I am on a flight home from Turku after another fascinating visit to ALLURE OF THE SEAS.  And no matter how many times I visit the yard, no matter how many times I meet with our people there, no matter how many times I look at the product itself, I am always in awe.

I am supposed to be a cold, hard-nosed businessman; it says so in my job description.  But it is hard not to get emotional about this ship and the people who create and operate her (and yes, ALLURE is a she).  Her grandeur and her beauty are simply wonderful to behold and I was excited to see her as she approaches completion.

She is scheduled for delivery on October 28^th and the state of her construction was remarkable.  I don’t think that I have ever seen a ship at this stage of construction so ready.  Despite regular status reports and photographs from the newbuilding team, I was astounded by how far along she was.  I even called Adam Goldstein to discuss how this might change his visit here next week with a press group and/or the inaugural activities.  Attached is a photo of Harri Kulovaara and me walking by Sorrentos to give you a sense of how close to ready the ship is.

Richard Fain and Harri Kulovaara outside Sorrentos

We then had an interesting discussion with the yard.  One key yardstick we and the yard use to keep track of progress is the number of outstanding “Remarks”.  A Remark is any item our inspection team complains to the yard about.  It can be as simple as a sticky desk drawer or as major as the engine won’t start.  With an inspection team now at 115 (persnickety) people and growing, there are always a lot of remarks.  To put this in perspective, OASIS left the shipyard with over 6,000 remarks that took weeks to resolve. 

So, what should our target be for ALLURE?  To my surprise, the two teams agreed that we should target leaving the shipyard at the end of October with zero remarks.  That would be virtually unthinkable for a normal ship, but for ALLURE it is an amazing target.  The beauty of such a target is not that the remarks are an issue (virtually all the remarks would never be noticed by our guests) but that it frees both teams from having to deal with them and allows them to focus on more important things like making the perfect Mojito.

I came away, as I always do, invigorated and eagerly anticipating the day when ALLURE makes her entrance.  Like a beautiful woman getting dressed for the Ball, she will look even better with all her fine outfits and jewelry.  But she already has a presence and one can already see how her many spaces and activities will function.

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I feel like I’ve been away but want to come home.  We just had another review meeting of the start up for ALLURE OF THE SEAS and it was suggested that I restart my blog.  While the prospect of the work involved was a bit daunting, I found myself intrigued by the idea.  The team here seems just as excited about ALLURE as they were for OASIS and we have just as much frenetic activity preparing for it.  So I will restart and describe what’s happening here from my perspective.

Welcome back aboard.  And thanks for listening (or reading).

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We know that many of you are excited about the upcoming launch of Allure of the Seas and still have questions regarding Oasis of the Seas. While our Chairman is taking a small break from his blog writings you can still stay updated by visiting the blog of our President and CEO, Adam Goldstein at www.nationofwhynot.com/blog.

In the meantime, continue to watch this space for upcoming exciting developments. Be sure to sign up for our RSS feed for any updates.

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It is hard to believe, but we are underway.  All the construction is finished; all the plants are planted; all the preparations are complete.  Like all projects, even “normal” ones, Oasis still has kinks to work out and refinements to be made, but she is essentially complete and entertaining guests. Read more »

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Last night, I got a wonderful present. 

Joan Blackman gave me the very first copy of the “Wonderbook”, the book describing the art collection onboard Oasis of the Seas.  Joan leads International Corporate Art (ICArt) and is our art advisor and guide.  They have chosen, acquired and installed the wonderful art collection comprising over 9,000 items.  The book is a beautiful description of the collection and how it is organized. Read more »

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Our first butterfly was sighted in Central Park this morning.

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Central Park, that is.  The installation of the trees and foliage has been an enormous task and I have enjoyed watching it come to life.

The real key to the success of such a project isn’t what has happened the last few days, but the months of preparation and planning.  We’ve talked about that before, but now I got to observe the results and the immediate effort to complete the work.  The first thing I saw was the staging of the planting on the quayside.  Very impressive.  Rack after rack (just under 400 racks) of plants of all types and sizes.  And an incredible indexing system that identifies each box and where it goes. Read more »

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We are as proud of the safety and environmental innovations on this ship as we are the guest-facing innovations.  The international body responsible for setting standards in this area is the International Maritime Organization (“IMO”), which is an agency of the United Nations with 169 Member States.  The Secretary General of the IMO is Efthimios Mitropoulos and he has been a strong advocate of steps to improve safety and environmental protection throughout the maritime world.

Against this background, I was humbled and gratified to receive the attached letter from Secretary General Mitropoulos.  Harri and his team worked closely over a number of years with the IMO as well as the various other regulatory agencies to ensure they supported our efforts and to incorporate best practices and ideas.  Mr. Mitropoulos’ most gracious letter demonstrates just how successful this effort was.

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It feels so strange to say that, but it is still thrilling to be able to do so.  I had intended to write something just after the arrival.  I was told that even a short note would be welcomed and I could do it quickly.  Unfortunately, it hasn’t been so easy and we have been going non-stop since early Friday morning. Read more »

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Also, getting excited. Last night, the ship reached a peak speed of 24 knots.  She has now traveled 4,700 nautical miles since leaving Turku and has a “mere” 1,200 to go to reach the pilot station outside Port Everglades.  This requires less than 18 knots of speed.   Captain Bill says he intends to slow down to save energy soon, but he wants a bigger cushion first. Read more »

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