Royal Caribbean Blog

Royal Caribbean has released its Alaska 2022 cruises, which are available to book now.

In 2022, Royal Caribbean will send four cruise ships to Alaska, making it another big cruise season for the cruise line in the region.

Read more: Closer look at Alaska cruise 2022

New Alaska 2022 cruises are available to book between May and September 2022.

According to Royal Caribbean these new sailings are available for Crown & Anchor members on November 10, 2020, and the general public on November 11, 2020.

Ovation of the Seas returns to Alaska in 2022.  She will offer a transpacifc sailing from Sydney to Hawaii in April 2022, and then sail from Seattle and offer 7-night Alaska Glacier cruises.

Quantum of the Seas will also sail from Seattle, and offer 7-night Alaska cruises.  The Royal Caribbean website only lists one Alaska sailing for Quantum, so more could be loaded in later.

Both Quantum Class ships will vist scenic cities and towns along the Northwest coastline, including Victoria, British Columbia; Sitka, Skagway, Ketchikan and Juneau, Alaska.

Radiance of the Seas returns to Alaska again to offer 7-10 night Alaska cruises that can also combine with Land Tours to offer immersive visits to Alaska, including in-land destinations such as Denali. Radiance of the Seas will sail from Vancouver, British Columbia.

Sailing alternating, open-jaw itineraries between Vancouver and Seward, Radiance will introduce a second northbound itinerary that includes a visit to Icy Strait Point – a port owned and operated by native Alaskans.

Rounding out the Alaska deployment will be Serenade of the Seas, which will sail out of Vancouver and offer 7-night Alaska cruises, as well as land tour options. Serenade even has a 7-night Multi Glacier Experience cruise for six weeks of the season.

Guests on board Serenade can extend their stay with Royal Caribbean’s signature CruiseTours, a series of 2- to 6-night pre- or post-cruise land tours led by local experts.

Radiance and Serenade of the Seas will further expand Royal Caribbean’s reach with a fresh take on 7-night itineraries anchored by visits to Haines, Sitka, Ketchikan, Juneau and Seward, Alaska.

View the full Alaska 2022 itineraries:

• Ovation of the Seas
• Radiance of the Seas
• Serenade of the Seas
• Quantum of the Seas

Be sure to consult the Royal Caribbean website or your travel professional for further assistance with itinerary options and booking.

More about Alaska cruises

• What is the best time to cruise to Alaska?
• What Is an Alaska Inside Passage Cruise?
• What to pack for a cruise to Alaska?
• Top 10 tips for planning your Alaska cruise
• 6 mistakes & 3 things we did right on our Royal Caribbean cruise to Alaska

It is a new week and with it comes a new Odyssey of the Seas construction photo to share.

Meyer Werft shared a new webcam image of Odyssey of the Seas in Hall 6 of the shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.

November 10 photo

Meyer Werft is back to updating its webcam just about once every week to show off the progress being made on Royal Caribbean's next new cruise ship.

Odyssey of the Seas will be the second Quantum Ultra Class ship in the fleet, and the first to sail from North America and Europe.

Odyssey of the Seas is scheduled to sail in Spring 2021, beginning with a couple of early sailings in Southampton & Barcelona, and then spending the summer in Rome offering sailing Eastern Mediterranean cruises.

After her European opening, Odyssey will transition to the United States for her North American debut in November 2021.

There she will continue her inaugural year in Fort Lauderdale, FL with 8- and 6-night Caribbean itineraries.

While she was originally scheduled to begin sailings this month before construction delays impacted the timeline, Odyssey of the Seas is on scheduled to join the fleet for a Spring 2021 delivery.

Royal Caribbean Group confirmed in their third quarter business update that funds have been allocated for delivery of Odyssey of the Seas during the first quarter of 2021.

Odyssey will differentiate herself from other Royal Caribbean cruise ships by offering a "next generation SeaPlex" that will have the addition of this venue’s first Playmakers Sports Bar & Arcade with club-level views of the competition below; a reimagined Adventure Ocean kids program and a maxed-out teen lounge with gaming consoles, music and movies.

