Nothing Like A New Cruise Ship

While I'm not sure cruise ships could get much bigger than Oasis of the Seas or Allure of the Seas, there's no stopping the new innovations. Oasis and Allure have wonderful areas on the ship like Central Park, a green park area with restaurants and shops, a carnival area, a deep water pool for a water show, an ice rink, a zip line and flow riders to name a few.

But wait! There's more. Celebrity's Solstice class ships were the first to feature electric kilns for glass blowing shows and grassy lawn growing on the top deck! The newest of this class ship is the Reflection which has the Lawn Club Grill where you can pair up with a chef and help grill your party's dinner. The Art Club features two master artists who will have classes in all sorts of arts like jewelry, painting, sketching, and even mixology and some culinary courses.

Princess Cruise ships have gotten larger as well and the new Royal Princess due to be sailing in June of 2013 has some new features for a WOW factor.  The top deck has the largest pool in the fleet with a water and light show in the evening as well as an expanded and improved Movies Under the Stars. The Lido deck also has a sky walk on each side that takes you out over the side of the ship where you can look 128 feet to the ocean below on a see through walkway. I'm guessing if you're prone to seasickness you don't want to spend much time there but if not, the port side has a Sky Walk Bar.

Apparently Royal Caribbean has decided that size is not quite as important in their newest ship to debut in 2014. The Quantum of the Seas is quite a leap into the future. Taking its cue from the Eye in London (a large ferris wheel that gives quite a panoramic view of London) there will be a large jewel shaped glass capsule that rides on a huge arm and will give passengers (holds 14 at a time) a 360 degree view of the ship and the ocean or port area around it. Rides are 15 minutes long and free except for sunrise and sunset rides.

Again, there"s more! Want to go sky diving? RipCord by iFly will give you a simulated skydiving experience in a 23 foot vertical wind tunnel that creates a feeling of free fall as participants float in the air.

Still need more adrenaline rush? How about SeaPlex where you can ride bumper cars, learn to juggle and yes, take lessons on the flying trapeze.

There's lots more planned and you can check it out at the Cruise Critic webpage for the Quantum of the Seas.

All of this just proves that cruising is not always about the destination. Sometimes it's just about the ship.