Escape on the High Seas

RCI have announced that ‘Independence of the Seas’ will undergo a major refurbishment during the ship’s dry dock in April 2018.

The ship, which entered service in 2008, has not had a  major refurbishment since 2013. Independence of the Seas will receive some high-energy features including a trampoline park, water slides,  laser tag and an escape room.

Now I had never heard of an escape room until I did some digging.

You’re Indiana Jones in the map room, positioning the Staff of Ra to reveal the secret location you’ve been searching for. You’re Harry Potter in the TriWizard Tournament, and you must solve the sphinx’s riddle in order to pass. You’re the star of “National Treasure,” and you’ve just found the red-and-blue glasses in the hidden brick, and now there’s another message on the back of the Declaration of Independence.

You’re you, trapped in a D.C. basement, frantically searching for clues to root out the spy defector, and the authorities are coming, and time is running out and —

“Do you want a hint?”

The voice comes through the loudspeaker in the corner of the room, and you’re shaken from the adrenaline-fueled mission that had you feeling like an ad­ven­ture-movie hero. Then you remember you’re in a setup.

The name of the game is “Escape Room” — a literal description for a complicated endeavor. A team of people signs up to be locked in a room, and must find clues and solve puzzles to complete a given mission and find the key to escape. It could be just a fad. Or, in a world where screens are the dominant source of entertainment, it could be just the kind of shake-up people want.

Royal Caribbean has just given us another reason why they are so good, who can say they experienced an Escape Room on a cruise ship.