Royal Caribbean has been experimenting with offering guests various drink package offers beyond the usual unlimited drink packages and on Oasis of the Seas this week, there is a 10 drink card offer that has been spotted.

Royal Caribbean Blog reader Dan Kohout sent us this photo of an offer for 10 drinks for $79 on Oasis of the Seas.

Guests can pay one price for 10 drinks at any onboard, bar, restaurant and lounge that is valid for the purchase of most beers, glasses of wine and cocktails, as well as fountain sodas, specialty coffee and fresh juices.

We also received a report from Kris Leppien-Christensen, onboard Liberty of the Seas, of a similar offer this week, where guests can purchase ten drinks for $69.

Royal Caribbean has been experimenting with these special offers over the last couple of weeks, with a one-day unlimited alcohol package on Enchantment of the Seas and a 10 drink ticket on Grandeur of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean spokesperson Celia de la Llama told Cruise Critic, "Ships have been given the option to test different beverage package offerings onboard.  The decision of which program to offer, if any, is made by the ship."

Would you buy a drink ticket like this instead of an unlimited alcohol package? Share your thoughts in the comments!

When the calendar says it is Friday, that means it is the perfect time to share some Royal Caribbean cruise photos that our readers have sent to us. Each week, we invite all of our readers to send us their best Royal Caribbean photos so we can show them off on the blog!

First up this week, is this photo of Legend of the Seas in Bali by Ross and Pam.  I love the contrast between the various boats in the foreground and Legend looming large in the background.

Here is a fun photo by Frederic of Santa and his elves arriving to Anthem of the Seas, via the North Star. Santa knows how to arrive in style!

Kalya submitted this shot of Enchantment of the Seas as seen from Coco Cay on a beautiful and cloudless day.  Sign me up for this kind of weather!

Heath sent us this photo as they were leaving Labadee while walking on deck 11 towards the front of the ship.  Amazing colors!

John had some Halloween fun on Serenade of the Seas with these costumes!

Thank you to everyone that sent in their photos this week and if you have Royal Caribbean photos, well, we want to see them!  You can use this form to send us your photos and we will feature them on an upcoming Friday Photos blog post!

Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas is among the cruise line's most popular cruise ships, and for good reason.

She is the largest cruise ship in the world (as of the writing of this blog post) and offers guests so much to do onboard.

Here are some quick facts about Allure of the Seas that you might not have known about!

7. Her godmother isn't human

Every cruise ship has an honorary godmother, that attends the ship's naming ceremony and officially welcomes the ship into the fleet, but for Allure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean did something unusual by making an animated character her godmother.

Princess Fiona, from the Shrek films, was named Allure of the Seas' godmother on November 28, 2010.

Princess Fiona appeared in 3-D on the screen in the ship's Amber Theater to preside over the festivities, interacting with Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO, Richard D. Fain.

The decision to have Fiona be the godmother is another part of the tightly knit deal between Royal Caribbean and Dreamworks to integrate the characters into the ships of the Royal Caribbean fleet.

6. Allure of the Seas is longer than Oasis of the Seas by accident

When Royal Caribbean was building Allure of the Seas, they wanted to make sure she was very close to sister ship Oasis of the Seas, because Oasis had been performing so well that the company did not want to ruin a good thing.

There is one key difference between the two and that is Allure of the Seas is 50mm longer than Oasis of the Seas.

Interestingly, the shipyard where she was build maintains this difference was not intentional.  

STX Finland Project Director Topivo Ilvonen said, "Indeed this is a curiosity only.  In a ship that is 360 metres long such small differences may occur due to the temperature of steel."

5. Allure of the Seas does not "squat" when going faster

Those that remember Allure of the Seas' delivery from the STX Finland shipyard may recall as she passed under the Great Belt Bridge, a story came out that by traveling at a higher speed in a shallow channel, the ship will be drawn deeper into the water.

The fact is, that is just not true.

The shipyard builders contend it is a myth that the "squat effect" would have any significant effect on the draft of the vessel when passing the Great Belt Bridge because the water is too deep.

4. Allure of the Seas offered the first Starbucks at sea

These days, many Royal Caribbean ships offer Starbucks beverages onboard their ships but the Royal Caribbean and Starbucks connection first began with Allure of the Seas.

