Happy weekend! We hope you are having a wonderful weekend, now it’s time to kick back, relax, and catch up on another week of Royal Caribbean news!

We had a chance this week to check out the brand new Coco Beach Club at Perfect Day at CocoCay.

The exclusive beach area on Royal Caribbean's private island offers a secluded area where guests that wish to pay extra for upgraded food and service.

Coco Beach Club represents the completion of the original Perfect Day at CocoCay plans.

Royal Caribbean News

• Anthem of the Seas was delayed in leaving due to the media reporting on speculative rumors of coronavirus onboard.
• Check out our Coco Beach Club floating cabanas photo tour.
• Chinese passport holders are banned from Royal Caribbean due to coronavirus fears.
• Is the drink package worth it on Royal Caribbean?
• New photos of the Crown and Anchor logo being prepared for Odyssey of the Seas.
• We reviewed Chef's Table dinner on Mariner of the Seas.
• Royal Caribbean updated its coronavirus screening procedures.
• Our full review of the VIP Blue Lagoon Island Beach Day in Nassau, Bahamas.
• There is still time to take advantage of a pre-cruise sale on drink packages, internet and more.
• Photo tour of the category 6V interior stateroom on Mariner of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 340th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available and this week, Matt shares a live review of the Coco Beach Club.

Matt visited the brand new exclusive area of Perfect Day at CocoCay to share his thoughts on why you might want to go there.

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

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 — Royal Caribbean dining questions I get asked all the time! — and don’t forget to subscribe here.

There are often photo tours of various stateroom categories on this blog, and today we are looking one of the smallest rooms available on Mariner of the Seas. 

While there are many interior staterooms on Mariner of the Seas, this room stands out because it was one of the rooms added during the 2018 refurbishment, and it features an updated look compared to other interior rooms on the ship.

The photos of this room are from cabin 6137 on deck 6.

The room features 167 square feet of living space, for up to two guests. There is a sofa to sit on the during the day.

There are two twin beds that convert to a Royal King bed.

The vanity area has plenty of drawers and storage space. The drawers have a soft close feature that prevents them from slamming shut.

The private bathroom has additional storage space on the left, instead of behind a mirror.

Royal Caribbean has decided to prohibit any guest holding a Chinese, Hong Kong, or Macau passport from boarding any of its ships, regardless of residency throughout the month of February.

The cruise line announced the stricter rule, in addition to tighter screening policies that were revealed this week.

Additionally, Royal Caribbean has tightened the health screening requirements and the following guests will need to undergo extra screenings to ensure safety at the cruise terminal:

• Anyone that has been in contact with individuals that have traveled from, to, or through mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macau in the last 15 days.
• Anyone that feels unwell or demonstrates flu-like symptoms.
• Any guest presenting with fever or low blood oximetry in the specialized health screening will be denied boarding.

Royal Caribbean feels obligated to institute such stringent rules in order to, "maintain a safe and healthy environment onboard our ships, as well as in the ports we visit."

Royal Caribbean has delayed the next sailing of Anthem of the Seas by one day due to widespread reporting of Chinese passengers on the previous sailing who were feared to be infected with the coronavirus.

Local media reported on the ship's return to Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey as cause for concern that a coronavirus outbreak could have been onboard.  In the hours since the ship returned to port, personnel from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) boarded the ship and conducted screenings, concluding no presence of coronavirus.

The hospital is following proper infection control protocols while evaluating these individuals. New Jersey currently has no confirmed cases of novel coronavirus and the risk to residents remains low.

For more information on novel coronavirus visit:https://t.co/XoWMvzv6Rv pic.twitter.com/ED30tFMx0r

— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) February 7, 2020

While the ship has been cleared by local authorities, Royal Caribbean has decided to delay Anthem of the Seas' departure until February 8, 2020 in order to "reassure concerned guests" that the ship is indeed cleared by the CDC.

Letters courtesy of Emily Hufnal

Royal Caribbean is offering guests a 1-day refund in the form of onboard credit for the missed day onboard, as well as credits for any pre-purchased internet, drink or dining packages.

Royal Caribbean reiterated it is working with medical experts, public health authorities, and local governments to ensure its screening and boarding protocols are working to protect guests and crew.

Royal Caribbean also has taken numerous proactive steps to maintain high health standards. This includes:

• Thoroughly sanitizing the cruise ship terminal before and after every sailing,
• Special sanitizing of high traffic areas onboard multiple times a day,
• Adding extra medical staff on each sailing,
• Providing complimentary consultations with medical experts for all guests & crew,
• Plus, the Captain will make two daily announcements during your cruise reminding everyone of how to stay healthy onboard.

