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Royal Caribbean is still very early in developing a new kind of restaurant concept, but we have a first look at the direction they are considering.
As RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com first reported, the cruise line is working on a new restaurant concept that will rely on mixed reality and have a classic train dining car motif. The intention is to have it as one of the restaurants on Utopia of the Seas.
While many details are being worked out, Royal Caribbean wanted to assess the viability of this sort of a restaurant, and so it created a life-size mockup at its Miami, Florida headquarters.
The cruise line invited RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com to tour the concept and get a glimpse of the possibilities they are considering. It's important to note what we saw is just a proof point, and executives were adamant how early in the process this dining idea is, so expect the final product to look different.
In fact, our visit was more about better understanding the concepting process that Royal Caribbean goes through with designing its cruise ships. Royal Caribbean's position as a market leader is largely based on its ability to innovate and deliver to its guests time-honored favorites along with brand new ideas.
Regardless of what the final version of this restaurant looks like, it was a fascinating look in how Royal Caribbean does concept development.
Royal Caribbean started down the road of developing a mixed reality restaurant because their customers indicated they wanted something different.
Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President and Chief Product Innovation Officer Jay Schneider said their customer feedback has told them guests, "want more immersive and unique dining."
Royal Caribbean has also seen a recent surge in immersive dining around the world, such as Sublimotion in Ibiza or Atmos in Fort Lauderdale. Moreover, Disney Cruise Line has its own mixed reality restaurant on the Disney Wish and Carnival Cruise Line has Fortune Teller Bar on Mardi Gras. Princess Cruises has a 7-course meal in which guests are wrapped around a circular LED screen at their 360 restaurant.
While none of these restaurants are exactly what Royal Caribbean wants, Linken D'Souza, Global Vice President Culinary, Dining & Beverage, thinks it's a good starting point, "I think it gave us the first kind of introduction to this possibility of bringing a whole immersive experience into the dining world of what we do in world."
Part of the reason why Royal Caribbean wants something different is none of these truly brought the guests into the experience.
"It was part of that experience, but it wasn't really immersive. I mean, it was interesting. It was fun. It was cool to have the vistas around you, but it didn't draw you in necessarily into the experience the way that I think we envision what we're talking about to be able to do," said Mr. D'Souza.
Thus, Royal Caribbean had 4 primary goals:
With those goals in mind, the team worked through various ideas and ultimately came to the idea of a train, assuming they could make the experience convincing enough, "is there an opportunity to make it feel like you're on a train, make it feel like you're on a dining car and bring to life this kind of new concept of a dining car restaurant experience," is what Mr. Schneider wrestled with early on with this project.
The team admitted there's no name yet, and the final direction may change, but they wanted to share a look at one possibility.
Royal Caribbean is still playing with ideas and ways to make it convincing, but they came up with a story for this experience and even went as far as to model it out as a proof of concept.
The experience begins on deck 4 of Utopia of the Seas, where Izumi specialty restaurant currently exists.
Similar to how Wonderland on Wonder of the Seas has a themed motif to the elevator lobby that indicates there's something different about this floor, the elevator lobby and staircase near the restaurant will have a distinct look to it.
"As you're coming up the stairs or you're coming down the stairs, even the stairwell, " Mr. Schneider explained.
"You'll start to immerse like you're moving into a space that is very different than what you're used to on the Oasis class, as well as just an experience we provide because even the stairs will start to feel no longer like a classic cruise stair, but they'll start to feel like you were walking up into a train station for the first time."
As you turn the corner, you'll see a train facade instead of the large Izumi sign against the wall.
"The idea is that you're going to go have dinner at what we're currently as a working project called the Dining Car," Mr. Schneider said and quickly noted that is not going to be the final name.
There will be multiple trains that you can board based on your reservation.
In fact, your name will be listed on the classic split-flap display that used to dominate train stations. You'll hear the sounds of a train and the split-flap display updating, the smell of the food, the look of the uniforms crew members will wear, and this all works towards that multi-sensory experience Royal Caribbean wants that goes beyond a digital screen.
One other idea they have is to give guests a classic looking train ticket in their stateroom that they can not only bring to the restaurant to confirm their reservation, but be able to keep it as a souvenir after the cruise.
