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Showing posts with label rock climbing walls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rock climbing walls. Show all posts
World's largest cruise ship, Symphony of the Seas, nearing completion
Symphony of the Seas
The giant is almost ready.
New photos from the shipyard building Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas — the largest cruise ship ever — show the vessel rapidly approaching the finishing stages of construction.
As seen in the carousel above, the new images of the 230,000-ton ship show an exterior now gleaming with a finishing coat of paint and work well under way on outdoor decks including the Boardwalk amusement zone. Boardwalk will be home to a classic carousel, diner, rock climbing walls, the base of a nine-deck-high slide and more.
Another highlight of the Boardwalk area, an "aqua theater" that will boast daring high-diving and aerial performances, also can be seen nearing completion in the photos.
Royal Caribbean revealed earlier this month that Symphony would be ready weeks ahead of schedule. Now debuting in March instead of April, the vessel has been under construction for more than two years at the giant STX France shipbuilding facility in St. Nazaire, France.
Symphony was floated out from a dry dock at STX France in June, a construction milestone that marked the end of basic exterior work. It is now undergoing months of finishing work to its interior.
Behold the largest cruise ship ever built, Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas. USA TODAY
Symphony will be more than 3,000 tons bigger than the current size leader in the cruise world, Royal Caribbean's 226,963-ton Harmony of the Seas. Like Harmony, Symphony will be part of Royal Caribbean's record-breaking Oasis Class of ships, though it won't be an exact copy of its sisters. Royal Caribbean has unveiled several new features for the vessel including a first-of-its-kind, two-deck-high family suite with a slide between floors.
Symphony is scheduled to sail to the Caribbean out of Miami starting in November 2018. It'll move to the city after spending its first few months operating voyages in the Mediterranean.
Conventional wisdom has it that people gain weight on vacation, especially on a cruise vacation where the culinary options are generally outstanding and abundant. But that doesn’t have to be the case.
An extremely healthy friend of mine shared this experience with me, just after returning home from what she described as a fun-filled Carnival Cruise: “I haven’t lost this much weight in a week except when I was sick,” she said. “Forget the spa vacation. This was great!”
Cruise lines have made being at sea easier and more desirable for the health-conscious, and now my cruise weeks also serve as renewal weeks. I feel refreshed while sailing, get off feeling even better and make each trip a renewed commitment to health and pleasure.
Here’s how you can advise clients — who might be worried about weight gain on a cruise — how they also can step off at the end of their vacation feeling rejuvenated and healthy.
Change Your Mindset The vacation mindset is that this is the time to let go and enjoy yourself. While that’s true, the momentary pleasure of eating huge amounts of rich food is usually followed by guilt, body discomfort and regret rather than the fun and relaxation you’re looking for.
Instead, shift the emphasis for your vacation from unlimited indulgence to looking and feeling glamorous. Pack some clothes you really love that fit perfectly — meaning, no extra room for wolfing down unnecessary extra servings. You’ll want to strut your stuff in them, and that counters a lot of temptation.
Plan Around Activities Choose a ship for its onboard culture — which emphatically includes its food — but instead of planning the day from meal to meal, plan your day from activity to activity.
Learn something new. Tango, swim a couple of laps, get a spa treatment you’ve never had, try a cuisine you haven’t encountered, learn to create a website or speak a few words of Italian. Meet new friends at the pool, or in a class or lecture, rather than hanging around for that extra dessert or more drinks.
Move! Cruise ships often invite their passengers to dance with events and classes, and you don’t have to have a partner to enjoy them. Lots of unaccompanied cruisers drop into the disco or join the salsa crowd for an hour or two each night. Learn a line dance by the pool or enjoy a workout in the gym. Princess Cruises and Celebrity Cruises both have Zumba classes, which are fun and never about doing it “right.”
Holland America Line has “Dancing with the Stars: At Sea” classes. Carnival Cruise Lines encourages dancing with everything from a jazz combo to a country band, and Cunard Line and Crystal Cruises excel in providing music for ballroom dancing. The wildest European discos (they don’t really get started until about 2 in the morning) are on Costa Cruises.
Not a dancer? Head to the gym. You have a luxurious, cutting-edge gym with no membership fee just steps from your door. Exercise relaxes you, makes you conscious of your body and gives your endorphins a nice boost. And there’s instruction provided for the boxing ring, the Kinesis Wall, black light spinning class or ice-skating. On some lines, you can also roller skate, play golf or work out with an avatar.
You can also join the group walking around the ship’s track in the cool of the morning or walk from shop to shop on shore while exercising your credit card. Shore excursions provide opportunities to explore ports on foot or by kayak, bicycle or canoe.
Indulge in Gorgeous and Good Food The cruise lines have figured out that people who get off the ship feeling content with themselves — and their weight — will be back as repeat customers. So cruise lines now offer everything from Canyon Ranch cuisine (Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises) to raw food menus (Seabourn Cruise Line). Royal Caribbean International has a Vitality option (a three-course meal with a maximum of 800 calories), and on Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, the line offers an entire health-focused buffet restaurant.
