Royal Caribbean to change weather plans after storm scare

As the Anthem of the Seas passenger disembarked Wednesday, the media was there to hear about their cruise from hell. Predictably most of the comments were scary and have them questioning cruising in the future. But the bigger issue for Royal Caribbean was could they have avoided the storm?

Initially the Captain thought the ship could avoid the heavy waves and storms. The plan was to sail ahead of it. That didn't happen. Now Royal Caribbean is going to invest in more weather forecasting in their Miami offices. This should give the crew and the company better information so that they never get that close to a storm again.

The ship is scheduled to return to its normal schedule this week. 

Royal Caribbean returns to Haiti

Royal Caribbean returned to its private beach at Labadee, Haiti on Tuesday. Other Royal Caribbean ships had bypassed the island after local protests on January 19. The beach and its amenities have been a popular stop for Royal Caribbean ships for years. Despite restricting passengers from leaving the fenced in areas, Royal Caribbean has also been a huge revenue source for Haiti.

Will Ovation of the Seas ever regularly sail in North America?

The Ovation of the Seas is Royal Caribbean's latest Quantum class ship and nearing its debut. It has all the major features of the other Quantum ships and is nearing its debut in April. But excitement is somewhat muted in North American and European markets because this ships is headed to China.

Basing the ship in the growing Chinese market is a very smart move for Royal Caribbean. However, that doesn't make it any easier on the cruise nuts based in this continent. The demand remains high for the Quantum experience and right now there is only serving the U.S. The next one won't debut until 2019.

Perhaps once the Quantums are not state of the art, the Ovation will transfer to the West. Until then though, you'll have to wait...or decide to sail out of China.

Cruise Fever's Allure of the Seas Review

Cruise Fever always does a nice job with their reviews and this video of the Allure of the Seas is no exception. It captures all the unique points of Royal Caribbean's largest ship and points out some of the finer details. The video also mixes in plenty of still shots with the action video from an actual cruise. If you are researching a potential trip on the Allure, be sure to watch this video.

Cruise Law News only site reporting on Anthem of the Seas emergency

According to Cruise Law New, the Anthem of the Seas cut short a cruise earlier this week due to four passengers suffering from a medical emergency. Yet there is nothing in the media. Nothing on social media from Royal Caribbean or even passenger chat. We trust Cruise Law News and wish other outlets would follow up on these issues.

We understand that negative publicity impacts perceptions of cruises, but we really think the industry would benefit from better reporting. Take this case. If the details are true and there were four emergencies, why not get more information out there. It is a huge ship. Four people getting sick or injured could just be coincidence. But by not having more reporting, it seems like there is something wrong on board. It seems like there is something to hide.

Those people who don't like cruises or don't like cruising are not going to change their mind about one news report. But the lack of good reporting can hurt those who do want to sail on the Anthem.  

Two sides disagree on overboard Royal Caribbean passenger

All interested parties agree that Oasis of the Seas passenger Bernardo Elbaz went overboard November 6. How and why is now the point of contention. Attorneys for the Elbaz family said the man was subject to anti-gay hostility from the crew and that an altercation in his cabin led to the fall. Royal Caribbean's statement was that a domestic dispute led to Elbaz jumping.

Complicating matters is the disturbing video of Elbaz clinging to a life boat after the initial fall from his balcony. In the video someone can be heard yelling: "You don’t touch me. Because of you this happened, because I stepped out the door. Let go of me."

If the reports are true that multiple crew members came to the cabin that night, it will be tough to dispute the true nature of the event. Either the crew members' stories will be consistent and point to Elbaz, or one of the crew members will come forward to identify any Royal Caribbean employees who might have physically forced Elbaz off the ship.

Our guess is that regardless of guilt, Royal Caribbean will look to settle. They don't want any negative attention especially as the industry approaches wave season.

Another Quantum-Class ship for Royal Caribbean

Bigger is better it seems, as Royal Caribbean ordered another one of their Quantum-class ships. It will be the fifth is the series and ready in 2020.

Even though the series of ships is new, the popularity justifies another ship. The company did not announce where the ship would be based. However, multiple Quantums are already planned for Asia. It wouldn't be surprising for a third to head into the growing market.

While 2020 seems like a long way off, this is good news for cruise fans. New ships entering the market means new opportunities and new deals.

Engine fire on Splendour of the Seas

The good news for Royal Caribbean is that no one was hurt due to the engine fire on their Splendour of the Seas Thursday. One passenger and and 19 crew members were treated for smoke inhalation, but all are fine. The bad news for the cruise company was that one of the United States' most well-known consumer reporters was onboard.

Clark Howard, who has an extensive background in travel, provided updates to his audience throughout the event, including the ship drifting for two hours after the fire. Because of the delay the ship will skip Argostoli and go straight to Venice.