Love Royal Caribbean cruises and the start of the weekend? Then you will love Friday Photos, where we celebrate the start of the weekend with some great Royal Caribbean photos that our readers have shared with us. Sit back, relax, and let's enjoy this week's batch of Royal Caribbean photos!

Our first photo this week is by Jenn U., and it is from the North Star on Anthem of the Seas while docked in Nassau, Bahamas.

Brandy snapped this photo of the sunrise near Labadee, from Oasis of the Seas.

Here is a relaxing photo taken from a beach bed at Perfect Day at CocoCay by Tracie R.

Check out this photo by Mark Hackett of Hubbard Glacier, as seen from the hot tub on Ovation of the Seas.

I love a good sunset photo, and Francine Brown shared this one from Serenade of the Seas.

We go back to Perfect Day at CocoCay with this photo by Spiralqueen of their Chill Island cabana.

Our final photo is from the North Star of Quantum of the Seas while in Fujiyama, Japan. Photo by Gerald Chernicoff.

Thank you to everyone for these wonderful cruise photos.  If you would like to share your Royal Caribbean photos with us, use this form to send them in.  Have a great weekend!

Royal Caribbean has posted newly updated screening procedures to ensure guests on its ships avoid the coronavirus outbreak.

The new set of screening procedures add onto what was first posted last week.

The cruise line consulted with medical experts and public health authorities to come up with these rules.  As a result, regardless of nationality, any guest or crew member traveling from, to, or through mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macau less than 15 days prior to their sailing will be unable to board any of Royal Caribbean ship.

Additionally, Royal Caribbean has tightened its health screening requirements and the following guests will need to undergo extra screenings to ensure safety at the cruise terminal:

• Anyone that has been in contact with individuals that have traveled from, to, or through mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macau in the last 15 days.
• Anyone that holds a Chinese, Hong Kong, or Macau passport – regardless of when they were there last.
• Anyone that feels unwell or demonstrates flu-like symptoms.

In the past few days, guests with upcoming cruises reported receiving emails and text messages with similar screening procedures outlined.

Royal Caribbean believes these measures will help reduce the potential for the virus to further spread, and will ensure the health of guests and crew. 

Royal Caribbean offers guests a variety of experiences, tours and activities and one of their most well-respected offerings is Chef's Table.

Chef's Table offers a guided private epicurean five-course experience with an upgraded menu and wine tasting to a limited number of guests. 

I had never tried it, so on a recent Mariner of the Seas sailing I decided to see what the Chef's Table experience was all about. 

I reserved Chef's Table in advance of my cruise via the Cruise Planner, with the choice of enjoying it on any of the evenings of my cruise.

The evening began meeting at Boleros for a pre-dinner drink, where your waiter for the night welcomes you and introduces you to the other guests who will be dining with you. 

Chef's Table is an experience for around 12 guests. The location and capacity of Chef's Table will vary depending on which ship you are trying it on, but on Mariner of the Seas we dined in the rear of the main dining room between deck 4 and 5.

After everyone arrives, our waiter escorted us to the main dining room and seated us in specific chairs.  On this evening, I was dining with 10 other guests.

The Chef's Table is named appropriately, as the chef comes out from the galley to introduce himself and explain the meal that he and the waiter will be serving you.  

The chef and waiter are dedicated to just your table, and that means a personal and intimate evening of food and drink.

There are six courses in total, each paired with a glass of wine. If that sounds like a lot, it is because it is a lot. You begin with appetizers, move onto the main courses and then end with desert.

Each serving comes with a glass of wine that is matched with the food you are being served. The idea is that the food and drink compliment each other to enhance the flavor of each.

When the evening began, I was not sure what to expect beyond simply a lot of food and drink. As the evening progressed and everyone we were seated with started to open up (the wine greatly assists with this), and the waiter got to know us, the meal began to grow on me.

Discovering different wines and how well one cup can pair with a particular food is a welcome surprise, while the detail and attention given to each dish is equally impressive.

Of the six courses served, the tomato soup was outstanding and arguably the best tomato soup I have ever had in my life.  The branzino, a fish I have mostly tolerated, was excellent as well. In all honesty, each dish was great and I could tell the difference between the food carefully prepared for Chef's Table versus food served elsewhere on the ship.

The wine pairings were a wonderful touch, and as someone who primarily drinks red wine, it was pleasant to try a few different white wines and get a sense of the flavor for each.

Overall, I thought the Chef's Table meal was a terrific marathon of culinary excellence. I am far from a “foodie” or someone that seeks out Michelin rated restaurants, but I could appreciate and enjoy this 4-hour dining experience for the attention to detail and intrigue it presented.

For anyone that is looking for something different to do on a cruise, or perhaps looking for a way to celebrate something special, the Chef's Table is a great choice. 

