South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Royal Caribbean ship to show off face-lift in Miami
Big slide, water park among gargantuan vessel’s upgrades
The behemoth that blew the rest of the cruise ships out of the water is 10 years old, and nearing the end of a twomonth face-lift that makes what is now one of the four largest cruise ships in the world look more like its younger sister ships.
Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas began a $165 million overhaul in September at Navantia Shipyard in Cadiz,
Spain that will see the ship receive iconic items that have been the highlight of 2016’s Harmony of the Seas and 2018’s Symphony of the Seas. It’s set to debut its changes when it arrives to PortMiami later this month.
Those include the 10-deck dry slide, The Ultimate Abyss, and the three-slide water park, The Perfect Storm.
“We get the chance to reimagine something which was truly unique even when she was built and delivered 10 years ago almost to the day to be honest,” said Kevin Douglas, vice president of fleet modernization for Royal Carib
bean Cruises LTD. “Almost every single space on the ship is getting touched, and this is quite something on such a large ship.”
The first of what is now four Oasis-class vessels, the 225,288-gross-ton ship had its maiden voyage Dec. 5, 2009.
Each Oasis-class ship has held the title of world’s largest cruise ship, with incremental size increase with each ship’s debut. Oasis of the Seas currently has 2,742 staterooms, but will be adding around 60 staterooms for more than a 5,500-passenger capacity based on double occupancy, which is similar to 2018’s Symphony of the Seas.
That includes a brand new category of suite, the Ultimate Panoramic Suite. Located above the ship’s bridge, these two suites feature 200-degree panoramic views with wall-towall, floor-to-ceiling glass windows. They can accommodate up to four guests each and are part of the highest end of suites on board the ship.
Taking parts from other Royal Caribbean ships, Oasis of the Seas will in addition to the top-deck dry slide and water park, also be getting the Splashaway Bay kids aquapark and a top-deck overhaul with a Caribbean theme that mirrors the recent upgrades rolled out on Navigator of the Seas., faturing bright greens and oranges and a plethora of lounging options including shaded casitas, hammocks, swing seats and daybeds. Oasis will also feature a version of the new bar concept The Lime & Coconut that will come to the pool deck in two locations.
Two new venues will make their debut on Oasis of the Seas as well.
The venue Portside BBQ is a first for the cruise line, one of 23 dining options on board the ship. The casual pool deck eatery’s menu will include smoked marbled brisket, pulled pork and chicken, beef ribs, burnt ends, mac and cheese, cornbread, baked beans, coleslaw and desserts like a brownie-cookie concoction and an item called the Banana Dream. Also coming on board is the line’s recent quick-service Mexican venue El Loco Fresh.
Also new to the line is Spotlight Karaoke, located on the Royal Promenade, which will feature a main stage as well as two private rooms.
Borrowing from the Quantum-class ships will be the Oasis-class debut of Music Hall, which will feature live cover bands, dance floor, pool tables and loungers in a two-deck offering. Robotic bartenders will also make it on board, as the Bionic Bar, which debuted on Quantum of the Seas, but has been rolled out across other Royal ships in the fleet, makes it on board.
On the Boardwalk, the line is rolling out its latest Playmakers Sports Bar & Arcade, this one with 80 TVs alongside classic bar and arcade games. It’s also only the second version with the Owner’s Box VIP room. For candy and ice cream, Oasis will be getting its own Sugar Beach, this one with a walk-up ice cream window.
The ship will also be getting makeovers to its spaces for younger cruisers, from babies to teens.
A new glow-in-the-dark laser tag theme will debut on the ship called Clash for the Crystal City, in which participants can choose to be either on team Yeti or team Snowshifters. An alien-themed laser tag debuted on Symphony of the Seas in 2018. For Oasis’ new escape room, the line has queued up “Mission Control: Apollo 18,” in which cruisers solve puzzles to launch the last of the Apollo moon missions in 1973.
The additions bring Oasis of the Seas up to the level of the line’s newer Oasis-class ships Harmony and Symphony of the Seas. The remaining Oasis-class ship Allure of the Seas is slated for an overhaul in 2020 while the fifth Oasisclass ship, Wonder of the Seas is set to debut in 2021 with a sixth unnamed vessel in 2023.
Each of the class of ships feature the seven distinct neighborhoods such as the Boardwalk and Central Park, the open-air green space in the middle of the ship. They can only home port at select terminals that can handle their size including PortMiami, Port Everglades and Port Canaveral.
The overhaul will see nearly 800 more tons added to the ship.
“800 tons sounds like a lot, but we’ll manage perfectly here,” said Chris Berglijung, ship manager for Royal Caribbean International marine operations. “The ship was built with plenty of stability from the beginning and this amplification will only make that better.”
Harmony of the Seas this year made its debut at Port Canaveral, taking over for Oasis of the Seas while Symphony of the Seas sails out of PortMiami and Allure of the Seas from Fort Lauderdale. All four ships are among the those that sail to the cruise line’s upgraded private Bahamas destination called Perfect Day at CocoCay. Allure of the Seas will begin sailing there this fall and Oasis of the Seas will make its first visit when it begins sailing from Cape Liberty next May.
The cruise line currently sails 26 ships including the new Quantum Ultra-class Spectrum of the Seas that debuted in April. It has three ships on order with one more Quantum Ultra ship and the two Oasis ships. The oldest in the fleet is the 48,563-gross-ton Empress of the Seas which debuted in 1990.
The $165 million investment into Oasis of the Seas is the most so far for any one ship in the cruise line’s $1 billion, 10-ship Royal Amplified program. This is the same program that put upgrades on Miami’s Navigator of the Seas as well as Port Canaveral’s Mariner of the Seas.
The planned 63-day overhaul began at the end of Oasis’ summer European sailing season in September. When it emerges, the ship will show off its new features sailing out of PortMiami for a winter season of seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean voyages beginning Nov. 24. In 2020, the line will send Oasis to the New York market, sailing out of Cape Liberty in Bayonne, N.J., starting in May.