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Azamara Club Cruises is a proud member of the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. family of cruise lines.
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Monday, July 16, 2012
Azamara Club Cruises - Christmas in July Day 1
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Our CruiseOne Travel Agency Seeing Spike in River Cruise Sales
Viking River Cruises
River cruising continues to rise in popularity across both the United States and abroad, especially among travelers seeking more intimate experiences to more exotic locales. Despite the myth that river cruising is only for the retired set (and it is a myth), river cruising is emerging as a popular vacation for younger travelers who want to immerse themselves in the culture of a region while enjoying the creature comforts of home. This is such an incredible way to discover a region as you can literally just step off your ship right into their world.
With a variety of innovations - from excursions to onboard amenities river cruising is a segment of the travel and tourism industry that can now offer something for everyone. Here are our three reasons why a river cruise should be a must on every traveler's bucket list:
1. Exotic Destinations. Getting up close and personal with Egypt and the enchantment of Cleopatra on the Nile or taking in the charm of the Mississippi are all possible on todays' river cruises. AmaWaterways has added more interesting locations with cruises in Namibia, Russia, Vietnam and Cambodia. Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection is also even offering travelers a unique journey through Italy's Po River, beginning in 2013. These destinations open up access to places unreachable by large ships and create an intimate connection with the cities they visit. The best part about river cruising is the views - most ships are 100% balcony staterooms, including those aboard Uniworld's Douro Spirit or Avalon's Victoria Jenna.
2. Experiential Cruises. River guests can enjoy trips tailored to their tastes with programs just for them. Food and wine aficionados should consider the `Culinary Delights' itinerary from AmaWaterways. Once aboard, guests can work with a local chef to plan menus for their entire voyage, shop in local markets for ingredients and prepare their own meals!
Guests seeking more adventure can sign-up for bike tours that let you travel alongside the ship from port to port, taking in the scenery as you go. Tech-savvy travelers who need to stay connected will now have access to onboard Wi-Fi and those looking to stay fit will love the fact that most river vessels now have onboard gyms.
3. More Choices. As river cruising demand continues to boom, more ships and destinations are being added for cruisers to experience. Avalon and Viking, for example, are both expecting significant capacity increases in their fleets for the 2013 season. Viking will add six new longships in 2013 and Avalon will introduce two additional ships. Cruisers are also finding more choices while aboard from customized dining experiences on and off the ship, to specialized excursions.
River cruising continues to highlight the destinations it serves by immersing cruisers in the culture. Whether it is because of the out-of-the-box destinations, local flair or intimate venues, more travelers are opting for river cruises to truly escape.
As innovation shapes the industry and more people see the value in river cruising,
finding the right ship - and itinerary - can be tricky.
A professional travel agent can step in and help navigate the options, offering the right choice for your personality, interests and budget.
For more information, give us a call so we can make your river cruise dream come true! 866.566.6677 or e-mail us at nreal@cruiseone.com
With a variety of innovations - from excursions to onboard amenities river cruising is a segment of the travel and tourism industry that can now offer something for everyone. Here are our three reasons why a river cruise should be a must on every traveler's bucket list:
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| Nile River |
2. Experiential Cruises. River guests can enjoy trips tailored to their tastes with programs just for them. Food and wine aficionados should consider the `Culinary Delights' itinerary from AmaWaterways. Once aboard, guests can work with a local chef to plan menus for their entire voyage, shop in local markets for ingredients and prepare their own meals!
Guests seeking more adventure can sign-up for bike tours that let you travel alongside the ship from port to port, taking in the scenery as you go. Tech-savvy travelers who need to stay connected will now have access to onboard Wi-Fi and those looking to stay fit will love the fact that most river vessels now have onboard gyms.
3. More Choices. As river cruising demand continues to boom, more ships and destinations are being added for cruisers to experience. Avalon and Viking, for example, are both expecting significant capacity increases in their fleets for the 2013 season. Viking will add six new longships in 2013 and Avalon will introduce two additional ships. Cruisers are also finding more choices while aboard from customized dining experiences on and off the ship, to specialized excursions.
River cruising continues to highlight the destinations it serves by immersing cruisers in the culture. Whether it is because of the out-of-the-box destinations, local flair or intimate venues, more travelers are opting for river cruises to truly escape.
As innovation shapes the industry and more people see the value in river cruising,
finding the right ship - and itinerary - can be tricky.
A professional travel agent can step in and help navigate the options, offering the right choice for your personality, interests and budget.
For more information, give us a call so we can make your river cruise dream come true! 866.566.6677 or e-mail us at nreal@cruiseone.com
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Uber Cool Coca Cola Machines on Royal Caribbean
Coca-Cola® and Royal Caribbean Introduce Freestyle Machines Onboard
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Hi my name is Bob Midyette, and I am the Director of Fleet Beverage Operations for Royal Caribbean International and our wonderful luxury line, Azamara Club Cruises. Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time to witness evolution leap forward, skipping what should be its next logical iteration. Here is an example of that.
