipyard.  The first was a Viking Crown and the second was the Windjammer.  That ship was renamed and launched at Nordic Empress which later became Empress of the Seas.

This predates Voyager class by more than a decade.

When the presale begins for your "Anecdotal History of Royal Caribbean" book that you better be writing, please let me know.

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