Domain Name Change

On 15th December we will be changing our website's domain name to rcifans.com. We will also be changing our email address. More details to come!

New Guest Blogger

Emma Gray is our new Guest Blogger over on our website. She has been on 5 RCI cruises and her favourite ship is Brilliance of the Seas. She will be posting some articles and posts about Cruising and Royal Caribbean. Keep an eye out for her articles on our website.

Check out Emma's blog at: emmastraveltales.blogspot.com

Gibraltar Explosion - Then and Now

In May 2011, several passengers on board Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas were injured after a fuel storage tank exploded next to the 4,000 passenger ship.  

I visited Gibraltar on my cruise on board Grandeur of the Seas and after 5 months, I thought it would have been cleared, but I was shocked to see the remains of the debris still at the side of the dock.

It seemed some what eerie to see the remains of something like this. It is a vision that I will never forget.

Grandeur of the Seas - The 3 Day Checkpoint!

Well, I can't believe it, I'm posting this message exactly 3 days before we depart on Grandeur of the Seas
That means we will be taking a weeks vacation from our website and other social pages. We will however be keeping you up to date on our voyage via Twitter. We will be tweeting a couple of updates throughout the week. During this time we would like to remind you not to be offened if we don't reply back to any of your mentions or emails.

We will be taking lots of photos and videos (3GB worth of SD card memory to be exact!) of our time on Grandeur of the Seas including a stateroom tour of our JUNIOR SUITE! Yes, in the last few days we recieved a free upgrade from Royal Caribbean International from a Balcony cabin to a Junior Suite. It's the first time ever we have stayed in a suite, so this experience will broaden our knowledge to help you even more with your cruising questions!

When we get back from the cruise, we will be writing a review about our cruise on Mikey's site, mikeyscruiseblog.com We will also publish a few videos on YouTube showcasing our time on Grandeur. We hope to also record a podcast about our cruise, when we get back, but this is still unconfirmed.



We hope to publish a farewell message just before we leave as well!

We will be back to normal on 31st October (in time for Haloween!) See you soon!!! Bon Voyage!

Guess That Cruise - The Reveal

We will be sailing on Brilliance of the Seas from Amsterdam on 2nd June 2012 around Norway!

Guess That Cruise! - Last Clue

Its the final clue and here it is...

We will be sailing from Amsterdam

Tune in on Monday for the reveal!

Guess That Cruise! - Clue 4

Clue 4

We will be sailing in June 2012

Tune in on Friday for the last clue! We'll be announcing the cruise and all the details on Monday!

Guess That Cruise! - Clue 3

First of all I would like to apologize for the delay in clue 3, we were busy on Monday improving our new look website. If you haven't checked out the new look site, then please check it out now! (rcifans.webs.com)

Clue 3

It is sailing from Europe

Tune in on Wednesday for the next clue!

Guess That Cruise! - Clue 2

Second Clue...

We will be going on a Radiance Class Ship...

Tune in next Monday for the next clue!

Save The Waves Program

The Save The Waves Program by Royal Caribbean is not talked about as much as it should be. The Program is ran by RCI to reduce waste, save energy and to leave as little of an environmental footprint as possible.

Simple things like recycling on board and re-using your towels could make a huge difference.  

Guest are also reminded not to throw cigarette butts into the ocean as this has an effect on the sea life and one butt can take around 100 years to decompose.

My views on new NCL ship names...

Although this story has nothing to do with Royal Caribbean. It has been a talking point with a lot of cruise fans for the past few weeks.

Norwegian Cruise Lines ran a competition with USA Today where cruisers were allowed to help name 2 new NCL ships. There were thousands of different names submitted. The 5 finalists for names were:

• Norwegian Bliss, first submitted by David Menker of Dallas, Texas
• Norwegian Breakaway, first submitted by Kim Powell of Lafayette, Louisiana
• Norwegian Escape, first submitted by Joseph Funigiello of Naples, Florida
• Norwegian Getaway, first submitted by Dennis Hultman of Vienna, Virginia
• Norwegian Journey, first submitted by Florence Pflaster of Carolina Shores, North Carolina

Kim Powell and Dennis Hultman will receive an exclusive invitation to the Christening Ceremony in 2013.  They will also receive  round trip airfare for 2, a balcony stateroom, transportation to the port and more.

