Royal Caribbean Blog

The fall temperatures may be dropping, but the Royal Caribbean news from this week is as hot as ever, and we have it all summarized for you in this week's round up!

Sit back, and catch-up on all of the Royal Caribbean news and happenings form this week.

Royal Caribbean announced this week Grandeur of the Seas will leave the fleet in spring 2021.

When Grandeur leaves the fleet, she will be transferred to sister company Pullmantur Cruises. 

Grandeur of the Seas’ final sailing with Royal Caribbean will take place on March 26th, 2021. Thereafter, she will transition to Pullmantur. Enchantment of the Seas, will return to Baltimore to replace Grandeur in spring of 2021.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean announced a new Perfect Day private island in the South Pacific.
• A new Spa Stateroom category is coming in 2021.
• Guests on Symphony of the Seas can test a new food delivery option that can be ordered from the app.
• Royal Caribbean announced a new stateroom recategorization that aims to simplify the choices.
• We provided a deck-by-deck look at the changes coming to Freedom of the Seas.
• Voyager of the Seas is now compatible with Royal Caribbean's app.
• We shared some of our favorite Perfect Day at CocoCay late night photos.
• Royal Caribbean won two awards at the Travel Weekly Asia 2019 Readers' Choice Awards.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

There are plenty of tips and tricks shared all across RoyalCaribbeanBlog, but this week, Matt talks about the things he does not recommend to do on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

In this week's Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast, Matt lists the big missteps one can make while on a cruise.

Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can! We’d appreciate it.

New RCB Video: Top things the pros wish they knew before taking a cruise!

Have you subscribed to the Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel? We share some great videos there regularly, all about taking a Royal Caribbean cruise! This week, we are sharing our latest video — Top things the pros wish they knew before taking a cruise! — and don’t forget to subscribe here.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Cruise.blog reported on a passengers that has been banned for life from Royal Caribbean for taking a dangerous selfie.

Cruise Hive listed 27 things to do on Harmony of the Seas.

Geek Mom shared 10 things she learned about Royal Caribbean.

With Royal Caribbean offering its first sailings with a late night stay to Perfect Day at CocoCay, I wanted to share some of the better photos of the cruise line's private island once the sun goes down.

Earlier this summer, Royal Caribbean announced select sailings that would stay at CocoCay until 10pm, and the initial visits look to have delivered on the promise of a great evening on top of daytime fun.

View this post on Instagram

Perfect day and night at coco cay!

A post shared by Terry Milburn (@bigdaddy_tmil) on Oct 9, 2019 at 1:31pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

Perfect Day at CocoCay ? Navigator of the Seas ? #micrucero #royalcaribbean #navigatoroftheseas #perfectdayatcococay #miami #terminala #travelplanners #expediacentrodecruceros #losexpertosencrucero #1encruceros #puertorico

A post shared by Los Expertos en Cruceros (@micrucero) on Oct 12, 2019 at 6:42pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

Thank you Coco Cay and Royal Caribbean for an unforgettable evening! . . . . #royalcaribbean #navigator of the seas #familytime #familymemories #travel #explore #cococay #perfectdayatcococay #timetofyourlife #cruisetime #cruiselover #cruise #girlscruise #girlstravel #livingmybestlife #cruiseday #chillisland #weekendlikeyoumeanit #cocoloco #fireworks #lasershow #fullmoon

A post shared by Rose Polkadots & Wishes Travel (@mousemanual) on Oct 12, 2019 at 8:09pm PDT

Our weekend went something like this. #PerfectDayatCocoCay
?: Pieter D. pic.twitter.com/fzUdSKiqYK

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) October 7, 2019

Baby, you're a ? #PerfectDayatCocoCay
?: Jason L. pic.twitter.com/kTLREMTjo9

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) October 19, 2019

Every Friday, we show off the Royal Caribbean photos that our readers have sent us in a special blog post.  Each week, we invite our readers to send us their favorite Royal Caribbean photos and we post them right here.

