It is now Sunday night, November 29th
Thanksgiving has come and gone. I’ve discussed the Oasis ship with many of my clients and these thoughts have come back to me time and time again. I’d like to share them with you now…
The Oasis is truly a different cruise ship than I have ever experienced before. It’s segment is the “mass market” which is to say, it’s size and features offer something for everyone. I dislike using that expression because I feel that if you’re going to throw your travel business to a professional agent, he or she should be willing voice their true opinion and not worry about offending someone. So I am willing to defend my use of the expression “offers something for everyone”.
By now, you have no doubt heard through various media, that the ship is big. The Oasis is big. What I find interesting though is that it is much wider (208 ft) and much taller (16 decks) than other large cruise ships (like the Carnival Dream and the Royal Caribbean Freedom Class ships). But, it is not that much longer. At 1,185 ft, it is only 75 feet longer that the previous RCCL Freedom class ships. In addition, the ship’s bottom sits down 30 ft in the water. This extra width and depth makes it naturally very stable. Previous hull designs came with extendable stabilizers to help achieve stability under power or in rough water. My guess is the additional drag really lowered fuel efficiency. The Oasis Captain mentioned that his ship is 30% more efficient. I’m only speculating here, but I bet, the lack of stabilizers has something to do with this improvement.
The Oasis sails with many more people aboard than any previous cruise ship ever built. But in the case of the Oasis, more people does not translate to more crowding. The reasons for this are many. The Oasis has 24 different types of cabins. For a single traveler on a budget, I recommend the 149 Sq Ft “Q” interior cabin. All cabins have flat screen televisions. This feature allowed RCCL to make the vanity in the room, 3-4 inches narrower. But, these few inches left our Superior Ocean View Balcony cabin (at 182 Sq Ft) feeling small even to me, (and I am a 5’ 6” tall). Out of 2700 cabins on board, roughly half of them are this category. If you think you need more space to be comfortable, the Junior Suite category has a generous 287 Sq Ft. My personal favorites were the padded “widow seat” cabins that looked out onto the Promenade or Central Park. These are 199 Sq Ft. and what’s cool is you can sit in the window and read a book or just relax while people watching. If you want an ocean view, I have to recommend the “slanted glass” ones in the front of the ship. They reminded me of when I stayed in the pyramid of the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas…you seem to get extra floor space even though the wall is slanted.
Another cool cabin is the Family Suite. You can have one on the interior, with an ocean view or with balcony. They all come with a king bed (that can be made into twins), a full size pull-out sofa, and a set of bunk beds (minimum of 5 people). Far and away however, I think the best cabins on the ship are the Aquatheater Suites. One whole side of the accommodation is glass and balcony. Your view is to the rear of the ship, the Boardwalk and the Aquatheater with it’s two huge viewing screens. You can be part of the action, without being down with the people.
The bottom line is, RCCL left more space on the ship for public areas. Having more public areas allowed RCCL to develop what they call the “neighborhood” concept. This concept separates people so you don’t get large crowds at any one venue. The neighborhoods each have a personality, and while you will no doubt take the first 2 days of your cruise vacation and see everything on board, you will eventually feel more comfortable in the neighborhood that suits your personality and you’ll probably stay there. This neighborhood concept is further enhanced by the fact that the ship has 24 restaurants. You can have breakfast lunch and dinner in a different restaurant everyday and never eat at the same place twice in a 7 day cruise. And they are spread out throughout the ship. Another cool feature of this ship is what I will call “electronic crowd control”. You can pre-book dinner reservations in the up-charge Specialty restaurants before you arrive on board. But this is not mandatory. The ship displays occupancy levels of the various restaurants so you know at a glance where to eat if you don’t want to wait. Same with the four main entertainment venues, Opal Theater, Studio B, Comedy Live, and the Aquatheater…you can book your entertainment online before boarding the ship. Your complete reservation profile is loaded onto your room key card and issued to you when you arrive for check in. Which by the way…took less than 15 minutes to complete!
I liked the Oasis ship. You’ll like it too. In fact, Royal Caribbean is banking on you’re liking it. On a 7 night Eastern or Western Caribbean cruise you will only hit 3 Ports of Call. This will give you more time on board to enjoy everything she has to offer.
