Tripatini: The Blog

by Max Pesling

When I spent several hours visiting Oasis of the Seas last week, I certainly shared the sense of being overwhelmed, described by fellow Tripatini member Marcia Levin in her blog post. Yep, I do have to hand it to the designers — in spite of this 20-story behemoth’s mammoth size and complexity, it’s indeed surprisingly easy to navigate and classier in many of its features than I expected — the crushed-velvet furnishings in the Dazzles nightclub, the elegant design of the peaceful indoor-outdoor Solarium, to cite just two. The fare I sampled at the Windjammer Marketplace buffet was quite tasty. Everyone with whom I spoke seemed duly impressed.

And yet, would I want to spend a whole week on the Oasis? Eh, not so much. Call it a matter of taste, but I’m simply not nearly as much of a cruise fan as is Marcia and many like her. Throughout my entire life, I’ve always strongly preferred to travel as an end to a means — meaning a destination — rather than the means in itself. So spending a lot of time lounging around a big floating hotel was never my thing. In fact, probably my favorite cruise to date was on a ship in the Med that was fairly modest in both size and amenities; what really made the experience for me was the shipboard comfort and convenience of not having to constantly pack and unpack, combined with active shore visits each day between Athens and Istanbul, to fascinating places like Delos, Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, and Kusadasi/Ephesus. Granted, I would rather have spent several days in each port instead of part of one, but on balance, it was a great way to take in an island sampler in comfort and a reasonable amount of time.

But with the Oasis and its upcoming sib Allure of the Seas, it seems clear it will pretty much be all about hanging out on the ship and being aggressively entertained nearly 24/7. The upcoming itineraries bear this out, heavy on days purely at sea or stopping off at either at ersatz “private beaches” or ports like Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas, which has been largely turned into a glorified shopping mall (there’s already recreational shopping and malls at every turn at home — what’s so special about yet more of same at sea or in port, I wonder?). Furthermore, I found parts of the Oasis a bit crowded even at a couple thousand passengers short of full capacity; I do wonder how it’s going to feel once it starts sailing at its full 5,400-passenger occupancy. You won’t be able to just stroll into the theater without a reservation, that’s for sure, and who knows what kind of waits you’ll have to endure for those fancy FlowRiders, mini-golf, and zip line?

Well, whatever. I’m sure the Royal Caribbean folks have done all their homework, and chances are the Oasis and the Allure will indeed be successes. And if it’s not my cup of tea, that’s certainly not your problem. You still have to wonder, though, where does it all end? Once the economy starts firing up again, the cruise-ship arms race is likely continue spiraling out of control. What would be next, an 8,000-passenger ship? 15,000? Seagoing roller coasters, snorkeling lagoons, and swimming with dolphins? And what will be the effect — environmental and otherwise — on ports of call of such ever growing monsters disgorging ever more massive hordes of daytrippers?

Eh, don’t mind me too much, I guess — even now, I’m still reeling a bit from all that sensory overload. And in the travel world, there’s certainly as much a place for this kind of mass tourism as, say, exquisite boutique inns, camping safaris, or off-the-beaten-track solitude. I just have to hope that, as once happened with the nuclear arms race, the battle at sea eventually stabilizes and moderates before the industry collapses under its own ever growing weight. And if you scoff at that, remember that just a couple of years ago, many even supposedly smart people thought the real estate bubble would keep expanding forever.

by Marcia R. Levin

O…M…G…

Words almost fail. I’ve been covering the cruise industry for many years, but I can tell you right now that experiencing the beauty, sophisticated design, and of course sheer size of Royal Caribbean’s newest, largest and definitely most impressive cruise ship will forever be one of my bigger “wow” travel moments.

Yesterday I got off a two-day introductory cruise on the Oasis of the Seas, blown away not just by bells and whistles not long ago undreamed of, but also impressed by the ease with which passengers maneuver around this mega-to-the-max vessel. And yet, I have to agree with Royal’s CEO Richard Fain, who told us, “Bigger does not mean less personalized.”

Fain added that Oasis is “one-third familiar, one-third evolutionary and one-third revolutionary,” and the numbers on this game-changer tell a good part of the story: 16 passenger decks and capacity for 5,400 guests in 2,700 double-occupancy staterooms that start at 170 square feet; 2,191 crew members; four pools and 17 whirlpools; 25 dining spots (nine of which are specialty restaurants involving an extra fee and one, the Solarium Bistro, with menu items with calorie counts of 500 or less); 37 bars and lounges. Other superlatives include an expansive, two-level spa/fitness center; a kids’  facility that’s the largest in Royal’s fleet; a family-friendly open-air promenade with a full-size merry-go-round; and another open-air promenade that’s elaborately landscaped, parklike, and lined with restaurants and bars.

Décor is low key meshed with cutting edge, and signage is among the best at sea today. It includes interactive maps and charts for restaurant reservations, as well as well lighted corridors and elevators (with button pads to the left and the right of the doors). Entertainment choices are varied; choose from a casino with smoking and non-smoking sections, jazz and comedy clubs, a huge indoor theater, and an outdoor aqua theater for water shows. For more active pursuits, you’ve got a zip line, a pair of FlowRider surfing simulators, two huge rock climbing walls, an ice-skating rink, and a sprawling sports deck with copious space for mini golf, basketball, and volleyball.

And despite the scale, and the hugeness of certain spaces such as the promenades, I found in roaming the ship that much of it somehow manages to feel unexpectedly cozy. I had no trouble finding my cabin, the media room, a cocktail party venue, the dining room, and casino (yes, my evening’s entertainment), all without so much as a wrong turn, thanks in part to well designed signage and no you-can’t-get-there-from-here elevators or stairwells.  I found the design superb and while I don’t know I’ll ever get used to a balcony overlooking the vast interior spaces like the Boardwalk (in my case) and Central Park instead of open ocean, I do appreciate the open feel it imparts. Besides, unlike with the Voyager-class ships where this concept debuted, there is blue sky above (and, if you crane your neck, blue sea at the end).

So, yes, Oasis definitely raises the bar significantly on cruise ship design and amenities, with the sheer multiplicity of dining and entertainment choices, plus innovations such as duplex suites; dedicated comedy and jazz clubs; the zip line; elaborate kids’ areas on different decks depending on age, even the first seagoing cupcake shop. And thanks to the current economic contraction, it could well turn out to represent the industry’s high-water-mark for quite some time.

Oasis will start Caribbean itineraries in early December, with seven-night fares starting at $1,199; it will be joined in late 2010 by a similar sister vessel, Allure of the Seas.