Hope you had a great week (maybe one week closer to your next Royal Caribbean cruise?) and you had a chance to keep up with what's new with Royal Caribbean this week. But if not, here's a roundup of this week's news.

The big news this week was Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas had its first media preview of its progress at STX France shipyard.

Harmony of the Seas is set to debut in a few months, and members of the European media were allowed to check out her progress and the result was a lot of great photos of her inside and outside.

In addition, Royal Caribbean posted photos of the ship's progress and we saw a video of a computer simulation of what the Ultimate Abyss will look like.

There was a lot more Royal Caribbean news this week, so here is what else happened

Royal Caribbean News

• Ovation of the Seas was floated out successfully.
• Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley offered an update on Anthem of the Seas.
• Two more Royal Caribbean ships are getting a refurbishment in 2016.
• A 5-day WOW Sale began this weekend.
• Royal Caribbean released a cool video infographic all about SeaPlex.
• Royal Caribbean is supporting a new cruise terminal in Brisbane, Australia.

99 Days of Harmony

To celebrate the countdown until Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas debuts, we kicked off a brand new blog series, 99 Days of Harmony, that looks at what makes this new ship so amazing.  

Each day we are posting a new blog post all about Harmony of the Seas, so here's what you might have missed this week.

• Grease
• Ultimate Abyss
• Wonderland
• DreamWorks Experience
• Harmony of the Seas Construction Update

Stay tuned to Royal Caribbean Blog each day for a brand new post all about Harmony of the Seas until she debuts (91 more days!).

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 133rd episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available and we're reviewing a podcast listener's recent cruise on Navigator of the Seas.

In this episode, Matt invites podcast listener Ethan to discuss his family's first Royal Caribbean cruise and why he chose to cruise on Royal Caribbean as well as why they picked Navigator of the Seas.

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.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Travel Weekly reports the storm Anthem of the Seas hit was a "weather bomb".

Shermans Cruise offers a first look at Harmony of the Seas.

Cruise Hangout has a look at all the Ovation of the Seas float out videos.

CruiseFever has 10 reasons why you should take a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas will debut in less than 99 days and to celebrate, we are counting down every day with a brand new blog post all about Harmony of the Seas.

Construction photo update

We all love following along the construction progress Harmony of the Seas is making and today we have another great photo update to share with you.

Royal Caribbean shared with us new images of Harmony of the Seas under construction at the STX shipyard in France. 

All photos by Royal Caribbean International

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we celebrate 99 days of Harmony!

Earlier this week, Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship floated out of its Meyer Werft shipyard and already we found a lot of really beautiful photos of this new ship and wanted to share them.

The talented photographer, Björn Haß, sent us these great shots of Ovation of the Seas.

All photos by Björn Haß.

If you like an ultra-high definition video to go along with your beautiful photos, check out this great 4K video of Ovation of the Seas' float out.

A video has been posted online that shows what appears to be be a computer generated simulation of what the Ultimate Abyss slide will look like.

The video was originally posted at ShipMonk.

Royal Caribbean has said 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.

We love sharing Royal Caribbean photos that our readers took on their cruise vacations, so each week we ask everyone reading this to send us your best, favorite and fun Royal Caribbean photos to share with the world.

This is our weekly fun opportunity to show off these really well taken shots and give everyone else a "quick fix" of a Royal Caribbean vacation.

Let's take a look at this week's batch of photos!

Let's start things off by going to South America with a photo by Dave Rimington of Rhapsody of the Seas arriving in Punta del Este, Uruguay.  Bueno!

Next up is a great view of Labadee, as seen by Matthew Hull from his stateroom.  I would never get tired of this view!

No Friday Photos is complete without a sunset photo (or at least I hope there is at least one), and here is Independence of the Seas docked in Port Everglades by Michael.  Beautiful!

April E sent us this photo and said, "Can you guess which ship this photo was taken on? This is one of my favorite cruise photos!"

We will round things out this week with this photo by Rich Triplett of an early morning view from their aft balcony on Radiance of the Seas looking back as Jewel of the Seas comes into Skagway, Alaska.

Thanks to everyone who sent in their photos this week. Have a great weekend and be sure to send us your photos so we can post them next week by using this form.

Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley provided an update on Anthem of the Seas to travel agencies following a stronger than expected winter storm earlier this month.

Bayley reitterated how well the ship held up structurally despite the strong winds and large waves and provided an update on the ship's repairs.

According to Bayley, there are a handful of remaining minor issues that require attention including replacing outdoor ceiling paneling by the SeaPlex, repairing some balcony partitions and replacing broken furniture. North Star, RipCord by iFLY, FlowRider and other favorite experiences are fully operational.

Bayley added that Royal Caribbean has updated their storm avoidance policy and added additional resources at their headquarters to provide more data and guidance to support our captains. Senior marine executives and, when necessary, meteorologists will be involved in decisions about when, where and whether to sail when storms are forecast.

