Valencia

Valencia is emerging as an alternate departure port to Barcelona and Malaga. European companies such as Costa and MSC are placing big ships like Costa Serena and MSC Orchestra in Valencia for the summer season. Also Royal Caribbean has been using this port and Malaga for Adventure of the Seas itineraries in the summer season, but they will discontinue in 2013.

I must admit that the city has impressed me, it is very modern and with plenty of room. The Port is quite large and its expanding to improve their facilities and host large cruise ships (Adventure of the Seas docks in the cargo area)

But if we get to Valencia on a ship like Costa Serena it'll dock at the passenger terminal of Acciona near the exit of the port.

COSTA PACIFICA AT VALENCIA

OFFICIAL TOURS: The most common and popular is the Oceanographic and Palau de las Artes (built by the famous architect Santiago Calatrava)

ALTERNATIVES:

• We can go to Oceanographic on our own. From the port you can take a taxi to this area for 10 € . Here we can also visit Palau de las Artes y Ciudad de las Ciencias built by the famous architect Santiago Calatrava.

• Go to the historic center. It's better to take the subway to Xativa station. The nearest subway station to the port is located about a mile from Acciona terminal. Once you clear the terminal turn right to Maritim Serreria station (Line 5)

WHERE TO EAT: We can not leave without trying the typical paella. It's best to go to Malvarrosa beach where you'll find many restaurants and terraces with a nice look at the beach. La Pepica, La Marcelina, Azahar ... saying which one is the best is quite complicated. All of them have their fans and detractors. I can say that La Marcelina is pretty good and not as expensive as I expected for these kind of restaurants near the beach (paella for two with salad and beer came out about 40 € the two)

SHOPPING: In the city center near the cathedral you can find many shops
If we have been in  the Oceanography there is a large shopping center (El Saler) with known franchises (Mango, Zara, Woman Secret) restaurants (Foster's Hollywood, Mc Donalds, Tony Romas, supermarket and a cinema

LINKS:
Valencia Metro
Oceanografic

Royal Caribbean III : Mega Cruise Ships

With the construction of the largest cruise ship in the world by the dormant Cunard, Royal Caribbean decided to return to the hegemony of the world cruise ships with the construction of the Freedom class. The Freedom of the Seas (154,407 GT) narrowly overtook the Queen Mary 2 six months after the latter's maiden voyage as the largest ship in the world. Actually the Freedom class is only surpassed by the Oasis and Allure of the Seas 225,282 GT and the Norwegian Epic.

FREEDOM CLASS: The Freedom class was the response from Royal Caribbean to Cunard's Queen Mary 2. Although the Freedom Class has beaten the record of tons of the Queen it is a little bit smaller in length. Aimed at two similar but different markets, the Queen Mary 2 was designed to sail the Atlantic waters at high speed to mantain the transatlantic service between Southampton and New York, while the life of the Freedom of the Seas was intended to be more peaceful navigating the warm Caribbean waters.

The improvements of the Freedom Class compared to the Voyager Class were few but significant:

• SUSPENDED WHIRLPOOLS on the sides of the ship that offers its occupants relax and superb views as the ship sails
• BOXING RING in his gym
• FLOWRIDER. A small surf simulator
• WATER PARK H20.

H2O

For long time the three ships of this Class, Freedom, Independence and Liberty cruised only in the Caribbean. The irruption of the Oasis and Allure of the Seas in the Caribbean allowed the Liberty to move to the Mediterranean in summer, leaving the Independence to the English market throughout the year

OASIS CLASS: Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas are currently the largest ships in the world (225.282 GT). Built in Turku like its predecessors, the Oasis Class improvements were based on adapting the existing facilities of the Freedom Class to the number of passengers (includes two FlowRider) and other visual improvements:

• ROYAL PROMENADE. It is open lengthwise
• INTERIOR BALCONY CABINS. New balcony cabins with views to the promenade
• AQUA THEATRE. Theater with water shows
• LOFT SUITES. 
• CABINS NEAR THE VIKING CROWN LOUNGE. Located on the back of the Viking Crown Lounge on deck 17 and 18

• CENTRAL PARK
• FLOATING BAR. A bar that goes up and down on the Royal Promenade

OASIS OF THE SEAS PROMENADE

Because Central Park is open it is unlikely that we can enjoy the Oasis and Allure in Europe, so who wants to experience life in this mega cruise will have to go to Fort Lauderdale.

