Build-A-Boat Workshop

[AspiringCruisePlanner]

This just popped into my head as a fun thought experiment for some of you avid Royal Caribbean cruisers.  I'd like to hear what your ideal ship would look like if you were the designer.  Pick a handful of attributes from current ships or come up with your own ideas.  This has probably been done before, but who cares.

• 5 Restaurants
• 5 Attractions or Activities
• 2 Neighborhoods
• 2 Shows
• 3 Wild Cards (This can be an accommodation, attraction, or anything you can imagine) 
• 4 Cruise Ports (This ship has turbo jets and can take you to any 4 in the world in a 7 day voyage)
• Pick a Name

I'll kick it off.  This is all based on what I've heard and read about, so excuse my lack of experience

Restaurants

• Izumi Hibachi
• Noodle Bar (I'm basic, I know)
• Sabor
• The Mason Jar
• Playmakers

Attractions or Activities

• Bumper cars
• Escape Room
• Ice hockey (Minnesota native, biased)
• Murder mystery dinner (This would be new as far as I'm aware.  I've always enjoyed these.  Cool way to meet new people)
• Observatory (I love seeing the stars with very little light pollution)

Neighborhoods

• Solarium from Wonder, looks dope
• Central park, love the natural landscape

Shows

• I think it's not possible because of Disney rights, but I've loved The Lion King musical
• The book sounds interesting and the theater setting is unique

Wild Cards

• Free messaging
• Reserving a lounge chair activates a mechanism that ejects you over the side of the ship in style 
• Real grass area with lawn games like Kubbs, bags, ladder ball, etc.

Ports

• Galapagos islands
• New Zealand
• CoCo Cay, too much hype to miss
• Hawaii

Pick a name for you ship.

I'll call her Nebula of the Seas.

Have fun everybody!

[Ja-sun]

You might be on to something. I wonder if RC would put out a survey form, on what its customers would want to see changed or added, if they would build the ships differently? Of course it would have to big a big majority, of the same suggestion, for it even to be considered.

[ChanaC]

I would like the dining rooms split up like on Disney and Virgin. I haven't sailed with either but it seems like a cool concept. Every night you're in a smaller venue that might have a specific menu (ex. Italian, Mexican, standard American, etc.). This might help the food feel less "banquety" and would be a cool way to try some different things. 

I would also love it if there was an afternoon tea on board. I know some of the fancier ships do it, but it seems like a fun way to pass an afternoon on a sea day.

I would also love and observatory night, especially if they set up some telescopes and had an expert point out what to look out. Might be hard to focus the telescopes while on a moving, shaking ship though.

[FionaMG]

22 minutes ago, ChanaC said:

I would like the dining rooms split up like on Disney and Virgin. I haven't sailed with either but it seems like a cool concept. Every night you're in a smaller venue that might have a specific menu (ex. Italian, Mexican, standard American, etc.). This might help the food feel less "banquety" and would be a cool way to try some different things. 

Royal tried to do that with the original quantum class ships but it got shot down in flames and they gave up on it. My SIL and her daughter experienced it before it disappeared and they really liked it. 

[Va4fam]

Wasn't the murder mystery dinner a big part of cruising in the 70s?  Way before my time.

 

My ship would have more creative food and music outlets.

I already like the neighborhoods they have but maybe they could use a little character.  A dive bar, a music joint, a tattoo parlor, etc. 

We are big into music so maybe a "Song of the Seas" type ship with  more live music venues......a dinner show with Sinatra or Opera music and everyone gets dressed up,  a honkytonk/country bar with live music, and maybe use of the Aqua Theater for an afternoon or evening concert...even add a beach bar to CocoCay with someone singing Buffet and Chesney songs.

Maybe a less formal Chef's Table experience where you make and eat the food but in half the time than the 3-4 hours it takes now.  I'm thinking an open kitchen concept.

An Amazing Race day or weeklong event for those that want to participate for the active sport minded (flow rider, zip line, rock climbing, ice skating, food challenges)

Dodgeball tournament!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ChanaC]

47 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

Royal tried to do that with the original quantum class ships but it got shot down in flames and they gave up on it. My SIL and her daughter experienced it before it disappeared and they really liked it. 

Interesting, I had no idea. We're sailing Quantum in a few weeks and I noticed the dining room is broken up into different names (Ex "Silk," "Chic"). I assumed it was just to decorate the areas differently to be creative and to organize people so they know where to go, but I guess it's really just the remnants of the old system.

[FionaMG]

12 minutes ago, Va4fam said:

Wasn't the murder mystery dinner a big part of cruising in the 70s?

It was still a thing until just before the pandemic hit. There was definitely one on our Adventure OTS Thanksgiving cruise in 2019. I remember because it was held in Giovanni's on the night we wanted to eat there, so we had to change our plans because they blocked the whole restaurant off for it.

[FionaMG]

6 minutes ago, ChanaC said:

Interesting, I had no idea. We're sailing Quantum in a few weeks and I noticed the dining room is broken up into different names (Ex "Silk," "Chic"). I assumed it was just to decorate the areas differently to be creative and to organize people so they know where to go, but I guess it's really just the remnants of the old system.

Yes, that's it exactly. It would have required structural changes to physically do away with the smaller restaurants so they just left them as they are. They've changed that now on Odyssey, which now has an open-plan MDR like most of the other ships in the fleet.