P,S. I even heard crickets in the gardens of Central Park. Remember, you’re at sea!
Steve Lord and Jeff Gregory sailed on the Oasis of the Seas on one of the new ship’s shakedown cruises Nov 20th to 22nd, 2009 For more complete information about Oasis or other RCCL ships, log onto www.RCCL.com or call the travel office at (303) 980-6483
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
A Convention of 300 cruise sellers!
Oasis of the Seas…Blog Entry #4
It’s now Thursday morning, Nov 19th. Yesterday was a full day of meetings followed by a booze cruise and dinner on the inter-coastal waterway.
We first met with the Cruise Planners “sales and technology” team to learn that in January, 2010, CP will be rolling out a new “one-stop” web site where members will be able to research, book, and make payment on all our future cruise sales. This will save time and allow us to provide our clients with information much faster. It’s no surprise that Royal Caribbean will have a prominent presence on the new site.
Next, we learned about all the new training opportunities as well as the new CPU (Cruise Planners University Accreditation Program. It will be on the web site as well. Agents can educate themselves, earn points, and receive status with Cruise Planners. The cruise industry is growing and changing and always adding new options for the guest. Education provides the sales professional with confidence.
We met reps from Azamara Cruises, Celebrity, and Princess during Wednesday’s sessions. We were also introduced to other CP members that were succeeding in their cruise businesses and learned first hand what was working for them. I would say the over-riding theme of the breakout sessions yesterday was networking. Networking is building relationships with your clients and communicating with them on a regular basis. Whether that communication is a mailing once a quarter or remembering their Special Occasions with a card or phone call, you need to let them know you’re thinking of them.
Networking also means joining a business leads groups like BNI, doing Social Media like Facebook, e-mail marketing, and joining community service organizations. All of these are examples of how people connect, learn to trust you and may eventually do business with you. You might do one, two, or all of these forms of networking.
On Thursday, we had presentations from Carnival, Norwegian, and Holland America. These cruise lines presented in forum style, all the different Special Fares available to our clients. Not sale fares, but Special fares, like Union membership, Military service, the Senior community, and community service providers like Policeman and Fire Fighters.
In the afternoon, I sat in on two classes that gave me a much better idea of what Social Media was all about; things like Facebook and Twitter, what fan pages, and Linked In.
We had the evening off to pack and collect our thoughts. Tomorrow, we have morning presentations and then it’s off to board the new ship, Oasis. One of the agents commented that he thought all this week she was probably being outfitted with her 26,000 plants in Central Park. That made total sense seeing she came from Finland where it was winter and her tugboat escorts were breaking the ice for her on the first few hundred miles out to sea.
Well, it’s off to bed. It’s a early and long day Friday! Wish I could watch good morning America before heading out to the ship!Steve Lord and Jeff Gregory own a travel agency called All-Inclusive Vacations www.all-inclusivevacations.com
It’s now Thursday morning, Nov 19th. Yesterday was a full day of meetings followed by a booze cruise and dinner on the inter-coastal waterway.
We first met with the Cruise Planners “sales and technology” team to learn that in January, 2010, CP will be rolling out a new “one-stop” web site where members will be able to research, book, and make payment on all our future cruise sales. This will save time and allow us to provide our clients with information much faster. It’s no surprise that Royal Caribbean will have a prominent presence on the new site.
Next, we learned about all the new training opportunities as well as the new CPU (Cruise Planners University Accreditation Program. It will be on the web site as well. Agents can educate themselves, earn points, and receive status with Cruise Planners. The cruise industry is growing and changing and always adding new options for the guest. Education provides the sales professional with confidence.
We met reps from Azamara Cruises, Celebrity, and Princess during Wednesday’s sessions. We were also introduced to other CP members that were succeeding in their cruise businesses and learned first hand what was working for them. I would say the over-riding theme of the breakout sessions yesterday was networking. Networking is building relationships with your clients and communicating with them on a regular basis. Whether that communication is a mailing once a quarter or remembering their Special Occasions with a card or phone call, you need to let them know you’re thinking of them.