From the point of view of passengers, everyone that travels with Royal Caribbean repeats the experiece!

Royal Caribbean II : Modern Ships

The late 90's was the great moment of innovation in the cruise industry. Princess Cruises with the Grand Princess and Royal Caribbean with the Voyager of the Seas were first of a new type of cruise ships. This new design gave more importance to the size of the ship and the number of facilities onboard (giving preference to the number balcony cabins). Less important was that these new kind of ships could navigate the Panama Channel

VOYAGER CLASS: Royal Caribbean ordered the giant STX in Turku (Finland) the construction of five new vessels as the beginning of the large modern fleet we know today. This shipyard has been in charge of making the rest of the fleet since then except for the Radiance class. Although the Voyager of the Seas was built in 1999 she still remains in the TOP TEN of the largest ships in the world, surpassed only by the Oasis and Freedom class of Royal Caribbean, the Norwegian Epic and the Queen Mary 2.

The new Voyager class ships Explorer, Adventure, Navigator and Mariner of the Seas entered service between 2000 and 2003.

This new class included a large number of qualitative improvements in facilities compared to its predecessors. Cruise ships became more like hotel resorts. Passengers enjoyed these innovations so much that the new Freedom and Oasis class ships have included little modifications in design mantaining these major enhancements:

• BASKETBALL COURT. It is also used for other sports
• STUDIO B. This is an ice rink inside the ship
• SKATING RINK
• ROYAL PROMENADE. Grand Avenue in the center of the ship full of shops and restaurants

• JOHNNY ROCKETS

ROYAL PROMENADE

RADIANCE CLASS: Radiance class is a mixture between the idea of creating a modern ship with lots of balcony staterooms which could also navigate the Panama Channel.
All Radiance class ships were built in Germany by Meyerwerft (the same company that built the Celebrity Solstice). These new ships include certain details as a retractable-roof indoor pool, panoramic lifts and large interior windows that give more light to the interiors of the ship.

The Radiance, Brilliance, Serenade and Jewel of the Seas entered service from 2001 until 2004 parallel to the Voyager class.

STUDIO B

Currently, the Radiance class is navigating in Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Caribbean leaving from San Juan and Dubai, while most of the Voyager class ships cruise the Caribbean in the winter season and the mediterranean in the summer season 

Royal Caribbean I : The beginning

Founded in the late 60's by a Norwegian entrepreneur, Royal Caribbean began his career with four ships. The Song of America (now Thomson Destiny) incorporated in its design one of the actual identity signs of RCCL ships: the panoramic lounge (Royal Viking Crown). This lounge offers up to 360º view over the sea during the voyage.

Each class has his own features, but RCCL has managed to give the ships some comon facilities that can be found on almost every ship (beginning with their names always including the ending "of the Seas"):

•VIKING CROWN LOUNGE. Panoramic Lounge on the top of the ships

•CLIMBING WALL. Located near the sports court

•CASINO

•SPA

•GYM

•JOGGING TRACK

•JACUZZIS

•ICE CREAM DISPENSERS. Free of charge. Usually located near the swimming pool

•WINDJAMMER. A buffet where you can always find something to eat at any time of day, and closes only at dawn.

•SCHOONER BAR. Exclusive bar decorated with nautical themes

The quality of RCCL ships is clearly demonstrated, because today every ship that once served under RCCL flag is still navigating for other companies like Pullmantur, Thomson, Star Ocean Pacific ...

Royal Caribbean is today synonymous for innovation. For example, former RCCL ship Sovereign of the Seas was the beginning of a new way of building cruise ships becomming in the 80's the largest ship in the world (73 192 GT).

Royal Caribbean currently can transport up to 56,000 passengers based on double occupancy cabin on 22 ships, which are divided into different classes according to their size and facilities:

SOVEREIGN CLASS. They were built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique in France and actually there are two units navigating for RCCL, the Monarch and Majesty of the Seas, entering service in 1991 and 1992 respectively. The Sovereign of the Seas, which gave name to this class, was sold to Pullmantur and currently is its flagship. The "Double M" are in the Caribbean market, doing short cruises leaving from Miami and Port Canaveral. They have a great acceptance for the "nostalgic" passengers who prefer more familiar and less crowded ships.