The Starbucks at sea is operated under a license between Starbucks and Royal Caribbean and was first launched on Allure of the Seas.

3. Restaurants have been replaced and moved on Allure of the Seas

Allure of the Seas is just five years old, but has seen quite a bit of change onboard, including restaurant changes.

Rita's Cantina used to be on the Boardwalk for guests to enjoy, but in a recent refurbishment, Royal Caribbean replaced Rita's with another Mexican cuisine offering, Sabor Taqueria & Tequila Bar.

Japanese restaurant Izumi is still available on Allure of the Seas, but it was moved from its small location on Deck 16 all the way down to deck 4, and now includes Teppanyaki cuisine.

Coastal Kitchen, the restaurant open exclusively to guests booked in suites, took up residence on Deck 17, which used to be the location of the Viking Crown Lounge.

2. Electricity for the shopping district is provided by solar energy

The next time you do some shopping onboard Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, you can feel better about the ship's footprint on the Earth because all the electricity in the ship's shopping district comes from the sun.

Royal Caribbean partnered with United Solar to install laminates that provide electricity for the ship's shopping district.

The 80kW system, which covers a floor area of 2,000m2, is listed to generate 111,108 kilowatt hours of energy a year.

1. Clarissa Parish designed many of the interiors aboard Allure of the Seas

Anglo-Italian muralist Clarissa Parish designed many of the beautiful decorations found around Allure of the Seas.

If you walk around Allure of the Seas, you will see her work without ever knowing one person was largely responsible for the art.

In fact, Parish also created a number of murals again for Royal Caribbean on the Freedom class cruise ships.

Royal Caribbean came away a big winner at the 2016 Travvy Awards, which were held at Gotham Hall on January 6th, 2016 in New York City.

Photo by Vicki Freed

Royal Caribbean won a total of six awards in these categories

• Best Overall Cruise Line
• Best Cruise Line in the Caribbean
• Best Contemporary Cruise Line
• Best LGBT Cruise Line
• Best Cruise Line in Europe
• Best Cruise Line for Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean Senior Vice President of Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed, posted on Facebook how proud she was of the wins, "I am so proud and humbled to announce the awards Royal Caribbean was honored with at last night's Travvy Awards Event! We can not thank you enough for your continued support and love. Thank you Travel Partners."

The Travvy Awards recognize the highest standards of excellence in the industry today and honor travel companies, travel products, travel agencies, travel executives, travel agents and destinations for their outstanding achievement.

In a Twitter post earlier today, Royal Caribbean UK confirmed it has no current plans to charge guests for WOWbands on the soon to be launched Ovation of the Seas.

@markfazzy Hi Mark, the new pricing only applies to #AnthemoftheSeas at the moment.

— Royal Caribbean UK (@MyRoyalUK) January 4, 2016

Royal Caribbean has been testing charging for the RFID bracelets, known as WOWbands, on Anthem of the Seas since November 2015, by charging guests $4.99 for each band.

WOWbands are RFID enabled bracelets that that allows passengers to connect with a number of Royal Caribbean experiences, such as purchase goods and services, access stateroom doors and check-in for activities or entertainment.  They are essentially a replacement for the traditional SeaPass card.

According to a Royal Caribbean spokesperson, WOWBands do not have an additional cost on Quantum of the Seas either.

Ovation of the Seas launches in April 2016 and will be the third Quantum class ship in Royal Caribbean's fleet.

Royal Caribbean is beginning to raise the prices of its popular unlimited alcohol packages on select sailings.

We ran spot checks across a variety of Royal Caribbean sailings in 2016 and 2017 and found in more than half the cases, the drink package pricing has changed as follows:

• Select drink package: $46.02 per day (old price $42)
• Premium drink package: $57.82 per day  (old price $57)
• Ultimate drink package: $69.62 per day  (old price $67)

The increase has also affected the non-alcolohic drink packages.  Most notably, there is now no longer a change in price between children and adults for the Royal Refreshment package.

• Royal Replenish package: $22.42 per day (old price $22)
• Royal Refreshment package 
  • Adults: $9.44 per day (old price $8)
  • Children: $9.44 per day (old price $5.50)

Interestingly enough, the Evian bottled water package went down in price

• Evian bottled water package: $46.02 (old price $47)

The new pricing does still include the service charge.

