MIAMI---Jan. 22, 1996--When Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's new 1,800-passenger Splendour of the Seas leaves on its maiden voyage from England on March 31, it will be the latest in a line of ships with a tradition of offering family-friendly vacations.

Sailing in Europe during the summer and the southern Caribbean during the winter, the 69,000-ton Splendour of the Seas offers the same Kids/Tweens/Teens program as the other nine ships in Royal Caribbean's fleet, two family suites, a Club Ocean kids' center, V-Deck video gameroom and Optix Teen Center.

"Royal Caribbean has always offered extensive programming for youngsters," said Rod McLeod, Royal Caribbean's executive vice president of sales, marketing and passenger services. "Splendour of the Seas gives our young guests places to have fun with or without their families."

The Optix Teen Center is a sophisticated daytime and nighttime retreat for teens to hang out or dance to the beat of today's latest musical artists. With pulsating neon lights, stainless steel walls and a huge undulating wall punctuated by TV monitors, Optix seems almost like an MTV set. Large screen TVs also are highlights, along with a DJ booth and non-alcoholic beverage service.

Just next door is the Club Ocean Children's Center. Seating 40 children, the room features sand castle wall surfaces surrounding an open play area and a challenging boardwalk which ends in a sea of multi-colored bubble balls. Work tables also are provided, and a large writing wall is perfect for Picassos-to-be. Also on Deck 10 is V-Deck, a video arcade built for the kid in everyone.

Splendour of the Seas is furnished with two seven-person family suites which each have two bedrooms with twin beds that convert to queen-size, two bathrooms (one with a shower, one with a bathtub), a living area with a sofabed and Pullman upper bunk, a refrigerator and a private veranda.

Splendour of the Seas also features the world's second floating 18-hole miniature golf course - "Splendour of the Greens." The first was "Legends of the Links" on its sister, Legend of the Seas. The 7,000-square-foot Splendour of the Greens offers exclusive children's tee times and is built to international standards, with grass, sand traps, water hazards and foliage. In inclement weather, Splendour of the Greens can be covered by a unique sliding glass roof called the Crystal Canopy, and, at night, halogen lights illuminate the course.

The year-round Kids/Tweens/Teens program on Splendour of the Seas is divided into three age-specific groups - kids (ages 5 to 8), tweens (ages 9 to 12) and teens (ages 13 to 17) - which enables the youth staff to provide their young sailors with activities suiting each group's needs. On every cruise with Royal Caribbean, passengers are given a Cruise Compass with the activity schedule for the duration of the voyage. As part of Splendour of the Seas' Kids/Tweens/Teens program, youth get their own daily Cruise Compass full of fun programming. Activities, supervised by an enthusiastic staff from morning to night, includes everything from masquerade parties, talent shows and volleyball tournaments for the tweens to sand castle building, ice cream parties and human bingo for the younger ones.

For those who prefer hamburgers over filet mignon, a special menu, Captain Sealy's Kids Galley, is offered on Splendour of the Seas for children ages 4 to 12. Our young skippers can begin with Seaside Starters, which includes juices, Super Duper Chicken Noodle Soup, King Triton's Treasure Salad or other tasty items. Then comes the Grub, or main dishes. Kids can choose from entrees such as Hot Dog! (served with french fries) and Captain Hook's Legendary Baked Fish Fingers. And, finally, there's The Best Part (known to adults as "dessert"), including old-time favorites like pudding, chocolate chip cookies and shakes.

Royal Caribbean is one of the world's largest cruise lines and operates nine modern ships with a total capacity of 15,020 passengers. Splendour of the Seas is the first of five new ships Royal Caribbean is introducing between 1996 and 1998 with a total additional capacity of 9,700 passengers. The award-winning vessels of the fleet offer more than 54 different itineraries and 134 destinations in the Caribbean, Bahamas, Alaska, Mexico, Bermuda, Panama Canal, Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, Hawaii and the Far East.