Video: Royal Caribbean's Splendour of the Seas Enhancement Project

The latest Royal Caribbean International ship to undergo their revitalization process is Splendour of the Seas. The ship is currently in drydock at the Navantia shipyard at Cadiz, Spain. Splendour is assigned primarily to the internationally-sourced market. When it emerges from the drydock on November 25 (2011) it will head to Santos (Brazil) for the austral summer season there.

Video: Norwegian Gem Rescues Five

Five Canadians probably owe their lives to the captain and crew of Norwegian Gem. They seem to be alive today because the Norwegian ship came to their rescue Saturday in the North Atlantic and was willing to delay its return to New York by a half an hour.

Saturday morning (Oct 29, 2011) Norwegian Gem responded to a call from the US Coast Guard about a 39-foot sailboat (Sanctuary) which was in distress two hours away from their position.

Norwegian Gem was returning to New York from Bermuda, and the sailboat was located about 350 miles from New York. The sailboat had four men and one woman aboard. It had large waves breaking over its bow, had lost power and its life raft, and was taking on water.

Norwegian Gem's captain, Hankan Svedung, immediately changed course to intercept the sailboat.

Once on the scene, Svedung said they encountered extreme weather conditions with winds up to 40 knots and large swells, which made it challenging to launch Norwegian Gem's rescue boat. Once they did get it in the water, it made contact with the rescue boat and quickly transferred the five people to the cruise ship. Those extreme conditions can be seen in the video when the rescue boat is under way from Norwegian Gem to Sanctuary.

About four hours after receiving the initial call, Norwegian Gem once again set its course for New York, and it arrived only about 30 minutes late on Sunday morning. The five Sanctuary passengers disembarked there along with Norwegian Gem's other passengers.

"This rescue operation was conducted under extremely difficult circumstances," said Captain Svedung. "I am proud of our crew who braved their lives to rescue the five people in distress."

The Coast Guard-provided video above was shot from a USCG Hercules C-130 aircraft which was launched from Air Station Elizabeth City to coordinate the rescue from the air.

The video below was shot by a passenger from aboard Norwegian Gem during the rescue:

New Chef Brings New Menu to 150 Central Park

150 Central Park is one of the more elegant restaurants aboard Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas, and on October 29, it will have a new executive chef, Michael Schwartz. He has created a new menu for the establishment, and in this video, you have a chance to preview his Chef's Table.

Fincantieri Lays Royal Princess Keel

Construction began today at Fincantieri's Monfalcone (Italy) yard on Royal Princess. The first 500-ton block of the ship's keel was laid in the dry dock with completion set for spring of 2013.

We also have computer-generated renderings of the ship on the CND website.

New Video from Ft. Lauderdale Promoting Pre- & Post-Cruise Stays

Ft. Lauderdale's Convention & Visitor's bureau is starting a new push for cruise passengers' pre- and post-cruise stays. In conjunction with that they have created this clever video starring an unnamed cabin steward and one of those towel animals that magically appear on our beds. Along the way, it, of course, answers the question, "What's there to do in Ft. Lauderdale?"



There’s more information about pre- and post-cruise stays on the CVB’s website at http://www.sunny.org/welovecruisers/.