We may have an idea about one of the new shows coming to Odyssey of the Seas.

Senior Vice President of Entertainment for Royal Caribbean International, Nick Weir, has been teasing cruise fans on Twitter with hints about which show might be coming to Royal Caribbean's newest ship.

While Royal Caribbean has not officially announced the new entertainment lineup for Odyssey of the Seas, it appears there will be a show that celebrates showgirls in entertainment onboard.

Earlier this week, Mr. Weir said Odyssey would have, "the biggest cancan in cruise industry history", with a teaser of the sequence.

The biggest #CanCan in #CruiseIndustry history, (and the second biggest in the entire world, ever), coming to a #CruiseShip called #OdysseyoftheSeas, near you... soon. ;-) pic.twitter.com/JhYRzkxav9

— Nick Weir (@NickWeirShowbiz) May 18, 2021

After digging through Royal Caribbean's app, RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader twangster found a reference to a new show listed for upcoming Odyssey sailings.

The show is called, "Showgirl: Past. Present. Future" and is listed as having a 45 minute runtime, with the description as follows:

Our original production is a thrilling multi-sensory experience that uses bar-raising choreography and cutting-edge lighting and video effects to pay homage to the iconic siren of the stage — the showgirl — across the decades. 

A showgirl is a female dancer or performer in a stage entertainment show, and Las Vegas is famous for utilizing show girls in their acts, going back as early as the 1940s. Traditionally, Las Vegas Showgirls are classically trained dancers with skills in Ballet and Jazz dance.

Showgirls were first introduced at the Sands Casino for a show with Danny Thomas.

It is also worth noting Mr. Weir has an extensive history in working at Las Vegas, as he had a consulting firm based in Las Vegas, which catapulted him into the cruise industry when he worked with Celebrity Cruises to develop entertainment for the Solstice Class cruise ships.

Mr. Weir is no stranger to leaking details about new shows. In December 2020, he confirmed a show for the Two70 venue on Odyssey of the Seas known as "Oceanides".

Oceanides utilizes the roboscreen technology to show different performers on various screens that interact with each other as the screens move.

Two70 is the venue Royal Caribbean designed on the aft of its Quantum and Quantum Ultra class ships that offers immersive scenery on a 270 degree wall of floor-to-ceiling windows. 

The projection surface in Two70 measures 135 feet wide and 22 feet tall, and has a 12k digital screen along with  8-foot-tall, 4-foot-wide robotic screens.

Odyssey of the Seas is Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship, but her immediate plans are not yet known.  Her inaugural cruise season has been cancelled a few times, with sailings from Israel most recently cancelled.

It is not known yet when or where she will first sail from, but Royal Caribbean said a port in Florida is likely. She has scheduled sailings beginning in November 2021 from Fort Lauderdale, with 6- and 8-night Caribbean itineraries.

Royal Caribbean's restart plans in 2021 have hit another snag, as a second ship is having her entire summer season cancelled.

The cruise line announced Vision of the Seas' summer season from Bermuda in 2021 is now officially cancelled.

This affects Vision of the Seas Bermuda departures between June 26 – August 28, 2021.

In an email, Royal Caribbean said the past few weeks have been, "tumultuous", and that, "recent conversations have led to promising movement for the cruise industry and are the necessary steppingstones to get Royal Caribbean back."

Royal Caribbean sees the likelihood of cruises returning to the United States getting better each day, "and with that, U.S. travelers are increasingly showing a preference for more direct access to ports of departure."

Those on cancelled cruises have a few choices for compensation:

125% Future Cruise Credit: 125% Future Cruise Credit (FCC) which is based on the total cruise fare paid per guest and will be automatically issued on or before June 18, 2021. Taxes and fees, as well as any pre-purchased amenities or onboard packages, will be automatically refunded to the original form of payment within 45 days from the cancelation date.

Full refund: return the funds paid per guest when selecting this option on or before June 30, 2021. Guests can expect their refund to the original form of payment within 45 days from the cancelation date.

Vision of the Seas is the second Royal Caribbean cruise ship to have her entire summer 2021 restart season cancelled, following Odyssey of the Seas having her cruises from Israel cancelled.