Networking also means joining a business leads groups like BNI, doing Social Media like Facebook, e-mail marketing, and joining community service organizations. All of these are examples of how people connect, learn to trust you and may eventually do business with you. You might do one, two, or all of these forms of networking.
On Thursday, we had presentations from Carnival, Norwegian, and Holland America. These cruise lines presented in forum style, all the different Special Fares available to our clients. Not sale fares, but Special fares, like Union membership, Military service, the Senior community, and community service providers like Policeman and Fire Fighters.
In the afternoon, I sat in on two classes that gave me a much better idea of what Social Media was all about; things like Facebook and Twitter, what fan pages, and Linked In.
We had the evening off to pack and collect our thoughts. Tomorrow, we have morning presentations and then it’s off to board the new ship, Oasis. One of the agents commented that he thought all this week she was probably being outfitted with her 26,000 plants in Central Park. That made total sense seeing she came from Finland where it was winter and her tugboat escorts were breaking the ice for her on the first few hundred miles out to sea.
Well, it’s off to bed. It’s a early and long day Friday! Wish I could watch good morning America before heading out to the ship!Steve Lord and Jeff Gregory own a travel agency called All-Inclusive Vacations www.all-inclusivevacations.com
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Ft Lauderdale
Oasis of the Seas…Blog Entry #3
It’s 10pm EST, Tuesday Nov 17th as I am writing this. Jeff and I arrived into Ft Lauderdale from Denver on a delightful Southwest Airlines flight about 4pm. We gathered our bags and hailed a taxi for the 10-minute ($12.50) ride to our host hotel, the Embassy Suites. This Embassy is located adjacent to Terminal 18. Our room turned out to be # 922 which happens to overlook a good size shopping center, and of course, the Oasis of the Seas. This is the perfect hotel for clients arriving a day early for their cruise vacation. And, Wow! We couldn’t have asked for a better room.
We quickly changed into slacks and shirt and made our way down to the vendor tradeshow. There were representatives from all the major CLIA cruise lines; Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Holland America and many more. We picked up many brochures and business cards to take back to the office with us. But, our favorite booth was the one manned by the Ft Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. It was there we met Josh Winston. Josh is 32, works for the CVB, and he loves promoting tourism to his city. Of the many things he told us about Ft Lauderdale, Josh said in particular there are two sight-seeing tours everyone should take when they come to Ft Lauderdale. The first one is taking the guided tour at Sawgrass Recreation Park. This is an airboat tour in the Florida Everglades www.sawgrassrecreationpark.com. The second must-see tour is the Water Taxi www.watertaxi.com . The Water Taxi starts at 10am and runs to 13 different stops all day long. You can get off and get back on at any stop along the route, all day long for one price. It’s a great way to see the highlights and experience the history of Ft Lauderdale.
Well, off to bed. Tomorrow is a full day of seminars and classes.
Steve Lord and Jeff Gregory own and operate a travel agency in Denver Colorado, www.all-inclusivevacations.com
It’s 10pm EST, Tuesday Nov 17th as I am writing this. Jeff and I arrived into Ft Lauderdale from Denver on a delightful Southwest Airlines flight about 4pm. We gathered our bags and hailed a taxi for the 10-minute ($12.50) ride to our host hotel, the Embassy Suites. This Embassy is located adjacent to Terminal 18. Our room turned out to be # 922 which happens to overlook a good size shopping center, and of course, the Oasis of the Seas. This is the perfect hotel for clients arriving a day early for their cruise vacation. And, Wow! We couldn’t have asked for a better room.
We quickly changed into slacks and shirt and made our way down to the vendor tradeshow. There were representatives from all the major CLIA cruise lines; Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Holland America and many more. We picked up many brochures and business cards to take back to the office with us. But, our favorite booth was the one manned by the Ft Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. It was there we met Josh Winston. Josh is 32, works for the CVB, and he loves promoting tourism to his city. Of the many things he told us about Ft Lauderdale, Josh said in particular there are two sight-seeing tours everyone should take when they come to Ft Lauderdale. The first one is taking the guided tour at Sawgrass Recreation Park. This is an airboat tour in the Florida Everglades www.sawgrassrecreationpark.com. The second must-see tour is the Water Taxi www.watertaxi.com . The Water Taxi starts at 10am and runs to 13 different stops all day long. You can get off and get back on at any stop along the route, all day long for one price. It’s a great way to see the highlights and experience the history of Ft Lauderdale.