As you walk in, there are a couple of options. As you enter what is today the entrance to Izumi on other Oasis class ships, you would find a train platform.
There will be a platform bar over to the right, and the entire train facade to the left of the entrance would be visible to you
"You'd see the full train built out on the right hand side. You may only see partial train, but you'll see the back of the train and then be able to enter the venue. Whether you're going to train one or train two or even the platform. But the idea is that you start to see the real thing."
As to where your train will go, the direction is still a work in progress, but one idea Royal Caribbean has is a train visit that takes you to multiple destinations.
"We would take you to say 4 or 5 destinations, and your journey would be fixed, much like your cruise itineraries fixed, your train journey would be fixed," Mr. Schneider explained.
"We can take you to 4 or 5 different journeys because we get the affordance of a train, goes into a tunnel, the tunnel gets dark, and when you pop out, if you think of the light experience you get coming out of a tunnel, you're going to go somewhere new."
As an example of one possibility the team is considering, your train might begin at Grand Central Station in New York with your first course of food and wine pairing, and when that is complete, your train enters a dark tunnel to take you to the next place in the journey, which could be the Canadian Pacific Railway.
You're then served your second course with second pairing. Then you go through another tunnel and pop out in the next destination, which could be Italy for your third course.
Mr. Schneider reiterated that this is by no means the final concept, just one possible idea they have.
Other ideas is to have the train visit fictional places or places and times that no longer exist, such as the Polar Express or the old west.
One idea that Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley came up with for the project was to have the train visit the Southwest of the United States and see outside the window a man on a horse riding with a mask on, with a sheriff chasing him. As time goes by, you hear noise and a bandit comes rushing through the train with gun drawn.
"It's just a surprise and delight overlay that this could give you to mash a little bit of entertainment."
"Food is the hero here. Entertainment is not. But that doesn't mean there's not an opportunity to dial up just a little bit of surprise and delight in the moment to get people just, again, immersed in the experience."
Speaking of the food, there isn't a specific cuisine outlined yet for the restaurant, partially because of how early it is still in the design phase.
"We may end up being in one country doing one experience that's really immersive in that space with the food that ties to that experience. We aren't there yet, but I think the idea here is that there is a ton of diversity of things you could do. It may flow through different destinations, but it definitely kind of brings this multi-sensory experience of the food along with the sight, sound, smell, taste, etcetera into it," Mr. D'Souza explained.
One question the team had to figure out was could they make the train experience real enough that it didn't feel as though you're eating and watching a television of scenery.
Additionally, would the visual of being on a train and it moving along with the ship's natural movement lead to problems with motion sickness for guests.
Mr. Schneider said this has been an ongoing research project for the cruise line, "we've been studying for a couple of years now, how far away from a screen do you have to be to make it never feel like a screen. How much light do we push onto it? How much? How much plexiglass or other do we put behind it? How do we make sure that you look this way? It looks like you're looking down an actual window."
In fact, that research was initially done to create an improved virtual balcony experience. When the dining car concept was introduced, the team leveraged that research to help with this prototype.
Royal Caribbean took a 360 degree filming rig to Sweden and started filming in 8K resolution and experimented with various movement speeds.
"Speed is one of the things that we're learning. How fast is it moving? How fast do we want to capture? And then how much do we want to manipulate?"
They wanted to figure out at a very early stage, could they make it feel convincing enough that it's real, "do we believe at an alpha version that there's something here? Or should we just say, this was really great? We spent a couple of grand building a wooden box and borrowed some screens and a couple of grand with a dude in Sweden shooting some footage."
To better illustrate the concept, they built out the prototype because the concept was better understood once people sat in the mock dining car.
Mr. D'Souza thinks the prototype is a real selling point, even in this very alpha stage, "I think conceptually, everybody sitting here goes, wow, this is this could be a pretty cool experience. And I think that's the way we're thinking about it, is how do we take that and really bring it to life using all of your senses."
According to Mr. Schneider, the next step is to expand this prototype to exact scale of the one they intend to build on Utopia, "We're just going to build one train car. So then we can get a real sense of length, and then can go through the iterative process."
Icon of the Seas may still be months away from sailing, but the cruise line is already simulating how its new water park at sea will operate.