Three years ago, I was invited to visit Coca-Cola¿s corporate office to explore our future efforts together. My gracious hosts were escorting me to various behind the scenes and highly restricted areas, like the famous Coke boardroom (I did not sit in Warren Buffets chair, but I did think about it) and the time capsule-like persevered office of Robert Woodruff President from 1923-54, where all the items in his office, or on his desk, are exactly where he left them.
Up to this point it was a surreal experience and the tour continued to a few more unique areas. However the best was saved for last, and just after lunch I was escorted to the Coca-Cola Innovation Lab for the final series of meetings. This hidden and tightly secured laboratory is a combination of the design lab at Apple and Willy Wonka¿s chocolate factory, (minus the peculiarities of the movie host). I found myself immersed in a world of futuristic flavors, packaging, machines, and technology. I worked very hard to keep my hands in my pockets and not lick the wallpaper, ever mindful of those naughty children from the movies. Eventually I was lead into a separate, purposely non-descript room, further sequestered from all of the other innovations. This was where I saw it, and for the remaining day and a half of my meetings with Coca-Cola, pretty much all I could think of. What was it that captured my attention so completely? It was not the fizzy lifting drinks, although cool, they are still not quite perfected.
It was a machine, designed by Ferrari, with the interface of an iPad (remember this was before the iPad even existed) and 125 flavors of various Coke products, all in a footprint smaller than the standard vending machine.
It was beyond sexy, it was über cool.
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Using medical micro dosing technology, flavor cartridges just slightly larger than those of the standard ink jet printer opened a world of flavors never available before (Orange Coke, anyone? or Peach Fanta Zero?). It was like going from an IBM series 700 mainframe to an iPhone 4, skipping everything in-between. After a series of conversations, Coca-Cola agreed to work with us on being the first cruise line to deploy the Freestyle machine.
From that point forward, Coca-Cola and Royal Caribbean began the effort to integrate the changes needed for the machines to work onboard our ships, which included a few health code modifications for a marine environment as well as the addition of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) to use with our souvenir soda cups. The RFID cups allow guests to serve themselves for the period of their voyage and automatically expire after their voyage.
I am pleased to finally say that in early June, our multi-year efforts came to fruition. We completed the first installation of Coca-Cola Freestyle on Majesty of the Seas, with several other ships (all U.S. based) scheduled this year. We expect the deployment to continue well into 2013. As far as the Coca-Cola Innovation Lab, I have not been invited back since my initial visit, but if I do, I hope to find something else astounding to bring to the Fleet¿and I¿m not ruling out the fizzy lifting drinks either, by then they just might have it perfected.
Hi my name is Bob Midyette, and I am the Director of Fleet Beverage Operations for Royal Caribbean International and our wonderful luxury line, Azamara Club Cruises. Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time to witness evolution leap forward, skipping what should be its next logical iteration. Here is an example of that.
Three years ago, I was invited to visit Coca-Cola¿s corporate office to explore our future efforts together. My gracious hosts were escorting me to various behind the scenes and highly restricted areas, like the famous Coke boardroom (I did not sit in Warren Buffets chair, but I did think about it) and the time capsule-like persevered office of Robert Woodruff President from 1923-54, where all the items in his office, or on his desk, are exactly where he left them.
Up to this point it was a surreal experience and the tour continued to a few more unique areas. However the best was saved for last, and just after lunch I was escorted to the Coca-Cola Innovation Lab for the final series of meetings. This hidden and tightly secured laboratory is a combination of the design lab at Apple and Willy Wonka¿s chocolate factory, (minus the peculiarities of the movie host). I found myself immersed in a world of futuristic flavors, packaging, machines, and technology. I worked very hard to keep my hands in my pockets and not lick the wallpaper, ever mindful of those naughty children from the movies. Eventually I was lead into a separate, purposely non-descript room, further sequestered from all of the other innovations. This was where I saw it, and for the remaining day and a half of my meetings with Coca-Cola, pretty much all I could think of. What was it that captured my attention so completely? It was not the fizzy lifting drinks, although cool, they are still not quite perfected.
It was a machine, designed by Ferrari, with the interface of an iPad (remember this was before the iPad even existed) and 125 flavors of various Coke products, all in a footprint smaller than the standard vending machine.
It was beyond sexy, it was über cool.
From that point forward, Coca-Cola and Royal Caribbean began the effort to integrate the changes needed for the machines to work onboard our ships, which included a few health code modifications for a marine environment as well as the addition of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) to use with our souvenir soda cups. The RFID cups allow guests to serve themselves for the period of their voyage and automatically expire after their voyage.
I am pleased to finally say that in early June, our multi-year efforts came to fruition. We completed the first installation of Coca-Cola Freestyle on Majesty of the Seas, with several other ships (all U.S. based) scheduled this year. We expect the deployment to continue well into 2013. As far as the Coca-Cola Innovation Lab, I have not been invited back since my initial visit, but if I do, I hope to find something else astounding to bring to the Fleet¿and I¿m not ruling out the fizzy lifting drinks either, by then they just might have it perfected.
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