The change in pricing is not reflective of all Royal Caribbean sailings we have seen.  Some sailings still reflect the old pricing, and it is unclear as of yet if or when this new pricing will spread fleetwide.

Royal Caribbean has not increased the base price of its drink packages since they debuted in 2012, although they have played with service charge pricing, as well as increasing the service charge to 18%. 

What do you think about the drink package pricing change? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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

Episode 127 is available for downloading, where Matt shares excursion ideas for cruises to Nassau, Bahamas.

Nassau is among the most commonly visited cruise ports in the Caribbean and this week, Erin Foster joins Matt to discuss what the options are to do in Nassau and review some excursions they have done in the past.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 127. 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 treats guests to a culinary delight with an exclusive white truffle themed dinner at the Chef's Table. Watch as the culinary team bids on rare white truffles - known as the culinary diamonds - from Alba, Italy and bring these rare delicacies onboard.

In 2016, Royal Caribbean will have a pretty big year with a lot of changes, but perhaps no change is bigger than the anticipated arrival of new cruise ships and refurbishment of quite a few others.

Each year, Royal Caribbean plans on changes to its fleet of ships and if you are considering a 2016 cruise, then you are certainly going to want to consider some of these ships that are getting new upgrades or are joining the fleet for the first time.

Here is what you need to know about the cruise ships joining Royal Caribbean's fleet and which ships will be upgraded this year.

New cruise ships in 2016

A total of three cruise ships are joining Royal Caribbean's fleet in 2016, two are brand new and one is rejoining the fleet.

Harmony of the Seas

If there is one cruise ship you will likely hear or read about, it will be Harmony of the Seas.  

Harmony of the Seas is the third Oasis class ship that will be the largest cruise ship in the world, with 16 guest decks, encompassing 227,000 gross registered tons and carry 5,497 guests at double occupancy across 2,747 staterooms.

Besides her sheer size, Harmony of the Seas is going to offer some firsts for the Oasis class and even Royal Caribbean itself.

Harmony of the Seas will offer guests the first set of real water slides on a Royal Caribbean ship with the addition of the Perfect Storm slides.

Three multi-story slides will be added above Central Park that descend three decks through a series of twists and turns over the ship’s tree-lined Central Park neighborhood 10 decks below.

If you want an even bigger thrill, Harmony of the Seas will feature a 10-story dry slide known as the Ultimate Abyss.

The Ultimate Abyss is more than 150 feet above sea level and offers side-by-side slides that send guests down 10 decks at a rate of 9 miles per hour.

There is plenty more to love about Harmony of the Seas, including a new aquatic adventure park for kids, the classic Broadway musical Grease, dancing robot bartenders at Bionic Bar, virtual balcony staterooms, WOWband RFID bracelets and Voom high speed internet, just to name a few.

New specialty restaurants such as Izumi Hibachi & Sushi, Sabor Taqueria and Tequila Bar, and Wonderland Imaginative Cuisine will also be added.

Harmony of the Seas debuts in May 2016 for her inaugural summer season in Europe, before heading to Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in November 2016 to offer seven-night Eastern and Western Caribbean sailings.

Ovation of the Seas

Also brand new for 2016 is Ovation of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's third Quantum class ship.

Ovation of the Seas will offer the kind of Quantum class innovations that made a name for her sister ships with exciting offerings such as skydiving at Ripcord by iFly, taking to the sky in a 360 degree view 90 meters above the sea in North Star and engaging in a friendly bump or two with bumper cars.

In addition, Ovation of the Seas will offer guests lots of other SmartShip experiences onboard, such as robot bartenders at Bionic Bar, the transformative and incredible entertainment found only in Two70 and the largest indoor sports and entertainment complex at sea with SeaPlex.

Ovation of the Seas will also offer Voom high speed internet and WOWbands, so guests can stay connected at sea.

If you are a foodie, Ovation of the Seas will offer great restaurant choices in restaurants like Izumi, Jamie's Italian and Wonderland.

When Ovation of the Seas launches, she will head to Asia to start off with a 52-night Global Odyssey cruise from Southampton, U.K. to Tianjin.  She will follow up her summer season with heading down under for winter in Australia.

Empress of the Seas

While not a new construction, Empress of the Seas is joining Royal Caribbean's fleet in March 2016 after leaving the fleet about eight years ago.