Dining on Odyssey of the Seas will be top notch as well, with the ship offing Teppanyaki and Giovanni’s Italian Kitchen & Wine Bar.

The cruise industry is undergoing a lot of changes that will fundamentally change how we approach cruises, and how we plan and book shore excursions is going to be among the most impactful.

While Royal Caribbean has not divulged its full list of new rules guests can expect when cruises resume in North America, limitations on shore excursions are a likely component to the cruise that could see big changes.

There are two compelling reasons to believe changes to how guests book and take shore excursions are coming, and what you should be doing now to prepare for it.

Healthy Sail Panel recommendations

The basis for the entire cruise industry's approach to a safe return to cruising are the 74 recommendations by the Healthy Sail Panel.

Over the summer, Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings created the Healthy Sail Panel of health experts to create a framework for cruises to operate safely.

Five of the recommendations deal specifically with shore excursions, and a limitation on what tours guests can do is a major part of panel's recommendations.

Once guests get on a cruise, if the multi-layered approach to mitigating the spread of the virus does its job, that means the only real way to potentially introduce the virus on the ship is during port calls.

The panel recommends "during the initial return to sailing", any cruise line only allow guests to get off of a cruise ship if they, "participate in cruise line-sponsored or verified excursions as a way of limiting potential exposures in the destinations they visit."

Not only that, the Panel recommends should even go to the length of offering indoor excursions only if physical distancing, use of masks, and other recommended protective measures can be implemented.

What this all means is there are going to be limited shore excursions during the initial restart of cruises, and more competition among guests for tickets for tours.

It should be noted that Royal Caribbean has not yet formalized these Healthy Sail Panel recommendations into cruise line rules, but considering how heavily the cruise industry is leaning on the Healthy Sail Panel recommendations as their basis for being allowed to restart cruises, it is more likely (than unlikely) that these will become rules.

European cruises

The other big reason why you should expect a change in shore excursions is based on the first cruises that restarted in Europe.

MSC Cruises was the early champion of limiting tours to cruise line sponsored tours only, even going as far as to not allow one family back onboard the ship after they deviated from a tour.

Similar to the Healthy Sail Panel, MSC Cruises laid out a series of new rules and protocols aimed to keep guests safe onboard the ships, as well as prevent the spread of COVID-19. This includes requiring guests only go ashore as part of an organized MSC Cruises’ excursion.

Just last month, Carnival Corporation brand AIDA Cruises prohibited a guest from returning from a shore excursion while in Catania, Italy because he left the organized tour group.

Both of these examples are important because the European cruises that have restarted sailing have largely been viewed as a success, due to the stringent new rules.

What you can do now

Shore excursions have always been a major part of the overall cruise experience, and in the next few months, how you approach planning tours is likely to change.

First and foremost, I would recommend not booking any shore excursions through a third party company until Royal Caribbean clearly specifies its plans for shore excursions.  If you feel compelled to still book a tour, be sure you can cancel for a full refund.

Next, you will want to keep an eye on the Cruise Planner site, where you can pre-book shore excursions prior to the sailing beginning.  If guests are going to be limited to cruise line tours, demand for them is sure to rise and that means excursions are likely to sell out faster than before.

Conversely, the other factor that may reduce the need to book tours as soon as possible is the fact Royal Caribbean will sail with a limited capacity initially.

Each ship will have its own capacity (which has not been divulged by the cruise line), but less people on a ship means less competition than what we may be used to with shore excursion bookings.

Nonetheless, it is a good idea to plan ahead more than ever for shore excursions. Not only will it allow you to guard against a tour selling out, you will also be able to take advantage of pre-cruise sales that discount the shore excursion's onboard price.

The first sailings back will visit Perfect Day at CocoCay only, but eventually cruises will stop at other ports of call, and this strategy will be important.