A lot of cruise fans have been talking about the names chosen. All of them aren't particularly that great. For instance; The Norwegian Getaway sounds like it's part of a hit and run chase, playing the part of the 'Getaway Ship.' (I can't believe they chose this!) The Norwegian Escape could be escaping form Jail. My favourite though happens to be the main one they chose, Norwegian Breakaway. When I heard the final names for the two new ships, I suddenly thought of the Nestle Chocolate Bar, 'BreakAway'.
NCL Chief Executive, Kevin Sheehan said 'the ships epitomise both our Freestyle Cruising philosophy and our belief that these ships will offer a true respite, whisking guests away from the everyday routine and delivering the ultimate cruise holiday.' Out of all of the mentioned names, I would have personally chosen Bliss and Journey. These names feel calm and relaxful. The other two sound rebellious and rather negative.

My crumbly impression on NCL'S Breakaway class

Image: mikeyscruiseblog.com

Guess That Cruise! - Clue 1

Welcome to the new competition. Each week we give you a clue to what our next cruise will be. At the end of the weeks, you must then guess where we are going on the cruise.

First Clue...

We will be going on a 7 night voyage.

Tune in next Wednesday for the next clue.

Our Next Cruise

We are planning another cruise possibly in June 2012. Instead of just telling you where we're going, we thought we could have a competition to see who can guess the cruise.

Here's how it works...

Each week, we tell you a clue about the cruise, this could be something like the ships name or destination etc.
After we have given you all the clues, you the have to guess where we are going. The winner will be featured in our Newsletter.

The first clue starts on Wednesday!

Allure hits Hollywood!

I have recently been scowering YouTube for good videos to display on our site and I stumbled across the movie trailer to the brand new movie 'Jack and Jill' coming to Cinema's this fall, 11/11/11 (February 2012 for the UK). During the trailer, a particular scene caught my eye. Allure of the Seas is in the movie! Take a look...
 
The film stars Adam Sandler (Jack), who hates his identical sister (Jill) also played by Adam, but when he hears she is coming over for Christmas, he isn't all too happy. For a full synopsis of the film, we recommend visiting IMDb

Royal Caribbean denies stranding passengers...

Hurricane Irene: Royal Caribbean International has denied responsibility for leaving 145 passengers stranded in Puerto Rico as a ship left early to avoid Hurricane Irene. The passengers who had flown to the island missed their cruise when Serenade of the Seas left the port of San Juan three hours earlier than scheduled. The cruise line said port officials began to limit harbour traffic at 12:30 pm on Sunday, forcing the ship to leave three hours early. That evening the storm hit the island, affecting power to 800,000 homes. Fifteen of those left behind had bought airline tickets through the company and were given hotel accommodation for two nights and flown to Aruba on Tuesday to join the seven-night cruise. The remaining 130 had to cope for themselves without assistance from the company. A Royal Caribbean spokeswoman told US media: "Independent guests were advised of hotel availability in the area, but the expense was on them given that it was a weather-related event. There was no way to notify our guests of this change in departure time. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused our guests, but this decision was made by the Port of San Juan to ensure the safe transit of all guests and crew through the port. One passenger, Nicole Washington of Baltimore, told a Miami TV station that when she and her family arrived at the dock on Sunday around 5:30pm, the gates were locked and the ship had left. In the time before my cruise, they were contacting me and e-mailing me about things," she said. I can't believe this big, billion dollar company couldn't have contacted me to tell me the ship was leaving early. They had my phone number. More than a dozen ships have been forced to alter Caribbean itineraries this week due to Hurricane Irene which is now heading north towards the east coast of the US. A further 300 cruise guests were left behind at the port as they had not yet boarded the 2,758-passenger Carnival Victory, which was ordered to leave at 6pm instead of 10pm. Carnival Cruise Lines reportedly ?tried to contact all guests who didn't make the ship and was successful in reaching most of them?. Source: www.travelweekly.co.uk

Cruize Cast Podcast

We are buzzing about the fact that we will be appearing on an upcoming Cruize Cast podcast! Cruize Cast (http://www.cruizecast.com/) is a cruising podcast with an empasis on doing ports on your own. We will be chatting to hosts Kayleigh and James about how Royal Caribbean helps its passengers explore ports on their own, what is so special about RCI, discuss the loyalty program, childrens club and lots more! We are recording this weekend, so it should be on the website by the end of next week! Be sure to tune in!