Empress of the Seas will be based in Miami, Florida, where she will sail short four- and five-night getaways to Nassau, The Bahamas; Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico; Grand Cayman and Key West, Florida.

Empress of the Seas was originally launched in 1990 as the Nordic Empress but left the fleet to join a sister company.  Royal Caribbean is returning Empress of the Seas to Royal Caribbean International this year.

Royal Caribbean is offering some unique options on Empress of the Seas, such as fast pier-to-ship boarding with earlier boarding times, longer stays in ports and overnight stays in Cozumel on select five-night itineraries.

In addition, Empress of the Seas will offer guests

• New Las Vegas-style “Sequins & Feathers” show
• Newly reimagined Boleros Latin Lounge.
• Fast pier-to-ship boarding with earlier boarding times of 11:00am
• New pools and whirlpools
• Voom internet
• Chops Grille
• Stateroom Refresh
• Reimagined Casino

When Empress of the Seas does start offering cruises, guests can look forward to Sunday Brunch every day of the cruise, with complimentary Bloody Mary or Mimosa cocktails.  There will also be new poolside activities, like Plunge and Voom high speed internet.

Cruise ship refurbishments in 2016

Royal Caribbean is always looking to add more value to their ships and in 2016, four Royal Caribbean ships are getting upgrades, refurbishments and some nice changes.

Here is a list of what you can expect to see changed in the coming year.

Liberty of the Seas

Later in January 2016, Royal Caribbean will send Liberty of the Seas for a month-long drydock where she will receive a number of upgrades and additions.

Liberty of the Seas returns to service in February 2016 and will offer these changes

• Two racer water slides, called Cyclone and Typhoon that will be added at the aft of the ship alongside the Flowrider surf simulator.
• Tidal Wave, the first Boomerang style water slide at sea that features a steep drop, where riders are propelled up a near vertical wall for a moment of weightlessness and then into a freefall.
  
• An adult-free zone with the introduction of Splashaway Bay, an aqua park featuring an interactive kid’s play area with water cannons, geysers and much more.
• New specialty restaurants
  • Sabor Modern Mexican
  • Giovanni's Table
  • R-Bar
• 26 new Panoramic ocean view staterooms that feature floor-to-ceiling glass walls
• Additional 53 staterooms throughout the ship.

Jewel of the Seas

In April 2016, Jewel of the Seas will get a $30 million bow-to-stern refurbishment that will bring many changes to the ship.

During her refurbishment, Jewel of the Seas renovation features will include

• New 2 bedroom Family Suite stateroom
• All staterooms will be renoveated with an additional 42 staterooms added
• New specialty restaurants will be added
  • Giovanni's Table (replaces Portofino)
  • Vintages (replaces Champagne Bar)
  • Izumi (replaces Seaview Cafe)
• Pervasive Wi-Fi & Digital signage throughout the ship
• New poolside movie screen
• Diamond Club added to the Viking Crown Lounge
• Renovated Chops Grille
• Renovated Spa and retail shops
• Concierge Club will replace Hollywood Odyssey
• Shoreside Dining Room, Explorer’s Court and Yacht Club will be removed.
• Addition of Voom high-speed internet

Following her refurbishment, Jewel of the Seas will offer cruises from Rome on an array of itineraries showcasing the best destinations of Italy, Greece and Turkey. These 7, 8, and 9 night itineraries mainly sail through the Greek Isles.

Jewel of the Seas will complete her European itinerary in October 2016 after which she will return to her home port of San Juan, Puerto where she will sail 6, 7, 8 and 9 night Southern Caribbean itineraries.

Majesty of the Seas

.

Majesty of the Seas will offer summer 2016 cruises from her new home in Port Canaveral, Florida right after she sails to the Bahamas for a drydock for upgrades and receive transformational new onboard amenities.

Work scheduled to occur on Majesty of the Seas includes

• Complimentary Voom high speed internet access
• New water slides
• Family-friendly Jacuzzis
• Poolside movie screen
• Dreamworks Experience
• Enhanced casino
• New specialty restaurants
  • Sabor Taqueria
  • Izumi
  • Chef's Table

Following her upgrades, Majesty of the Seas will be homeported in Port Canaveral starting in summer 2016. Majesty of the Seas will sail 3- and 4-night cruises to the Bahamas with visits to the cruise line’s private island destination, CocoCay.