This is yet another engine fire on a cruise ship with another safe outcome. Hopefully the industry can start identifying the sudden uptick in fires and put in prevention measures.

Royal Caribbean leading way on sexual assault safety; is it enough?

Royal Caribbean earned the first-ever best practices certification from the Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network (RAINN). They are the only cruise line to go this far in ensuring safe and appropriate responses to sexual assaults at sea. The company deserves commendation for their progressive stance on the issue. However, is certification enough? Can Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines do more to prevent the crimes and keep their passengers safe?

According to Skift, the RAINN certification involves 11 key areas. Some focus on prevention and training, while others deal with post-assault victim support. Even prior to the certification, Royal Caribbean reported better sexual assault statistics than other cruise lines. But there are two areas where all cruise lines seem exposed. The first is alcohol consumption. Alcohol is a significant factor in many cruise-related injuries and crimes. Even with stricter policies and better awareness from servers and bartenders, there will be plenty of men and women impaired onboard. Some of these people will inevitably be involved in sexual assaults.

The other factor overlooked, but that has been a hot button on Cruise Law News, is screening and punishing crew. Many of the assaults are crew on passenger. Training is obviously important with this as is enhanced security and key access. But the background screening can be an issue. The criminal record systems in some of the countries from which the crews are hired are not always as thorough as in they are in the United States. Plenty of offenders have and will continue to slip through the cracks until better hiring practices are in place. If the cruise lines really want to address sexual assault, it will need to improve their hiring background checks.

Ship Mate's infographic on the Royal Caribbean fleet

 

Ship Mate is back with another helpful infographic. Above is their age list of all of Royal Caribbean's ships. They also added a useful column on when the ships were last renovated. (Renovations can often breathe new life into a tired ship.) 

Read the Ship Mate blog for more details on the age of the Royal Caribbean fleet. 

Royal Caribbean deserves accolades for saving the 'miracle cruise baby'

August 31 was the typical early morning on the Independence of the Seas. In the middle of the night, passenger Emily Morgan went into labor. Only 23 weeks pregnant, Morgan knew she needed the help of the crew medical staff. Although they handle various emergencies at sea, crew medical staffs are not equipped to deal with emergency labor nor premature babies. Pregnancy policies are specifically designed to avoid emergency births onboard. But baby Haiden came at 1:56 a.m.

Weighing on 1.5 pounds and having breathing issues, Haiden's life was in danger. Lacking an incubator, the ship's staff did their best to keep him warm and the captain pushed the ship into San Juan two hours early. The Royal Caribbean team ultimately saved the newborn's life, as Haiden was able to get the necessary specialized medical care in San Juan.

While still struggling with various complications, Haiden is still alive and has been transferred to Miami. The Morgans are sharing their story and the challenges Haiden and they are facing. However, overlooked in the story is how much Royal Caribbean did in such an unusual circumstance. From the Captain to the crew they did what they could to help the Morgans and the mother and baby are alive because of the Royal Caribbean team.

Harmony of Seas to have kids waterpark

We already knew that Royal Caribbean's new Harmony of the Seas would have some of the biggest water slides at sea. Now we know it won't be all about the big thrills. Royal Caribbean announced that the Harmony will also include an aquatic park just for kids. This is great news for families and gives them one more choice for their cruise vacations.

Two different perspectives on Royal Caribbean's Boomerango

After not having water slides on their ships, Royal Caribbean has gone all in with a series of announcements about future slides on different ships. After drydock, The Liberty of the Seas will be the first at sea to have a "Boomerango" (above). This mutli-rider slide takes passengers up a steep vertical wall before they come back down again. It seems to be the latest and greatest in water slides. Yet for all the positive press Royal Caribbean gets, there are also some words of caution.

Most of the cruise media and review sites love the idea of the Boomerango. Cruise Law News has some other thoughts. They expect many injuries on the slide and also predict Royal Caribbean will not give passengers proper warning of the potential dangers. Cruise Law News uses the track record of the FlowRider and iFly as examples of how the company handles warnings and waivers.

Will there probably be injuries on the slide? Sure, but people get hurt on cruises in all sorts of different ways. The slides become an unmanageable risk or people are too scared to ride, Royal Caribbean will make an adjustment. All these attractions are about keeping people happy (and making money). Once the slide doesn't do that, it will come down.

Despite fire, Freedom of the Seas passengers had a great time

The surest sign that a cruise line is delivering good service: passenger still raving about their trip after a fire on board. Sunday, Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas made its scheduled return to Port Canaveral. The ship also passed the Coast Guard inspection with no real signs of Thursday's fire. Meanwhile as passenger's disembarked, they had nothing but good things to say about their trip.