Allure V Epic - Ultimate Finale Round

Round 1 - Looks...

Winner - Allure of the Seas

• in style with the rest of the RCI fleet

Loser - NCL Epic

• beauty is ruined by the adults only villas on top of the bridge.
• The villa decks look like it they were put on at the last minute.

Score: 1-0

Round 2 - Amenities...

Winner - NCL Epic

• Full of innovative features such as the Ice Bar, The Aqua Park and Bowling

Loser - Allure of the Seas

• amazing features
• not many innovative features as Oasis previously had them
• Dreamworks Experience is a great new innovation
• First Starbucks Coffee shop at sea

Score: 1-1

Round 3 - Destinations...

Winner - NCL Epic

• European and Caribbean route

Loser - Allure of the Seas

• Itinerary lacking something
• Allure and Oasis both in Caribbean - no variety

Score: 1-2

Round 4 - Children...

Winner - Allure of the Seas

• award winning youth program

Loser - NCL Epic

• Recess and Entourage lounge good idea

Score: 2-2

Round 5 - Staterooms

Winner - NCL Epic

• Solo Cabins
• Single Cruisers Bar

Loser - Allure of the Seas

• iPod Docks in all staterooms
• Bad layout
• Tight layout

Score: 2-3

Allure V Epic - Round 10!

It's the last round in the contest and if you haven't worked it out Epic can not win as the score is 6-4 to Allure. It's still interesting to see which ship has better Shows though. So read on to see who the winner of round 10 is. We will be posting the Ultimate Finale Round later tonight, to round up on all of the rounds and to get an overall winner! So make sure to tune in later on.

Shows...

Allure of the Seas

Well I am sure the first show that pops into every ones head is Chicago! One of the few Broadway shows on sea, and all of them are on RCI ships! There are more than just Chicago on Allure. How about a high class water diving show? How to Train Your Dragon Ice Show, part of the Dreamworks Experience and how about the Headline Show act. There are many more shows available throughout an Allure Cruise.

NCL Epic

The Blue Man Group is a great show available on Norwegian Epic, mixing science, variety and magic into the ultimate show! CirqueDreams and Dinner is an amazing place to watch circus acts while eating dinner! Legends in Concert is a one of the best celebrity tribute acts in the world and now its available to watch right on NCL Epic! The Second City Comedy Troupe are also on board NCL Epic to give you a spontaneous, unique form of sketch comedy! Theres load more great shows too!

Verdict

I think Epic should win this round because of the variety of shows available. All four shows featured above are different from most cruise lines. Epic also stages famous artists such as the Blue Man Group and The Second City. However, Allure has a great Broadway show, but then so does Oasis and Liberty. 

Allure V Epic - Round 9 Results

The votes have been counted and verified!
And I can now reveal the winner of Round 9 of the Allure V Epic Contest is... drumroll please!...

...

...

Allure of the Seas with the first Starbucks at sea!

Making the Contest score 6-4!

Guest Blogger

We are delighted to be the new Guest Blogger on http://www.lovecruise.co.uk/! We will be blogging some of the latest news stories, advice and our thoughts on cruising. Make sure to keep tuning in to see the posts! This is a big step forward for Royal Caribbean Fans and I hope you enjoy reading our blog posts! 

Plain Sailing!

As you may be aware, I (Jordan) visited Southampton for the day to take some pictures of Independence of the Seas. I had a fantastic time and enjoyed walking around the city. While I was there, I took some pretty cool pictures of Independence, the City Cruise Terminal and Carnival UK HQ. This post is just describing what I did that day.