Adventure of the Seas

Royal Caribbean has not revealed plans yet for what changes are coming to Adventure of the Seas, aside from the fact she is on the schedule for a refurbishment in 2016.

Based purely on the schedule of planned cruises, Royal Caribbean has a gap between scheduled sailings for Adventure of the Seas from October 16, 2016 to November 14, 2016.

Anyone looking for a ballpark idea of what to expect, can likely look at the sort of changes Royal Caribbean made to sister ships Navigator of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas for a guide.

Which ship addition or refurbishment are you most excited about? Tell us in the comments!

Royal Caribbean offers cruises on 25 cruise ships to destinations in the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska, Asia, Australia and everywhere in between. 

That is a lot of cruises!

First time cruisers may find the choices a bit overwhelming with the various options. The good news is, the decision is not as complicated as it may seem. 

Here are a few guidelines that would make for a perfect first cruise.  

Ships

Royal Caribbean has built up a lot of cruise ships over the years and they each offer something different and interesting. 

For first time cruisers, the best choice is to lean towards the newer ships in the fleet because they will offer the latest innovations, entertainment and choices. 

Royal Caribbean's Oasis and Quantum class ships are perfect for first timers. In fact, it can be argued the Quantum class was designed with first time cruisers in mind.  

Ships such as Allure of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas pack a lot of entertainment, dining and tech onboard that offer the kind of "WOW moment" experiences many new to cruise guests have heard about. 

The other ships in the fleet are wonderful too, but we feel the Oasis and Quantum class ships are best suited for new cruisers. 

Itineraries

If you are trying to decide between itineraries like eastern or western Mediterranean or a Bahamas cruise or to visit Cozumel or St. Thomas, these are the typical quandaries those new to cruising all go through.

For a fist time cruiser, we think it makes the most sense to pick an itinerary that mixes in an even amount of sea days with port days.  The reason for this is so that you have ample opportunity to explore the ship as well as the places you visit.  

Cruise length

It may be tempting to pick a shorter cruise, but we recommend going with a five to seven night sailing because those three and four night cruises are really, really short.

By going with a slightly longer cruise, you will have the opportunity to really explore the ship and enjoy the experience.  Shorter cruises go by so quickly and for someone new to cruising, it may not provide enough time on ship or on shore to really get a sense of it all.

Royal Caribbean ships are designed to be destinations rather than just a floating hotel room, so you will want more time to experience it all.  We typically find cruises closer to a week in length provide a great balance of value, time and opportunity.

Picking the right sailing

An itinerary with a good mix of port calls and sea days will give first time cruisers a good sense of what a cruise is like, so try to avoid sailings with lots of sea days (such as repositioning cruises) or lots of port stops.

It is difficult to go wrong with an eastern or western Caribbean sailing that includes a stop at Royal Caribbean's private destinations of Labadee or CocoCay.  These private stops are great for a beach day and many guests really enjoy their time there.

In addition, cruises to the Caribbean offer fun islands to visit that are well-established with plenty to offer in terms of shore excursions.

For cruises that go to Europe, Asia or Alaska, it is important to look for sailings that mix in that blend of port stops and sea days. 

Saving money on your cruise

Regardless of which ship you pick and which sailing you want to cruise on, everyone wants to make sure they are getting the lowest price.  There are some good strategies for ensuring you get the lowest price possible.

Book early

If there is one rule of cruise pricing that you should remember, it is that it is always best to book your Royal Caribbean cruise as far in advance as you can.

There is no such thing as booking your cruise too early because as more guests book a sailing, inventory drops and prices start to creep up.

Cruising has never been more popular and Royal Caribbean ships routinely sail completely full, so it is best to book well in advance.

Ideally, you will book somewhere between 7-18 months prior to your sail date.  If you can manage to book earlier, that is even better.

Cruise during less busy times of the year

A great strategy to keeping your cruise fare low is to choose times of the year to sail when many others are not.

Royal Caribbean offers cruises year-round and like every industry, there are high seasons and low seasons.

For the best fares, consider cruises during these times of the year

• January (excluding New Years)
• Early February
• September
• October
• Early November
• First two weeks of December

If you can take a cruise during times of the year that do not coincide with school or government holidays, you will find lower prices overall.