Royal Caribbean Cruise Line Review

In as much as there can be a "best" cruise line, given the broad differences between people's needs, experiences, tastes and budget, the line with the strongest claim to the aforementioned title would surely be Royal Caribbean International. A company that carries huge numbers of people every year, and which has such a massive reputation for quality, value and convenience, is as close as you can get to a sure thing when looking for the perfect cruise ship holiday. Royal Caribbean have the mark of approval not only from the experts, such as Howard Hillman, founder of the Hillman's Wonders of the World website, but from holiday makers from all over the world.

Founded in 1968 by the combined efforts of three Norwegian shipping companies, Royal Caribbean has been perfecting its art ever since, a process that is still ongoing and perhaps will never be fully complete. Perhaps the best materials for the perfect cruise line are available only to those with a Norwegian influence, as Knut Kloster, a Norwegian American, was responsible for the founding of another major cruise line, Norwegian Caribbean, just two years prior to Royal Caribbean's founding. As Norwegian Caribbean went on to become Norwegian Cruise Lines and is still to this day a major player in the ranks of world cruise lines, the Norwegian influence on the industry is simply undeniable.

Royal Caribbean put its first ship - the Song of Norway - on the ocean in 1970, quickly expanding by putting the Nordic Prince and Sun Viking out to sea in the 1971 and 1972 respectively. Shortly thereafter, both Song of Norway and Nordic Prince were lengthened in order to accommodate a greater number of passengers, and in 1982, when the Song of America was launched it became the third largest passenger vessel on the seas, behind NCL's Norway and Cunard's QE2.

Since then, Royal Caribbean has always been at the forefront of any innovation in cruise ship circles. In 1986 the line purchased a coastal setting in Haiti to serve as a private location for its guests. Now named Labadee, the area was the first location to be purchased by a travel company to serve as a private destination. Along with the purchase two years later of a Bahamian Island named Little Stirrup Cay, renamed to "Coco Cay" by the company, this placed Royal Caribbean right in the vanguard of major innovators, and the move has been copied by more than one company since, including Disney, whose own private destination is also located in the Bahamas and is now known as "Castaway Cay".

To this day Royal Caribbean are doing all that they can to secure their place as the premier cruise line in the world. Their latest commissioned cruise ships, currently under construction in Finland, will be without question the largest passenger vessels in the world and the line itself is applauded by customers and reviewers alike as the best there is. However, you don't get to stay the best by standing still, and all keen watchers of the cruise world will be fascinated to see what they do next.