Royal Caribbean Blog

Did you know cruise ships do occasionally get snowed on?

A massive winter storm is moving through the east coast of the United States, and snow is usually inspiration enough to look for a warmer escape.  

Royal Caribbean's cruise ships typically sail to very warm destinations in the winter, but they also offer cruises year round from ports in the Northeastern United States that can experience a wintry mix on embarkation day.

Whether sailing from Bayonne, New Jersey or Baltimore, Maryland, some cruisers have had the "opportunity" to start their cruise with snow, ice, or a mix of both.

Read more: Packing for a Royal Caribbean cruise in the Winter

The good news is any signs of winter on your ship will quickly fade once the ship begins heading south and before you know it, tropical weather is the norm.

If your cruise is departing during winter, this is a good reminder to plan to arrive to your cruise port at least a day ahead of time to avoid weather delays preventing you from making it to your cruise.

Photo by Allison Marie

Photo by Timmie Gibson

Photo by Janine Dee

Photo by Mary Starr Schwarz

Photo by crew member Damir

If all of these photos have you concerned, the good news is encountering snow on your cruise is very unlikely.

Even if your ship does get some snow on embarkation day up north, temperatures quickly warm up as your ship heads south. 

If you happen to sail on Anthem of the Seas from New Jersey, there are two indoor pool areas that allow for swimming regardless of the temperature outside.

Has it ever snowed while you were on a cruise ship? Share your memories or photos in the comments!

Barbados is a Southern Caribbean island known for its beautiful beaches, and it will be the homeport for one cruise ship later this year.

Royal Caribbean announced it will begin offering cruises on Grandeur of the Seas from Bridgetown, Barbados between December 2021 and April 2022, and the island is highlighted not only as a port of embarkation, but a great place for a pre- or post-cruise stay.

Read more: Royal Caribbean will offer cruises from Barbados in December 2021

The island has a well-deserved reputation for its idyllic pink-sand beaches, emerald hills and valleys, and rich Bajan flavor.

If you have a cruise booked from Barbados, here is what you need to know about visiting the island and what to expect.

Getting to Barbados

Unless you live in Barbados, you will need to fly to reach the cruise ship.

Like any destination, you can book airfare on your own, but Royal Caribbean has gone the extra step by securing seats on existing flights to Barbados and added a charter flight from Miami.

The cruise line hopes these added options will give guests the opportunity to find a flight without paying higher prices when booking independently. 

To book a flight to Barbados through Royal Caribbean, you can can contact the Royal Caribbean call center at 844-278-9745 or book through your travel agent.

Flights are available 11 months prior to travel date for all cities. Royal Caribbean is investing in new technologies that will allow our guests to book outside of 11 months for certain cities that will have nonstop flights to Barbados. This new functionality will be available in February 2021 for the U.S.

Interestingly, Royal Caribbean pushed back the departure time for sailings from Barbados until 10pm, so that there is more time for people to fly in for their cruise.

Read more: Why you shouldn't fly to your cruise the same day it begins

At this time, U.S. and Canadian citizens do not need a visa to travel to Barbados or any of the destinations visited during their cruise.

Arriving in Barbados

Once you arrive to the island, the drive from Barbados airport to the Bridgetown cruise terminal is approximately 30 minutes.

Royal Caribbean will offer transportation between the Barbados airport and the cruise terminal. Please contact reservations at 866-562-7625 or your travel agent to purchase a transfer.

Where to stay in Barbados

Just like the airfare, you can book on your own a hotel or take advantage of booking through Royal Caribbean.

Finding a good hotel or resort is always a balance of price, amenities, and knowing who you are traveling with to find a good fit among all three.

You will find plenty of hotel options on the island, including all inclusive, eco-lodges, luxurious high-class hotels and more.

Here are some good recommendations to start off your research:

• Five star Luxury: Coral Reef Club
• Families: Coconut Court Beach Hotel
• Eco Lodge: Ecolifestyle & Lodge
• Boutique hotel: Sweetfield Manor

Royal Caribbean also highlighted these hotels for travel agents during a recent webinar:

• Turtle Beach Resort
• Sea Breeze Beach House
• South Beach Hotel
• Radisson Aquatica Resort
• Accra Beach Hotel & Spa
• Hilton Barbados Resort

What to do in Barbados

Barbados has a well-deserved reputation for being a beautiful Caribbean destination.  While its beaches are usually the first thing thought of when visiting the island, Barbados has a rich history that also includes a UNESCO World Heritage site, lively street parties, food spots, brightly colored roadside rum shops and more.