Without further adieu, let's jump right into this week's batch of photos!

Our first photo is from Michelle, and it is a family photo on Harmony of the Seas.

Chelsea Nagy took this photo of Mariner and Navigator of the Seas, as seen from the steps of the Slingshot waterslide at Perfect Day at CocoCay.

The next photo is from Kateri, and it is of Harmony of the Seas on the Boardwalk.

Gary Walker took this beautiful photo of Perfect Day at CocoCay from the aft of Harmony of the Seas.

Here is a shot of Symphony of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas docked in Cozumel. Photo by Gabrielle Owens.

Justin Scott took this interesting photo of the landscaping at Perfect Day at CocoCay, with Daredevil's Peak in the background.

Our final photo is by K Bellovary, and it was taken in San Juan with Allure of the Seas in the background.

Would you like to submit your Royal Caribbean photos for a future Friday Photos post? Use this form to send them to us and we will feature them very soon!

Royal Caribbean has expanded its new app to include support for Voyager of the Seas.

Voyager now appears in the list of supported ships that can be found from within the app.

The new app is being actively developed, which means not all features area available on the app yet.  Moreover, the cruise line is slowly rolling out support for more ships.

The app is available on the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store.

Royal Caribbean announced to its travel partners it will be recategorizing its staterooms in an effort to simplify room types for both travel agents and guests.

The latest categorization effort will result in a reduction in the number of categories and a 40% reduction in deck plan colors. In addition, deck plans will result in more intuitive identifiers.

Royal Caribbean is also making connecting staterooms easier than ever to identify and book with designated categories. Connecting staterooms will be double occupancy in both connecting rooms and available on all ships in the fleet except for Majesty and Empress of the Seas starting in 2021.

Royal Caribbean also announced its new Spa Stateroom category. Spa cabins will be featured on Radiance, Voyager, Freedom, Oasis, Quantum and Quantum Ultra Class ships. They will be open for booking later this month for cruises departing in 2021.

At one point, everyone who has taken a cruise was a first time cruiser, and we all have a few tips and tricks we knew before we stepped foot onboard.

In our brand new RoyalCaribbeanBlog video, our readers share one thing they wish they knew before taking their first cruise.

And if you love this video, we have lots of other great cruise videos to watch on our Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel!

By the way, have you subscribed yet? Be sure to subscribe to our channel and never miss a single video!

So check out the video and then let us know: What do YOU wish you knew before you cruised?

Royal Caribbean announced they are creating a new stateroom category, the Spa Stateroom that adds in-room amenities and spa privileges.

Here is what is included with the Spa Staterooms:

• 50% off one spa treatment of your choice per stateroom
  • Spa treatments cannot be prebooked, must be booked onboard
• Priority when booking spa treatments
• Upgraded carpet & balcony cushioned balcony furniture
• Upgraded mattress and pillows
• Upgraded jetted shower head
• Upgraded toiletries
• Welcome gift of fresh fruit on embarkation day
• Refreshments delivered daily
  • Water, coffee & tea
• King-size down feather pillows
• Cozy slippers and luxurious robes
• Bluetooth speaker
• Succulents
• Tranquil artwork

These new Spa Class rooms will be double occupancy only.

Spa Staterooms will be available on all on Radiance Class ships and above as of May 2021. Bookings for the Spa Staterooms will become available beginning the week of October 28, 2019.

UPDATE: These staterooms will eventually be available on Radiance, Voyager, Freedom Oasis, and Quantum Class ships. They will be below a suite, but above a standard ocean balcony room.

Four new Spa Category rooms:

• SB -  Spa Oceanview with Large Balcony
  • Not available on China itineraries
  • On Freedom, Voyager or Radiance Class these will be known as Spacious Spa Oceanview Balcony
• S2 - Mid Ship Spa Ocean View Balcony
• S4 - Forward/Aft Spa Ocean View Balcony
• XS - Spa Gurantee Category

Royal Caribbean announced today it will transfer Grandeur of the Seas out of its fleet and will join sister brand, Pullmantur Cruises in spring 2021.