To the question about how the incident was allowed to happen in the first place, Bayley indicated the severity of the storm, "far exceeded forecasts, but ultimately it is our responsibility to avoid these possibilities – and this event has provided us with an important learning opportunity. We can do better, and we will."

Royal Caribbean is kicking off a 5-day WOW sale, where guests can get up to $200 to spend at sea on top of the current 30% off deal.

This WOW sale runs between February 20-24, 2016.

The new WOW sale is valid on all sailings departing on or after March 21, 2016, with the exception of all China departures.

Guests can get 

• Up to $200 onboard credit
  • Cruises 5-nights or less: $50
  • Cruises 6-9 nights: $100
  • Cruises 10-nights or longer $200
• $50 for 5 nights or less, $100 for 6-9 nights, or $200 for 10-nights and longer
• 50% Reduced deposit
• Combinable with 30% off every guest, every ship offer

Offer is combinable with standard/full fare and restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military, BOGO, Upgrade, etc.), 30% Savings Offer, and Next Cruise offer. Offer is not combinable with any other offer or promotion, including, but not limited to Interline, Travel Agent, Travel Agent Friends and Family, weekly Sales Events, Net Rates, Shareholder Benefits, and Crown & Anchor Discount programs or rates.

Offer is available to residents of United States and Canada.

Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship, Ovation of the Seas, successfully was floated out of Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany earlier today.

Numerous onlookers watched as the 41 meter wide ship left the shipyard building early Thursday afternoon.

Ovation of the Seas will remain in the shipyard until about mid-March, where she will get some more work done on her, such as the addition of the North Star observation pod.

The next major milestone for Ovation of the Seas will be her conveyance on the River Ems to the North Sea for sea trials.  It is expected to take place in about three weeks.

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.

There's less than 99 days until Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas debuts so we're counting down each day with a brand new blog post all about Harmony of the Seas. Read our blog each day for a new post all about this amazing cruise ship.

Harmony of the Seas construction photos

Friend of the blog Stewart Chiron, aka The Cruise Guy, is at STX France shipyard and shared with us photos of Harmony of the Seas that he took while on a hard-hat tour.  Enjoy!

Exterior of Harmony of the Seas

AquaTheater tan

Boardwalk Views

Studio B ice skating rink

Bionic Bar

Rising Tide Bar

Royal Promenade

Main dining room

Central Park

Adults-only Solarium

AquaTheater

Looking down to the Boardwalk

Thanks again to Stewart for the photos and be sure to follow the Cruise Guy on his many cruise adventures on Twitter!

Royal Caribbean Australia & New Zealnd is marking a significant milestone today, reaching 200,000 Facebook fans of the official Royal Caribbean International Australia & NZ page, and to celebrate the cruise line is giving Facebook fans an exclusive AUD$200 discount per stateroom, which they can use on local 2016/17 sailings of five nights or longer when booked before February 26, 2016.

Offer is valid for new individual bookings made on Royal Caribbean International Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific, Trans-Pacific and Asia Repositioning cruises 5 nights or longer departing between September 20, 2016 and April 22, 2017 (inclusive). Offer excludes Ovations of the Seas.

New bookings must be made between 9am AEDT Friday February 12, 2016 and 6pm AEDT Friday February 26, 2016 in order to qualify for the offer. Eligible bookings will receive a $200 discount per stateroom.

In the last six months, Royal Caribbean Australia's facebook page fan likes doubled, which coincided with the line’s local fleet expansion to four megaliners, including two new ships in Explorer of the Seas and Legend of the Seas.

“This milestone is all about you: our Facebook friends and fans. You’re the true champions of our brand, and we couldn’t be where we are today without your support”, said Adam Armstrong, commercial director, Royal Caribbean International Australia.

“In return, we want to thank you wholeheartedly by offering you a AUD$200 discount on your next cruise. You’ve helped guide our journey so far, and we hope you’ll be part of the next chapter for Royal Caribbean in Australia,” he continued.

“Plus: if you look closely, you might just spot your profile photo in our specially created graphic, that honours many of our Aussie and Kiwi fans,” he concluded.

Over the years, Royal Caribbean has given away multiple sailings to Facebook fans, including hosting 100 fans onboard Voyager of the Seas in 2014 for the world’s first Facebook Party at Sea with pop sensation Nathaniel. Last year, to celebrate Royal Caribbean’s partnership with My Kitchen Rules, 10 friends were exclusively hosted to a special curated meal and cocktail party with the MKR winners onboard Royal’s first Queensland based ship, Legend of the Seas. And more recently, this month Royal Caribbean gave away a cruise for two on the biggest, newest and most incredible cruise ship to ever be deployed to Australia, Ovation of the Seas.