 

JOHNNY ROCKETS

VISION CLASS. Legend, Splendour, Grandeur, Rhapsody, Enchantment and Vision of the Seas, entered service gradually between 1995 to 1998.

Personally I have always considered this class as a mixture of two types of ships, as the Legend and Splendour have the funnel near the Viking Crown Lounge, while the rest have the funnel in the stern and well separated from the Viking Crown lounge.

Legend, Splendour, Rhapsody and Vision were built in France by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, while the other two were built in Helsinki.

Compared to the Sovereign Class ships, the Enchantment of the Seas incorporated a minigolf and a solarium and replaced the Johnny Rockets on Enchantment of the Seas for annother specialty restaurant: The Chops Grill (30 $ per person)

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE LEGEND AND THE ENCHANTMENT

Today, these ships do longer cruises and are placed for new markets or less common starting ports (the Legend is in the Chinese market, the Vision is based in Istanbul the rest of the summer, the Enchantment leaves from Baltimore for the Caribbean, the Grandeur is Palma de Mallorca in the summer season and the Rhapsody is placed in Australia). 

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Food, Drinks and Packages

In this chapter I want to show you the importance of food and drinks service and its repercussion on the price. This might seem trivial to you, but a good choice of the shipping company in terms of food and drinks services can save you money you can spend in other things. 

First of all you have to consider again the official currency onboard the ship. Today an American citizen will pay more for his cruise if you choose a european flagged ship (€ currency onboard), and an european citizen will pay less if he travels with an US company ($ currency) due to $ vs € exchange rates. Keep in mind that you'll have to pay the excursions, drinks, spa service... in the currency of the ship.

FOOD: Differences between main restaurants are not relevant. Everyone is good with his specialities, Italian risottos and pastas are superb on MSC and Costa, steaks and all meat are delicious in RCCL... Special mention to Celebrity Cruises kitchen, which is the most awarded in the cruise fleet.

But everything changes a lot if we talk about Buffet:

 

 

• OPENING TIMES. US ships buffet remain open more or less all day. The guest can always eat something according the time of day. In Celebrity Cruises the buffet is open from morning until noon for breakfast, from then until mid-afternoon for lunch, at mid afternoon they leave open the area of ​​pizzas, sandwiches, sushi, ice cream... of course it is open in the evening for dinner (for those who don't want to go to the main restaurant) and then the midnight buffet. On the contrary, in European-flagged ships like MSC, the buffet opens only in main meals, so if you're hungry in the afternoon, or if you arrive late from an excursion, your only alternative is to buy something in the bar or wait until the night (although I'm sure your stomach ends up thanking the break...)

• QUALITY. I think the buffet of American companies (Royal or Celebrity) are of better quality and variety than those of European (MSC). The fact of closing at certain times can create some strange situations where 10 minutes before closing time you can't find a waiter to order a drink.

 

 

• SMALL DETAILS. Finally there are small details if you go with children. Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean have most of the day the ice cream buffet area open and its free of charge. Royal Caribbean's Freedom class for example, is equipped with a self-service of free ice cream at the swimming pool.

GALA DINNER

SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS: It's an option for a special dinner. The more modern the ship, the more specialty restaurants it'll have. We can find almost everything: restaurants where you pay a fixed price with a special menu, a typical American burger (Johnny Rockets on Royal), a Mexican (El Sombrero in MSC Fantasia), a Mediterranean grill (Tuscan Grille on Celebrity Solstice) ... The truth is that it might seem absurd to pay more to go to another restaurant when you have the main restaurant included in the price of the cruise, but in some cases it can be the oportunity to try other cuisines such as French (the Celebrity Solstice Murano).