Thrill Island is the name of a brand new neighborhood coming to the first Icon Class cruise ship, and it will include six water slides, new dining venues, and lots to keep families busy.
It's a new approach to aquatic fun on a cruise ship for Royal Caribbean, and they want to ensure everything looks and works great before any passenger gets onboard or the ship is even complete.
At Royal Caribbean's Innovation Lab in Miami, Florida, the cruise line life-size mock-ups to give its executives and team members a real-world look at what their plans on paper will actually look like once built.
Royal Caribbean calls Icon of the Seas a "white paper" ship, which means it's designed from the ground up with new concepts. While that's exciting for passengers to look forward to new tings to try, it also introduces new challenges to make it work for the cruise line.
While touring the Innovation Lab this week, RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com got a first-hand look at what Royal Caribbean is doing to ensure its new aqua park is ready to go on day one.
The appropriately named Thrill neighborhood on Icon of the Seas is Royal Caribbean's first fully themed neighborhood centered around fun activities designed to stimulate guests' senses.
Guests will find an entire water park, the FlowRider surf simulator, Crown's Edge experience, mini-golf, a rock climbing wall, and new dining venues inside this area.
Royal Caribbean wanted to get a sense things would look and feel as intended before the final product gets built out, and that's why they set up scale mock-ups at their headquarters.
While the company can use virtual reality to help provide context for the flow and overall design of the ship, scale replicas convey the theme and aesthetics in the real world before it gets built out.
On the starboard side of the ship will be one entrance to Thrill Island, and guests will notice a great deal of theming even before entering the neighborhood.
The elevator lobby begins with a tropical look to it, leading you to the formal entry way.
In the case of the signage leading to Thrill Island, the render provides how it will look, but you can't get as good sense of depth to it, "one of the discussions we had last week was, is it too high? Should it be lower or should it be higher? Because what you really want to see coming up the stairs is you really want to see how massively awesome the water park is. And so that's just something that we we look at."
One of the feature attractions coming to Icon of the Seas is the Crown's Edge walkway, which combines a rope course with sky walk and obstacle course.
Guests are strapped in and walk 154 feet above the ocean for this experience. It's a major feature on Icon of the Seas, and something never before done on sea or land.
Royal Caribbean first built out the safety briefing area where guests will gear up and learn what they need to do to enjoy the experience in a proper manner.
Royal Caribbean Senior Product Owner, Emily Rodriguez, talked about what they get from designing this space in the real world, "in building out this space, I think it helped us understand what that flow would look like, and how to think through all of the small details to how we brand the jumpsuits, how we brand the helmets, and what the photo and video experience would be like."
Royal Caribbean then used tape in their headquarters parking lot to map out to provide the scale of the experience, "We wanted to do here is tape out the experience to understand scale."
The climax of the experience is a drop through portion, which Royal Caribbean described as "pretty scary" when they tested out the drop harnesses with just a 4 foot drop in a warehouse in Bulgaria.
Crown's Edge will be about a two and a half minute experience, with 4 to 6 guests going at one time.
The water park on Icon of the Seas will be called Category 6, and it will be the largest waterpark at sea.
There are two stair towers in the water park, the aft stair tower and the forward stair tower. But Royal Caribbean wanted to understand what that experience would look like from the from where the slides were placed to what the mat rack mat journey was going to be for the mat racers.
To that end, they built out a portion of water park in their lab. This provides operational learnings for the team to better understand if materials are too heavy, provide a flow study, and generally what things will be like once onboard.
"I think this is a really great exercise for us to understand what that flow was like, what that experience is like. And as we build these out, we capture lessons along the way," Ms. Rodriguez said.
The team even tested out the various chairs the neighborhood would use because Royal Caribbean anticipates while some members of the family will be doing the slides non-stop, other members of the family may want to take a rest and relax between slides. As a result, Icon of the Seas will have different kinds of seating beyond a simple lounger.
"We wanted to make sure that we're creating an environment that offers just as much areas for you to refresh and recharge in between the thrills as well...We also wanted to talk through these unique seating opportunities and areas for you to really call your home base."
One area of Thrill Island is Basecamp, which will be a fast casual grab-and-go venue for Thrill Island that's going to serve handheld items.
