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Disney Cruise Very Merrytime Sailings

Disney Very Merrytime sailings have the ships decked out for the holidays.  The 2014 dates are below.  2015 dates should be similar.

Disney Very Merrytime Sailings

Disney Very Merrytime Sailings

DISNEY MAGIC – Port Canaveral

Disney Magic Ship  –  7 Night Western Caribbean Disney Magic, Itinerary B, Port Canaveral

November 30, 2014 – 7 Night Western Caribbean Disney Magic

 

Disney Magic Ship – 7 Night Western Caribbean Disney Magic, Itinerary A, Port Canaveral

December 7, 2014 – 7 Night Western Caribbean Disney Magic

 

Disney Magic Ship – 7 Night Western Caribbean Disney Magic, Itinerary B, Port Canaveral

December 14, 2014 – 7 Night Western Caribbean Disney Magic

 

Disney Magic Ship – 7 Night Western Caribbean Disney Magic, Itinerary A, Port Canaveral

December 21, 2014 – 7 Night Western Caribbean Disney Magic

 

Disney Magic Ship – 7 Night Western Caribbean Disney Magic, Itinerary B, Port Canaveral

December 28, 2014 – 7 Night Western Caribbean Disney Magic

 

DISNEY WONDER – Miami

Disney Wonder Ship – 5 Night Western Caribbean Disney Wonder, Itinerary B, Miami

November 28, 2014 – 5 Night Western Caribbean Disney Wonder

 

Disney Wonder Ship – 4 Night Bahamian Disney Wonder, Itinerary B, Miami

December 3, 2014 – 4 Night Bahamian Disney Wonder

 

Disney Wonder Ship – 5 Night Western Caribbean Disney Wonder, Itinerary A, Miami

December 7, 2014 – 5 Night Western Caribbean Disney Wonder

 

Disney Wonder Ship – 5 Night Western Caribbean Disney Wonder, Itinerary B, Miami

December 12, 2014 – 5 Night Western Caribbean Disney Wonder

 

Disney Wonder Ship – 4 Night Bahamian Disney Wonder, Itinerary B, Miami

December 17, 2014 – 4 Night Bahamian Disney Wonder

 

Disney Wonder Ship – 5 Night Western Caribbean Disney Wonder, Itinerary A, Miami

December 21, 2014 – 5 Night Western Caribbean Disney Wonder

 

Disney Wonder Ship – 4 Night Bahamian Disney Wonder, Itinerary E, Miami

December 26, 2014 – 4 Night Bahamian Disney Wonder

 

Disney Wonder Ship – 5 Night Bahamian Disney Wonder, Itinerary C, Miami

December 30, 2014 – 5 Night Bahamian Disney Wonder

 

DISNEY DREAM – Port Canaveral

Disney Dream Ship – 3 Night Bahamian Disney Dream, Itinerary A, Port Canaveral

November 28, 2014 – 3 Night Bahamian Disney Dream

 

Disney Dream Ship – 4 Night Bahamian Disney Dream, Itinerary A, Port Canaveral

December 1, 2014 – 4 Night Bahamian Disney Dream

 

Disney Dream Ship – 3 Night Bahamian Disney Dream, Itinerary A, Port Canaveral

December 5, 2014 – 3 Night Bahamian Disney Dream

 

Disney Dream Ship – 4 Night Bahamian Disney Dream, Itinerary A, Port Canaveral

December 8, 2014 – 4 Night Bahamian Disney Dream

 

Disney Dream Ship – 3 Night Bahamian Disney Dream, Itinerary A, Port Canaveral

December 12, 2014 – 3 Night Bahamian Disney Dream

 

Disney Dream Ship – 4 Night Bahamian Disney Dream, Itinerary A, Port Canaveral

December 15, 2014 – 4 Night Bahamian Disney Dream

 

Disney Dream Ship – 3 Night Bahamian Disney Dream, Itinerary A, Port Canaveral

December 19, 2014 – 3 Night Bahamian Disney Dream

 

Disney Dream Ship – 4 Night Bahamian Disney Dream, Itinerary A, Port Canaveral

December 22, 2014 – 4 Night Bahamian Disney Dream

 

