Royal Caribbean has formally expanded its adults‑solely Swim & Tonic coverage from Icon of the Seas to its latest ship, Star of the Seas.
The brand-new vessel simply debuted as the latest Icon Class ship for Royal Caribbean, welcoming friends onboard for its first income crusing. Beforehand, Star of the Seas had sailed just a few brief media cruises for journey brokers, influencers, and content material creators. Now that income friends are onboard, new particulars about Star of the Seas are starting to emerge.
Royal Caribbean Weblog’s Matt Hochberg is at the moment crusing on Star of the Seas for her first two income cruises, and we will verify that your complete Swim & Tonic pool has been designated as adults-only on the ship.
Royal Caribbean first launched the adults-only coverage at Swim & Tonic onboard Icon of the Seas final month as a trial.
Final month, Royal Caribbean made an announcement concerning the coverage change for its swim-up bar on Icon of the Seas. The cruise line confirmed, “At Royal Caribbean, we’re persistently listening to visitor suggestions and exploring alternatives to boost our friends’ holidays. At the moment, we’re piloting an 18+ age requirement at Swim & Tonic pool onboard Icon of the Seas. It will solely be examined onboard Icon.”
Now, the constructive response seems to have influenced Royal Caribbean’s choice to increase it to Star of the Seas as nicely. In photographs taken by Matt, we will see the Swim & Tonic pool has an indication that reads, “Welcoming friends 18 and older.”
Positioned within the Chill Island neighborhood, Swim & Tonic is taken into account the world’s largest swim‑up bar at sea. It’s one of many many progressive venues aboard Icon class ships. Swim & Tonic incorporates a full swim-up bar on one finish, together with in-pool tables for setting drinks and in-water loungers to chill out.
Initially, households with youngsters had been allowed to swim within the Swim & Tonic pool. The shallow depth made the pool particularly attractive to youngsters, however many adults weren’t completely happy concerning the disruptions.
In response to suggestions, particularly about youngsters splashing pool water into friends’ drinks, Royal Caribbean examined the adults-only rule at Swim & Tonic on Icon of the Seas. The pilot was designed to create a extra relaxed, adult-focused environment.
Royal Caribbean’s management staff confirmed the change was a results of visitor suggestions.
Throughout a current journey‑agent Q&A aboard Star of the Seas, Senior Vice President of Gross sales, Commerce Help & Service Vicki Freed acknowledged the Swim & Tonic coverage change as a direct results of the advisors’ suggestions.
Whereas addressing the journey brokers on Star of the Seas, Freed acknowledged, “I additionally wish to thanks for the remark that you simply simply made concerning the Swim & Tonic bar. It was due to the suggestions that we obtained.”
“Final 12 months, that remark was introduced up, ‘Don’t let youngsters in that pool,’ and we heard you. We modified the coverage. And your query was, will or not it’s in impact on Star of the Seas? Sure. It is 18 and older now in our swim-up bars. And so, you’ve got acquired our dedication.”
Many cruisers complained about disruptive youngsters within the Swim & Tonic pool.
Throughout a Q&A session with journey brokers on a Utopia of the Seas preview cruise final summer season, one advisor raised a priority concerning the Swim & Tonic expertise. The agent defined how youngsters within the pool had grow to be a distraction at Swim & Tonic. The agent remarked, “Icon is implausible, however on the swim-up bar, there are children splashing into your drinks.”
Following the suggestions, Royal Caribbean Worldwide President and CEO Michael Bayley responded that the cruise line hears passengers’ considerations and can look into it. With the brand new adults-only coverage now in place on each Icon Class ships, it’s clear that Royal Caribbean has acted on that suggestions.
On the whole, the response has been constructive concerning the coverage change, too. One Royal Caribbean Weblog reader commented, “Nice change! Going again once more in just a few weeks and never having splash assaults smash my drink is a welcome change. My expertise was the Swim & Tonic pool was utilized by youngsters whose mother and father had been lounging close by not on the bar.”
“Incredible concept. I do not wish to see youngsters splashing round within the pool, being ignored by their mother and father ingesting on the bar, and all of the sudden have the lifeguards having to rescue a drowning baby,” commented one other cruiser.
One Royal Caribbean Weblog reader responded on Fb, “The children have loads of different locations to swim. Plus, Hideaway isn’t fairly large enough for the adult-only crowd. Hopefully it will assist having two adult-only pool areas.”
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