She was scheduled to sail from Bermuda, and offer 7-night sailings down to Perfect Day at CocoCay.

With the announcement, this leaves now just three ships with firm restart plans for summer 2021: Adventure of the Seas from Bahamas, Anthem of the Seas from England, and Jewel of the Seas from Cyprus.

Some travel agents I spoke with seem to think one of the root causes of Vision's cancellation was poor sales, but the cruise line did not specify if that was the case or not.

In an email sent to guests, Royal Caribbean said, "our guests have reached out to us in overwhelming numbers to let us know they're waiting in anticipation for our U.S. debut."

In April, Royal Caribbean began subsidizing flight costs to Bermuda for Vision of the Seas cruises, with fares as low as $99 from New York.

When announced, Royal Caribbean said they were taking the risk of subsidizing fares to get bookings going. 

Official statement

Royal Caribbean issued a statement to the media about why they cancelled Vision's sailings.

"As we return to sailing, we continue to be committed to delivering memorable vacations informed by valuable feedback from our guests and travel partners. The likelihood of cruises setting sail from the U.S. this summer is greater each day, and with that, U.S. travelers are increasingly showing a preference for more direct access to ports of departure."

"The decision has been made to cancel Vision of the Seas’ summer season from Bermuda. While we are no longer homeporting from the island nation, we still look forward to bringing our guests to Bermuda with several ships across the Royal Caribbean fleet as we have for many years. As we get back to cruising, our close partnership with the Ministry of Tourism and the Bermuda Tourism Authority is still focused on working toward the common goal of getting the community back on its feet by helping revive local tourism."

"We are reaching out to guests and travel partners impacted by this change to assist with their options. This cancellation does not affect any other open deployments."

Cruise fans react

The news of Vision's cancellation spread quickly among cruise fans, along with speculation as to why the decision was made.

On the RoyalCaribbeanBlog message boards, CGTLH thinks the decision makes sense given the logistical issues facing this itinerary, "Sailing north-south along the Atlantic during hurricane season. Just seems to be a recipe for sailing delays and cancelations. Add to the mix the implied need of Freeport for provisions and fuel loading. Just seems too many bits that could have gone wrong."

twangster thinks there is more than meets the eye with the change, "The cruise lines all appear to be convinced that a US restart is imminent.  They know something we don't."

One of the major requirements before test cruises can begin looks to be a step closer for Royal Caribbean.

One of the mandates included in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plan for cruise ships to be able to restart sailings from the United States is for each line to  secure agreements with port and health authorities in the U.S. cities they plan to visit.

This requirement is part of the CDC’s Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO), and is intended to ensure health and safety protections for crew and passengers and port personnel prior to resuming passenger operations in a way that mitigates the risk of spreading Covid-19.

Royal Caribbean Group Vice President of Worldwide Operations, Captain Hernan Zini, spoke on Wednesday about Royal Caribbean Group's work to get its ships closer to be able to conduct test and revenue cruises.

Photo by Paul Crow

Captain Zini said that port agreement was submitted to the Florida Department of Health. 

Once that once Florida signs off on the plan, it can be submitted to the CDC. And once the CDC accepts the agreement, the Royal Caribbean group can make an application to the CDC to begin those test cruises.

Read more: Everything you need to know about Royal Caribbean test cruises

These port agreements are part of the Phase 2A of the CSO and need to be signed by executives from the cruise line, as well as port and state health authorities, as will as be approved by the CDC.  The agreement explains what the cruise terminal would do in the case of Covid-19 cases on a cruise ship, as well as how it intends to keep the cruise terminal and gangways sanitized.

Photo by Paul Crow

The agreement will also include information social distancing guidelines and plans for using commercial operators for any required evacuations at sea.

Each cruise line must have signed contracts with shore-side medical facilities to treat patients and shore-side housing facilities to isolate and quarantine sick passengers.

Explorer of the Seas arrived today to get crew members vaccinated at Port Canaveral, and Adventure of the Seas is due in port on Thursday.

Photo by Michael Bayley

 Royal Caribbean said they are hoping to vaccinate about 1,500 crew members.