Disney Dream Ship – 3 Night Bahamian Disney Dream, Itinerary A, Port Canaveral

December 26, 2014 – 3 Night Bahamian Disney Dream

 

Disney Dream Ship – 4 Night Bahamian Disney Dream, Itinerary B, Port Canaveral

December 29, 2014 – 4 Night Bahamian Disney Dream

 

DISNEY FANTASY – Port Canaveral

Disney Fantasy Ship – 7 Night Eastern Caribbean Disney Fantasy, Itinerary B, Port Canaveral

November 29, 2014 – 7 Night Eastern Caribbean Disney Fantasy

 

Disney Fantasy Ship – 7 Night Eastern Caribbean Disney Fantasy, Itinerary C, Port Canaveral

December 6, 2014 – 7 Night Eastern Caribbean Disney Fantasy

 

Disney Fantasy Ship – 7 Night Eastern Caribbean Disney Fantasy, Itinerary B, Port Canaveral

December 13, 2014 – 7 Night Eastern Caribbean Disney Fantasy

 

Disney Fantasy Ship – 7 Night Eastern Caribbean Disney Fantasy, Itinerary C, Port Canaveral

December 20, 2014 – 7 Night Eastern Caribbean Disney Fantasy

 

Disney Fantasy Ship – 7 Night Eastern Caribbean Disney Fantasy, Itinerary B, Port Canaveral

December 27, 2014 – 7 Night Eastern Caribbean Disney Fantasy

#QuantumOfTheSeas offers #broadband #internet speeds at sea – @RoyalCaribbean

Oasis of The Seas offers broadband internet speeds

Oasis of The Seas offers broadband internet speeds

Like Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class ships, Quantum of the Seas (Quantum Class) ships will be getting super fast broadband, as we detailed here.  The Quantum class ships will have speeds that compare to onshore broadband speeds.  Royal Caribbean is stepping up the game here, it will be interesting to see how quickly other cruise lines react.

 

 

MIAMI, November 10, 2014 – She’s smart, fashionable, tech savvy and incredibly adventurous, and she’s poised to bring the cruise industry into the 21st century.  Royal Caribbean International’s newest cruise ship Quantum of the Seas arrived into her homeport of Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, NJ today, bringing with her a wave of unprecedented first-at-sea features and amenities.  Superfast wireless connectivity, the world’s first robotic bartenders, a skydiving simulator, bumper cars, futuristic entertainment, and partnerships with celebrated chefs Jamie Oliver, Michael Schwartz and Devin Alexander, are just a small sample of what the modern age of cruising looks like onboard Quantum of the Seas.

“Quantum of the Seas isn’t just changing cruising, it’s changing how today’s traveler vacations,” said Richard D. Fain, chairman and CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.  “It’s not just how you travel, it’s the experience from start to finish.  With Quantum we are empowering our guests to customize every aspect of their journey, providing them with an unprecedented level of freedom and flexibility.”

The official naming ceremony for Quantum of the Seas will take place on Friday, Nov. 14 during the pre-inaugural celebration hosted by the ship’s godmother, Kristin Chenoweth.  Highlights of Quantum of the Seas include:

 

The Smartest Ship at Sea

Unprecedented levels of technology amp up the vacation experience onboard Quantum of the Seas which allows for the utmost in simplicity, efficiency and customization. Guests can be online and connected 24/7 should they choose to be, thanks to superfast wireless speeds that match broadband connections onshore, while RFID luggage tags provide the option of tracking luggage in real time through smartphones, and a downloadable app, Royal iQ, empowers guests to manage every detail of their vacation during the cruise. Not to mention robots! Technology also enables a number of surprise-and-delight elements on Quantum of the Seas, including a brand new venue, Bionic Bar powered by Makr Shakr that is set to make waves with robots at center stage.

http://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-release/1121/the-future-of-cruising-has-arrived-worlds-first-smartship-quantum-of-the-seas-sails-into-new-york-harbor-/

High Net #Bandwidth for Royal Caribbean’s #Oasis and #Allure @RoyalCaribbean

Using O3b‘s network of mid-orbit satellites, Royal Caribbean will be providing broadband-level bandwidth for the Oasis and Allure .  Instead of near-dialup speeds, the O3b network will be a game changer for cruise passengers wanting to have broadband, low-latency access to the internet.  Oasis and Allure signal the beginning of the race for other cruise lines to upgrade their internet capabilities.

