There's lots to do on a Royal Caribbean cruise, including eating! I'm sharing my top 10 dining tips with all of you on this week's episode!
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New Royal Caribbean cruises booked this week can qualify for 30% off every guest and Kids Sail Free offer.
The Seeker Sale applies to cruises booked between March 4 - 31, 2020 and applies to select sailings departing on or after April 4, 2020.
It includes:
“30% Off Every Guest” and Kids Sail Free are combinable with each other as well as 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. The Seeker Sale is combinable with 30% Off Every Guest and Kids Sail Free as well as with promotional OBCs, NextCruise offers, Instant Savings, restricted discounts (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military), Promo Code driven offers, Free Upgrades, and Shareholder Benefits, but not combinable with Crown and Anchor discounts. Offer 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. 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.
The year 2020 marks the start of a new decade, and with it, an opportunity to stop making the mistakes that are so 2010s.
I have a look at the top ten super common first-time cruiser mistakes I see people doing, and how to avoid them in our brand new video!
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 video!
So check out the video and then let us know: What is a rookie mistake you have made on Royal Caribbean?
Royal Caribbean's new joint venture, Holistica Destinations, announced today a $300 million investment in Freeport, Grand Bahama that will redevelop the Freeport cruise ship terminal to bring a new world-class destination with a one-of-a-kind hotel, convention center, water adventure park and more.
Grand Lucayan resort today
The new project will span two locations including the enhancement and expansion of the port terminal, to be called Harbour Village, and the Lucaya Property, which will be situated at the current Grand Lucayan resort.
The first phase of the Lucaya Property will be a world-class beachfront destination with a 526-room hotel, shopping village, spa and wellness center, water-based family entertainment including a massive water and adventure theme park, a 40,000-square-foot convention center, adventure activities such as zip lines and off-roading, restaurants and bars, entertainment and lively nightlife.
Freeport Harbor
Harbour Village will be nine miles west of the Lucaya Property, at the cruise terminal in Freeport Harbor. Here, visitors will be able to enjoy numerous spaces with multiple shopping and dining venues, beach areas, shore excursions and more. There will also be engaging activities for visitors to experience.
The new project is slated to be finished in winter 2022.
With the participation of Bahamian companies, development plans for Freeport also include a multi-modal transportation hub with infrastructure for water ferries and ground transportation including buses, vans and jeeps. Holistica Destinations will work closely with local business owners and entrepreneurs as partners with opportunities both at Harbour Village and the Lucaya Property as well as additional shore excursions in Grand Bahama.
"Holistica Destinations knows how to build destinations that bridge an area’s authentic culture for the enjoyment of cruise and land-based travelers in a way they long for, while simultaneously allowing destinations to stay true to themselves in an environmentally conscious way," said Robert Shamosh, CEO of Holistica Destinations. "Our overall vision for this new endeavor is a long-term relationship with the community and the government of The Bahamas; essentially a marriage where we will grow together in prosperity welcoming millions of visitors to the destination for years to come."
In March 2019, Royal Caribbean signed a letter of intent with the government of The Bahamas for the purchase of the Grand Lucayan resort and redevelopment of the Freeport Harbor.
The travel industry has been hit particularly hard by the Coronavirus outbreak, and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Chairman and CEO Richard Fain appealed directly to the travel agent community to remain vigilant.
Mr. Fain sent a video to travel agents who sell cruises on Royal Caribbean, as well as her sister brands, and urged despite the tumultuous situation at hand with the Coronavirus, better times are still to come.
"This is a tough time - a really tough time - and all of us know it, because all of us are going through it together."
"After reading enough of the endless media reports about Coronavirus, it's really easy to think that the world is coming to an end. Well, I have a spoiler alert: it's not. We're all spending time worrying, and that's natural, because we're in a storm, and when you're in the middle of a storm, it certainly feels like it'll never end. But as with most storms, it gets worse before it gets better, but it's hard to remember that this too shall pass. And while the virus is something to be taken seriously, it's not a cause for panic - not in a personal sense, and not in a business sense either."
"As far as the business impact on our business, it ain't pretty. In fact, to use a technical term I learned in business school, it sucks."
"We've absolutely sailed through rough waters like this before, and we've weathered every storm side-by-side with you. We all vividly remember dealing with all the impacts of 9/11 had on revenue, and on our operations. And remember the last pandemic, the H1N1 flu pandemic of 2009? Or the Ebola scare? In each case, it felt to me at least, like the rough seas were never going to end. But in each case, they did."
"We are a strong and growing company in a strong and growing industry, and that's the walk we're walking. Because when this is finally behind us, and it will be behind us, we are going to be in a position to take advantage and to move forward at a fast pace."
"The bad news is that we're in a tough patch. The good news is that we're in it together, and together, we'll get to the better part sooner than you think."
While the video is directed to travel agents, I believe it is a good reminder to us all that, as Mr. Fain said, this too shall pass.
The feeling of not having a cellphone in today's world is just plain weird, so many cruisers want to bring and use their phone on a Royal Caribbean cruise. How does having a cellphone onboard work, and what are the costs?