Captain Zini told WFTV he likes what is happening right now as Royal Caribbean prepares, "We feel that the worst is behind us. And of course, we have to keep very focused on all the protocols, everything we need to do. But we feel very positive about what is coming."

Port Canaveral CEO Captain John Murray thinks while an exact date for cruises to restart is not yet known, they will be here this summer, "No specific date but I think you’re going to see it happen pretty quick."

"I think by summer we’ll have some ships sailing out of Port Canaveral and you haven’t heard me say anything that optimistic in a while."

Royal Caribbean's plan for the launch of Odyssey of the Seas will now move to an undisclosed port in Florida.

The cruise line announced it has cancelled Odyssey's planned inaugural season from Haifa, Israel last weekend, and that left Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship without a homeport or inaugural sailings.

It has been confirmed Odyssey of the Seas will sail from somewhere in Florida instead.

During a webinar with travel agents, Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed, confirmed Odyssey will sail from Florida, but did not disclose which homeport specifically.

"Where in Florida is she going to be? Well, this is like musical chairs, musical ships. So we will be telling you and sharing with you where in Florida as soon as we have more details," Ms. Freed explained. "But she is headed over to Florida now."

"This change of plans was driven by the safety, well-being of our guests, our crew and the surrounding community."

Royal Caribbean canceled the season due to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, although there was speculation the inability to get crew members vaccinated may have played a role as well.

There are three possible ports Odyssey could sail from in Florida that are large enough to handle a ship the size of a Quantum Ultra Class ship:

• Port Canaveral
• Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale)
• PortMiami

A crew member on Odyssey of the Seas told Crew-Center.com the ship is headed to Port Canaveral, although it is not clear if that is the new homeport, or just a logistical stopover.

Photo by Paul "Land Genie" Crow

Explorer of the Seas is in Port Canaveral today to vaccinate crew members, so perhaps Odyssey is only headed to Port Canaveral for a similar function.

Odyssey of the Seas is scheduled to sail from Fort Lauderdale in November 2021, when she will offer 6- and 8-night Caribbean cruises.

Delays are something Odyssey is not unfamiliar with, as there have been a number of plans cancelled going back to even before she was fully built.

Odyssey of the Seas was originally scheduled to be delivered in 2020, but that was pushed back to 2021 due to the global health crisis.  Then Odyssey's inaugural season from Italy was cancelled, and then redeployed to Haifa, Israel.

Celebrity Cruises just announced new protocols for guests sailing this summer that include changes to mask, vaccine, and shore excursion rules.

These protocols apply to summer cruises from St. Maarten and Athens, Greece.

During a webinar with travel agents, Dondra Ritzenthaler, Celebrity Cruises Senior Vice President of Sales and Trade Support & Service, announced a variety of new protocols for guests sailing on Celebrity this summer.

The policies are an introduction to the new protocols guests can expect once sailing on Celebrity Millennium beginning in a few weeks, as well as Celebrity Apex from Greece.

Here are the major health protocols announced:

• Guests 16 and above need to be vaccinated.  Previously the rule was 18 years old or older
• Fully vaccinated passengers can book third party shore excursions, and not limited to cruise line tours, if the port allows it.
  • Celebrity will advise guests onboard if they can go on their own or not, and/or need to wear a mask in port
• Onboard the ship, fully vaccinated passengers are not required to wear masks inside or outside while maintaining a safe distance from other passengers.
• Back to back sailings are permitted for fully vaccinated guests
  • Vaccinated cruisers on these sailings will take another antigen test before the second leg
  • Unvaccinated cruisers will have to take a second PCR test

The mask rule change is arguably the biggest policy shift, although those that are not vaccinated will still be required to wear masks. However, Ms. Ritzenthaler said you will not need to wear a mask while seated for dinner, nor outdoors.

"Mask requirements have been eased," Ms. Ritzenthaler shared excitedly, "fully vaccinated guests, masks are not going to be required, both inside and outside as long as you're not in a big, big crowd."

Ms. Ritzenthaler said what constitutes a big crowd is at the jurisdiction of the cruise line right now.

