Royal Caribbean has begun adding virtual stateroom tours for select staterooms on the Royal Caribbean website that allow guests to take a 360-degree view of suites.

The new virtual tour options are powered by Matterport and allows the user to move virtually around the room, with special features highlighted during the tour.

Currently we have only spotted this new virtual tour option for suites on Symphony of the Seas.

Here is a link to each stateroom type that offers a virtual tour:

• Junior Suite on Symphony of the Seas
• Grand Suite 1 Bedroom on Symphony of the Seas
• Grand Suite - 2 Bedrooms on Symphony of the Seas
• Owner's Suite on Symphony of the Seas
• AquaTheater Suite - 2 Bedroom on Symphony of the Seas
• Royal Loft Suite on Symphony of the Seas

Thanks to Lovetocruise2002 for alerting us to this feature.

As a bonus, there is a 3D tour provided by Matterport of the Boardwalk neighborhood on Symophony of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean is introducing a new bid-based stateroom upgrade program, known as RoyalUp.

RoyalUp begins on November 28, 2018. Guests will receive an email if their sailing is eligible and they will have the opportunity to browse through staterooms available for upgrade on their sailing. They will select the dollar amount they are willing to pay for the upgrade and submit their bid.

The RoyalUp offer amount is per person for the entire duration of the cruise. Offers are based on two occupants per stateroom - only the first and second guest will be charged. If there are more than 2 guests in the reservation (between 2 and 5 passengers), the offer amount submitted will be per guest but only for the first and second guest on the reservation.

Guests cannot choose the location or specific features of the upgraded cabin, as it depends on availability.

In terms of groups,  Royal Caribbean cannot guarantee that all reservations traveling together will be upgraded. Under the circumstance that all reservations are upgraded, Royal Caribbean cannot guarantee that all the upgraded cabins will be close together.

Guests can make bids across multiple categories to increase your chances of having an offer accepted. If using a travel agent, they can handle the entire bidding process for you.

Upgrade bids can be accepted anytime from the moment it is submitted up until 2 days prior to voyage departure. You will receive an email notifying you of the accepted offer.

Guests can modify or cancel the offer up until 2 days prior to departure, provided that the offer has not already been accepted by RCI and provided their credit card has not been charged.

What do you think of this new offer? Will you be using it? Share your thoughts in the comments.

We have a brand new Royal Caribbean Blog video today, and we are listing the top reasons to book a balcony cabin on your Royal Caribbean cruise!

There are many great stateroom choices when booking a cruise, and certainly a room with private balcony is one of the most intriguing options. Having your own private space to enjoy the view of the ocean, a gentle breeze and the activities in port are a fabulous way to spend any cruise.

Why would booking this type of cruise room be a good idea? We are sharing some compelling reasons to go for a balcony cabin when you book a cruise.

And if you love this video, there’s plenty more for you to enjoy over 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 episode!

Guests sailing in an Ocean View Panoramic Suite (category VP) will now be entitled to the same suite benefits guests sailing in a Grand Suite or higher category stateroom enjoy.

A few Royal Caribbean Blog readers have shared they have received indications from Royal Caribbean that their previously booked Panoramic Suite rooms will receive full suite benefits.

Prior to this change, the Panoramic Suite staterooms had the equivalent benefits of a Junior Suite, but with this change, guests in these sort of rooms will now get more benefits.

Panoramic Suites were added to Voyager and Freedom class ships in the past few years.  Most of these rooms are categorized as Spacious Panoramic Ocean View Stateroom (category 1L), but the Ocean View Panoramic Suite offer more space and are the rooms that qualify for these upgraded benefits.

In addition, the VO Class stateroom on Grandeur of the Seas will receive benefits equivalent to Grand Suites.

Royal Caribbean announced to travel agents that it will expand the amount of staterooms across the fleet of ships that offer a capacity of three guests per room with the addition of sofa beds. The cruise line hopes the change will greatly improve the availability of higher occupancy staterooms, particularly beneficial during peak vacation periods such as summer and holidays.

As of June 1, 2018, ten ships in total will have added triple occupancy staterooms.  These ships include

• Symphony of the Seas
• Harmony of the Seas
• Allure of the Seas
• Oasis of the Seas
• Independence of the Seas
• Liberty of the Seas
• Adventure of the Seas
• Mariner of the Seas
• Navigator of the Seas

In order to identify which staterooms have these new sofa beds, deck plans will be updated with the introduction of a "partial triangle" as the symbol to denoate sofa bed staterooms. Digital deck plans were updated on-or-before June 17th, 2018; whereas printed versions of deck plans will be refreshed in advance of the next print run.

Sample deck plan from Mariner of the Seas with sofa bed option showing

Despite the the addition of these sofa beds, Royal Caribbean says the maximum guest counts remain unchanged for each of the impacted ships, "This initiative simply allows the opportunity to further maximize the number of guests on each sailing, as well as offer additional triple staterooms for those in need of higher occupancy accommodations."

File this change under the "You have to have cruised for a while to notice this change" category.  Royal Caribbean has rolled out a new type of magnet designs for your stateroom attendant.

Royal Caribbean Blog reader Ken "Wolf" Jarvis spotted the new magnet design meant to inform your stateroom attendant if your room is ready to be made up or if you would prefer not to be disturbed.

The magnets are currently on Adventure of the Seas, although others have noted the design is also on Majesty of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas.

It is possible Royal Caribbean is considering offering guests a new type of balcony stateroom that offers a convertible indoor/outdoor space.

Email surveys have been sent to past Royal Caribbean cruisers asking them to compare two types of balcony rooms and evaluate interest in each.

The first type of balcony room is a standard balcony room, which is similar to balcony staterooms on existing Royal Caribbean ships.  The other option is something different, described in the survey as follows: 

"Enjoy convertible indoor/outdoor living space with Option Blue.  This stateroom allows you to integrate your balcony to increase overall main living space, if you so choose, thanks to transparent bi-fold doors.  The expansive sea view is enhanced by an operable window, where the top half can be lowered and transformed into a balcony at the touch of a button."

• ocean-facing balcony with excellent views
• large picture window that transforms into balcony
• option to increase indoor living area

This balcony option sounds very similar to Celebrity Cruises' Infinite Verandas feature that was announced last year for the Celebrity Edge cruise ship. It is not uncommon for Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises to borrow from each other, since they are sister companies owned by parent company Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

It should be noted surveys sent by Royal Caribbean to the public are means of which to evaluate interest in potential offerings, and do not necessarily reflect a decision made to offer anything yet.