Getting off the train, I walked straight to Mayflower Park. I had a huge grin on my face when I saw Independence docked. I felt pleased seeing this great ship once again, yet slightly disappointed that this time I would not sail her. I continued my walk to Mayflower Park. I was surprised by how far it is walking and the route is not that pedestrian friendly either. While I was walking I was surprised to see Carnival UK HQ. Several flags flew at the side of the building. The logos of Princess, P&O and Cunard for example. Mayflower Park is an ideal place for 'Ship Spotting' and I was slightly disappointed that the park wasn't maintained very well. In my eyes it could do with a rennovation. Graffiti lined the football/basketball court and it creates a negative impression on the area. Despite all that, Mayflower Park is a nice place to sit and watch the ships. I ventured along the road to see Ventura at the Mayflower Cruise Terminal. I couldn't find any good spots to take some photos. I decided to look around the town itself. West Quay is a huge shopping centre with some good shops. The Food Court is located on the top floor and has a balcony with an impressive view overlooking the rooftops of Southampton and a great view of Independence of the Seas in dock. I really enjoyed my time in Southampton and look forward to visiting again sometime in the future!

Allure V Epic - Round 9

Bars...

Allure of the Seas

Allure of the Seas has numerous lounges and bars around the cruise ship that are fun for relaxing or enjoying a drink or snack with friends or family. The most innovative bar on Allure is the Rising Tide Bar. A cocktail bar that elevates between the two neighbourhoods; Central Park and Royal Promenade. For passengers who enjoy elegant bars the Champagne Bar or Dazzles are great places to have a drink. For the people who like to have a party, why not soak up the party atmosphere in the On Air karaoke lounge. Another new innovation on Allure is the first Starbuck's at sea! Why not have a Frapuccino or Mocha while enjoying the buzz of the Royal Promenade? You can enjoy a quick drink at the Trellis Bar or enter the Vintages wine bar  located in Central Park. For jazz lovers, how about the Schooner Bar, a popular favourite on Royal Caribbean Ships, with a local pianist playing great songs. For the typical Brit, there's the Bow and Stern English Pub. These are only just some of the many bars on Allure of the Seas. And to be honest if you went to every bar on Allure, you might just have a hangover the next day!

NCL Epic

Spice H20 is a cool bar located at the aft of the ship that when the sun sets, turns into a adults only nightclub! The entertainment is non-stop as the pool floor rises to become a dance floor! The Bliss Ultra Lounge explains itself! Ultra Bliss! It's a hip, cozy, high energetic lounge. This too is an adults only bar after 10pm. The Epic Club Lounge is utter luxury! It is an exclusive private bar for Villa Guests where they can enjoy premium liquors and a taste of the high life! O’Sheehan’s Neighborhood Bar & Grill is a pub where comfort food and American classics are cooked 24 hours a day! you can watch sporting events on the Plasma screens. O’Sheehan’s also has three lanes of bowling, dart boards, pool tables, foosball and arcade games. The ultimate sporting bar! Shaker’s Martini Bar is a cocktail bar, for those who love a martini or cosmopolitan. Waves Bar is a relaxing poolside bar. Of course there are loads more bars on Epic, too many to mention all in fact.

Verdict
I find the Starbucks on Allure is an amazing innovation and I love the variety of bars. The same can be said about Epic. I especially like the O'Sheehan's Bar. This makes a dilemma for me. Two great bars on two great ships. For the first time we want your help to decide who you think should win this round. To cast your vote, simply choose the ship you want to win via the poll to the right of this post. Hurry though, votes close tomorrow! You can also send us your vote via Twitter, Facebook, Email or through our website. Get voting!

Allure V Epic - Round 8

Sorry for the delay in this round. We have been extremely busy recently. We should however continue as normal from now on.

Cleanliness...

Allure of the Seas

Allure of the Seas is a very clean ship, as are most ships. The constant fear of an out break of the Nuro-Virus is on the staffs mind. That is why you will regularly see staff cleaning public spaces such as handrails and lift buttons.

NCL Epic

The same can be said about Epic. All cruise ships are generally clean and NCL Epic is no exception.