For guests 15 and below, they would have to wear masks in some situations, but not the entire cruise either, "If you're not vaccinated and you can't be vaccinated, you're 15 and below, then you will have to wear a mask if you're going from your room to the restaurant."

"But then when you're seated, you don't have to wear it and you don't have to wear it when you're outdoors."

Celebrity will also provide guests returning to the United States a Covid-19 test to re-enter the country, which is a policy Royal Caribbean said they would offer.

These new protocols are more of a preview of the full set of health and safety protocols it will release soon, which may also be tied to a restart of cruises from the United States.

Celebrity Cruises is the sister company to Royal Caribbean, and it is possible (but not confirmed) Royal Caribbean may have the same protocols.

Royal Caribbean has not revealed its own set of protocols, although it has a similar webinar scheduled on Wednesday with travel agents.

Royal Caribbean did confirm last week that masks will not be required at its private island of Perfect Day at CocoCay.

Celebrity Millennium will be the first Royal Caribbean Group ship to restart cruises from the Caribbean on June 5, with Adventure of the Seas following the next week on June 12.

The new protocols follow similar mask and Covid-19 restrictions being eased in the United States with more and more Americans now vaccinated.

Royal Caribbean's ships will have reduced capacity (around 50% initially) along with fully vaccinated adults onboard.

Judge Steven D. Merryday has ordered mediation for the State of Florida's lawsuit against the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

After hearing deliberations on May 12, Judge Merryday said Florida and the CDC must work out an agreement prior to June 1, 2021.

Rather than grant Florida their injunction against the CDC's Conditional Sail Order (CSO), the Judge wants the groups to come together to find an agreement.

Mediation is a common process in the courts where a neutral third person called a mediator helps the parties discuss and try to resolve the dispute.

While courts can mandate that certain cases go to mediation, the process remains "voluntary" in that the parties are not required to come to agreement. The mediator does not have the power to make a decision for the parties, but can help the parties find a resolution that is mutually acceptable. 

The only people who can resolve the dispute in mediation are the parties themselves. 

Mediation can proceed in a variety of manners once it begins, but it usually starts with a joint session where the process is laid out, and the role of the mediator is established.

Some mediators conduct the entire process in a joint session. However, other mediators will move to separate sessions, shuttling back and forth between the parties. If the parties reach an agreement, the mediator may help reduce the agreement to a written contract, which may be enforceable in court.

Florida Governor Ron Desantis filed the lawsuit against the federal government, United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and CDC, demanding cruise ships be reopened immediately.

Essentially, Florida believes the CSO is unlawful.

DeSantis criticized how long cruises have been shutdown without any end in sight, "I don't think you can just indefinitely shutter major, major businesses and cost all these jobs. So we want a way forward."

"We have people flying on airplanes, they're on buses, hotels, restaurants, theme parks, casinos, bars, you name it. But somehow the cruise is viewed as differently."

DeSantis pointed out to how effective the Covid-19 vaccine is, and believes that alone is proof enough to get cruises going again.

Governor DeSantis believes the CDC has no right to shutdown the cruise industry for this long, given the "very little evidence and very little data" provided by the agency.

There has been another tweak made to the rules for cruise ships that want to restart sailings from the United States.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a small update on Tuesday to its Operations Manual that address the tests given to cruise passengers at the end of their sailing.

Last week, the CDC added new rules for the type of tests that are required for fully and unvaccinated passengers.

Fully vaccinated passengers do not need to be tested at all, but not fully vaccinated passengers would need to undergo a NAAT or antigen test on the first and last day of the cruise, as well as when transitioning on back to back sailings.

Today's update changes that slightly, by only requiring disembarkation testing for not fully vaccinated passengers on cruises that are more than 4 nights in duration.

"All disembarking passengers if the voyage is more than 4 nights. Specimens may be collected up to 24-hours prior to disembarkation but results must be available prior to disembarking."

This is the third update to the operations manual by the CDC in less than a week.

The agency updated a handful of the rules on May 12, and then added the testing rules on May 15.  

These changes apply to the rules a cruise line must adhere to in order to offer test or restricted revenue cruises from U.S. waters.  Cruise lines must get each ship approved by the CDC in order to operate while the Conditional Sail Order (CSO) is in effect.