Limited tours are not forever

If you are reading all of this and upset at the changes, take solace in the fact these protocols are not intended to be in place indefinitely.

Royal Caribbean and the Healthy Sail Panel have said many of the new protocols are intended to be temporary, and when conditions around the world improve, these protocols can be relaxed and/or removed entirely.

The Healthy Sail Panel was sure to note the limitation in shore excursions was only meant for the initial return to sailing.

If you own Royal Caribbean stock, today is a great start to your portfolio for the week.

Royal Caribbean, and the entire travel sector, saw enormous gains in pre-market trading that has continued through the day thanks to positive news about COVID-19 vaccine trials.

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said early data from its coronavirus vaccine shows it is more than 90% effective, which is better than expected results.

Royal Caribbean's stock was trading at around 25% higher than its opening price, and thee momentum started with pre-market trading nearly as soon as Pfizer made its announcement.

Not only did the news buoy Royal Caribbean's stock, but other cruise lines saw similar gains as well.  In fact, travel industry stocks across the board have seen large gains on Monday.

Vaccine test results

Pfizer says the interim analysis looked at the first 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the more than 43,000 volunteers who got either two doses of the vaccine or a placebo.

It found that fewer than 10% of infections were in participants who had been given the vaccine. More than 90% of the cases were in people who had been given a placebo.

The vaccine is being developed with German partner BioNTech had an efficacy rate higher than 90% at seven days after the second dose, which means protection is achieved 28 days after a person begins vaccination. 

The vaccine requires two doses. 

The reason why the 90% mark is such good news is because the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it expected at least 50% efficacy from any coronavirus vaccine.

In a press release, Pfizer said it plans to seek emergency use authorization from the FDA soon after volunteers have been monitored for two months after getting their second dose of vaccine, as requested by the FDA.

Pfizer said it anticipated reaching that marker by the third week of November.

Next steps for the vaccine

Phase 3 of Pfizer's vaccine trial has 43,538 people enrolled since July 27.  As of Sunday, 38,955 of the volunteers have received a second dose of the vaccine.

42% of international trial sites and 30% of US trial sites involve volunteers of racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds.

The final goal of the trial is to reach 164 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection.

Pfizer's approach relies on a new technology called messenger RNA, or mRNA, to produce an immune response in the vaccine.

The mRNA vaccine approach uses genetic material called mRNA to trick cells into producing bits of protein that look like pieces of the virus. The immune system learns to recognize and attack those bits and, in theory, would react fast to any actual infection.

It is not clear yet if this vaccine will become a yearly or season shot, as it is not clear if the vaccine will provide long-term protection.

Royal Caribbean not counting on vaccine yet

While the vaccine may prove to be a major weapon in the arsenal for combating COVID-19, Royal Caribbean's plans to restart cruises do not hinge on the vaccine quite yet.

Royal Caribbean Group Chairman and CEO Richard Fain expects tests to have a greater impact on cruises than the vaccine in the short term.

"The advances are so significant that I believe in the near term we will see more benefit from testing than we will from vaccines in the near term."

Fain thinks the impact of a vaccine will take time, and in the meantime, new and better testing will make a quicker difference.

"Vaccines are the ultimate weapon against this virus and their development has been nothing short of amazing. But I do think it's likely that a vaccine will be available before the end of the year. But getting enough for widespread distribution is going to take probably until sometime in the spring."

"On the other hand, faster, cheaper and widespread testing will be much more impactful, much sooner. Widespread testing enables contact tracing, and it's the one two punch of testing and contact tracing that is so effective in limiting the community spread of the disease."

Royal Caribbean's cruise ships are safe from the wrath of Tropical Storm Eta, as any ships in the area have sought refuge in Bahamian waters.

Tropical Storm Eta made landfall over the Florida Keys, while impacting much of South Florida on Monday. 

Royal Caribbean Director / Chief Meteorologist James Van Fleet shared an update that Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruise ships are sticking close to shores of the Bahamas where the effects of the storm will be minimal.

