by Allen Teal

Created on: June 05, 2010

Royal Caribbean cruise ships are easy to identify. The name of each ship ends with the words "of the seas." This makes them sound elegant when said. Names like "Enchantment of the Seas" or "Oasis of the Seas" are typical of Royal Caribbean's fleet. Besides the unique naming method, Royal Caribbean has numerous other traits that help its brand identity stand apart from the competition.

Royal Caribbean tends to build the biggest ships first.

While each cruise line strives to launch larger and larger ships to increase their respective passenger capacities, it seems that Royal Caribbean is always a step ahead. Some of their more recent successes in having the largest of the giant ships on the seas can be seen in Voyager of the Seas and the most recent Oasis of the Seas. Both of these ships set new size standards when they were launched. Each one increased passenger space by about 1,000 people over the competitions larger ships.

This cruise line usually wins the race for new on board amenities.

It was Royal Caribbean that first offered the equivalent of a main street down the center of the ship. This not only enhanced the shopping experience for the passengers, but it allowed the cruise line to offer premium inside cabins with windows that looked out over the interior activity of the ship. These cabins no longer needed a curtain hanging on one end of the room to imply a window where there was none. These rooms may not have a great ocean view, but they definitely lost their cave-like feeling.

Rock climbing walls and surf pools were early arrivals on Royal Caribbean.

With the increased size of the ships, Royal Caribbean was able to add large areas for passenger activities. Rock climbing walls, surf pools, and large screen outdoor theaters led the fray. Additional swimming areas and improved deck space have also been incorporated on the newer Royal Caribbean ships.

Of the four cruise lines reviewed, Royal Caribbean was by far the most efficient at embarkation.

Costa Cruise Lines came in a close second, but at Royal Caribbean, from arrival until standing on board the ship took less than fifteen minutes. This may not be the case at every port, but at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, it was how it played out. The boarding would have been faster, but a paper had to be read and signed for the Centers for Disease Control regarding the latest disease before being allowed onto the ship.

The food on Royal Caribbean is about standard fare for cruise ships.

Actually,

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