Royal Caribbean Blog

We have a brand new Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast episode for everyone to enjoy today!

Episode 184 of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is available and this week we are taking a look at the main dining room.

Matt explains what the main dining room experience is all about, outlining how dinner works, what you need to know about special requests and why Matt has come to enjoy eating in the main dining room over the years.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 184.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Stitcher or on iTunes!

Take a listen and as always, let us know what you think! Please rate and review the podcast on iTunes and leave your comments below!

A never-before-seen look at the unique features on Anthem of the Seas. Besides lounging by the pool, guests can get a bird's eye view in the North Star or be dazzled by the blend of entertainment and technology in Two70 and many more.

Royal Caribbean's WOW Sale begins today, with stackable savings that provide bonus onboard credit and reduced deposit on top of the current February WAVE offer.

For five days only, guests can enjoy bigger savings with this WOW Sale. Cruise must be booked Feb. 7-11, 2017. Offer applies to all sailings departing on or after Mar. 9, 2017 (excluding China departures). Here is the breakdown for this new promotion.

• Buy one guest, get one guest 60% off
• 30% off third and fourth guests
• 50% reduced deposits
• Onboard credit
  • Cruises 5 nights or less
    • $50 USD per stateroom
  • Cruises 5 to 9 nights
    • $100 USD per stateroom
  • Cruises 10 nights or longer
    • $200 USD per stateroom
• Balcony upgrade offer on Anthem of the Seas
  • Free upgrade from Ocean view to balcony on Anthem of the Seas sailings departing on or after April 2, 2017.

WOW Sale is combinable with BOGO60, 30% Savings for 3rd and 4th guests, Anthem Upgrade, standard/full fare and restricted rates and Next Cruise offers. WOW Sale is not combinable with restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military, etc.) Crown & Anchor discounts, Shareholder Benefits or Loyal to Royal Sales. All offers are 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, and Net Rates.

Offer available to residents of United States and Canada. 

It seems like Royal Caribbean designed Harmony of the Seas to have everything in spades, including bars and lounges.  A ship as large as Harmony of the Seas offers guests many choices in where to enjoy their favorite beer or cocktail.  There are lots of great spots all over the ship to try, but we wanted to share a list of our favorites.

When considering our favorite bars and lounges on Harmony of the Seas, we placed importance on the bar decor, special offerings and general ambiance that resonated well after the drinks ended. We present our list of the top 5 Harmony of the Seas bars and lounges for your reading amusement.

5. Schooner Bar

A staple of any Royal Caribbean ship is the Schooner Bar. Over the years, the Schooner Bar has become a popular spot for guests to enjoy drinks, listen to music and convene for various events. On Harmony of the Seas, this tradition continues along with an Oasis class touch.

What we like about the Schooner Bar on Harmony of the Seas is the various activities that occur each day and night, including trivia and piano music.  Additionally, part of the Schooner Bar overlooks the Royal Promenade, which is great for people watching.

4. Trellis Bar

The Trellis Bar is located in the Central Park neighborhood and what makes this bar a great spot for a drink is the ambiance of its surroundings.  Central Park is a lush, open air part of the ship where guests will likely spend time exploring and enjoying the natural beauty of the flora found throughout the area. The Trellis Bar is situated near the middle of Central Park, which means you will be surrounded by the park while enjoying a drink.

Royal Caribbean updated the look of the Trellis Bar a bit on Harmony of the Seas, relative to her sister ships, and the new look adds to the atmosphere of the drink experience.

The best part of enjoying a drink at the Trellis Bar is in the evenings, when Central Park becomes even more beautiful with the exquisite lighting that activates after dark. In addition, guests can hear live music being played in Central Park, which makes the Trellis Bar our favorite spot for drinks any evening of the cruise.

3. Boot & Bonnet Pub

Live music and drinks seem to go together so well, and the Boot & Bonnet Pub in the Royal Promenade is a great choice for enjoying music you can sing along to, while sipping your favorite drink.

The Pub is always a good spot for meeting with friends for drinks, and Royal Caribbean did a great job making the Pub look like an authentic English bar experience.  Most evenings, there is a guitarist present who will play popular bar songs, and after a couple of drinks, you are likely to join in the singing fun.