Each of the ships have had their top decks locked down, anchors pulled up and bows of the ship pointed into the wind to minimize the impact.

Mr. Van Fleet shared that the ships are experiencing winds in the range of 40-65 knots, although he is expecting higher gusts.

Mr. Van Fleet also noted that the ships are "completely safe" in their current positions. He and his team discussed a variety of scenarios with the captain of each cruise ship to determine the best course of action.

Looking at the storm track and predictions helps Royal Caribbean minimize fuel consumption while there are no guests onboard.

So far my @RoyalCaribbean Ladies and @CelebrityCruise Sister’s in the #Bahamas are seeing winds right in the range we were anticipating, clocking between 40-65 knots. I am expecting some higher gusts so will share updates again tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/R8Ohln8fF3

— James Van Fleet (@JamesVanFleet) November 9, 2020

The maximum sustained winds of Tropical Storm Eta were 65 mph (100 km/h).  Its wind damage is not expected to be great, but it is bringing a significant amount of rainfall to South Florida. Radar estimates indicate that over a foot of rain has fallen over the past 2 days in some areas.

Eta could dump an additional 6 to 12 inches.

The storm had maximum sustained winds of 65 mph Sunday night and made landfall on Lower Matecumbe Key around 11 p.m.

Royal Caribbean unveiled an unprecedented offer when it announced it will offer double Crown and Anchor Society points,

Never before has Royal Caribbean made moving up the ladder of its customer loyalty program so easy, and with this new policy came a lot of questions from guests on how exactly it all works.

With so many questions about this popular new incentive, here are answers to the most common questions you wanted to know about the double points offer.

What is the double points offer?

As the name implies, Royal Caribbean will give Crown & Anchor Society members double cruise points on sailings departing  January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022.

Loyalty 2X Points applies to new, individual, and named group bookings confirmed at prevailing rates, and existing bookings made for bookings made before  September 30, 2021 for sailings departing January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022.

How many points will I earn per night?

You will earn double the number of points per night as you would normally earn on a Royal Caribbean sailing.

Does my booking qualify for the double points offer?

This offer applies to named, existing bookings for sailings departing on January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022 booked before September 30, 2021.

Essentially, it is combinable with just about any 2021 or 2022 sailing.

In the first couple of days, there were exclusions, but those have been removed.

This benefit is being applied to existing bookings as well, so there is no need to rebook.

In addition, your Crown and Anchor Society member number must be added at the time of the booking to qualify for this benefit. 

Is double points combinable with other Crown & Anchor Society benefits?

Yes, the double points is combinable with your Crown and Anchor benefits, including the balcony discount.

When will I receive my double points?

You will get your double points just like you would before this offer, which is after making final payment in full and completing the sailing.

Typically Crown and Anchor Society points can take a week or two to be applied to an account.

What if my Crown and Anchor Society number is not on the reservation when I booked my cruise?

You must have your Crown and Anchor Society member number added to the reservation in order to take advantage of this offer.

Do all Crown & Anchor Society tiers qualify for the double points offer?

Yes, all existing members qualify for this offer, including Gold, Platinum, Emerald, Diamond, Diamond Plus, and Pinnacle members.

Do I have to rebook if I already have a cruise booked to get the offer?

No, you do not have to rebook because this offer is automatically applied to existing bookings.

You just need to ensure you have your Crown and Anchor Society member number on your cruise reservation.

Just like an existing booking, the points will be applied upon the completion of the cruise vacation.

Happy Sunday! Temperatures may be dropping, but there is plenty of Royal Caribbean news to share.  This is your weekly summary of all the Royal Caribbean news from this past week, perfectly fitted for your consumption.

Royal Caribbean announced this week it has cancelled its December 2020 cruises in order to take more time to prepare for cruises to restart.