"The idea of this is really a place for islanders to kind of hang out, swap stories in between thrills, catch a break, refresh on some great food, great bites," Ms. Rodriguez explained.
The exact menu offerings are still being worked through, so nothing is set yet. There will be some items that cost extra and other items that are complimentary.
Once again, creating a mock up of the dining area and surrounding attractions gives the team a better sense of flow, "we did want it to bring the whole experience together and look at how does furniture look like as well for the venue."
"So we pulled some of the sample furniture and really understanding if I was a guest and I wanted to grab a meal for my family while my kids are running the waterslides or playing mini golf right next door, what would that experience feel like?"
Another new venue coming to Icon of the Seas is Desserted, which will sell gourmet milkshakes. You can even get milkshakes with alcohol in them.
Expect milkshakes with plenty of garnishes, such as sprinkles, donuts, candies, and churros.
The alcoholic version would have a little bottle of fireball sticking out of the top.
Ms. Rodriguez said, "So think over the top milkshakes," whereas Linken D'Souza, Global Vice President Culinary, Dining & Beverage, said, " We like to call Freakshakes."
I asked if the popular Royal Caribbean drink package would cover milkshakes at Desserted, and the team responded, "it's still a discussion."
The final menu is yet to be determined, but Mr. D'Souza expects there to be 3 or 4, "mega crazy milkshakes with all the toppings."
One issue the team discovered was Desserted and Base Camp were on the port side of the ship, but what about guests wanting a drink on the starboard side?
"We were having a lot of conversations internally and thinking through the guest flow, one of the things that we realized we needed was a way to get drinks on the starboard side near the water park."
So Royal Caribbean added a themed beverage cart to place near the FlowRider. The cart will serve "ready to drink" canned beverages.
Getting back to the water park, the team is also working on something they're calling internally, "Eye of the Storm," where rain showers erupt randomly to the surprise and delight of passengers.
Located in one of the circulation areas where families will be walking through to get from slide to slide, you may hear a storm brewing, "Sounds of thunder, rain, wind, water will come from up above you. You don't really know where it's coming from. It really blends in with the environment and strobe lights as well to give that lightning effect and make you feel like a storm has just erupted."
Royal came up with different storm programming so it's not always the same experience.
One notable change Royal Caribbean has made with Icon of the Seas is the type of elevators.
Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President and Chief Product Innovation Officer Jay Schneider talked about the change in elevators, "We don't have classic elevators on Icon, we have destination elevators."
"If you think of the difference between the two of them, a classic elevator: as I walk up, I hit a button, I walk inside, I hit a floor, off I go."
"A destination elevator is I go to a panel, I tell you where I want to go, it tells you what elevator you should go to, and then I go to it."
Carnival Horizon and MSC Meraviglia both offer these sorts of elevators, Royal Caribbean feels their implementation will be somewhat different.
Part of the reason why Royal Caribbean is opting to go with destination elevators is crowd management on a ship the size of Icon, "Being able to effectively move up to 7500 passengers seamlessly and solve for some of the problems that we've seen from our elevator technology on other ships, this is a big step forward."
"It's a big step forward, though, that we've been obsessively trying to study to make sure we don't we we don't run into some of the challenges that some of our competitors have seen."
After 17 years of cruising with Royal Caribbean, I'm less than two cruises away from reaching the highest tier of the cruise line's customer loyalty program.
There are 6 levels of the Crown and Anchor Society, but the very top level requires a great deal of dedication to a single cruise line to achieve.
Pinnacle Club status (henceforth referred to simply as "Pinnacle") means you accrue 700 points in Crown and Anchor Society.
I didn't have a goal when I first started to reach Pinnacle, but the more I cruised, the more apparent it became I would reach it sooner than I expected.
When I sail on the June 16, 2023 cruises on Navigator of the Seas, I should hit lucky number 700 early in that sailing.
Most cruisers will never get close to the 700 points needed, but if they do, there is a slew of new amenities and benefits, along with a distinct culture to Royal Caribbean's upper echelon of cruisers.
I was never one to cruise more in order to attain a higher loyalty program status.
Unlike the airline industry that places a great deal of emphasis on attaining status (primarily driven by business travelers), some of the best benefits for cruisers are when you get to the upper-middle tiers. However, Pinnacle status shares some similarities with the airline programs in terms of offering the most perks at the top.