Oasis Of The Seas

Oasis Of The Seas – lots of bandwidth

In part Royal Caribbean said:

By pairing a new generation of medium-Earth-orbit satellites (originally designed to bring the Internet to emerging markets like sub Saharan Africa) with sophisticated antenna arrays aboard its newest ships, the popular ships are vaulting competitors and delivering guests the kind of technology they expect in a connected world.

“Vacations aren’t just about getting away from it all for modern families anymore,” said Adam Goldstein, President & CEO, Royal Caribbean International. “A great vacation today also means keeping friends updated over social media, and enjoying downtime with streaming content played on tablets and phones, not just movies on TV in your stateroom.

“But matching or exceeding the best on-land service was a tough challenge when the nearest cell tower or cable hook-up was 1,000 miles away. That meant we needed some real breakthroughs, not just incremental increases,” Goldstein said.  “But real breakthroughs are what we do. And once we cracked the download code, we also got to dream up some pretty interesting new uses for all that connectivity. Our ships go to incredible places – and this makes getting there even more incredible.”

A set of new, custom-built antennae were shipped from Israel to Florida last month, and installed on Oasis of the Seas. Testing confirmed the ships’ ability to match the fastest broadband connections on shore.  “O3b, our satellite communications partner, calls it ‘fiber speed with satellite reach,’ and this is exactly the result we are seeing in our tests,” said Bill Martin, Chief Information Officer, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

 

See http://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-release/1085/boatloads-of-bandwidth-a-new-wow-for-oasis-and-allure/

Costa Concordia leads to new cruise ship regulations

Three new cruise ship regulations have been adopted:

1)  Passage Planning – although cruise lines have followed IMO guidance on passage planning for many years our policy now deems this to be a mandatory minimum requirement and enhanced by endorsement of the best practices contained in the International Chamber of Shipping’s Bridge Procedures Guide. Furthermore, under this policy each passage plan is to be thoroughly briefed to all bridge team members well in advance of its implementation and it is to be drafted by a designated officer and approved by the master.

2)  Personnel Access To The Bridge – to minimize unnecessary disruptions and distractions on the bridge we have adopted a policy that bridge access is to be limited to those with operational functions during any period of restricted manoeuvring or when increased vigilance is required.
3)  Lifejackets – In addition to the statutory requirement of carriage of lifejackets for each person onboard, we have adopted a policy of carrying additional adult lifejackets onboard each cruise ship in excess of these legal requirements so that the number of additional adult lifejackets to be provided must not be less than the total number of persons berthed within the ship’s most populated main vertical fire zone. This ensures that the number of lifejackets carried are far in excess of the number of persons actually onboard the ship.

For the full information release see: http://www.europeancruisecouncil.com/content/ECC%2024%20April%202012_Cruise%20Industry%20Announces%20Three%20New%20Safety%20Policies.pdf

Cruise ship set to retrace route of Titanic for 100th anniversary

The British liner Balmoral set sail along the route of the RMS Titanic. The ship left from the same dock where the Titanic ship had sailed 100 years ago. She sailed on Easter Sunday, April 8, 2012 while the Titanic sailed on April 10, 1912.

Disney Announces two new ships

Today Disney announced two new ships to complement the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder. They are being built by Meyer Werft shipyard, based in Papenburg, Germany. The Magic entered service in 1998 and the Wonder in 1999. The new ships will be two decks taller than the Magic and Wonder and with approximately 50% more tonnage.

Key West Lighthouse

The Key West Lighthouse is a nice stop when ships visit Key West.  Of course there are water activities and lots of historical stops.

There are often Key West Events that you could checkout when your ship is in port.  If you decide to go and stay on land, the calendar is handy too.

Key West Lighthouse

Key West Lighthouse