In 2012, Holland America introduced a 22-dish vegetarian-only menu and added 30 new vegetarian dishes to their main dining room menu. A chef will make you all the goodies you need to follow your preferred food choices for optimal health, vitality and dining pleasure — all you have to do is enjoy it.
Another tip: Whatever you eat, savor it. And don’t let your dining room waiter mother you into eating something you don’t want.
Sleep, Nap, Doze Remember naps? Life is so hectic that the pleasure of taking a relaxed, well-exercised body and stretching it out to rest is a luxury. The beds are great, the temperature is yours to control and the “Do Not Disturb” sign guards your privacy. Enjoy some sleep!
While virtually all seagoing ships have a selection of resistance and strength training stations that many land side gyms would envy, some have gone much further in offering travellers options to stay fit during their cruise.
In addition to the basics — treadmills, elliptical trainers, exercise bikes, free weights and more — many cruise lines provide passengers with cutting-edge fitness equipment that add opportunities for body makeovers to a cruise vacation. The newer ships in a cruise line’s fleet generally have the most unusual exercise facilities, though there are exceptions.
Here are our top picks for the most creative and forward-thinking on board activity and fitness options offered at sea.
Royal Caribbean Beyond the rock climbing walls and surfing simulators, the nearly 10,000-square-foot fitness centers on Royal Caribbean’s Freedom-class ships have full-size boxing rings; Pilates studios with six reformers and extensive mat work equipment; and first-generation Power Plate equipment that uses vibration to boost a workout, stimulate circulation and build bone density.
The Allure and Oasis of the Seas also have 12 gravity fitness machines each, plus Kinesis Walls that use a system of pulleys to help build total body strength and the longest jogging tracks at sea.
Princess Cruises Princess offers popular Zumba classes at sea, TRX Suspension Training classes and Tour de Cycle, a three-part spinning program based on the Tour de France. The brand’s signature fitness classes focus on Pilates for core work, yoga for balance and cardio for overall strength and cardiovascular health. Larger vessels also offer swim-against-the-current pools with an adjustable current for endurance training.
Seabourn Cruises Seabourn’s Odyssey-class ships have Kinesis Walls that can be used by four people at a time and stern marinas that give passengers access to snorkeling, kayaking, sailing and swimming. Seabourn Sojourn and Quest have Kneipp Walk Pools, which feature different sections of water at different temperatures designed to help walkers cleanse toxins from the body, increase circulation, balance hormones and reduce stress. And, at the end of a full workout, these two Seabourn ships offer passengers an “experience shower” featuring special lighting and a variety of sensory adjustment options.
Crystal Cruises Crystal’s proprietary Walk-On-Water program isn’t aqua aerobics, as many passengers think. It’s a full fitness program, designed exclusively for Crystal, where participants walk with weighted vests on the ships’ promenades (the water part is the surrounding sea). Crystal also provides Nordic Walking Poles for a full-body workout, along with Pilates sessions featuring mat work and reformer equipment, yoga classes, Kinesis fitness equipment and golf instruction from PGA professionals. Both the Serenity and Symphony offer paddle tennis onboard, and new “Site Running” land excursions are available on all of Crystal’s itineraries. An outdoors fitness garden will be added to Crystal Symphony in September.
Carnival Cruise Lines Carnival Magic and Breeze feature SportSquare, a large outdoor recreation area with a ropes course 150 feet above the water, an eight-mile jogging track and outdoor weightlifting and resistance machines, in addition to basketball, volleyball and soccer courts. There’s also a six-station Vita Course, which features workout stations with instructional signage and a miniature golf course. Indoor fitness options include yoga, Pilates and stretching classes and cardio equipment.
Norwegian Cruise Line Norwegian has a range of unusual outdoor exercise facilities onboard Norwegian Epic, from full-sized basketball courts with spectator bleachers to a bungee trampoline and a 24-foot climbing cage known as the Spider Web. The Epic also features a rappelling wall, a rock climbing wall and TRX Suspension Training, a program used by the Navy Seals. Onboard Norwegian’s newest ship, Norwegian Breakaway, guests will find additional fitness options, such as Flywheel Fitness spinning classes and interactive Nexersys equipment featuring automated combat/boxing fitness technology.
Windstar Cruises
Windstar, which pioneered a revolutionary spa on the Wind Surf years ago, has its own stern marina and a variety of water sports equipment, including windsurfing boards, kayaks, inflatable boats, Topper and Rumba Escape sailboats, snorkeling equipment and waterskiing gear. Windstar also offers a two-hour diving course given by PADI-certified instructors on all ships. In addition, the Wind Surf offers guests an onboard trampoline and a Hobie Bravo catamaran for sailing excursions.