Excluding Quantum of the Seas sailings in Singapore, Royal Caribbean cancelled its December cruises so that it could utilize this time to thoroughly train staff and crew on new health and safety protocols, while also conducting a number of trial sailings to stress-test these measures in real-world conditions.

Rather than being prohibited by the CDC from sailing at all, the pathway for cruises to restart as opened, and Royal Caribbean is working on satisfying the CDC's stringent rules.

Before cruises can fully resume, the CDC has outlined a series of steps that need to occur before cruise ships can begin taking passengers onboard.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean added the virtual muster drill to its app
• Royal Caribbean Group CEO spoke on CDC allowing cruise ships to conditionally sail again
• The cruise industry announced it will also cancel December 2020 cruises
• Key West voters approved a ban on large cruise ships
• Royal Caribbean delays 2022-2023 Europe deployments
• The public overwhelmingly told CDC that cruises should restart
• 5 Royal Caribbean things you had no idea existed
• Why cruise ships will not be able to restart right away
• A look back at Royal Caribbean's past Black Friday deals
• Top 10 things you should never do on a cruise
• Odyssey of the Seas photo construction update
• A look back at which U.S. President attended the launch of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship
• Royal Caribbean's November sale offers 60% off second guest and more
• Top 8 things repeat cruisers seem to say all the time

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 379th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is available to enjoy, where Lauren shares her double cruise firsts story.

Lauren tried her first Royal Caribbean cruise, as well as her first European cruise, and shared how it all went on this week's episode.

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: 5 STUPIDEST purchases I made to bring on 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 — 5 STUPIDEST purchases I made to bring on a cruise — and don’t forget to subscribe here.

Royal Caribbean May Need Volunteers for Trial Cruises

Before Royal Caribbean can restart cruises with paying passengers, they will need to conduct test sailings and it is not clear yet how volunteers will be selected for that process.

On Wednesday, Royal Caribbean Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed, told travel agents that a combination of cruise line employees and volunteers would be used onboard a series of test cruises in order to test out the new health and safety protocols.

Since then, cruise fans have taken to social media to let the cruise line know that they are willing and able to be one of those volunteers.

Simulated sailings will need to meet CDC expectations for certification, which includes passengers wearing masks, wash and sanitize hands, and practice social distancing. 

Going on a cruise vacation offers plenty of fun things to do, but there are a lot of common mistakes to avoid as well.

Cruise lines make the experience as easy as possible, but rookie mistakes are still possible, so here are some easy pitfalls to avoid.

Whether you are going on your first cruise or have cruised plenty of times, be aware of these common missteps I see happen all too often.

Throw anything overboard

In the same way you should not throw garbage out of your car window, throwing anything into the ocean is not cool either.

Not only is littering in the ocean strictly prohibited by Royal Caribbean as a rule, it is also a violation of maritime law to do so.

More importantly, throwing trash in the ocean hurts the environment and sea life that call the ocean home. There are plenty of trash recepticles on your ship, including ash trays.

Read more: Top 9 bad mistakes to make on a Royal Caribbean cruise

Book your cruise based on price

We all have vacation budgets, but picking which cruise to go on purely based on price is a big mistake.

Just like how hotels can vary dramatically, cruise ships each offer their own amenties and signature features that make them stand out.

A common mistake is to assume all Royal Caribbean ships are the same, especially if certain features are important to you.

Before you book, be sure to look at what the ship offers to do onboard (as well as what it does not offer), and then decide if it is a good choice for you.

Read more: What is the cheapest month to go on a cruise?

Fly to your cruise the day of departure

You are playing with fire if you try to fly the same day your cruise is scheduled to depart.

Travel delays are an all-too-common occurence and the last thing you want to do is put your entire cruise vacation in jeopardy because your airline is waiting on another flight attendant, or bad weather cancelled your flight.

While paying for a hotel the night before your cruise does add to your vacation cost, the flexibility and peace of mind it provides is well worth it.

Book a flight that gets you to your departure port at least one day ahead of time. As an added bonus, you get to start your vacation earlier!