I got into cruising because I liked the idea of visiting different ports, and the benefits I received along the way sweetened the experience.
I remember thinking about how lucrative it was to get to Platinum status and be eligible for a balcony discount. Then I thought when I became a Diamond member and getting complimentary drinks every day of my cruise was just about the best I could hope to achieve.
It's a long way from Diamond Plus at 175 points to the 700 threshold for Pinnacle. Two factors catapulted me significantly faster to 700 than I thought would otherwise.
First and foremost, I live in Florida, and that means I have access to year-round cruises without the additional cost of airfare.
Florida is the cruising capital of the world because of all the cruise ships based here, and being able to drive to your cruise (especially when there's a cruise deal) enables far more cruising than living anywhere else.
I live in the Orlando area, and that puts four different Royal Caribbean home ports less than 4 hours of driving away. Two of them are just about an hour away.
Compounding my Florida residency is of course the fact I've been working on RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com as my full time job.
Being able to "cruise for a living" meant I started going on many more cruises than I ever did when I had my former day job. Similar to how retirees have the time to cruise a lot, I didn't have to balance vacation time needs.
Of course, having a wife and two school-aged kids means I'm not sailing every week by any means. It's a struggle to balance the school schedule, especially considering how much I love going with my kids on sailings around the world.
And in case you're thinking I get to cruise for free from various media cruise giveaways from Royal Caribbean, there are very few free cruises given to me (maybe twice per year), and most importantly, I receive zero Crown and Anchor points for media cruises.
But if there's one factor that got me to Pinnacle faster than living in Florida or even working on this blog, it was the double points promotion.
From 2020 through the end of 2022, Royal Caribbean offered double the normal amount of loyalty points for cruises booked during the cruise industry shutdown.
It was a strategy by the cruise line to spur new bookings at a time when many people were hesitant to book cruises on sailings they weren't sure were actually going to sail due to the uncertainty related to the industry's return to service.
Going on week-long cruises and getting 28 points per sailing (sailing in a suite or solo multiplied by 2) moves you up the ladder a heck of a lot faster.
Everyone in Crown and Anchor Society benefitted from the double points, and it certainly accelerated my points trajectory.
When I got to Diamond Plus status (175 points), I thought I had reached the mountain top of Royal Caribbean status for what was realistic for me, and I was content being there because I didn't truly grasp the value of getting to Pinnacle.
The more you cruise, the more friends you'll make along the way, and I've gotten to known many wonderful people that were already Pinnacle members or turned Pinnacle later.
Everyone has a story how they attained what seemed like the impossible: seven hundred points!
In speaking with them and observing other cruisers, it's clear being a Pinnacle is more than just a different color on your SetSail pass or an extra free drink every day.
Royal Caribbean itself places a ton of emphasis on its top tier cruisers. In short, they want other cruisers and crew members to know someone is a Pinnacle compared to any other Crown and Anchor status.
Pinnacles get gold SeaPass cards, are able to check-in with the suite guests, get mentioned at Top Tier events onboard, and receive a gold lapel nametag to wear around the ship.
While I personally don't care for the badge as something I want to wear, it's incredible how much emphasis the Pinnacle program gets from the company.
I think any customer wants to feel valued, whether at a sandwich shop, car dealership, or on a cruise ship. Certainly most companies talk about how much they love their customers, but Royal Caribbean backs it up with action.
Beyond the added benefits listed later in this article, it's more than lip service. When policies are amended, the cruise line often makes special stipulations just for Pinnacle Club members.
In my observations, it seems Pinnacles also get a lot of officers onboard speaking to them to not only get to know these people, but take care of concerns they may have.
I don't want it to seem like Pinnacles get everything they want and the cruise line is perfect in their handling, but Pinnacles get more attention than any other tier. I can appreciate that Royal Caribbean cares beyond form letters and freebies.
In case you're wondering what extras you can expect if you reach 700 points, here's a breakdown of the benefits Royal Caribbean lists for its Pinnacle guests.
The free cruises for continuing past 700 points is a really nice option that adds a tremendous amount of value.
After hitting the Pinnacle Club level, you’ll get an additional free cruise every time you accumulate another 350 points. That means you will get an initial free cruise after hitting 700 points, and then additional cruises at 1,050 points, 1,400 points, 1,750 points, etc.
