Royal Caribbean has decided to cancel today's scheduled stop for one of its cruise ships at the cruise line's private destination of Labadee in Haiti due to ongoing protests.

Photo by Michael C.

Navigator of the Seas was scheduled to stop at Labadee on Thursday, January 21, 2016, but Royal Caribbean canceled the port call and withdrew all employees from the site.

This is the second cruise ship to skip a stop in Labadee, after protests prevented Freedom of the Seas from allowing its guests to go ashore earlier this week.

In a statement, Royal Caribbean commented further on the situation, "Royal Caribbean has not received any guarantees or assurances that there will not be any protests in the future. If a protest takes place while a ship is port, there would be a significant impact on our guests’ ability to enjoy Labadee, or we may have to cancel the visit completely."

In regards to upcoming stops in Labadee, Royal Caribbean noted, "We will continue to closely monitor the situation and are in close communication with local and government officials in Haiti. At this time, we have not made any decisions regarding any additional upcoming port calls to Labadee. The next schedule call is Vision of the Seas, on Sunday, January 24."

Royal Caribbean is counting down the days until one lucky winner will have the chance to win one of the biggest experiences in cruising: a cruise for two on the brand new Ovation of the Seas.

To be in the running, Royal Caribbean wants to know what’s on your “Big List” – whether it’s as adventurous as paragliding or as heartfelt as spending more time with your loved ones.

Guests have until January 29, 2016 to enter the Big List contest.

Create your Big List at www.mybiglist.com.au for your chance to win a 15-night cruise for two in an Oceanview stateroom on Ovation of the Seas, where you can start ticking off your list with Royal Caribbean and Live Life Big! The 15-night New Zealand cruise departs Sydney on 15 December 2016, and includes calls at Hobart, Dunedin, Wellington, Picton, Tauranga and Auckland as well as scenic cruising through Milford, Doubtful and Dusky Sounds. The competition is open to Australian and New Zealand residents over 18 years, and closes 12.59pm Friday 29 January 2016. Entries will be judged based on creativity and originality, so choose wisely, and think big.

“At Royal Caribbean, we believe in living life big, so we’re counting down the days until our 5,000-guest, US$1 billion megaliner Ovation of the Seas arrives on Australian shores in December 2016,” said Adam Armstrong, regional commercial director, Royal Caribbean.

“To celebrate the arrival of Australia’s first ever brand new cruise ship, we want people to think big for their chance to be one of the first to experience this truly incredible megaliner”, he concluded.

We love to explore the various staterooms on Royal Caribbean cruise ships and today we have a look at an AquaTheater stateroom on Oasis of the Seas.

This category A1 room was photographed by Arleen Jacoby during her stay in stateroom 8330.

Category A1 staterooms on Oasis of the Seas measure 820 square feet with an additional 803 square feet of space on the balcony.

Aquatheatre Suites have floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors that lead to your private wrap-around veranda overlooking the Aquatheatre and Boardwalk, outdoor ocean-front dining area and bar, two bedrooms with two twin beds that convert to a queen-sized bed, considerable closet space, two full private bathrooms with shower and tub, as well as a living room with desk, drawer space, vanity, and double sofa bed.

Each suite also has two Pullman beds, a marble entry, thermostat controlled air-conditioning, entertainment center, internet access, direct-dial telephone, radio, mini bar, individual safe, 24 hour room service, and concierge service.

The real appeal of these staterooms are the amazing views of the ocean, Boardwalk neighborhood and the AquaTheater.  

Episode 129 of the Royal Caribbean Blog podcast is now available for downloading and it features a listener's experience on a recent Oasis of the Seas cruise.

In this episode, Bryon returns to share with us how his Oasis of the Seas went, as Bryon shares with us why he booked this sailing and what his thoughts were of one of Royal Caribbean's biggest ships.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 129. 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!

Guests aboard Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas were unable to visit the cruise line's private destination of Labadee today due to political protests in the area.

Video posted to Facebook shows Freedom of the Seas was able to dock at Labadee, but groups of protestors staged a demonstration in small boats.  This caused Freedom of the Seas' captain to decide not to let passengers off the ship.

Video by JC Roy

Cruise Critic member Nado44 estimated there were 10 motorized and colorful island watercraft carrying about 15-20 protesters each. Several non motorized row boaters also joined in.