Read more: The most important advice I give my family after they book a cruise

Be a chair hog

Just because everyone else is doing it does not mean you should reserve chairs for your family when you are not actually using them.

One of the most common annoyances among guests are the people that go up to the pool deck early in the morning, throw towels on a bunch of chairs, and then do not return to use the chairs for a few hours.

Pool deck chairs are limited, and on sea days a lot of people want to enjoy time at the pool.

The courteous thing to do is not reserve pool chairs, unless your family is actually at the pool to use them.

Read more: 8 things some cruisers do that annoy everyone else

Ignore your SeaPass account

Just like your credit card bills at home, it is a good idea to periodically check your onboard spending.

Keeping tabs on how much you have spent has two benefits: you can verify there are no erroneous charges, as well as ensuring you are not blowing through your vacation budget.

Royal Caribbean provides a lot of opportunities to spend extra on your cruise, from alcoholic beverages, to shore excursions, to specialty dining and more.

You can always request a copy of your bill from Guest Services, or check it anytime from the Royal Caribbean app.

Checking the SeaPass account early ensures you are not standing in line on the last day of your cruise like everyone else to fix billing issues.

Read more: All about Royal Caribbean's SeaPass account

Limit yourself to free food

There is nothing wrong with the terrific complimentary food available on a Royal Caribbean ship, but it is worth spending a little bit extra on the specialty dining.

Whether you like sushi, steak, Italian or any other indulgence, Royal Caribbean's extra-cost dining choices are really good.

It is a good idea to sprinkle in some specialty dining costs as a way of supplementing the great food in the main dining room.

Read more: Royal Caribbean dining questions I get asked all the time!

Ignore the possibility of getting seasick

The chance of getting seasick on a cruise is minimal, but you should be prepared in case it does happen.

First-time cruisers may not know exactly how their body will react to be on a cruise, and everyone handles the slight motion of a cruise ship differently.

Royal Caribbean ships are specially designed to offer as smooth a sailing as possible, but some motion in the ocean is not uncommon.

Just to be safe, pack over the counter medications or homeopathic treatments to mitigate the effects quickly.

Read more: How To Avoid Getting Sick on a Cruise

Wait until the last minute to book a shore excursion

Shore excurions are a very popular activity in the ports of call your cruise ship will visit, so do not wait to book them.

Quite often, certain tours will sell out and that can leave you compromising on which activity you want to do.

Moreover, you can usually get a better price if you pre-purchase it before your cruise on Royal Caribbean's website.

In addition, it is expected for an indeterminite amount of time that you will be limited to booking shore excursions through the cruise line while the global health crisis requires new health protocols to be implemented.

Read more: How to save money on cruise excursions

Wait until you get home to resolve problems

If there is a problem on your cruise, be sure to get any concerns resolved onboard.

Whether there is a billing issue, mechanical problem in your stateroom, disagreement with a crew member or anything else, your best bet is to get it handled while you are onboard the ship.

Your best chance at a equitable resolution is to let the ship staff assist in resolving it.  The shoreside team is helpful, but there is so much back and forth once you get home that it makes things much more difficult.

If you encounter any issue, speak with Guest Services onboard to get it taken care of, especially if it is something that once you leave the ship, it would be difficult for Royal Caribbean to verify.

Read more: The top crew members to find if you have a problem onboard your cruise

Pack essential items you will need on the first day

The first hours you board your cruise are a great time to begin enjoying your cruise, but make sure you have what you need with you prior to your luggage being delivered.

The luggage you give the porters at the cruise terminal to be delivered to your room will take hours to get to your room. 

You will want to keep with you in a carry-on bag your travel documentation (passports or birth cerificate), money, important prescription medicine, sunglasses, stuff for the kids, or toiletries.

Read more: The worst cruise packing mistakes to avoid

In the two days since Royal Caribbean said it would need volunteers for test cruises, there has been an outpouring of cruise fans who would love to sign up.