2. Boleros

Speaking of live music, Boleros is one of the best places on Harmony of the Seas to enjoy great live music, especially if you want to get up and dance.

Boleros sports a Latin-themed motif, with bright colors, lots of seating and a stage where bands play terrific salsa, merengue and more. Boleros on Harmony of the Seas is rather large, which means ample seating around the lounge, near the bar or in the many comfortable chairs.

There is something about Latin music that just appeals to everyone. Maybe it is the smooth melodies or the intoxicating will to dance, but Boleros is always full and always a good spot for an evening drink while you enjoy the band play.

1. Bionic Bar

Regardless of if you actually get a drink here, the Bionic Bar is an experience to itself onboard Harmony of the Seas. Two robot bartenders can make two drinks per minute, delivered in plastic cups via four conveyor belts.  This is an undeniably cool experience and something that is just as fun to watch happen as it is to enjoy a drink.

Built by Makr Shakr, the idea is simple: guests place orders via tablets and then can watch the robot bartenders start mixing the cocktails. Bionic Bar combines two big trends, robotics and mixology. Guests walk up to tablets, where they can place orders for drinks, choosing from classic cocktails, signature drinks like Mnemonic Madness (a rum, pineapple juice and Midori concoction) or test the robot bartenders’ skills with their own creations.

Certainly the nearby Rising Tide Bar is quite intriguing too, but the Bionic Bar regularly has a crowd that convene to enjoy the spectacle of the robot bartenders doing their thing.

Good news, we are all one week closer to our next Royal Caribbean cruise!  In case you missed any of the Royal Caribbean fun from this week, here is our weekly round up!

Guests looking to sail to Cuba had good news this week, when Royal Caribbean announced many more sailings to Havana for much of 2017.

Royal Caribbean announced its cruise schedule that will visit Cuba's capital city, including some itineraries that have an overnight stop. All the new sailings will be aboard Empress of the Seas out of Tampa, Florida.

There are new 4- and 5-night cruises with day and overnight visits to Havana, along with stops in Key West, FL. and Cozumel, Mexico.

Royal Caribbean News

• A new Cruise Planner sale on pre-cruise purchases runs through the end of Monday.
• Crown and Anchor Society is inviting guests to join them on Anthem of the Seas.
• Check out our first timer's guide to Oasis of the Seas.
• Here are the free outdoor activities anyone can do on a Royal Caribbean cruise.
• At some point, Royal Caribbean expanded the Central Park balcony benefits.
• New video overview of the water slides on Harmony of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 183rd episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available and this week, Matt shares how to make a Royal Caribbean cruise extra memorable.

In this episode, Matt looks at ways anyone can make their next Royal Caribbean cruise stand out with ideas for special events, upgrades and splurges.  

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.

How you can support Royal Caribbean Blog

So many of our readers have reached out to us to ask how they can help the blog and we are introducing the Royal Caribbean Blog Insiders for just that reason.

The Insiders group is a way readers can contribute to Royal Caribbean Blog and help fuel some of the really amazing ideas, projects and new content that we have lined up.

As a way of saying thank you for your contribution, there are some fun rewards for being a member of the Royal Caribbean Blog Insiders.

Becoming a member of the Royal Caribbean Blog Insiders is completely up to you and you can cancel at any time. No questions asked! 

As always, thank you for visiting Royal Caribbean Blog and being a part of our community!

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Cruise Hive shares tips how to keep your kids busy on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

The Washington Post shares the story of how two cruise families cut costs to cruise on Royal Caribbean more often.

Beyond Ships has a photo tour of Enchantment of the Seas.

ShermansCruise has their list of seven best places to eat on Royal Caribbean ships.

Royal Caribbean is offering a special three-day sale, where guests can save up to 30% off select pre-cruise purchases.

The "Sale Before you Sail" deal is available for guests on select sailings, and offers discounts on services, such as unlimited drink packages, internet packages and even some shore excursions and spa treatments.

The exact discount available will vary from sailing to sailing, but there appears to be a fair amount of discounts applied.

Based on the countdown clock, it appears this promotion ends at midnight on February 6, 2017.

To check if your sailing has this new offer available, log into the Cruise Planner on Royal Caribbean's web site and navigate to the Dining & Beverage section to see any available offers.

