Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas Entertainment

Oasis of the Seas sleeps 6400 passengers when full.  However, the main showroom only seats 1300. So how will the Oasis of the Seas handle all 6400 passengers seeing the show?  Will they run 4 evening shows each day?

"Unlike other cruise lines, where space is a limitation, and public rooms are used for more than one type of activity, and because of the size of the Oasis of the Seas they will have dedicated space to a comedy club, a Jazz club, dance club and main show room. All the entertainment choices will be going on at the same time.

Vicki Freed, senior VP of Royal Caribbean,  says the main production show will be performed three or four times during a cruise, with guests using electronic tickets via their Seapass card. "The guests can choose the performance that fits best in their schedule," says Freed. "You may recall that the Norway used to have the main production show on four times."

Celebrity's New Change in Cuisine

Celebrity has already dribbled out info over the past few months about onboard features of the upcoming Celebrity Solstice: larger staterooms, glass blowing, nightlife elements, the Lawn Club. But they've saved the most important feature for last: a change in cuisine.

Gourmet dining has long been a hallmark of Celebrity. Celebrity was among the first to announce a celebrity chef--Michel Roux in 1995. But Roux is gone from Celebrity, and it's perhaps time for something new. In Roux' place at Celebrity now is Blau & Associates, which, while not exactly a household name, helped transform Las Vegas dining from cheap buffets to some of the trendiest restaurants in the world. Elizabeth Blau was most notably involved with Bellagio, MGM/Mirage, and, more recently, the Wynn Las Vegas. These hotels sport some of the coolest dining establishments in Vegas, and it's not just the food, it's the ambiance, too. When we dined at the Wynn in Vegas this September, we noticed the crowd was very boomerish--not coincidentally, the target market for the Solstice series ships.

Ten Restaurants For Solstice
Even the restaurant in Manhattan where Celebrity made the announcement this week about Solstice cuisine was symbolic--Per Se is not only noted for its cuisine and presentation but for its mood and surroundings. Adam Tihany, who created Per Se, as well as Le Cirque in New York and Seablue in Las Vegas, will be designing several of Solstice's 10 dining venues: the two-level Grand Epernay dining room, Tuscan Grille, and the casual Oceanview Café and Grill on the
ship's lido deck. All promise unique features--the Grand Epernay, for example, will feature a two-story glass wine tower.

Along with Blau & Associates, Celebrity VP of Food & Beverage Jacques Van Staden is seeing to the menus of the different venues. And they will be very diverse. The Tuscan Grille steakhouse will have guests enter "through an archway reminiscent of a Napa Valley wine cellar." Silk Harvest for Asian cuisine includes "cocktails created with ginger root and acai berries."

Late night dining is being redefined on Solstice with Bistro on Five, which will feature a variety of specialty crepes, complemented with sandwiches, soups, quiche, fish & chips, and chicken pot pie nearly around the clock.

There will be a coffeehouse (Cafe al Bacio & Gelateria), and, as announced earlier, Blu will feature "clean cuisine." Plus, in a nod to continuity, there's Murano; Celebrity Century boasts a restaurant of the same name, and judging from descriptions of entrees like spice-roasted duck with raisin-apple compote, Solstice's Murano will be similar to Century's.

Plus, there are an unusual number of casual options, with AquaSpa Café next to the Solarium, Mast Grill & Bar next to the pool, and, most interestingly, the Oceanview Café and Grill, which will be Tihany-designed and have menus that "change to reflect the regions in which the ship is sailing." Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Celebrity says the venue offers plenty of outdoor seating for soaking up the sun as well as inside dining.

NCL Hawai'i Fleet Adjustments

That mysterious stop sell on NCL America has at last been explained. NCL will withdraw the Pride of Aloha from the Hawaii market effective May 11, 2008. The announcement came just one week after the Pride of Hawaii was officially reflagged as a foreign vessel. The Pride of Hawaii stayed in NCL's fleet and will be used for Europe sailings this summer under the name Norwegian Jade. However, the Pride of Aloha is being transferred to Star Cruises and will be reflagged and deployed in Asia in the summer of 2008.

That leaves the Pride of America as the sole remaining year-round ship in Hawaii for NCL America. Guests booked on Pride of Aloha from May 11, 2008 and beyond can be transferred to the newer Pride of America at the same rate.  The Pride of America departs on Saturday (as opposed to scheduled Sunday departures for Pride of Aloha).

It's another big blow to the U.S. flag industry. Approximately 1000 crew, the vast majority from North America, worked on Pride of Aloha.

In other ship news involving NCL America, the Associated Press reported this week that the former Independence of American Hawaii Cruises, which was purchased by NCL for $4 million at an auction back in 2003, was towed out of San Francisco on Friday, apparently heading to Asia. AP said it was not clear yet if it will be destined for a scrap yard in India or Bangladesh or used for a casino ship in Asia. Back when NCL purchased the vessel, execs had said it would be renovated and used for U.S. flag cruising.