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Live from the Oasis Event in NYC


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Hey everyone,

 

We're here in New York at the Nokia Theater at the Oasis event . I'm going to be sending in mini-reports as new tidbits are revealed!

 

First up: The second of seven neighborhoods is going to be "The Boardwalk." Passengers will find a vintage carousel, a tattoo parlor and ice cream bar. There'll also be a place to have your fortune told -- if you dare.

 

The area opens up to outdoor amphitheater looking out onto the sea, with swimming during the day and performances at night. There's also a water fountain that puts on a light show.

 

Melissa

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They've introduced a new category of deluxe double decker suites. These are two-deck accommodations that are set up like lofts. The "living" area is downstairs and the bed is upstairs.

 

1 Royal Loft Suite

2 Sky Loft Suites

25 Standard Crown Loft Cabins, including one for disabled guests

 

The balconies on these look huge too, large enough for full extension on a lounger.

 

Also, just as there are cabins that will overlook Central Park, so too will there be cabins overlooking the Boardwalk.

 

We're working on getting some photos. Stay tuned!

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Goldstein has opened the floor to questions, and CEO Richard Fain has joined him on the stage. The first question? What's the total capacity of the ship with third and fourth passengers included in cabins (until now the line has only revealed the passenger capacity based on double occupancy, which is 5,400). Goldstein says that with third and fourth people included in cabins the ship will be able to hold up to 6,300 passengers.

 

6,300 passengers! :eek:

 

Eric

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They've introduced a new category of deluxe double decker suites. These are two-deck accommodations that are set up like lofts. The "living" area is downstairs and the bed is upstairs.

 

Also, just as there are cabins that will overlook Central Park, so too will there be cabins overlooking the Boardwalk.

 

We're working on getting some photos. Stay tuned!

 

 

So, I wonder if the living area downstairs has an ocean balcony and the bedroom upstairs has the balcony overlooking Central Park! That's the best of both worlds!

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Live updates from : http://www.usatoday.com/travel/cruises/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=51507930.blog

12:28 PM EST: Good afternoon, Cruise Loggers. I'm here at the Nokia Theatre at Times Square in New York, where Royal Caribbean has laid out a (Royal Caribbean) blue carpet, complete with rope line, to welcome guests to what they're promising will be quite the extravaganza. The line has invited hundreds of people for the big unveiling, including the media, travel agents, investors, Wall Street analysts and foreign dignitaries from the ports where the ship will dock. I'll be back in a moment as the event begins (be sure to hit the refresh button on your computer as you follow along to see the very latest).

12:38 PM EST: It looks like it'll be a few more minutes until the event begins, but I already have a bit of news: The itineraries planned for Oasis. A brochure handed out in the press room here shows an Eastern Caribbean itinerary from Fort Lauderdale to Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; and Nassau, the Bahamas. It will alternate with a Western Caribbean itinerary to Labadee, Haiti; Falmouth, Jamaica and Cozumel, Mexico.

12:44 PM EST: An update on those itineraries: the ship will sail the Eastern Caribbean exclusively until April, 2010. The Western Caribbean voyage begins alternating in starting in May, 2010.

12:53 PM EST: They've opened the doors and most of the crowd has taken their seats here at the Nokia Theatre. A hint of what may be coming: There are merry-go-round horses hanging from the ceiling.

12:57 PM EST: The show has begun with . . . a Royal Caribbean dancer doing one of those hanging-from-sheets-attached-to-the-ceiling performances. A sign of something to be unveiled?

1:04 PM EST: Royal Caribbean cruise director Ken Rush has appeared to MC the event, introducing a video now playing showing illustrations of what's coming, and it includes . . . a new neighborhood called Boardwalk that will have amusements. "It will feel a little like you are on the Boardwalk at Atlantic City," Royal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain says in the video.

1:06 PM EST: Another big reveal just showed off in the video . . . an amphiteater on the back of the ship for water-based shows. And now the video is showing us double-decker loft apartments.

1:07 PM EST: And yet more. The ship will have a Royal Promenade that is twice the width of the ones on the line's Voyager and Freedom class ships. Another innovation: A mezzanine level the overlooks the Royal Promenade.