While these updates are a clear sign the CDC is working with cruise lines to address concerns, there are still a number of policies and procedures the CDC requires that lack common sense when taking into account the high levels of vaccinated passengers, as well as what is happening in society on land today.

Carnival Cruise Line President Christine Duffy told NBC News yesterday Carnival is working with the CDC, but cruise lines are still being held to a different standard than any other form of leisure travel.

Ms. Duffy pointed out other industries did not have to apply for permission to operate, or have a vaccine mandate in order to operate, "There's no mandate for any other business to have that requirement."

RoyalCaribbeanBlog readers were also perplexed at the changes. Loops wondered why the duration of a sailing factors into unvaccinated passengers getting tested or not, "Why would the length in time of the cruise matter?"

Royal Caribbean is as competitive in the cruise industry as any line, and part of vying for market share is occasionally "throwing shade" from time to time.

Like all companies that compete for money, customers, and notoriety, cruise lines play a game every day of trying to outdo other lines in nearly all aspects of operations. From new ships, to attractions onboard, to partnerships, there is no shortage of innovative change among the lines.

Sometimes, this game of one upmanship can get a little spicy, with public jabs at other lines, or simple bragging.  For consumers, it is as intriguing as it is fun to watch it all go down.

Over the years, there have been a few memorable times Royal Caribbean has gone off script a little bit and done or said something about other lines that left us with a smirk on our faces.

Here are the top five memorable times Royal Caribbean did or said something about another cruise line that got attention.

America's Cruise Line

The impetus for this post came just a few weeks ago when Royal Caribbean trademarked the phrases, "America's Cruise Line" and "America's Favorite Cruise Line".

These new filings for a trademark may not really mean much on the surface other than a new marketing plan, until you understand the timing of these trademarks.

The week prior, Carnival Cruise Line CEO Christine Duffy said in a video, "I've always said Carnival Cruise Line is America's cruise line."

A few days later, Royal Caribbean trademarked the phrase.  Hard to imagine that is not a coincidence.

Who's #1?

Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings teamed up recently to form an independent panel of health experts that will guide cruise lines in restart plans with a bevy of new protocols.

This is an example of two cruise lines working together towards a common cause, but the CEO's could not help having a little fun at each other's expenses, with Royal Caribbean having the last word.

In a television interview in September 2020 with both Richard Fain and Frank Del Rio, the host attempted to compliment Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line as the industry leaders of cruising, by comparing the two cruise lines to the #1 and #2 soft drink manufacturers, Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

While being complimented as the top two cruise lines is a pleasant honor, it is well known how much more dominant Coke is over Pepsi, and Mr. Del Rio couldn't help but quickly say that NCL was the Coke of the two.

Mr. Fain, equally feeling his cruise line was worthy of the top honor, quickly retorted back "In your dreams, Frank! In your dreams."

Being the fastest

It should be clear that cruise lines love to compete in pretty much everything, including internet speeds.

When Princess Cruises rolled out their MedallionNet internet access, they claimed it was the best wifi at sea.

During a question and answer session, a cruise fan asked Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley if Royal Caribbean would improve their onboard internet speeds to match.

Mr. Bayley dismissed the claim, "It was the fastest internat at sea, it is the fastest internet at sea, and it's going to be the fastest internet at sea."

"People can claim things, but we have got the fastest internet at sea."

Towel animals welcome

Back in April 2019, Norwegian Cruise Line made headlines when they announced they would no longer automatically create towel animals for all of its passengers on some of its ships.

The rationale was to reduce laundry load on its ships, which would help the environment.

The conservation effort was nice, but many cruise fans quickly pushed back on the decision because of the long standing tradition of having a towel animal waiting in their cabin.

A few days later, Royal Caribbean's social media team posted, "All towel animals welcome at Royal."

Boaty McBoatface

A British government agency held a competition in 2016 to name a new polar research ship, and the internet responded with the most ridiculous name it could come up with: R.R.S. Boaty McBoatface.

The man who came up with the name is James Hand, a public relations professional and former BBC employee.