Well, off to bed. Tomorrow is a full day of seminars and classes.
Steve Lord and Jeff Gregory own and operate a travel agency in Denver Colorado, www.all-inclusivevacations.com
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Oasis of the Seas, from a travel agent's perspective
Oasis of the Seas…Blog entry #2 November 15th, 2009
Oasis arrived with much fanfare, to her home, Port Everglades in Ft Lauderdale FL, on Friday morning November 13th
From here she will take a series of short, “shakedown” cruises to be sure her staff and systems are 100% functional for the first revenue customers on December 5th. I will be on one of those shakedown cruises, November 20th to 22nd. My name is Stephen Lord and I am a travel agent in Denver Colorado.
I’m fascinated by her size. There is nothing larger than the Oasis floating on water. The Oasis has 2,700 cruise cabins. At double occupancy, this equates to 5,400 guests. With triples and quads, her population can swell to 6,300. Add another 2,100 crew members and you begin to realize the enormity of potential problems. And with that largess, come a need for a much larger cruise ship Terminal and a more technologically advanced infrastructure.
Port Everglades and Broward County (owners of the Pier) spent 75 million dollars and took 22 months to triple the size of Terminal 18, just to handle this ship (and her sister Allure of the Seas due out in 2010). # 18 is the largest, and technically innovative, single- ship terminal in the world. It has 90 check-in counters, digital signage (that can be updated in a moment’s notice) to direct the flow of traffic and keep people moving. Obviously, RCCL would be worried about long lines of people.
For it’s part, Royal Caribbean says there will be no back-ups! RCCL claims that your cruise vacation will begin the moment you arrive at the Terminal. Terminal advances and their new system of online check-in promises to take guests from “the Curb to the Cabin” in 15 minutes. I will let you know.
But, if she’s that big, where will she go? Well, with a draft of 30 feet, cruise ports that hope to lure-in this ship (and her potential economic gains) have to “super-size” as well. Nassau Bahamas, St Thomas USVI, St Maarten, Costa Maya Mexico, Cozumel Mexico, Falmouth Jamaica, and Labadee Haiti (RCCL’s private island experience) are currently the only cruise ports large enough (and deep enough) to handle our gal.
In my next entry, I will talk about the on-board experience. There is nothing like Oasis in the fleet of any other cruise line. Restaurants, entertainment, and organization are all on steroids when it comes to Oasis of the Seas
Stephen Lord and Jeff Gregory own All-Inclusive Vacations, an agency specializing in vacation travel, located in Denver Colorado www.all-inclusivevacations.com (303) 980-6483
Oasis arrived with much fanfare, to her home, Port Everglades in Ft Lauderdale FL, on Friday morning November 13th
From here she will take a series of short, “shakedown” cruises to be sure her staff and systems are 100% functional for the first revenue customers on December 5th. I will be on one of those shakedown cruises, November 20th to 22nd. My name is Stephen Lord and I am a travel agent in Denver Colorado.
I’m fascinated by her size. There is nothing larger than the Oasis floating on water. The Oasis has 2,700 cruise cabins. At double occupancy, this equates to 5,400 guests. With triples and quads, her population can swell to 6,300. Add another 2,100 crew members and you begin to realize the enormity of potential problems. And with that largess, come a need for a much larger cruise ship Terminal and a more technologically advanced infrastructure.
Port Everglades and Broward County (owners of the Pier) spent 75 million dollars and took 22 months to triple the size of Terminal 18, just to handle this ship (and her sister Allure of the Seas due out in 2010). # 18 is the largest, and technically innovative, single- ship terminal in the world. It has 90 check-in counters, digital signage (that can be updated in a moment’s notice) to direct the flow of traffic and keep people moving. Obviously, RCCL would be worried about long lines of people.