One of the most popular shore excursions in Nassau, Bahamas is the Blue Lagoon Beach Day tour. I decided to check it out for myself and see what it offers.

Blue Lagoon is a private island that is about a 30 minute boat ride away from where the cruise ships tender in Nassau.  It is located just off the coast of Paradise Island, which is home to Atlantis Resort and many extremely extravagant mansions.

Blue Lagoon offers a variety of options for booking a visit to their island. There is a basic beach day pass, dolphin swim combo, stingray encounter, Segway and more. I counted nine different tours that take you to Blue Lagoon.

Ultimately, I settled on the VIP Blue Lagoon Island Beach Day since I did not want to do any of the animal encounters or other tours.

The VIP tour came out to $120.99 per person. I believe the non-VIP tour would have cost around $88.

Check-in for the tour was on the pier in Nassau where the ship docks.  Since I had the VIP tour, I was taken out of the regular line and escorted ahead of everyone else to a ferry that was waiting to take us to the island.

On the ferry, VIP members were given a bottle of water and a granola bar snack.

As we arrived to the island, the crew instructed VIP guests to debark first, ahead of everyone else.

Blue Lagoon is made up of a variety of beaches that you can visit at your leisure.  The dolphin, stingray, shark and sea lion encounters are all on the east side of the island.  Even if you do not have an encounter scheduled, you can walk around the area and see the animals.

Our VIP guide escorted us to a private beach area that was a short walk away on the northwest side of the island.  

There, we found a pristine beach with plenty of lounge chairs and umbrellas to enjoy. 

The VIP tour provides unlimited bottled water, mimosas and fruit punch to enjoy.

The beach was beautiful and very private, although the rockiness of it made swimming and wading beyond your waist impossible.

VIP guests are free to wander the island and enjoy any of the other beaches.  Snorkeling equipment rental is included with the VIP pass.

A BBQ island buffet is included with the VIP pass, and served just outside the beach in a shaded area with picnic table seating.

The buffet lunch consisted of salad, fried fish, steak, BBQ chicken, plantains and corn on the cob.

The other beaches offer different ocean depths and views. Some are better for swimming, others better for wading and others suitable for snorkeling.

You have the option to add onto your beach pass to add an animal encounter, aqua park or other tour. 

Comments

As advertised, Blue Lagoon is indeed a beautiful and serene island to spend the day and delivers a relaxing beach day option.

There was plenty of seating, and the service provided to VIP guests was excellent. 

I was disappointed to find the VIP beach to be too rocky to swim. In fact, it was too rocky to even walk very deep in and I noticed only a few brave guests venturing across the rocks to get waist deep.

Of course, I could leave the VIP beach and enjoy a rock-free beach elsewhere, but it seems to be a waste of paying for the VIP perks.  

I think Blue Lagoon is a good choice for someone who wants to do an animal encounter, or some other type of tour, and combine it with a great beach day.

Royal Caribbean's WOW Sale is back, with up to $300 onboard credit possible.

The WOW Sale is valid between February 5 - 9, 2020 and is valid on sailings departing on or after March 5, 2020.

It includes:

• 60% savings off the price of cruise fare of the second guest booked in the same stateroom as first, full-fare paying guest.
  30% cruise fare savings for third guests and higher booked in the same stateroom as the first two qualifying guests.
• Kids Sail Free provides free cruise fare for 3rd guests and higher who are 12 years old or younger as of cruise departure date, booked in the same stateroom as the first two qualifying guests in a triple of quad-occupancy stateroom.
  • Kids Sail Free applies to select 4-night or longer Alaska, Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Caribbean, CaribNE, Coastal, Europe, Hawaii, Repositioning and all 2020 Serenade of the Seas sailings departing between March 1, 2020 – December 17, 2020 and January 8, 2021 – May 17, 2021.
  • Excludes 2020 President’s Day sailings (Sailings between February 14 – 17, 2020), 2020 Spring Break sailings (Sailings between March 14 – 23, 2020), 2020 Holy Week/Easter sailings (Sailings between April 3 – 17, 2020), Peak Summer (Sailings between May 15 – August 31, 2020), 2020 Thanksgiving sailings (Sailings between November 21 – 28, 2020), 2021 President’s Day Sailings (Sailings between February 12 – 15, 2021), and 2021 Spring Break and Easter sailings (Sailings between March 13 – April 4, 2021). 
• Up to $300 onboard credit per stateroom
  • Sailings 5 nights or less, $50 OBC for Interior and Ocean View, $75 for Balconies and $150 for Suites
  • Sailings 6 nights or longer, $75 OBC for Interior and Ocean View, $100 for Balconies and $300 for Suites

BOGO60, Kids Sail Free and Alaska Kicker 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. WOW Sale is combinable with BOGO60, Kids Sail Free and Alaska Kicker 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.

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