SPOTLIGHT ON... Royal
Caribbean fam trip
Club Royal whisked 15 agents off to Miami for VIP treatment in the Florida sun and to tour Harmony of the Seas. Ben Ireland joined them
As soon as the British Airways pilot uttered the words ‘Welcome to Miami’, a group of excitable travel agents were singing the next line from the famous Will Smith song in their head: ‘Bienvenidos a Miami’. And what a welcome
they received from their hosts Royal Caribbean International, which ran a competition to win a place on the trip through Travel Weekly for its 10 top sellers and five wild cards. The first stop was a
party bus – complete with dancing pole – that had been used by Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton just three weeks before the agents’ arrival. That unique transfer set the tone for a weekend of living the high life that most attendees described as their best-ever fam trip experience. On checking in at the
plush Loews Miami Beach Hotel – minutes from Gianni Versace’s former home- turned-hotel, the Versace Mansion – the group checked
Sunset cruise on luxury yacht Solstice in Miami
out the facilities and used the easy access to one of the world’s most famous beaches to soak up the Florida sunshine as their friends and family had to put up with a cold snap and envy-inducing social media posts, back home. After an all-American
Thanksgiving dinner, the group was undeterred by an
early start and coach ride to Fort Lauderdale and the Sawgrass Mills shopping mall, where they braved Black Friday crowds to spend the $150 uploaded on their Club Royal Mastercards by their generous hosts. Back in Miami Beach that
afternoon it was glad rags on for a sail past the city’s Star Island for some celebrity
house spotting and to see Miami’s impressive skyline from the deck of a private luxury yacht hired for the occasion. On board, the agents
re-enacted ironic rap video I’m on a Boat by comedy trio The Lonely Island to get the party started. Well-oiled and back on dry land, they created their own party bus;
Tried & tested: Harmony of the Seas has a few surprises – and a
To gauge the sheer magnitude of Harmony of the Seas – the largest cruise ship in the world – you have to get on board. You may be able to slide down the Ultimate Abyss in a few seconds, but it would take more than a week to fully explore everything on the ship. Casinos, dance halls,
pools and theatres are now a given on bigger vessels, but to keep 6,780
Martin Bowe, Cruise1st; Diane Hylands, Thomas Cook; and Laura Sheakey, Tui
people happy takes a bit more. How about a Bionic Bar with robotic bartenders? Or the Rising Tide Bar, where you can sit and sup your drink as it moves up and down through the atrium. The 1,188ft-long ship can also
be something of a maze as you make your way through corridors full of various rooms. Thankfully, we were ushered around by our guides, but there’s nothing to stop a family game of hide-and- seek breaking out in Central Park, which is home to 10,587 plants
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travelweekly.co.uk 4 January 2018
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