A balcony stateroom on your Royal Caribbean cruise sounds like a great idea, with imagery of fantastic views of the oceans available anytime you want.  So when it comes to booking the stateroom, you may quickly discover there is not just one balcony stateroom, but rather, a number of options to consider.

Royal Caribbean breaks up its balcony staterooms into various sub-categories and this is your guide to understanding what the differences are between them all.

D1, D3, D8... what does it all mean?

When you look to book a balcony stateroom, you will see a variety of cabin designations among the balcony staterooms.  There will be stateroom codes, such as D1, D2, D4, E1, E4, etc.

Essentially, the difference between all the Category D staterooms is stateroom location, and potentially size of the room as well.  The lower the number, the more desirable the location of the room in terms of how close it is (or is not) to mid-ship.

As the numbers get higher, the stateroom location goes further aft/forward and/or stateroom size can change.

The differences can be very subtle from one category to another, but the price tends to drop as the number climbs (i.e. a D8 tends to be cheaper than a D1).

In addition, the difference between staterooms can include rooms that have third and fourth berths.  Rooms with this distinction can result in different pricing compared to staterooms that cannot accommodate third and fourth berths.

Other balcony categories

In addition to balcony staterooms that have the letter "D", there are other categories of balcony staterooms that may be on the same ship.

• E
  • Usually, Category E balcony staterooms are slightly smaller rooms than Category D balcony staterooms, otherwise very similar. Between E and D, the difference is size -- the D is larger and this results in a sofa instead of loveseat.
• C
  • On Oasis-class ships, this refers to Central Park facing balcony staterooms
• B
  • On Oasis-class ships, this refers to Boardwalk facing balcony staterooms

Our newest podcast episode is out to help give you a quick "audio escape" to a Royal Caribbean cruise!

Episode 154 is available for downloading where I will be reading more of your questions this week all about Royal Caribbean.

Matt is diving into the email bag this week to answer your emails all about taking a Royal Caribbean cruise, including where to be romantic on a cruise, where the best steak is, Cozumel excursion ideas, how to book a cruise that is not available yet and a whole lot more.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 154. 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!

Royal Caribbean’s latest ice skating show, 1887, takes guests on a magical journey inspired by Jules Verne, legendary author of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. This exhilarating, time-traveling journey blends fantasy with reality with an incredible combination of projection, lighting, video and theatrics in Harmony of the Seas’ high-tech entertainment venue, Studio B.

Royal Caribbean has released new sailings for Empress of the Seas that extends the booking window through September 2016.

The new sailings are for destinations in the Caribbean and Bahamas.

• 5-night Key West and Cozumel
  • Ports of Call: Miami, Florida; Cruising; Key West, Florida; Cruising; Cozumel, Mexico; Cruising; Miami, Florida
  • September 3, 12, 17, 26, 2016
• 4-night Key West and Nassau
  • Ports of Call: Miami, Florida; Key West, Florida; Cruising; Nassau, Bahamas; Miami, Florida

The new sailings are available for booking immediately.

The weekend is here and that means we have finished up another week with plenty of Royal Caribbean news to share.  If you missed any of it, here is your neatly tied wrap-up of it all!

The Miami-Dade County Commission approved Royal Caribbean's proposal to build a new cruise terminal at PortMiami earlier this week.

The $247 million terminal was unanimously approved by the Board of County Commissioners. 

The new terminal, Terminal A, will be able to handle even Oasis-class cruise ships and open in Late 2018.

Terminal A would house an angular glass center and a parking garage with about 1,000 parking spaces at the northeastern side of the port, designed by England-based global architecture firm Broadway Malyan.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean rewarded a cab driver that returned $187K in cash with a free cruise.
• New video of the 11,000-piece art collection on Ovation of the Seas.
• A new main dining room menu was spotted on Oasis of the Seas.
• Celebrating something special on a cruise? Our top tips for celebrating onboard.
• Our list of the top 5 quintessential Royal Caribbean foods.
• 5 Royal Caribbean drink recipes perfect for any summer party.
• Check out this photo tour of Empress of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

This week's podcast episode is all about what it is like to cruise on Explorer of the Seas to Alaska.