Verdict

As both ship are both very clean, I have no decision, but to declare this round a draw.

What's all this about Smoking?

The main cruising news this month has to be the smoking ban on all Carnival Corporation companies, which include Carnival, P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises. This news story is not relevant to Royal caribbean International, but we decided to coment on it anyway, as it has got everyone talking.

There has been a big uproar about their decision to in force the ban, which includes smoking in some public areas and staterooms.

Well I cant see anything wrong with what Carnival Corporation is doing. In 2008 the UK government brought in the smoking ban, which is very similar to CC's idea. There were a few protests when the smoking ban came into force, but it is there for a simple reason, to let all passengers enjoy the public spaces without going back to your stateroom smelling of cigarettes. There are plenty of smoking areas on ships, such as a smoking lounge, for example. So I don't understand why there is a big controversy over it. I mean, it's not like Carnival Corporation is banning all smoking areas, right?

I think it is a great idea what CC is doing. Not all passengers want to be in a smoking atmosphere. Smoking is not as socially accepted like it was years ago.

We would love to hear your views on this one...

Contest Delayed

We are sorry that the Allure V Epic Contest has been delayed recently. We can now confirm that the contest will re-begin next Monday.

Allure V Epic - Round 7

Pools...

Allure of the Seas

Allure of the Seas has a pretty cool pool deck. I like the H2O Zone on board, which is a feature on board most RCI ships. The H2O Zone is a great pool for kids. It has water cannons, geezers and fountains. For adults, there is the adults only solarium located at the front of the ship. Adults can relax in a private pool and jacuzzi. There is also relaxing and comfortable seats to watch the waves go by. For everyone else, there are some cool pools, a normal pool and a great beach pool, where you can sunbathe on sunloungers while gentle waves roll under you. The Aqua Theatre at the aft of the ship is a pool in the day and a high class water diving act at night and is officially the deepest pool at sea (well excluding the ocean of course!)

NCL Epic

The water park on Epic is amazing. There are 3 multi-story water slides, five hot tubs, a wading pool and a kid’s pool that features sculptures, water sprays and a slide.

Verdict

I think Allure should win this one because I like the different pools available. I love the beach pool. When I went on Oasis, that was my favourite pool. Its a good concept. It was a hard choice, as I also like the Water Slides on Epic, but then I thought to myself other cruise ships have water slides and it's not that new.

Allure V Epic Contest - This weeks topics

Monday: Pools
Tuesday: Cleanliness
Wednesday: Bars
Thursday: Shows
                Ultimate Round (all topics discussed to get an overall winner)

If you have any topics that you think should be mentioned then please contact us.

Allure V Epic - Round 6

Cuisine...

Allure of the Seas

An amazing array of dining options are available on Allure. More than 20, in fact. The Adagio Dining Room is the main Restaurant on Allure, which spans over 3 levels and can seat 3,056 diners. The speciality dining options (Portofinos, Chops Grille, 150 Central Park, Samba Grill, Rita's Cantina, Izumi and many more) are great, if you don't want to eat amongst lots of other people and if you fancy a certain style of food (eg. Mexican, Italian etc.) The Windjammer Marketplace is a great buffet restaurant. If your feeling peckish, they have all different foods available.

NCL Epic

There are slightly less dining options on Epic than Allure. 17 instead of 20, but there is still a wide range of options for you to choose. The good thing that I find about NCL Epic is that they have a 'Freestyle Dining' approach, where you do not have a set time or table, you just come and sit where ever you like. There are some good and bad points about this. It means you can be more flexible with when you want to eat, but it means you don't build up that repertoire with your waiters that you would do with other cruise lines. Pizza 24/7 is a new program on board NCL Epic. You can have a full pizza delivered to just about anywhere on the ship (at a cost). Of course, there is always the option to enjoy NCL's 24-hour room service free of charge.

Verdict

I think Allure should win this round. This is because there are more dining options and more choice. I like Norwegian Cruise Lines 'Freestyle' Approach, but I personally like to get to know my waiters. I like Royal Caribbean's Speciality Restaurants, but I think they should be careful, not to fill the whole ship with 'additional charge' dining eateries.