For it’s part, Royal Caribbean says there will be no back-ups! RCCL claims that your cruise vacation will begin the moment you arrive at the Terminal. Terminal advances and their new system of online check-in promises to take guests from “the Curb to the Cabin” in 15 minutes. I will let you know.
But, if she’s that big, where will she go? Well, with a draft of 30 feet, cruise ports that hope to lure-in this ship (and her potential economic gains) have to “super-size” as well. Nassau Bahamas, St Thomas USVI, St Maarten, Costa Maya Mexico, Cozumel Mexico, Falmouth Jamaica, and Labadee Haiti (RCCL’s private island experience) are currently the only cruise ports large enough (and deep enough) to handle our gal.
In my next entry, I will talk about the on-board experience. There is nothing like Oasis in the fleet of any other cruise line. Restaurants, entertainment, and organization are all on steroids when it comes to Oasis of the Seas
Stephen Lord and Jeff Gregory own All-Inclusive Vacations, an agency specializing in vacation travel, located in Denver Colorado www.all-inclusivevacations.com (303) 980-6483
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Oasis of the Seas, from a travel agent's perspective
Oasis Blog Entry 1…Nov 11, 2009
There’s a brand new cruise ship afloat; the biggest one ever built. And it’s called Oasis of The Seas. She left the shipyard in Finland on October 30th and will arrive at her new homeport in Ft Lauderdale Florida on Friday Nov 13th. Oasis is owned by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, but she is the dream come true for hundreds of cruise industry visionaries. This Blog is designed for experienced cruise travelers in that I will point out to you how the Oasis is different from the other “mass-market” cruising vessels.
I. From Vision to Vessel
II. Bigger size means bigger needs
III. The on-board experience
Royal Caribbean was born in 1968. In 1970, the company built it’s first Leisure Cruising Ship, The Song Of Norway. Today Royal Caribbean operates a fleet of 20 ships. The Oasis and her sister-ship Allure, will bring that total to 22.
From it’s inception, Royal Caribbean has been “imaginative” in designing their cruise experience, and they have been “innovative” in how they deliver that experience. In short, RCCL thinks “outside the box”. They don’t see limitations and neither should you, especially when it comes to this new class of ship. It is so big, there is room for everything.
Steve Lord and Jeff Gregory are full-time travel agents and own the company, All-Inclusive Vacations, Inc. of Lakewood Colorado. They attended a 2 night inaugural sailing of the Oasis of the Seas November 20th to November 22nd 2009 out of Ft Lauderdale FL. To contact All-Inclusive Vacations, call or e-mail to (303) 980-6483 or info@all-inclusivevacations.com
There’s a brand new cruise ship afloat; the biggest one ever built. And it’s called Oasis of The Seas. She left the shipyard in Finland on October 30th and will arrive at her new homeport in Ft Lauderdale Florida on Friday Nov 13th. Oasis is owned by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, but she is the dream come true for hundreds of cruise industry visionaries. This Blog is designed for experienced cruise travelers in that I will point out to you how the Oasis is different from the other “mass-market” cruising vessels.
I. From Vision to Vessel
II. Bigger size means bigger needs
III. The on-board experience
Royal Caribbean was born in 1968. In 1970, the company built it’s first Leisure Cruising Ship, The Song Of Norway. Today Royal Caribbean operates a fleet of 20 ships. The Oasis and her sister-ship Allure, will bring that total to 22.
From it’s inception, Royal Caribbean has been “imaginative” in designing their cruise experience, and they have been “innovative” in how they deliver that experience. In short, RCCL thinks “outside the box”. They don’t see limitations and neither should you, especially when it comes to this new class of ship. It is so big, there is room for everything.
Steve Lord and Jeff Gregory are full-time travel agents and own the company, All-Inclusive Vacations, Inc. of Lakewood Colorado. They attended a 2 night inaugural sailing of the Oasis of the Seas November 20th to November 22nd 2009 out of Ft Lauderdale FL. To contact All-Inclusive Vacations, call or e-mail to (303) 980-6483 or info@all-inclusivevacations.com
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Royal Caribbean, Oasis of the Seas
Hi Everyone, I just found out that I will be in balcony cabin 8210 on board the Oasis November 2oth to the 22nd. I am so excited!
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