If you have a drink package already prepurchased, you should be able to cancel the purchase and then re-purchase the same drink package under this promotion.

While not scientifically proven, we believe enjoying Royal Caribbean photos at the beginning of a weekend leads to an awesome weekend.  With that in mind, we present this week's batch of Royal Caribbean photos that our readers shared with us.

This week's Friday Photos edition will be slightly different because the web browser crashed as we were writing up this week's post, and while we have copies of all the photos, we lost the names associated with them.  We always want to properly attribute photos here, so if your photo was used, please post in the comments and the post will be updated.

Our first photo shows the sun setting behind Harmony of the Seas, as seen from the helipad of Independence of the Seas.  Another stunning sunset at sea.

Next is a photo of Allure of the Seas docked in Labadee, after a day filled with plenty of good times all around. 

Mike Dinsmore shared this photo of a beautiful sunset, while aboard Radiance of the Seas. There are never enough sunset photos.

It is back to Labadee for this photo of Freedom of the Seas.  Looks like a picturesque kind of day!

Anthem of the Seas and Brilliance of the Seas are in this shot, taken in Cozumel.  Notice North Star rising above Brilliance of the Seas.

Michael Poole shared this photo of his first cabana in CocoCay. Definitely a great way to spend the day while in paradise.

We wrap things up with a photo of the world's largest cruise ship, which shows in great contrast the difference in size of Harmony of the Seas and the cars parked nearby.  Quite a contrast!

Thank you to everyone who sent in their photos this week! As always, we welcome your photo submissions.  Use this form to send in your favorite Royal Caribbean photos so that we can use it in an upcoming edition. Have a great weekend!

After weeks of offering a handful of cruises to Cuba, Royal Caribbean has now opened up new sail dates for many more sailings to the island nation that extend through much of the year.

Royal Caribbean announced this morning that guests can now book many more cruises to Cuba aboard Empress of the Seas, through November 4, 2017. The new sailings go out of Empress of the Seas' new home port of Tampa, Florida.

There are new 4- and 5-night cruises with day and overnight visits to Havana, along with stops in Key West, FL. and Cozumel, Mexico.

After receiving permission to cruise to Cuba in late 2016, Royal Caribbean opened up bookings for a hand full of sailings in December 2016. With today's announcement, there are many more options for guests to choose from.

Royal Caribbean's customer loyalty program, the Crown and Anchor Society, is inviting anyone that enjoys taking a Royal Caribbean cruise to sail on Anthem of the Seas for a fun celebration at sea.

The special event is taking place on the March 26, 2017 Anthem of the Seas sailing out of Bayonne, New Jersey.  Crown and Anchor Society made the announcement on its Facebook page, and describes the event, "Join our Crown & Anchor Society Member Director Millie for a Bahamas getaway onboard Anthem of the Seas on March 26th! We'll have great activities going on, so stay tuned for more details."

Guests can book the cruise through their usual travel agent or directly with Royal Caribbean, although they are encouraged to register in order to participate in onboard events.

Guests who reserve a Central Park balcony stateroom on a Royal Caribbean Oasis class cruise ship now have a few more choices for where to enjoy their complimentary lunch.

Royal Caribbean introduced special perks for guests that reserved neighborhood perks back in November 2016.  Guests who are in a Park View Balcony room will now have a choice for a complimentary lunch for two at Giovanni's Table, Jamie's Italian, Sabor or Johnny Rockets. Previously, this perk limited guests to lunch at Jamie's Italian on Harmony of the Seas or Giovanni's Table on Oasis and Allure of the Seas.

None of the other neighborhood balcony perks appear to have been changed. It is not clear when exactly this change occured, but it provides guests in a Central Park View balcony added choice in where to dine with their complimentary lunch benefit.

The Eat • Drink • Play benefits are as follows

• Central Park View Balcony
  • Complimentary lunch for two at Giovanni's Table, Jamie's Italian, Sabor or Johnny Rockets.
  • A complimentary bottle of red wine
  • Casino gaming lessons from an onboard expert
• Boardwalk View Balcony
  • Complimentary meal for four at Johnny Rockets
  • Complimentary soda package for two guests
  • Rock climbing wall session for the entire family