Royal Caribbean's choice of offering cruises between December and April coincides with hot temperatures and predictably sunny skies.

Getting around in Barbados is easy enough with taxis, which are abundant on the island. Be sure to agree on a fixed rate before getting in, as taxis on the island are not metered. You could rent a car, but remember that people drive on the left-hand side on the island.

Bathsheba Beach

If you have seen a photo of Barbados, you probably saw Bathsheba Beach. 

It features waves for surfing, a beautiful sandy beach to walk, and cliffs to admire. It is as picturesque as it is fun to visit. 

Keep in mind that Bathsheba Beach is not great for swimming because of the surf and riptide.

St. Nicholas Abbey

Dating back to the 1600s, you can explore the elegant Jacobean facades of St. Nicholas Abbey.

One of the few heritage sites in the Western Hemisphere that dates back as long as the Abbey, there is a museum to explore to get a look at life during the time when sugarcane was first raised in Barbados.

Explore Bridgetown

The downtown area of the capital has lots of shopping along Broad Street, as well as historic sites like the Chamberlain Bridge and the gorgeous neo-Gothic Parliament Buildings, built in the high style of Victorian England.

Hunte’s Gardens

A popular stop for a look at impressive horticulture is Hunte's Gardens, which was designed to be a multi-sensory experience.

Visitors are invited to stroll the winding paths and nurseries, where you can see orchid flowers and emerald-green fern explosions, looming palm boughs and yellow-tipped craboo trees.

Mount Gay distillery

Perhaps the best known export of Barbados (sorry Rihanna) is Mount Gay rum, and you can visit the distillery on the island.

Located just off Brandons Beach in the St Michael area, visitors can take a tour around Mount Gay’s distillery, the oldest commercial distillery in the world.

Oistins Fish Fry

A true Barbados experience involves a stop at Oistins Fish Fry.

On the grill are fresh swordfish, marlin, mahi mahi and lobster, along with live bands spouting a medley of reggaeton and samba, steel drums and Bajan folk.

Every Friday and Saturday night, you will find a street party nearby that really adds to the experience.

There is a new photo of Royal Caribbean's next new cruise ship for all of us to look at.

The Meyer Werft shipyard shared a new webcam photo of Odyssey of the Seas docked next to the construction hall.

It has been a little over two months since Odyssey of the Seas was floated out to the harbor, where she has been moored ever since to receive new features installed outdoors.

When she launches, Odyssey will be second Quantum Ultra Class cruise ship.

When will Odyssey of the Seas begin sailing?

Odyssey of the Seas was originally to launch in 2020, but the global health crisis pushed that back by a year.

Then she was to begin sailings in April, but Royal Caribbean cancelled its April 2021 cruises.

As of now, her first sailing is scheduled for May 9, 2021 from Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy, where she will sail a 12-night cruise to Greece, Turkey and Israel.

How many passengers will Odyssey of the Seas have?

Odyssey of the Seas will be among the largest cruise ships in the world when she launches, but she will not claim the title of the largest.

The 169,000 GT cruise liner has an overall length of 347.1 meters, is 41.4 meters wide and can accommodate more than 5000 passengers.

This means she is smaller than the Oasis Class cruise ships, which currently hold the title for the largest in the world.

Read more: What Is the Biggest Royal Caribbean ship?

When will Odyssey of the Seas be delivered?

Delivery of the cruise ship from the Meyer Werft shipyard to Royal Caribbean is unknown, but will occur sometime in spring 2021.

Before the ship can be delivered, she needs to be moved from the inland shipyard to the North Sea.  This will occur via her conveyance down the Ems River.

After that, the ship will undergo sea trials to test that the systems onboard work.

At that point, a delivery date will be scheduled.

More information: 

• 5 plans Royal Caribbean will and won’t be able to do in 2021
• Beautiful photos of Royal Caribbean's next new cruise ship
• New show announced for Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas

Happy weekend! We hope you are enjoying a wonderful and relaxing weekend and managing to stay warm. Now it is time to sit back with a cuppa tea or java, and check out the latest in Royal Caribbean cruise news.

Many Royal Caribbean fans were happy to hear that the cruise line will offer more time to take advantage of extra customer loyalty points.

Royal Caribbean announced it has extended the Loyalty 2X Points benefit so that it applies to bookings made between now and June 30, 2021 for cruises sailing through September 30, 2022.