RED VELVET (MSC FANTASIA)

DRINKS: Excepting companies like Happy Cruises or Pulmantur Cruises (all inclusive), carbonated drinks and bottled drinks are not included in the price of the cruise. But still there are differences between the companies. In the US companies, with their  buffets open the whole day, you can drink juices, water, ice tea all the time. In the European ones, when they close the buffet, if you're thirsty, you will not have choice but to go to a bar order something (and pay ...). In addition, the juices in MSC is available only during the morning at breakfast and obviously they do not let you fill containers with liquid in the buffet.

PACKAGES: Beverage packages can be arranged before the cruise, but you can also buy these packages the first day of the cruise. This is also different depending on the company you are travelling wih, because European companies offer service by can in the case of soft drinks, while the US have more profitable packages like Fountain of soda in Royal or Celebrity (they give you a big recipient to take your drink everywhere). It is valid in all ship bars while in European companies like MSC it can only be used in the restaurants or buffet. In the rest of the bars you can not use the beverage packages.
European and US companies also offer all-inclusive packages, but is not worth the money in European companies because you can only use it in the buffet or restaurant

How to choose?

The decision of choosing a cruise is primarily based on the price, discussion item that will take us an entire chapter later. The price depends on the type of cabin you choose on the ship, but you must know that there are are big differences between the companies and ships. Therefore, I recommend first choosing the shipping company and the ship.


SHIPS: As my grandfather said: "Burro grande, ande o no ande..." That means the bigger ship the better. As I said before talking abuot dizziness, it's better to choose a ship over 90,000 GT (70.000 GT minimum) and always the modern ones (see date of entering service), because modern and bigger ones have more facilities, more common spaces, more equipment... But be careful with the concept "modern", because there are many companies that put date of the last renovation of the ship as date of entering service. For example, a ship with 90,000 GT will have common facilities like an indoor solarium, an outdoor pool, theater, lounges, spa, gym, sports facilities ...If we take as a counterpoint Royal Caribbean Freedom class with 160,000 GT, on board passengers will also enjoy a mini golf, climbing wall, children's water park, ice rink, a basketball court, a wave pool for surfing lessons and a shopping avenue inside the ship with many shops and bars.

FREEDOM CLASS ROYAL PROMENADE

SHIPPING COMPANIES: I have my favorite ones, but there are many variables that can make your choice and mine different

• Price. Today you can find an expensive cruise in a low cost company and a cheap one in a leading company. Obviously in summer the price rises and cruises are more expensive. I would say say that there are two kinds of companies in the market, which differ by the product. Some offer high quality modern ships, facilities and destinations (MSC, Costa Cruises, Royal Caribbean ...), and others with lower prices and ALL INCLUSIVE (Happy Cruises, Pullmantur, Thompson ...). In the last ones ships are older and with less equipment (which does not mean less quality). For example the Sovereign, flagship of Pullmantur was before the Sovereign of the Seas of Royal Caribbean. Actually there  are still in service two other Sovereign-class ships operated by Royal Caribbean

• Nationality of the company. Ships are registered in places where companies have tax advantages (for example all Celebrity Cruises ships are registered in Malta) but it is an American based company, and that's what I mean. Nobody can deny that onboard an Italian-flagged ship (Costa and MSC) you will find fun and party the Italian way, with their pros and cons. I recently took the MSC Fantasia from Tenerife, which was a port of call of an 11 day itinerary starting and ending in Genoa or Barcelona, ​​so you can say I picked up two half cruises. The journey to Genoa was a continuous party on board because most of the pasangers were Italian citizens. Back from Genoa the ship was different and quieter. The reason was that a great number of French people had embarked on Genoa ...
If you want to be surrounded by spanish people you have to choose Iberocruceros or Pullmantur, if german  choose AIDA Cruises, if you want to travel with americans you have to choose Royal Caribbean or Celebrity Cruises. The choice of the company is very important because unless you end up unhappy with the treatment you receive onboard will continue traveling with them

• Shipping company. If you are travelling with children I recommend Disney Cruises. Others like MSC and Costa have special rates and often go free if they share cabin with you (you only pay the fees), if you want design and a calm enviroment Celebrity Cruises, and if you want a fully equipped ship Royal Caribbean (also has good programs and facilities for children, but children pay in the best case half of the fare...).

Links:

MSC Cruceros

Costa Cruceros
Royal Caribbean

Celebrity Cruises

Pullmantur Cruises

Quail Cruises