Aside from putting out the fire and cleaning up, passengers consistently mentioned how safe they felt during the fire. That is a testament to the crew and Royal Caribbean for handling what could have been a scary and dangerous situation well.

Royal Caribbean announces 10-story waterslide

Royal Caribbean already announced the planned waterslides for the Harmony of the Seas, but no one knew they would be this big. Cruise Fever has all the details on the ship's 10-story waterslide. When it debuts, the Harmony will be the biggest ship at seas, so it makes sense to have the biggest slide.

In addition to the 10-story "Abyss," the Harmony of the Seas will also have three other twisting slides.

For a company that eschewed slides for so long, it is nice to see Royal Caribbean go all in on the attractions. We think it will pay off as a slide is something that will attract more guests that a rock wall or wave rider ever will.

Royal Caribbean rolling out high speed internet to all ships

Things are speeding up with Royal Caribbean's popular Voom service. The program -- which provides high speed internet on board -- will be available on all Royal Caribbean ships in 2016. The basic rate is $15 a day, but there are a variety of discounts and packages available when passengers buy multiple days or use multiple devices.

The service is currently available on all Oasis and Quantum class ships. It will be rolled out to the other ships later this year and into 2016. All reviews of the speed and quality of Voom have been good, so this should lead to a better experience for all Royal Caribbean passengers. It should also lead to other cruise lines improving their high speed services and prices.

Despite more media talk, last-minute cruise deals not going away

Congratulations to the cruise industry on working so hard to change perception on cruise deals. The latest examples is this otherwise good article from TheStreet.com that uses the headline grabber: "Don't Bank on a Last-Minute Discount on Your Cruise Vacation This Year." We wrote this before and we have a feeling we will be writing it again, but last-minute deals are not going away.

Wall Street investor and financial news media -- like TheStreet.com -- love to hear about advances in revenue management from the cruise industry. And it is true the cruise companies are becoming more aggressive and more disciplined in their pricing, upselling and ancillary revenue. But the point remains, even if they don't call it "last-minute" deals, there will still be plenty of discounts and unique sales and offerings for last-minute cruise shoppers. There is still too much inventory and even more coming and the companies need to maximize revenue.

Just look at these deals that Paul Gauguin are promoting. Shoppers just need to be smart and make sure they involved in all cruise companies' email lists and loyalty programs.

What Royal Caribbean's increased tipping means for you

This week Royal Caribbean announced a change in their tipping rates. Starting June 1, the daily rate per guest will rise to $12.95 in standard accommodations, and $15.95 per guest in suites. If you prepay before June 1, you can still use the current rates of $12 and $14.25 per day (respectively).

The company explained this was to reward their excellent staff and that all tips are pooled. While this seems noble on the Royal Caribbean's part, Cruise Law News isn't buying it. Jim Walker explains that a portion of all pre-paid gratuities bypasses the crew altogether and goes directly into Royal Caribbean's bottom line.

All of this is part of the changing cruise industry and experience. As the customer base becomes more global and diverse, more passengers hail from countries where tipping is not common. Also people carry less cash and want to "charge" more, so offering pre-paid gratuities or gratuities that are added to the overall bill is a convenience factor for many. Our suggestion is that if you think a automatic gratuity is unfair (either in cost or how it is pooled), then opt out and pay directly. This can be done through most purser's offices and the crew members can then decide how they want to pool the cash you gave them directly. Regardless of how you handle Royal Caribbean's and other cruise company policies, just remember to take care of the people who take care of you.

How the cruise companies are dealing with Puerto Vallarta

Continued violence in the region forced most of the major cruise lines to cancel or alter stops in the Mexican city of Puerto Vallarta. Both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity bypassed their respective stops this week. Both ships scheduled for the port added an extra day at sea. As of Monday, Carnival was keeping their stops in Puerto Vallarta, although they were limiting excursion due to safety concerns.

Disney also announced they would bypass Puerto Vallarta this week and explained the change via letter to each cabin. The Disney Cruise Blog has the letter. In the letter Disney explains their concerns and reminds the passengers that their final bill will be adjusted with regards to port fees, taxes and cancelled excursion.

Cruise companies always worry about passenger safety, however, given the passengers killed in March due to violence in Tunisia, the companies are rightfully cautious now.

Royal Caribbean adding fourth Quantum-class ship

Royal Caribbean just launched their second Quantum-class ship in the Anthem of the Seas and is not stopping there. The company announced that they will build a fourth Quantum-class ship. This is really no surprise given the instant popularity of the new ships. Like the previous Quantum ships, the new liner will be built with Meyer Werft in Germany and ready in 2019.

The Royal Caribbean Blog picked up from analysts reports that the new ship could be based in the North American market. As much as the Asian market presents a huge opportunity for the new ships, demand for the "wow ships" in the American market might be too much for Royal Caribbean to ignore.