Double points means guests earn twice the amount of points per night than usual in the Crown and Anchor Society.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean extends Cruise with Confidence program, but will end Lift & Shift
• Royal Caribbean will still offer Lift & Shift if there are more cancelled cruises
• CDC will require everyone to wear face masks on cruise ships
• Royal Caribbean releases Hawaii and China 2022 cruises
• Port Canaveral predicts cruises could restart in July
• Royal Caribbean will now let guests combine future cruise credits
• Where does the poop go on a cruise ship?
• Canada will require tourists to quarantine in hotels in order to discourage international travel
• New look for Perfect Day at CocoCay dock
• How is Celebrity Cruises different from Royal Caribbean?
• Why do I have to pay gratuities for my toddler?
• Royal Caribbean's Freeport project in the Bahamas is still undecided
• Two Royal Caribbean cruise ships visited Port Canaveral this week
• Why the cliche about cruise ships is totally wrong

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 391st episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, where Jason tells us about his first cruise on Harmony of the Seas.

This week's cruise story is of Jason's first time checking out Harmony of the Seas and what he thought of going on this Oasis Class ship.

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: Wall Street thinks no cruises until late 2021!

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 — Wall Street thinks no cruises until late 2021! — and don’t forget to subscribe here.

Which Royal Caribbean cruise ship will you never sail on again?

Is there a cruise ship you have sailed on that you just would not go back on again?

Not every ship will necessarily be everyone's cup of tea. Luckily, the fleet of cruise ships is large enough that there is bound to be a good fit for just about anyone.

I reached out to our readers on our Facebook page to ask: is there a cruise ship you’ve been on that you would never go back on again? If so, which one and why?

When cruises restart, passengers onboard will have to wear a mask.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) passed a new order that requires people to wear masks on public transportation.

"Persons must wear masks over the mouth and nose when traveling on conveyances into and within the United States. Persons must also wear masks at transportation hubs as defined in this Order."

The order pertains to forms of travel including aircraft, train, road vehicle, vessel or other means of transport.

The order goes into effect as of February 1, 2021.

It applies within any state, locality, territory, with the exceptions of while eating, drinking, or taking medication, for brief periods.

Children under 2 years old are exempt, as well as a person with a disability who cannot wear a mask, or cannot safely wear a mask, because of the disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Cruise lines must provide adequate notice of the rule and disembarking any person who refuses to comply. Moreover, guests should be made aware that Federal law requires wearing a mask on the conveyance and failure to comply constitutes a violation of Federal law.

The new rules require what the cruise lines have already agreed to do on their own.

The Healthy Sail Panel proposed passengers and crew members wear face masks on cruise ships back in September 2020.

Read more: Royal Caribbean new cruise ship health protocols include masks, social distancing, testing and more

Royal Caribbean specified in its rules face masks will be required on its cruise ships when they return to service, with exceptions similar to what the CDC outlined.

Specifically, Royal Caribbean says guests should wear face masks in nearly all public settings regardless of physical distancing measures but will not be required to wear face masks in their own stateroom.

There are exceptions, however, such as dining venues, where guests can eat and drink without face masks while seated, provided physical distancing is observed. All restaurant seating will be arranged to allow for physical distancing, so guests can eat and drink without face masks while seated, and tables and chairs will be disinfected.

Read more: Where and when will you have to wear a mask on a Royal Caribbean cruise

Also, guests should not wear masks while engaged in activities that may cause the mask to become wet, like when swimming in our pools, or when participating in strenuous activities, such as jogging, running, or fitness classes at the Vitality Spa and Fitness Center.

Face masks will be required at all bars or nightclubs when not seated and actively eating or drinking with your party. 

Crew members will wear masks at all times, and gloves.

It is unclear yet if Royal Caribbean will change any of these protocols based on this new order.

The rationale for the new rule is aimed at ensuring people in close contact are not putting the public health at risk.

"Traveling on multi-person conveyances increases a person’s risk of getting and spreading COVID-19 by bringing persons in close contact with others, often for prolonged periods, and exposing them to frequently touched surfaces.

"Air travel often requires spending time in security lines and crowded airport terminals. Social distancing may be difficult if not impossible on flights. People may not be able to distance themselves by the recommended 6 feet from individuals seated nearby or those standing in or passing through the aircraft’s aisles."

Read more: 5 ways cruise ships have tougher COVID-19 protocols than airplanes

"Travel by bus, train, vessel, and other conveyances used for international, interstate, or intrastate transportation pose similar challenges."

The CDC believes using masks along with other preventive measures, including social distancing, frequent handwashing, and cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched
surfaces, is one of the most effective strategies available for reducing COVID-19 transmission.

More information

• We asked our readers when they think cruises will restart
• Everything you need to know about Royal Caribbean test cruises
• Royal Caribbean Group CEO says decision will be made if covid vaccine will be mandatory to cruise

Have you ever wondered where all the waste on a cruise ship goes?