In a statement to travel agents, Royal Caribbean talked about the decision for Grandeur to leave the fleet:

"As we continue to grow the Royal Caribbean brand and develop new offerings, we will begin retiring our more seasoned ships. We know this news is bittersweet, but we’re excited that she’ll join our sister brand, Pullmantur Cruises in the spring 2021. Her story isn’t finished yet!"

Grandeur of the Seas’ final sailing with Royal Caribbean will take place on March 26th, 2021. Thereafter, she will transition to Pullmantur. Enchantment of the Seas, will return to Baltimore to replace Grandeur in spring of 2021.

At this time, there are two sailings impacted by the transition timeline. Grandeur of the Seas’ April 3rd, 2021 and April 15th, 2021 departures will be canceled and all booked guests will be re-accommodated. Impacted guests and travel partners will be contacted shortly with the details.

Grandeur's final sailing for Royal Caribbean International will be March 26th, 2021.

Royal Caribbean's Seeker Sale is offering up to $300 instant savings on top of 30% off every guest and a Kids Sail Free offer.

The Seeker Sale runs between October 16 – 20, 2019 and is valid on sailings departing on or after November 16, 2019.

Offer details: 

• 30% off cruise fare for all guests in the stateroom.
• Kids Sail Free
  • Applies to new bookings made between October 16 – 20, 2019.
  • Kids Sail Free provides free cruise fare for 3rd guests and higher who are 12 years old or younger on select 4-night or longer Alaska, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Caribbean, CaribNE, Coastal, Europe, Hawaii, and Repositioning sailings departing between November 1, 2019 — May 15, 2020 and August 31, 2020 – December 17, 2020.
  • Offer excludes 2019 Thanksgiving sailings (Sailings between November 23 – 30, 2019), Holiday sailings (Sailings between December 15, 2019 — January 3, 2020), President’s Day sailings (Sailings between February 14 — 17, 2020), Spring Break sailings (Sailings between March 14 — 23, 2020), Holy Week/Easter sailings (Sailings between April 3 — 17, 2020) and 2020 Thanksgiving sailings (Sailings between November 21 – 27, 2020). 
• Up to $300 instant savings on select sailings departing on or after November 16, 2019.
  • Savings amount is per stateroom and determined by category booked and sailing length:
    • Sailings 5 nights or less, $50 savings for Interior and Ocean View, $75 for Balconies and $150 for Suites
    • Sailings 6 nights or longer, $75 savings for Interior and Ocean View, $100 for Balconies and $300 for Suites

Royal Caribbean won the award for Best Cruise Line – Asia Pacific and Best New Ship (Spectrum of the Seas) at the Travel Weekly Asia 2019 Readers’ Choice Awards.

Angie Stephen at the award ceremony

At a ceremony held in Singapore this week, the cruise line has been a winner of Travel Weekly Asia awards since their inception in 2015.

The awards are presented to travel companies and individuals for their outstanding achievements, and recognize top travel organizations for their commitment, contributions and accomplishments.  The winners were determined by the travel trade and public through voting of 10 categories.  The categories represent the different segments of the travel industry which includes cruise, airline, resort, hotel, service residence, destination, technology, tourism experience, car rental and travel agency.

Angie Stephen, Managing Director, Asia Pacific of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. who accepted the awards said, “Our double Travel Weekly Asia awards are such a great way to start our upcoming new seasons in the region, and we thank all Travel Weekly Asia readers and our travel agents for their long-time recognition and support for Royal Caribbean.  We aim to continue delivering our award-winning cruise experience and service with our best ships Quantum of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas to all our customers and agents in Asia, as we look forward to the new decade with more growth opportunities.”