Set your DVRs (or VCRs if someone actually still has one) for Sunday night to check out National Geographic Channel's series "Man-Made", where they will take a look at the Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas ship.

Freedom of the Seas debuted in 2006 as the worlds largest cruise ship: a fast, fabulous floating city with nearly 6000 people on board almost every day. Freedom has a reputation for everything thats bold and beautiful, and her first New Year's is set to be an extravagant celebration with a week of intense preparation leading up to the biggest ever New Year's Eve party at sea. She is equipped with the technology to handle almost anything: rogue waves, hurricanes, terrorist attack and even contagious diseases - threats no captain can ignore. In the lead up to the big bash, Freedom and her crew of nearly 1500 will not only battle the elements but also a full complement of eccentric guests. The first New Years Eve on the worlds biggest cruise ship: plain sailing or a nautical nightmare? This is the inside story.

Remember how I said to set your DVRs? Well that's because it's airing on the National Georgraphic Channel at 2am on Sunday, August 8th.  I don't know about you, but I'm not usually up that early/late, so I'll opt to record it instead.  Here's a quick clip from the episode.

Do you consider yourself a foodie?  Or maybe you're just a fan of great food?  Well, Royal Caribbean is launching a new series of themed cruises that is right up your alley. There will be 12 specialty voyages onboard Freedom of the Seas that are part of the cruise line’s “Epicurean Discovery” series.

Designed for culinary enthusiasts, the package features a variety of special events throughout the week devoted to cuisine and fine dining.

Each cruise is by a different celebrity chef for the cruise. Here is the schedule of celebrity chefs:

• Chef Cindy Hutson - September 19, 2010 
• Chef Johnny Vinczencz - October 3, 2010
• Chef Tim Andriola - October 17, 2010
• Chef Carlos Fernandez - October 31, 2010
• Chef Lauren De Rouen - November 7, 2010
• Chef Roberto Treviño November 14, 2010
• TBD - December 5, 2010
• TBD - December 12, 2010
• Chef Michael Schwartz - January 2, 2011
• Chef Nick Weber - January 9, 2011
• Chef Spike Mendelsohn - February 6, 2011
• TBD - February 20, 2011

By booking into this package, here are the exclusive options you can look forward to:

• Participate in Exclusive Culinary Experiences
• Enjoy a Cocktail Reception Meet & Greet Photo Opportunity with Celebrity Chefs
• Receive Special In-Suite Gifts
• Private Dining Experience with Celebrity Chef in our Specialty Restaurants
• Take a VIP Behind the Scenes Tour of our Private Galley
• Sample Appetizers in a Private Tapas Welcome
• Savor Succulent Vintages in a Special Wine Tasting Event
• Attend a Question & Answer Session with Celebrity Chef and Ship's Executive Chef
• Receive a Special Kit with Photos, Recipes, Menus and Guest Chef Signature
• Learn Cooking Tips from the Pros
• Take Home a Commemorative Epicurean Discovery Apron & Chef's Hat
   

The Epicurean Discovery is available exclusively to guests booking suite accommodations or higher.  Price begins at $1,874 per person, based on double occupancy.

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.

Photo by Mike Rahlmann

If you've got a cruise coming up on Freedom of the Seas, then this is your week as we have even more tips for your next cruise aboard Freedom of the Seas, as provided by CruiseMates.com

1. Explore the Promenade
2. Sample the Cuisine
3. Experience the Entertainment and Nightlife
4. Activities for Kids

Here is one of the tips, explore the promenade

The Promenade is longer than on other RCI ships, and is similar to a large suburban mall. Three miles of corridors connect the public rooms, and are well marked so passengers don't get hopelessly lost. Boutiques that are on the other Voyager-class ships are on Freedom. The Royal Promenade has special lighting effects for the Mardi Gras-style parades. The Royal Promenade features several spots for snacks and has a book shop, The Book Nook.

Last week, Andy Mayer posted tips from his recent cruise aboard Freedom of the Seas and he's back this week with more tips to share.  As always, these tips are specific to Freedom of the Seas, but I believe they can be applied to nearly any Royal Caribbean sailing.