Once while I was relaxing in my stateroom on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, my daughter asked where her poop went after she flushed the toilet and it is actually a good question.

Cruise ships are often described as floating cities, and their waste management is no different than a small municipality.

With thousands of people onboard a ship, there is a need for a sophisticated approach to managing where everything goes once people are done with it, from human waste to recycling to leftover food.

In fact, cruise lines are highly-regulated and work with environmental government agencies to ensure their waste practices are approved. These protocols ensure ships comply with strict requirements set out by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and other regional and national authorities with a responsibility to protect the environment. 

Trash

Royal Caribbean touts the fact Symphony of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, is actually a zero-landfill ship.  This means the ship can deal with their own waste, ranging all the way from recycling to water filtration.

Cruise ships like Symphony have a designated waste and recycling center. There are separate teams to deal with each incoming recyclable: glass, cardboard, plastic, and metal.

The ship's waste incineration room is manned twenty four hours a day by crew members who differentiate glass based on its color: green, brown and white.

It is then sent for being crushed.

The ship has an incinerator, as well as a compactor for processing plastic waste. The compactor crushes approximately 528 gallons of water bottles.

Once the ship returns to port, it can then transport plastic, aluminum, paper, and glass for recycling through a third party vendor.

In 2018, Royal Caribbean recycled 43.7 million pounds of waste.

Read more: 15 really cool things to do that you can only find on Royal Caribbean cruise ships

Food

If you have been on a cruise ship, you have noticed there is always plenty of uneaten food.  Either food people leave on their plates, or food that is never picked up from the buffet or ordered at a restaurant.

The chefs on Symphony of the Seas segregate food scraps into different buckets, which is then put into a big pipe that leads to the ship’s hydro-processor for incineration.

Incinerating food waste reduces the volume of the leftover food waste, and that reduces the ship's weight and thus, fuel needed by the ship.

Where your poop goes

Time to tackle my daughter's question of where your poop, shower water, and any other wastewater goes.

Cruise ships have a water-treatment system onboard, similar to your hometown. With over 7,000 passengers and crew, Symphony of the Seas generates 210,000 gallons of black water and one million gallons of grey water during a one week cruise. 

All the wastewater onboard is collected and absolutely nothing goes overboard unless it is first run through a treatment plant. 

Water is divided into three categories:

• Grey water: sinks, laundries, and drains
• Black water: galleys and toilets
• Bilge water: oils released from equipment in engine compartments that collect at the bottom of the vessel.

Wastewater is run through the advanced wastewater-purification plant on the ship, which is above the US federal standard for purified water.

When black water enters the integrated treatment system, it first passes into a bioreactor ‘aeration chamber’ which is filled with bacteria that break down organic contaminants dissolved in the wastewater.

The sewage then enters a membrane filtration system to further filter impurities. In the ‘settlement chamber’, dense substances sink to the bottom and the water floats to the top. The residual sludgy material is repeatedly returned for reprocessing. At the end of the cycles the remaining material is disposed of in low-emission incinerators. 

Finally, the clean sewage enters the ‘disinfection chamber’ where any remaining pathogens are sterilized by UV radiation. This leaves clean, safe and bacteria-free water, which is transferred to a storage tank until it can be discharged. 

Believe it or not, this water is near tap-water quality.   The water is either kept on board or discharged overboard when the cruise ship is at sea with a certain distance from land in order to meet the different local and international regulations.  The ability to discharge water depends on where the ship is located, as some oceans and areas prohibit the practice.  

Grey water can be discharged far out to sea after minimal treatment because it rarely includes harmful bacteria. Just like black water, it can only be discharged at sea in areas that are not designated environmentally sensitive regions.

While it remains unclear what will happen with Alaska cruises in 2021, it looks like Canada is not yet moving in a direction friendly to cruises.

The Canadian government has added a mandate for travelers entering the country to quarantine at a hotel at their own expense.

The Canadian government is looking to discourage international travel by adding these tougher rules. By requiring isolation in a hotel instead of a house, it would mean an added expense for travelers to incur.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement on Friday.

"Travelers will then have to wait for up to three days at an approved hotel for their test results, at their own expense, which is expected to be more than $2000," Trudeau said.

"Those with negative test results will then be able to quarantine at home under significantly increased surveillance and enforcement."

The cost includes the hotel stay, as well as a private PCR test, security, food and the cost of measures the designated hotels will have to take to keep their workers safe.

Read more: Will there be any Alaska cruises in 2021?