The protests appear to be a result of protests as a result of local elections.

Royal Caribbean offered this statement regarding the situation in Labadee.

Today, when Freedom of the Seas arrived to Labadee, Haiti, the ship encountered a number of locals in small boats staging a protest.  Although this protest was peaceful in nature, it was clear that if the protest continued, there would be a significant impact on our guests’ ability to enjoy Labadee.

Therefore, Royal Caribbean cancelled Freedom of the Seas’ port call to Labadee.  Instead, the ship will remain at sea and call to Falmouth, Jamaica, tomorrow, as planned.

We will continue to closely monitor the situation and are in close communication with local and government officials in Haiti. At this time, we have not made any decisions regarding future port calls to Labadee.  The next schedule call is Navigator of the Seas, on Thursday, January 21.

Royal Caribbean has released new photos, showing the construction progress of two of its newest cruise ships, Harmony of the Seas and and its fourth Oasis class ship.

Harmony of the Seas is under construction at the STX ship yard in France and will debut in May 2016.

Royal Caribbean's fourth Oasis class ship is under construction at the STX shipyard in France.

All photos are copyright Royal Caribbean International.

Royal Caribbean and the Chinese Imperial Palace Museum (the Palace Museum) held a joint press conference today at a signing ceremony for a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement in the Forbidden City’s Jianfu Palace. 

As part of the agreement, experts from different research fields selected by the Palace Museum will be invited to give lectures of Chinese history and culture to guests on Ovation of the Seas. 

The Palace Museum also will provide professional consultation of the ship’s interior décor and art program. In addition, signature pieces from the collections of the Imperial Palace Museum will be on display to promote the traditional culture and arts of China. Paintings and art pieces created by artists from the Palace Museum will be available for guests to purchase at auctions held onboard.

Ovation of the Seas, Royal Caribbean’s newest ship that debuts in April, will be the first to homeport in China immediately after its delivery and will begin service from Tianjin beginning June 2016.

The signing ceremony officially launches the “2016 – Let’s Ovation” campaign in China and marks the countdown to Ovation of the Seas’ maiden voyage in China.

“We are proud of the extensive collection of art and relics that represent the imperial treasures of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and it is our goal at The Palace Museum to showcase the traditional Chinese culture to people all over the world,” said Shan Jixian, Director of the Imperial Palace Museum. “This partnership with Royal Caribbean International and our programs on Ovation of the Seas will help to further these objectives. We are excited to promote the rich heritage of the Forbidden City and China to the guests of the world’s largest global cruise line and we hope to continue to expand on these efforts.”

Dr. Zinan Liu, President of North APAC and China, Royal Caribbean International said: “Cruising is becoming increasingly popular with Chinese travelers and Royal Caribbean’s award-winning and state-of-the-art ships with features found only on Royal Caribbean are very appealing to those consumers looking for a high quality vacation experience. Quantum of the Seas has been very well received by our Chinese guests and we are excited to now bring Ovation of the Seas to Tianjin. Sailing two of the world’s newest and most technologically advanced ships in China demonstrate our leadership and commitment to the market and this partnership with the Palace Museum showcasing China’s rich heritage will bring yet another unique element to our vacation offering.”

Ovation of the Seas will be officially launched in April 2016, when she departs Southampton for Tianjin, China on a 53-day Global Odyssey. She will begin her first homeport sailing season in China from Tianjin in June 2016. Ovation of the Seas, together with Quantum of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas and Legend of the Seas, will make up the largest fleet of any cruise line sailing in China.

Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas is currently under construction at Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. Watch to see how the construction process is coming along on the third Quantum class ship.

Royal Caribbean has decided not to implement some of the previously announced changes coming to Majesty of the Seas during an upcoming refurbishment later this spring.

A Royal Caribbean spokesperson confirmed to Royal Caribbean Blog that the scope for Majesty of the Seas' refurbishment has been finalized and not everything that was initially announced is going onboard.

Specifically, it now appears Majesty of the Seas will not be receiving a new waterslide, new specialty restaurants in Sabor Modern Mexican or Izumi, as well as not receiving the DreamWorks Experience.