1. Get up early if you want lounge chairs near the pool on the days at sea
2. Book your own excursions
3. Get private lessons on the Flowrider
4. Get a “cabana chair” in Haiti
5. Return to the ship earlier than normal in Grand Cayman
6. Depart on your own term

Here's a good tip Andy posted about regarding the best place to rest in Labadee

Andy Mayer posted some great tips from his recent experience aboard Freedom of the Seas and they are some good advice.  Here's a quick rundown of them.

1. Buy Bottles of Wine Not Individual Glasses
2. Try the Buffet for Dinner
3. Get the Early Dining Seating for Dinner
4. Get the Fountain Soda Package
5. Prepare to be Disconnected

Here's one full tip is posted about the bottles of wine being a better deal than by the glass

My colleague Mike told me about this before we left, and he was right.  Glasses of wine in the dining room can be expensive – in the $15 range.  However, if you know that you want wine every night and don’t mind the same wine for two nights or more in a row, buy a bottle.  At the end of the meal, your waiter marks the cork with your table number, takes it away, and then brings it back the next night for you to finish.  Since we had only two drinkers (my wife and I), this worked better than the RC Wine Plan, where the fewest number of bottles you can buy is five.  The per bottle cost of the Wine Plan is less than we paid, but we couldn’t have possibly drunk five bottles in a week.

The Ministry of Tourism in the Bahamas released new tourism statistics for the country that first quarter numbers for 2010 are "a new Dawn of Hope" for a country that has been hit hard by the global recession.  Cruise arrivals for Nassau/Paradise Island and Grand Bahama as first ports of call up by 22.9 per cent and 41.8 per cent for the three months of 2010 and the largest reason? Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas.

Assessing the reasons behind the increase in cruise passenger arrivals, the Ministry of Tourism said: "Most of the increase by first port of entry to the Bahamas overall came from Royal Caribbean International's Oasis of the Seas. Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas helped to push the increase in cruise arrivals even higher. With the introduction of the Oasis of the Seas and the Freedom of the Seas to the Bahamas itinerary, it increased the number of passengers brought in by Royal Caribbean by 68.3 per cent.

Royal Caribbean announced today a strategic alliance with Dreamworks Animation studios to provide the Dreamworks characters such as Shrek, onboard select Royal Caribbean ships.   Characters from Dreamworks Animation's most popular feature films will be featured, including the films – "Shrek," "Madagascar," "Kung Fu Panda" and "How to Train Your Dragon".

The new characters will first appear on the soon-to-be-launched Allure of the Seas, which debuts in December 2010.  Following Allure, Oasis of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas will receive characters on board their ships as well.

The move comes as an answer to the Disney Cruise Line and Norwegian Cruise Line that feature their own assortment of characters for guests to meet with during their vacation.  As the number two cruise line in the world, Royal Caribbean felt a need to add their own assortment of characters for their guests to meet.

Throughout the year, characters including Shrek, Fiona and Puss In Boots from Shrek; Alex, Marty and the Penguins of Madagascar; Po of Kung Fu Panda and Hiccup of How to Train Your Dragon will appear on board the ships at select times.  Activities that the characters will participate in include parades, special events, special character meals andphoto meet-n-greets.  Characters also will appear in an AquaTheater show on Allure of the Seas, and in an ice skating show on the ship.

There will be no additional cost to guests to experience any of these character activities.

Analysis

The move by Royal Caribbean to bring characters on their ships is interesting, although not completely unexpected.  Disney introduced the idea of having characters on their ships and once Norwegian brought the Nickelodean characters, it only made sense for Royal Caribbean to make a move to counter that.  Obviously this announcement will resonate most with families although the Shrek characters especially seem to resonate beyond kids.

According to a tweet by Stitchkingdom, the characters from DreamWorks Animation will be appearing as characters to meet aboard Royal Caribbean ships.  This could be the announcement promised at 11am eastern today by Royal Caribbean.  In a few hours, we will know more!

Update: USA Today is confirming the rumor.  Characters will first arrive on Allure of the Seas and then spread to Oasis of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas.  The characters will include Shrek, Fiona and Puss In Boots from Shrek; Alex, Marty and the Penguins of Madagascar; Po of Kung Fu Panda and Hiccup of How to Train Your Dragon. The characters will appear as part of exclusive special events, parades, character breakfasts and photo opportunities. Characters also will appear in an AquaTheater show on Allure of the Seas, and in an ice skating show on the ship.