On Wednesday, Royal Caribbean Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed, told travel agents that a combination of cruise line employees and volunteers would be used onboard a series of test cruises in order to test out the new health and safety protocols.

Since then, cruise fans have taken to social media to let the cruise line know that they are willing and able to be one of those volunteers.

Royal Caribbean has no option as of now to take volunteer sign ups.

Freed told travel agents that it has not been decided how they would pick volunteers, "We haven't decided how we're going to select people at this point. I know it will be our employees. You must be 18 or older, but we will be looking possibly for volunteers."

Regardless of the cruise line's plans, many cruise fans have begun posting on social media and even contacting the cruise line to sign up.

I posted a question asking cruise fans if they would volunteer for a test cruise, and in less than two days almost 200 people have replied enthusiastically that they would want to be a subject for any test cruise.

LibertyMoonbeam wrote back, "Where do I sign up? I absolutely would love to be a volunteer. I miss cruising!"

bhageerah mentioned not seeing much risk in volunteering, "In a heartbeat, I can assure you that I know that I have less of a chance of contacting it onboard that ship than I would  at work.

RoyalCaribbeanBlog reader Michelle reached out to Royal Caribbean directly about signing up as a volunteer, but the cruise line informed her that currently the test sailings "are limited to current employees and members of our operational teams."

To be clear, there has been no means of actually signing up to be a volunteer on any test Royal Caribbean sailing.

Pent-up demand

All of these volunteers are a sign of the pent-up demand that Royal Caribbean has been seeing with its bookings during its voluntary cruise shutdown.

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley told Wall Street analysts they were surprised by the level of demand for cruises to return in Singapore on Quantum of the Seas, and there is plenty of demand to go around.

"We were really quite surprised by the level of demand that came into the product of the winter season that we've got it open," Mr. Bayley shared during the call with investors.

Earlier this summer, Bayley spoke about the fact many people want to make up for the lost 2020 fun with vacations in 2021.

"I think a lot of people have written off this summer. They've decided that there's not going to be a big summer vacation for all of the reasons that we know. But people certainly want to have a vacation next year."

Royal Caribbean released a new update to its app that introduces the highly anticipated Muster 2.0 virtual safety drill feature.

Version 1.26.0 has been released to the Apple App Store, which adds two core features that will be critical for guests on cruise ships that need to foster social distancing.

The app update comes just weeks before Royal Caribbean is set to restart cruises in Singapore on Quantum of the Seas.

While there are no firm plans yet announced for when cruises might restart in the United States, test sailings could start as early as December.

Virtual safety drill

Earlier this summer, Royal Caribbean announced a new patented approach to use its smart phone app to conduct the safety drill onboard.

The Muster 2.0 feature has been added to the app, which Royal Caribbean describes as a "completely re-imagined onboard guest safety briefing".

The app features information and sends notifications to make sure you complete the briefing prior to the ship sailing. 

Travelers will be able to review the information at their own time prior to setting sail, eliminating the need for the traditional large group assemblies. 

After reviewing safety information individually, guests will complete the drill by visiting their assigned assembly station, where a crew member will verify that all steps have been completed and answer questions. Each of the steps will need to be completed prior to the ship’s departure, as required by international maritime law.

One on the cruise ship, guests have a set time (indicated by a timer in the app) during which muster drill must be completed by all of the passengers and, in response, a message is transmitted to each mobile device that the muster drill has commenced.

Read more: 6 really interesting facts about Royal Caribbean's new cruise safety drill

Excursion tickets

Another shift to digital comes in the form of shore excursion tickets are now available in the app.

Traditionally, Royal Caribbean would distribute paper tickets to guests for their excursions that were purchased through the cruise line.

With the app, guests can now avoid having paper tickets and rely on the app to provide that information to tour operators.

The app's version history notes that the digital excursion tickets replace "the need for paper tickets when possible", which sounds like paper tickets could still be utilized in some scenarios.

Thanks to Iuliana Scott for giving us a heads up on this news.