Other planned upgrades, including Voom internet, poolside movie screen, family jacussis and an update to the casino, are all still planned.

A guest initially reported the news on Cruise Critic's message boards, after receiving an email from Royal Caribbean customer relations.

Royal Caribbean originally announced the refurbishment plans in July 2015 after changing its mind and keeping Majesty of the Seas in the fleet, rather than transfer her to sister brand Pullmantur Cruises.

The first day of your Royal Caribbean cruise is a really fun moment in any cruise fan's vacation, because it is when vacation begins and the many days, months and even years leading up to this cruise are finally realized.

Embarkation day offers a lot to see and do, and for anyone going on a Royal Caribbean cruise, here is what you can expect on embarkation day.

Arrival

In most cases, your Royal Caribbean ship will arrive in port in the early hours of the morning and begin letting its just completed cruise passengers off shortly thereafter. 

The check-in process on embarkation day will take place throughout much of the day, and guests can arrive at their convenience to the port, as soon as the port allows guests to do so.

In our experience, guests will usually be let into the cruise terminal around 10am, or shortly thereafter and embarkation usually begins somewhere around 11am.

The exact times depend on a variety of factors, including how quickly customs clears the ship and how quickly Royal Caribbean's crew is ready for the new wave of guests.

You should plan on arriving to the cruise port as early as you can so that you can start your vacation.  The sooner you arrive, the sooner you can board the ship.

It seems like a majority of guests tend to arrive in the afternoon hours, so arriving before 1pm can often result in shorter lines.

Checking-in

The check-in procedure at the port consists of dropping off your luggage with porters, going through security and then meeting with the pier staff to receive your boarding documents.

It is important to have your SetSail pass printed out prior to arriving at the pier to ensure a smooth and quick check-in process.  You can find your SetSail pass at Royal Caribbean's web site under My Cruises.

Royal Caribbean often boards guests in groups based on the order they arrive, although some guests do receive priority boarding (such as suite guests).

In most cases, guests receive their SeaPass card, wait to be called to board and then board the ship.

On Quantum class ships, your SeaPass cards are waiting in your stateroom.

Lunch to 3pm

Once onboard a Royal Caribbean ship, there will be lots to see and do and like any cruise, it is up to you what to do.

At check-in, you should have access to a special embarkation day Cruise Compass that lists venues that are open and activities that will be available.

Most guests opt to have lunch somewhere on the ship on embarkation day.  The Windjammer is the most popular choice, although ships may have other venues open as well.

Some common activities to consider in the early afternoon after you eat are

• Spa tour
• Swimming in the pool
• Drinks at the bar
• Register children at Adventure Ocean or Nursery
• Purchase an unlimited alcohol package or beverage package

This is a great time to explore the ship and get your bearings onboard and see what is offered. Getting acclimated with where everything will make your cruise easier since you will spend less time trying to locate everything. Plus you may discover something onboard you didn't know existed!

By 1pm, your stateroom will be ready and that means you can check out your new home, drop off any carry on luggage you brought and start enjoying the benefits of your room.

3pm - 6pm

Depending on your ship's departure time, a mandatory muster drill will take place where guests are instructed what to do in case of an emergency at sea.

The crew will instruct you where and when to report for muster drill and it is a fairly straight-forward event.

The muster drill consists of going to your assigned muster station and being instructed on what would happen in the event of an emergency at sea. There is no need to bring a life jacket to the muster drill.

While the muster drill is not the most exciting thing about your cruise, following your muster drill, the real fun begins of a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Sail away usually follows the muster drill, in which case there is a sail away party at the pool deck that many guests opt to join in.  

While many guests elect to join in the sail away party fun, others enjoy sail away from other parts of the ship, such as their balconies, on public decks or at the helipad on some ships.

6pm and after

Following the muster drill and sail away, your evening plans will start to open up more than what was available during the afternoon.

Once the ship leaves port and gets into open water, shops, the casino and more bars will open up.  

Specialty restaurants, the main dining room and other dining venues will also start serving dinner.  Evening entertainment starts up around this time, with live music at a number of locations throughout the ship.

The pattern of activities in the evening on embarkation day is a lot like what happens on any other evening of your cruise.  

What are your favorite things to do on embarkation day? Share them in our comments!