Royal Caribbean Blog

The start to another weekend has arrived and we like to kick off our Fridays with our readers' favorite Royal Caribbean cruise photos!

We begin with this photo of Central Park seal on Allure of the Seas, by Kinny Lee.

Next up is this sunset photo by Jean Francois "Jay" Bekono.

Troy shared this photo of learning to surf on the FlowRider on Harmony of the Seas.

Gwendolyn Salzman shared this photo as her ship arrived in Labadee.

Here is a look at the Ultimate Abyss on Harmony of the Seas by Danny Paquot.

Check out this early morning view of the pools on Independnece of the Seas, by Jeff L.

Our final photo this week is by Michael Kho of Radiance of the Seas in Skagway, Alaska, as ssen from Jewel of the Seas.

Thank you to everyone for sharing photos with us this week.  If you want to share your best Royal Caribbean photos, use this form to send them in!

Royal Caribbean is offering 30% off every guest during the month March, with an additional up to $200 instant savings on cruises booked this weekend.

The Winter Cyber Sale is valid on sailings booked between March 1 – 3, 2019 and applies to select sailings departing on or after April 1, 2019.

It includes:

• 30% off cruise fare for all guests in the stateroom
• Winter Cyber Sale offers up to $200 instant savings per stateroom determined by category booked and sailing length:
  • Sailings 5 nights or less, $25 savings for Interior and Ocean View, $75 for Balconies and $75 for Suites
  • Sailings 6 nights or longer, $50 savings for Interior and Ocean View, $100 for Balconies and $200 for Suites
  • Onboard credit and Instant savings do not apply to China departures

30% Off Every Guest is combinable with Winter Cyber Sale, promotional OBCs, NextCruise offers, Instant Savings, restricted discounts (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military), Promo Code driven offers, Free Upgrades, Crown and Anchor discounts and Shareholder Benefits. Winter Cyber Sale is combinable with promotional OBCs, NextCruise offers, Instant Savings, restricted discounts (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military), Promo Code driven offers and Free Upgrades but not combinable with Crown and Anchor discounts and Shareholder Benefits. Offer is not combinable with any other offer or promotion, including, but not limited to, Standard Group, Interline, Travel Agent, Travel Agent Friends and Family, Weekly Sales Events, Net Rates. Promo Code driven offers are based on select ships and sail dates and must be applied at time of booking, limit one promo code per booking. 

Offer available to residents of United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and select countries in the Caribbean.

Spectrum of the Seas is getting closer to completion as she was floated out of the dry dock on February 25, 2019 to begin the next phase of her construction at Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. Designed specifically for the Chinese market, Spectrum is scheduled for delivery in April 2019.

Earlier this week, Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship floated out of its Meyer Werft shipyard, and we have a first look at what the ship looks like lit up at night.

The talented photographer, Björn Haß, sent us these great shots of Spectrum of the Seas.

All photos by Björn Haß.

The ship is scheduled to be delivered in April 2019.

Royal Caribbean is just about complete with their $115 million amplification and the cruise line has provided a look at their team hard at work finishing up the work.

The ship will welcome its first guests later this week on Friday, March 1st.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has been recognized by the Ethisphere Institute as one of the 2019 World's Most Ethical Companies for the fourth year in a row.

Royal Caribbean has been recognized since 2016 and is the only honoree in the Leisure & Recreation industry category.

"We recognize that corporate responsibility and accountability is increasingly driving decisions made by our guests, business partners and our employees," said Richard D. Fain, Chairman and CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. "This honor is a reflection of our 50-year commitment to demonstrating these shared values every day, and I know our employees take great pride in this recognition."

The World's Most Ethical Companies assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute's Ethics Quotient®(EQ) framework, which offers a quantitative way to assess a company's performance in an objective, consistent and standardized manner. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics.

Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35 percent), culture of ethics (20 percent), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20 percent), governance (15 percent) and leadership and reputation (10 percent). All companies that participate in the assessment process receive their scores, providing them with valuable insights into how they stack up against leading organizations.

Royal Caribbean's revitalized Navigator of the Seas arrived in PortMiami earlier today after a multi-million dollar upgrade, and here is a look some of the pool deck changes as soon from the air.

Photographer AdamsAway shared fantastic photos with us of Navigator arriving into PortMiami and provided the first look at the finished product.

Photos by AdamsAway

Royal Caribbean has spent $115 million in a major modernization of the ship that added The Blaster, longest aqua coaster at sea; Riptide, the industry’s only head-first mat racer; a Caribbean, resort-style poolscape; To Dry For, the first standalone blow dry bar at sea, plus vibrant, new restaurants and bars. 

Navigator of the Seas will offer 3-night weekend and 4-night weekday itineraries from PortMiami and be the first ship to visit Perfect Day at CocoCay – the cruise line’s highly anticipated private island in The Bahamas – come May 2019.

Spectrum of the Seas is entering her final phases of construction. See what it takes to install the ships massive propellers for its azipod propulsion system. Designed specifically for the Chinese market, Spectrum of the Seas will be the largest and most expensive ship in Asia when she sails from Shanghai, China starting in June 2019.

Royal Caribbean was named Best Cruise Line at the 2019 Elliott Advocacy Readers' Choice Customer Service Awards, an annual recognition of companies that offer outstanding customer support and service.

The top five cruise lines were:

1. Royal Caribbean
2. Viking
3. Disney
4. Carnival
5. Celebrity

For 2019, readers of Elliott Advocacy, a leading consumer advocacy site, nominated and voted for their favorite companies in 16 categories ranging from airlines to wireless service providers.

Royal Caribbean also won the honor in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Hope you are having a great weekend.  Here is all of this week's Royal Caribbean cruise news.

The big news of this week was Royal Caribbean's order for a sixth Oasis class cruise ship.

The new ship is scheduled for delivery in the fall of 2023.

Royal Caribbean News

• We have a schedule for when Spectrum of the Seas will leave her dock.
• Speaking of Spectrum, here is a new Spectrum of the Seas construction photo update.
• Royal Caribbean cancelled the first Freedom of the Seas sailing following her scheduled drydock in 2020.
• A Cruise Planner sale is running through early next week.
• Check out this video previewing what's coming to Navigator of the Seas.
• Here is our full review of Paradise Beach in Cozumel.
• In honor of National Margarita Day, we shared Sabor margarita recipes.
• Royal Caribbean launched its stateroom bidding program in Australia and New Zealand.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 290th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, which has a review of Matt's recent sailing on Brilliance of the Seas.

In this episode, Matt shares how his first cruise of 2019 was and talks about the experiences, excursions and everything else on Brilliance of the Seas.

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.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Disney Cruise Line Blog reported on a joint-effort among Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Disney Cruise Line to build a pier in Grand Cayman.

Cruise Fever listed five venues not to miss on Symphony of the Seas.

Cruise.Blog shared first time cruise mistakes to avoid.