Canada's new rule mirrors Australia's rule, which requires most travelers to quarantine at a government-arranged hotel for 14 days for $2,800 AUD per adult and $4,620 AUD for a family of four.

The U.K. also introduced a similar rule earlier this week to require citizens arriving from dozens of high-risk countries to quarantine in hotels for 10 days at their own expense.

Since March, Canada has banned non-essential travel into the country by anyone that is not a citizen, as well as banning cruise ships from its waters until at least February 28, 2021.

There is already a rule that requires those entering Canada to self-isolate for 14 days and to present a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days before arrival. 

Rules like this, as well as the ban on cruise ships, makes operating cruise ships to Alaska or New England effectively impossible because U.S. cabotage laws require foreign-flagged vessels leaving from a U.S. port of call to first call on a "distant foreign port" before returning to the United States.

Read more: Comparing the Royal Caribbean ships sailing in Alaska 2021

Along with the No Sail order in the United States, Royal Caribbean was unable to offer cruises to Alaska in 2020, but a ban from Canada would prevent any Alaska cruises from operating.

Those who do not comply with the prohibition could be subject to penalties: $5,000 per day for individuals and $25,000 per day for corporations.

Two new 2022 itineraries have been quietly released by Royal Caribbean.

The itineraries revealed are on Spectrum of the Seas in Asia and Quantum of the Seas repositioning cruises to/from Hawaii.

Spectrum of the Seas will sail 4-8 night itineraries in 2022 from Shanghai (Baoshan) and for the first time ever, Beijing (Tianjin).

Sailings on Spectrum will visit Japanese ports such as Nagasaki, Fukuoka and Sasebo.

These new Spectrum of the Seas sailings begin in January 2022 and run through October 2022.

In addition, two long sailings on Quantum of the Seas to and from Hawaii have been added.

Quantum will depart Honolulu in April 2022 to head to Vancouver, and then will stop back in Hawaii in October 2022.

Read more: Hawaii cruise on Royal Caribbean: Everything you need to know

Royal Caribbean does not offer regular cruises to Hawaii, but does stop there as part of repositioning cruises between Australia and North America.

Royal Caribbean has not announced any deployment schedule yet for the remainder of 2022-2023 cruises.  These new sailings appeared without warning.

For the first time in quite a while, two Royal Caribbean ships visited Port Canaveral.

Allure of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas each stopped in Port Canaveral this week for short resupply visits.

Allure of the Seas came into port first on Monday and docked at Terminal 1.

Photos by Paul Crow

Explorer of the Seas arrived in Port Canaveral on Thursday.

Photos by Twangster

Royal Caribbean did not disclose the purpose of the visits, but the safe bet is for resupply.

Throughout the cruise industry shutdown, cruise ships have made periodic visits to select ports to offload waste and bring on new supplies.

In North America, Royal Caribbean has primarily relied on PortMiami for these visits.  Other ports of resupply have included Barbados, Southampton and St. Kitts.

Both Explorer of the Seas and Allure of the Seas recently made the transatlantic crossing after spending their summer in Europe in warm lay up.

Both ships were also in Europe primarily to receive Royal Amplifications in 2020, but those plans had to be postponed until further notice due to the cruise line's current financial situation.

Cruises or not, it looks like Royal Caribbean's private island in the Bahamas has a new look for its pier.

Celebrity Cruises Captain Kate McCue shared a video on TikTok of the Celebrity Edge docking at the private island recently, and the pier definitely looks different than the last time cruise ships visited with passengers.

CocoCay pier in 2019

CocoCay pier in 2021

The new look features either painted textures or decals affixed to the ground in a multitude of colors that lead all the way from where the cruise ships dock to the island itself.

Previously, the pier's ground was not painted and only had multicolored umbrellas along the way.

Read more: Do's & Don'ts of Perfect Day at CocoCay

In looking at the original concept art for the Perfect Day at CocoCay makeover, it does appear the pier was designed to have both decorations on the ground and umbrellas.

In August 2020, Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley said some minor work was still being done at CocoCay during the cruise shutdown.

In addition to finishing up some landscaping and painting work, there was a pressing need for a repair to Oasis Lagoon pool.

"We've also been conducting a fairly significant repair that we had to do on the Oasis Lagoon."

"We were struggling enormously with having to make a repair on the lagoon and we could never figure out when we could do it, but we knew we had to get it done at some point."

'We could never figure out when to do it because of Covid, obviously we have plenty of time, so that works."

According to Mr. Bayley, the island has an operational team to maintain things.

Read more: Who is maintaining Perfect Day at CocoCay while there are no cruises?

Thank you to Wise_Blueberry_5709 for spotting this change.