Our good friend, Beci Mahnken, joins us to discuss her recent cruise on Explorer of the Seas and shares how a Voyager-class ship fares with an intimate experience like an Alaska cruise.

You can listen to the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast for free and hear all our tips, advice and suggestions for a better Royal Caribbean cruise experience.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Cruise Critic has a virtual tour of Harmony of the Seas' Royal Promenade.

Royal Caribbean UK has a list of 10 things you will love about the Boardwalk.

Moms of the Seas answers the question of does her husband have to wear a suit on formal night.

Friday is here and that means so is the weekend and our opportunity to share Royal Caribbean photos that readers sent us!  Every week, we ask our readers to send in their favorite Royal Caribbean photos, so that we can feature them here.

Our first photo is of Quantum of the Seas by Anna, and taken on North Star.  What a fantastic view!

Valerie Kammerer sent us this photo of the sunset on the Atlantic. Not sure which ship this was taken from, but I cannot say no to sunset photos!

Here is a night photo from Blake Baldwin, taken on Independence of the Seas.  The ambiance of Royal Caribbean ships at night is really terrific!

Here is a photo of the town of Oia along coast of Santorini, Greece, taken by John Siegmund.  Photos of the Greek coast always seem to be so beautiful to look at, right?

It might be the middle of summer, but this photo by Susan Stewardson is still impressive to look at. It was taken on Quantum of the Seas, while the ship was in New Jersey.  Luckily, it got much warmer very quickly as the ship headed south.

Thank you to everyone that shared these great photos.  Do you want your photo included in our weekly photo showcase?  Use this form to send us your favorite Royal Caribbean photos and we will be sure to show it off to the world!

It looks like a new main dining room is available on Oasis of the Seas and that could potentially spread to other ships in the fleet.

Cruise Critic member Eric Markson shared photos of the new menus from a recent sailing in which these new menus appeared.

These menus are from nights two through seven of the cruise.  

What do you think of the new menu on Oasis of the Seas? Please let us know with a comment!

With an 11,000-piece art collection on Ovation of the Seas, guests can experience a wide variety of contemporary works by artists from across the world. Iconic pieces - from the playful “Mama and Baby,” featuring larger-than-life pandas on the top of the ship, to the high-tech “Sky Wave,” the first ever kinetic sculpture at sea - are a source of inspiration to international guests.

Last night, the Miami-Dade County Commission approved Royal Caribbean's proposal to build a new cruise terminal at PortMiami.

Royal Caribbean announced plans to build the new terminal last week and the $247 million terminal was unanimously approved by the Board of County Commissioners.

I am pleased the Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved @RoyalCaribbean’s partnership & expansion @PortMiami.

— Carlos A. Gimenez (@MayorGimenez) July 6, 2016

The Miami Herald is reporting that under the agreement, Royal Caribbean will fully finance the construction of the terminal, minus $15 million that the county-owned port will pay for some road work.  Royal Caribbean will pay $7.5 million in rent to the county.

The new Terminal A facility will be able to handle a ship that is 1,300 feet long.  Terminal G, where Royal Caribbean currently operates, can only handle ships that are about 1,000 feet long.

The new cruise terminal will be open in 2018. Royal Caribbean has indicated it will homeport an Oasis-class cruise ship once the new terminal is fully operational.

A Boston cab driver returned a bag full of $187,000 in cash to a fare that accidentally left it in the car earlier this week, which has compelled Royal Caribbean to reward this selfless gesture.

The Boston Globe reported Raymond “Buzzy” MacCausland picked up a passenger who was moving from a homeless shelter to a local hotel. The passenger exited the cab but accidentally left a backpack behind. When MacCausland opened the bag to look for identification, he only saw large bundles of cash instead—and he headed straight to the local police station.

Royal Caribbean felt the selfless act deserved more than the $100 tip he received, and the cruise line surprised the driver, Boston-based Raymond “Buzzy” MacCausland, with a “Ticket to Adventure” for a free 7-night Caribbean vacation onboard one of the world’s largest cruise ships, Oasis of the Seas or Allure of the Seas.

Should he accept, MacCausland and a guest will set sail on a cruise from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to sunny ports of call in their choice of the Eastern or Western Caribbean.