Allure V Epic - Round 5

Staterooms...

Allure of the Seas

Allure of the Seas have good size rooms, that are light and airy.
Allure's staterooms are normal standard for Royal Caribbean, however I like the iPod docks in all the staterooms! One disadvantage is the layout of the cabin. I find they have tried to cram lots into the space. I went on Oasis of the Seas in 2010 and I was very disappointed with the layout. The bed was too close to the wardrobe and the air conditioning blew onto your neck when you were sleeping. It was a tight squeze to get from the door to the balcony as there was not a big enough gap between the dressing table and the end of the bed. I have been told that they have slightly changed the layout of the cabins, but I still believe they are not the best.

NCL Epic

Cool, funky and modern are 3 words I would use to describe Epic. A great layout and I love the sofa! One thing that I like, that NCL has done is the Solo Cabins for single cruisers. I love the bar that is exclusive for single cruisers aswell. It is a great idea.

Verdict

Without a doubt, Epic wins this round. This is because I love the Solo Cruisers option. I think this will lead the way into more cruise companies adding more single staterooms to their ships.

Allure V Epic - Round 4

For Children...

Allure of the Seas

Allure of the Seas has some pretty good activities and venues for children to hang out. For instance, Allure has a scheme called 'Royal Babies' where parents can send their babies aged 6-18 months. Royal Caribbean also have 'Royal Tots' which is the same, but for toddlers aged 18-36 months old. 'Adventure Ocean' is the award winning youth program for children aged 3-11 years, however this is seperated into smaller categories; Aquanauts for children 3-5, Explorers for kids 6-8 and Voyagers aged 9-11. They can do all sorts of activities from face painting to science experiments! For the older kids aged 12-14, there is a club where they can hang out and make new friends, play sports and check out games. For even older kids aged 15-17, they can try out lots of coll things onboard. A great place where kids like to hang out is the Arcade. it has all the latest machines that you would find on land, including Guitar Hero and more! Another great experience they might like is the Dreamworks Experience, an event not to be missed!
NCL Epic

On Epic, the Aqua Park is a great place that kids of all ages (including adults!) like to play on. Children can ride the flumes, swim in the pools and splash about! Another great place for kds onboard NCL Epic is the Recess lounge, theres an interactive dance floor, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii gaming areas, karaoke stage and a surrond sound cinema! You'll have to drag your kids out!
NCL have also teamed up with Nickelodeon to create the Nickelodeon Program, where children can meet all of their favourite characters, such as Spongebob and Dora the Explorer. You can also meet the characters at Breakfast Time!  You can dance and sing during Dora’s Music Party. Take part in activities such as Slime Time LIVE! Where two families compete in Nickelodeon’s signature messy game show and interactive poolside games with Nick Live Poolside. If thats not enough! you can always challenge your kids to a game of Bowling - The first at sea! Entourage is the hottest under 21 nightclub ever! it's perfect for teens! pinball, air hockey, jukebox, TV's and a cool dancefloor, it's the most trendiest place on the ship!

Verdict
It is a close call between Allure and Epic, but I think Allure should win because of its award winning youth program. I also like the 'Royal Babies and Tots' idea. However, I do like the sound of the Recess and Entourage lounge for the kids on NCL Epic.

Allure V Epic - Round 3

Destinations...

Allure of the Seas

Allure of the Seas is based in Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida alongside sister ship, Oasis of the Seas. She sails every saturday to the Eastern Caribbean via the Bahamas or Cozumel, Mexico. Fort Lauderdale is a very busy industrial port and by no means is it the prettiest port, but Port Everglades is one of the most popular cruising ports in North America. Nassau is another industrial island, but has lush clear sea and white sandy beaches. St Thomas is a less afluent island, but the port in which Allure docks is very beautiful, along with its traditional taxis. St Maarten is another industrial port, but the further you leave the ship the more beautiful the scenery gets.