1:10 PM EST: That's it for the big reveals. The video has ended and a beaming Royal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain has taken the stage. "We're beginning to answer the question I have been asked for a long time: Why have you decided to spend a billion or so dollars on something so large," he says. "And the answer is . . . we're listening to our guests (who say) we love the choices that you offer us."

1:14 PM EST: The head of the Royal Caribbean brand, Adam Goldstein, has taken the stage to talk about the ship's itineraries (which are as I mentioned earlier). One key tidbit is that the Eastern Caribbean cruises will begin Dec. 12, 2009, so that apparently is the date for the ship's maiden voyage. Now he's introducing dignitaries from the various ports on the schedule.

1:17 PM EST: Goldstein says the line will open bookings for the ship on Sept. 3.

1:19 PM EST: Apparently we're not going to get it all today. Goldstein notes that, with today's announcement, the line only has announced three of the seven "neighborhoods" planned for the ship (Central Park, Boardwalk and the Aquatheater).

1:22 PM EST: Goldstein has opened the floor to questions, and CEO Richard Fain has joined him on the stage. The first question? What's the total capacity of the ship with third and fourth passengers included in cabins (until now the line has only revealed the passenger capacity based on double occupancy, which is 5,400). Goldstein says that with third and fourth people included in cabins the ship will be able to hold up to 6,300 passengers.

1:26 PM EST: Will there ever be a ship larger than this one? Don't count it out, says CEO Richard Fain. "Voyager of the Seas was so large that we were convinced ships wouldn't get any larger," he notes. "But the response to that was so overwhelmingly positive and everyone enjoyed it so much that we found they want even more. At this point we don't envision anything larger, but we have learned to say never say never."

1:29 PM EST: In response to a question Goldstein notes that there will be 28 of the two-deck-high loft suites. Illustrations put up on the screen show soaring floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall windows with hip contemporary furniture.

1:32 PM EST: What will the fares be for the ship? Goldstein is coy on the question, noting that the line has until Sept. 3, when the ship goes on sale, to reveal such details. But don't expect a discount. "Customers are prepared to pay a premium to go on the latest and greatest ships," he notes.

1:36 PM EST: How did Royal Caribbean pick the ports for the Oasis itineraries? With a ship this big one key element was port facilities. "One of the things that we were very interested in is that each of the ports has a dock and we do not have to tender," notes Goldstein. To that point, Goldstein has some additional news for Royal Caribbean fans: After 25 years of tendering its passengers to the shore at Labadee, the line's private beach area in Haiti, the line will be building a dock.

1:40 PM EST: The issue of getting on and off has come up. "Those kind of questions are often asked, but actually it's just an issue of scale," says Fain. "We will have more than a proportionally larger number of ways for getting people and luggage off the ship (than current ships). We think this will be as good or better than our norm."

1:43 PM EST: Surprise . . . another gee-whiz reveal. The ship will have a zip line that let's passengers zoom across the ship, starting (if I heard it correctly) from the new Boardwalk area of the ship.

1:48 PM EST: Goldstein and Fain are wrapping up the question-and-answer session. Goldstein reiterates that there still are four more neighborhoods on the ship to be announced.

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Hopefully with 6,300 passengers they will not be tendering in port. Just getting on and off without tendering will be a major undertaking.

 

The latest blog entry indicates that the ports were selected because the ship could dock and not need tendering.

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Did ya'll see the pictures on the Oasis website? There will be a zipline (the zipline experience) over the boardwalk!!!! Wowzas!! It will be completely impossible for anyone to be bored while aboard.

 

I can't wait!!!! :D

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The Aquatheater has just been announced. This aft area (part of the Boardwalk) holds about 750 guests. They're going to have diving and water sports there in the largest pool ever built at sea. There will also be a new class of suites in this area, the Aqua Suites. The balconies from these cabins will allow for private viewing of performances that will occur nightly.

 

Another juicy detail: Cruising's first onboard zip line! Part of the Boardwalk, you start zipping nine decks above the "ground," sliding down diagonally from one side to the other.

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