Here is an in-depth look at what you need to know about using your cell phone while on a Royal Caribbean ship.
When your cruise begins, your ship will travel far enough away from land to prevent your phone from being able to access your carrier's network.
In lieu of that network, Royal Caribbean operates its own WMS mobile cell network known as Cellular at Sea, which works with any phone that allows roaming. Cellular at Sea is compatible with both GSM and CDMA technologies.
On pretty much every phone plan, when you roam on another network (meaning using a cell network that is not the one you pay to use), that network charges your carrier a hefty fee and in turn that will cost you a lot.
The exact rates will depend on your carrier and the cell phone plan you have, so you will have to check with your carrier before the cruise. The bottom line is, using your cell phone on a Royal Caribbean ship while roaming can get very expensive, very quickly.
There are two simple ways to avoid the roaming costs that your cell phone provider may levy on you for using your phone while onboard.
The simplest and easiest method is to turn your phone completely off before the ship leaves port.
Alternatively, if you would prefer to keep use of your phone in an offline mode, put the phone into "airplane mode".
Airplane mode disables the phone's ability to communicate with cell phone towers and will ensure you can use your phone without incurring charges.
For instructions on how to put your phone into airplane mode, refer to your phone manufacturer.
Some carriers offer international roaming plans, or even cell phone plans that are designed to be used on cruise ships.
In short, these plans are extremely expensive, offer very little data, and can still put you at risk for going over your plan allotment and subsequently racking up a giant bill.
My advice is skip these plans, and invest in a less-expensive Royal Caribbean internet package.
Royal Caribbean offers a WiFi internet access on its ships, known as Voom, which allows you to browse the internet.
Nearly all modern phones allow you to put the phone in airplane mode while turning back on the WiFi signal.
Many carriers today support "Wi-Fi Calling", which allows a phone to use the internet to make calls, receive calls and send or receive text messages. Instead of using a cellular network, Wi-Fi calling only requires you have an internet signal to use.
Before your cruise, contact your carrier about setting up and using Wi-Fi Calling while at home. You can simulate being on a ship, by putting your phone into airplane mode and then trying to place a call with Wi-Fi Calling enabled.
One of the most common concerns I hear about is someone going on a cruise who wants to stay in contact with someone else onboard, or even back at home.
The simplest approach is to buy a Voom internet package that can support enough devices at once to be able to text or chat via your preferred app. Popular choices are iMessage, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
Royal Caribbean's app currently only offers a free guest-to-guest chat feature on Harmony of the Seas and Allure of the Seas. The plan is to roll this feature out to the rest of the fleet soon, but there is no schedule for that yet.
Royal Caribbean has unveiled a new design for its unlimited drink package soda cups on a few different ships across the fleet.
The new cup design comes in at least two colors (blue or green) and features a large Royal Caribbean Crown and Anchor logo with plenty of bubbles around it.
Photo by Chris Bowers on Liberty of the Seas
Pink design. Photo by Chris Spears
Royal Caribbean Blog reader Michael Pastore shared photos of the new cup design while on Adventure of the Seas this week.
These souvenir cups are compatible with the self-serve soda machines on the pool deck as well as the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines. The Coca-Cola souvenir cup has a special chip in it which activates the machine.
Do you like the design of these souvenir Coca-Cola cups? Tell us in the comments below!
Welcome to March! We hope you are having a great weekend and are ready to sit back, relax and catch up with all the latest Royal Caribbean news!
Interesting news came out this week, when it was reported Royal Caribbean purchased land on the western end of Paradise Island in The Bahamas.
No word from the cruise line confirming the news, nor what the land will be used for in the future.
According to Tribune Business, the land could be used for, "a beach-centred entertainment destination for the passengers it brings to Nassau."
The 343rd episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, which is a look back at the Coronavirus scare on Anthem of the Seas from a few weeks ago.
In this episode, Kurt shares what his experience was like when a false rumor of Coronavirus on Anthem of the Seas delayed his sailing by multiple days.
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.
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 — 10 things you didn't know about Perfect Day at CocoCay — and don’t forget to subscribe here.
Royal Caribbean has expanded its new app to include support for Freedom of the Seas.
Freedom now appears in the list of supported ships that can be found from within the app.
The new app is being actively developed, which means not all features area available on the app yet. Moreover, the cruise line is slowly rolling out support for more ships.
The app is available on the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store.
The start to another weekend has arrived and we like to kick off our Fridays with our readers' favorite Royal Caribbean cruise photos!
We start off with a photo of "Gigi" on Anthem of the Seas, taken by Jenn Ullram.
Fran B. took this photo of a flower in Central Park on Oasis of the Seas.
Next up is a shot of Oasis of the Seas docked in Old San Juan. Photo by Dennis Nichols.
Dave took this photo after a fun day in St. Maarten.
Michael Kho snapped this photo of the belly flop competition.
Check out this photo by Kasey Badzinski of the rainbow over Nassau, while visiting on Majesty of the Seas.
Our final photo this week is by Sam Szpara taken in Old San Juan.
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!