NCL Epic

NCL Epic sails to the Western or Eastern Caribbean along with itineraries from Barcelona to the Western Mediterranean. She starts from Miami and goes to Costa Maya then to Cozumel. Epic also goes to St Maarten, St Thomas and Nassau on its Eastern Caribbean cruise. From Barcelona Epic sails to the Livorno, Civitavecchia, Naples, Palma and back to Barcelona. Both Itineraries offer fascinating sites and scenery.

Verdict

I believe NCL Epic should win this round because its itineraries are more interesting. The ship sails to fabulous ports. Although Allure has roughly the same itinerary to Epic in the Caribbean, Allure's itinerary lacks something. I think Royal Caribbean would gain sending either Oasis or Allure to Europe because it gives some diversity. Both RCI ships sail around the Caribbean and have done for around two years. Isn't it time for a new route?

Allure V Epic Contest Continues...

For those of you asking, yes the Allure V Epic Contest will continue on Monday. We do not post anything on our blog or website on Friday's, Saturday's or Sunday's. The contest will re-continue on Monday. Here are the contest schedules for the week;

Monday: Destinations
Tuesday: Children
Wednesday: Staterooms
Thursday: Cuisine

If you have any topics that you think should be mentioned then please contact us.

Allure V Epic - Round 2

Amenities...

Allure of the Seas
Although Allure has lots of amazing features, it doesn't actually have many new innovations. Ok, the Dreamworks Experience is a fabulous addition that people of all ages love. Another feature is the first Starbucks Coffee onboard, but excluding these and just a few others, there isn't actually that much new and innovative things aboard Allure. Oasis was full of world firsts like the carousel, zipline and two flowriders. Allure has all these features, but they are not as impressive as Oasis already has all these features.

NCL Epic
Epic is full of innovative features, such as the Ice Bar, 1 of 18 in the world and the only one at sea. It's a great idea! The Aqua Park is an amazing sector of the ship and dominates the middle of the top deck. Bowling is another great innovation. I find it impressive that a game that requires a flat surface without any movement could be built on a ship.

Verdict
I believe the winner of this round should be NCL Epic because the ship has so many new innovations. If this competition was between Oasis and Epic, I think Oasis would of won it, but beacuse it is Allure, there is not many new features. Epic has sailed through this round in my mind.  Bowling - This made up my mind that Epic should win because I find it impressive that a game that requires a flat surface without any movement could be built on a ship.

Score

Allure V Epic - Round 1

Looks...

Allure of the Seas
Allure is a thing of beauty considering its size, it is in style with the rest of the RCI fleet.

NCL Epic
NCL Epic is a beautiful and modern ship, its design is relatively compact compared to Allure, however the Adults Only section on top of the Bridge, makes the ship a little ugly. It seems like it has just been plonked on at the last minute and does not match the rest of the ships style.

Verdict 
I believe Allure should win this round as she looks more beautiful. Her shape looks natural and soft compared to Epic.

Score

Allure V Epic Contest

Over the next few weeks we will be asking questions about the two ships, in a competition to see which is best. Each question, we will discuss the factors of each ship and conclude with an answer of what we think is the best ship, after 10 rounds we will see the winner of the Mighty Ship race! You may be wondering why we choose these two ships, well, at this current time these ships are the most revolutionary vessels afloat and because their owned by different companies, a battle has begun to build the biggest and best!

Welcome to our new and updated blog!

Welcome to our new blog! We already had a blog, but over the past several months it has become neglected ever since we changed our web address from thenationofwhynot.webs.com to rcifans.webs.com. Well we have now decided to re-create the blog with an updated version and we hope to keep you updated with all the latest news and gossip on Royal Caribbean! We have made it easier for you to quickly find all the latest news with our, 'Latest News' feed. This is sourced directly from our website, so if we haven't posted on here for a while you can still access all the latest news! We would like to remind you that the articles displayed in the 'Latest News' section are extracted from other websites unless no 'source id' address is displayed. We do not take any credit for the content displayed in the section. Well I hope you enjoy reading the blog and don't forget to subscribe! From all of us from Royal Caribbean Fans we hope you have a great day and hope you enjoy your next RCI cruise!

If you do need any advice and information about your Royal Caribbean Cruise then please do not hesitate to visit our website or contact us via email