Allure of the Seas to Offer Surprises
by CruiseMates Editor
May 13, 2010

Royal Carribean plans several exciting new features for Allure of the Seas plus Oasis, Freedom and Liberty of the Seas

While in the past Royal Caribbean has mostly built sister ships as exact copies of the first ship in any class, when Allure of the Seas debuts it will have several unique features not found on Oasis of the Seas. In addition, in order to keep the only slightly older but still innovative ships Freedom and Liberty of the Seas from becoming obsolete almost overnight solely because Oasis came along, the line will be adding several "Allure-style" attractions to those ships when they go in to dry dock early next year.

Allure of the Seas is the sister ship to the highly innovative Oasis of the Seas which debuted in December 2008. Allure will arrive in December 2010. Freedom and Liberty of the Seas are two sister ships of the class that was the largest in the world just before Oasis was introduced. Oasis is 220,000-tons, while Freedom is 160,000-tons. Freedom was introduced in 2006.

The first new feature to be added to Allure of the Seas not currently on Oasis will be a 3-D movie screen, using the same polarization process that made the movie Avatar so popular. The movie screen will be installed in the main theater and will show movies on a regular schedule. Meanwhile, this same 3-D movie screen will be installed on Oasis of the Seas in January 2011.

Not to be left behind, Freedom and Liberty of the Seas will be getting outdoor movie screens installed in the pool areas of the top decks for movies under the stars.

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Changes in the culinary offerings are also in store for Allure when she debuts. The Boardwalk will feature a The Boardwalk Dog House - serving up an array of hot dogs at no charge. Guests can choose from traditional hot dogs, wieners, brats, sausages and other linked meats coming on a split long bun with a variety of toppings. The Dog House will be situated where the donut shop is located on Oasis of the Seas.

Speaking of sweet treats; the Cupcake Corner on Oasis is such a hit that it will soon be coming to Freedom and Liberty of the Seas. There is a small charge for these cupcakes on Oasis and the forthcoming Allure, which often led people to the donut shop outdoors. But with these three new cupcaked ships the donut option will not be available.

Another change coming to the Boardwalk on Allure will be the replacement of the Seafood Shack with Rita's Cantina offering Mexican fare such as shrimp, ceviche, tostadas and warm tortilla chips with salsa and fiesta guacamole. Entrées will include fajitas, fish tacos and chipotle flautas. Rita's also will offer the widest selection of margaritas at sea featuring authentic and all-original recipes with an extensive selection of quality tequilas to be served on the rocks or foo-foo fruit-flavored frozen drinks.

For nighttime entertainment, Rita Cantina's "Fiesta Zone" will be showing live guitar music for drinks and dancing.

Another fun food activity that has been started on Oasis and is soon to be rolled out to all four ships is the Chocolate Buffet Breakfast. The first one was just held on Oasis of the Seas and over 2000 people showed up. On the menu one can begin with either hot chocolate or a chocolate milkshake, or both. You move on the chocolate pastries such as eclairs, chocolate croissants and of course, donuts. For the main entree you can choose from the carmelized banana waffles or pancakes with a chocolate syrup, among other options.

Also new to Allure of the Seas will be a Guess Boutique where guests can choose from a wide selection of trendy and bold Guess handbags, wallets, watches, shoes, jewelry, eyewear and perfumes.

Also new to Allure of the Seas will be the Broadway musical "Chicago," already announced.

But Royal Caribbean also announced that yet another fully licensed Broadway show - yet to be revealed - will be coming to Liberty of the Seas. That will be the third Broadway show Royal Caribbean has licensed since Oasis became the first cruise ship ever to show a licensed Broadway show at sea. Royal Caribbean EVP of Marketing and Sales, Vicki Freed, said the only reason they are not adding a Broadway show to Freedom is because the show already running there is so popular it would be a mistake to take it off the ship.

However, another hit show currently on Oasis, Imaginocean created exclusively for Royal Caribbean by Tony Award-nominated John Tartaglia, will be added to the entertainment lineup on both Liberty and Freedom of the Seas. In addition, the Vintages wine bar on these two ships will also be receiving the "Enomatics" wine serving system made popular on the Celebrity Solstice-class of ships. These systems are also being added to the Millennium class of Celebrity.

Also being added to Freedom and Liberty is the same childrens program innovated on Oasis of the Seas; Royal Babies and Tots Nursery. The program is available for babies and tots six through 36 months and was developed exclusively for Royal Caribbean in partnership with Fisher Price and Crayola.

It is interesting and refreshing to see Royal Caribbean taking these steps to make new sister ships more unique. The truth is that in the past the line's sister ships were so identical one would be hard-pressed to tell them apart. This is no longer the case. We are also happy to see the new commitment to upgrading older ships by Royal Caribbean sooner. In the past the line would often wait until a ship was 10 years old before they refurbished it, but now they are adding significant upgrades to Liberty and Freedom of the Seas and these ships are only three to four years old.