Royal Caribbean saw all of this and decided to jump in and call the internet's bluff, by inviting Mr. Hand to help Royal Caribbean develop the name for a future ship.

"The people of the United Kingdom know the name of a great ship when they see it," said Michael Bayley, President and CEO, Royal Caribbean International. "Like the rest of the world, we fell in love with the name Boaty McBoatface when we heard it, and we knew immediately that Royal Caribbean could use James Hand’s talent to name our next ship."

Of course, this was all done on April 1st.

Bonus: trolling back

These are example of Royal Caribbean doing or saying something, but there was a great example of responding to a troll that I just could not leave out.

Celebrity Cruises (sister company to Royal Caribbean International) has a well-known female Captain, Kate McCue, who has no patience for trolls.

In late 2020, Captain McCue read a sexist comment attack towards her on TikTok, which said, "How can you be a captain? Your [sic] only a woman."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Captain Kate McCue (@captainkatemccue)

Captain McCue responded to the comment with her own snark, "Normally, when I’m scrolling through comments and I see something like this, I totally ignore it and move on with my life."

"But I think it’s about high time that I address this, because it’s 2020, and in this day and age, I’m shocked …that someone still doesn’t know the difference between you’re and your."

"So just a quick reference: You’re — as in ‘you are’ — like, ‘you are sexist.’ Your is something possessive, it belongs to you, like ‘your ignorance'. But don’t worry. I’m here for you. If you need any more clarification, you can find me here, in my captain’s chair."

It looks like there is a chance Royal Caribbean Group and MSC Cruises may come to an agreement on a new cruise terminal in PortMiami.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced a large preferential berthing rights agreement between the two lines.

Essentially, if this deal were to happen, it would provide a new cruise terminal at PortMiami, where Royal Caribbean ships would give  Royal Caribbean Group ships "first dibs" on access to the terminal if a ship would need to dock there, while MSC would also have access to the facility.

The agreement stipulates that Royal Caribbean is the primary third-party cruise line at the shared terminal facility and negotiate terms for minimum revenue guarantees, financing, timing, and construction of Berth 10, a facility which will be operated and maintained by the County and have shore power capability. 

According to Seatrade Cruise News, MSC was originally looking to work with Disney Cruise Line on a joint project that would include Berth 10. 

MSC had plans for a new cruise terminal project for births 8 and 9, with berth 10 available for another cruise line. However, Disney is now looking at a long-term agreement at Port Everglades.

Royal Caribbean also has a new cruise terminal at Terminal A, which opened in November 2018.

Royal Caribbean had been using Terminal G when Terminal A was not available.

Mayor Cava announced the accord, "As we work closely alongside our industry partners to usher in the safe return of cruising, I am pleased to recommend a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) between Miami-Dade County and Royal Caribbean Group to negotiate a preferential berthing rights agreement for the future shared cruise terminal at PortMiami."

"This MOI will be presented to the PortMiami and Environmental Resiliency Committee on June 8 and the Board of County Commissioners on June 15."

The shared cruise terminal will be the first of its kind at the port with the capability of simultaneously berthing three cruise vessels (at Berths 8, 9 and 10) by more than one cruise line. vessels (at Berths 8, 9 and 10) by more than one cruise line.

"This partnership will further solidify the Port’s role as a leader on innovation and sustainability, while generating more good-paying jobs and bringing more passengers as we work to bring back cruising stronger than ever," the Mayor said.

What are berthing rights?

A ship's berth is a designated location in a port used for mooring vessels when they are not at sea.  Essentially, it was what most people commonly refer to as "docking a cruise ship".

Parking a cruise ship is not like finding a parking spot for you car. Berths are limited in any port, and in a port as busy as PortMiami, there is limited availability to get a ship in on specific days.

Cruise lines have to pay to park their ships in a port. Depending on the port, there can be shared terminals or dedicated terminals.

As an example, Royal Caribbean built Terminal A to provide an exclusive spot for its ships to dock when they come to PortMiami.  Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival have similar facilities.

Preferential berthing rights are used when more than one cruise line uses a particular facility, and it basically means if more than one line wants to use the terminal on a given day, the line with preferential berthing rights gets the first opportunity.