The free cruise is for two people, but you can bring a third and fourth guest. You'll just have to pay for their fares.
The first two cruises are in a balcony cabin. After that, you quality for a junior suite.
If you don’t want to sail the Caribbean, you can ask for a cruise credit to use toward an itinerary somewhere else. Royal Caribbean will give you $2,400 toward the purchase of a cruise at 700 and 1,050 points, and $3,200 toward the purchase of a cruise at 1,400 points and above.
With just about 20 points to go until I make Pinnacle, I find myself reflecting on the years of cruising.
If my math is right, I've taken 68 cruises so far and that means I'll reach 700 once I'm on cruise number 70, which will be Navigator of the Seas on the June 16th sailing.
If you were to ask what it feels like to reach Pinnacle, my answer would be "surreal".
I never thought I would reach Pinnacle quite this soon, but in doing so, it feels like a new phase of my Royal Caribbean cruising career will open, similar to how things changed onboard when I hit Diamond.
I'm grateful to my many friends who are already Pinnacle and have shared their experiences over the years. As one of our writers is fond to say, "cruising is what you make of it" and the Crown and Anchor Society is very much the same way.
I may not take advantage of every single Pinnacle benefit, but there are a few I'm very much looking forward to, such as priority embarkation and complimentary internet access.
Of course, the complimentary cruises along the way will be yet another good rationale for telling my wife we "need to book another cruise."
I hope sharing my experience will provide you with context for perhaps making it to Pinnacle as well some day, and what Crown and Anchor Society offers its most loyal cruisers.
Did you miss any of this week's Royal Caribbean news? No worries, because we have you covered with our wrap-up of cruise news!
Want to know the what is the best location for a cabin on a cruise ship?
It may seem like a simple question, but there's many factors that make it more difficult to answer because what's best for one person can vary greatly for someone else.
There's a variety of cabin locations, as well as cabin types to consider. However, we narrowed down the options to the kinds of cruise cabins usually booked up in high demand because of their great location.
The 496th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, in which Matt discusses six things from his Mariner of the Seas cruise that stood out.
Matt just sailed on a 5-night Western Caribbean cruise on Mariner of the Seas and talked about changes and new options he tried on this sailing.
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.
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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 — All The Things To Do As Soon as You Get to Your Cruise Cabin! — and don’t forget to subscribe here.
We've seen just about any kind of cruise ship questions out there, including a lot of very basic question related to cruise ship cabins.
Whether asking if crew members sleep onboard or if it’s easy to fall off your balcony, we’ve received a handful of amusing questions over the years.
It makes sense someone new to cruising would have these sort of questions, so here are answers to cruise ship cabin questions.
When you have a question or concern, it can be downright frustrating if you can't get an answer easily.
Royal Caribbean provides customer service in many facets, but there are a few that stand out as being the best ways to contact Royal Caribbean customer service if you need them.
Knowing where to turn to when you have a nagging problem or time-sensitive issue can be frustrating if you aren't getting a response in a timely manner.
Royal Caribbean's drink packages are incredibly popular, but what's the best time to buy a drink package to get the lowest price?
There are three Royal Caribbean drink packages and pricing can vary depending on sail date, ship, and itinerary. Plus, the price changes in the months leading up to your cruise.
If you play it right, you can lock in the best possible price for a drink package.
When you need to get a hold of Royal Caribbean because you have a question or concern, knowing which way will get you an answer as fast as possible is important.
It's very common for people booked on a cruise to have an issue they want to raise with Royal Caribbean. Whether it's something simple like re-pricing a drink package, or altering the reservation, there seems to be a lot questions about where to turn first.
Royal Caribbean has many departments and means to get in contact with them, but they aren't all created equally. While I love cruising with Royal Caribbean, I've learned there are better ways to get assistance with an issue than others.
Knowing where to turn to when you have a nagging problem or time-sensitive issue can be frustrating if you aren't getting a response in a timely manner.
For anyone looking to get in touch with Royal Caribbean's customer service department, here are the best (and not so great) ways to get it done.
Picking up the phone to contact Royal Caribbean customer service is probably the most obvious method, but it has its pros and cons.
Phone agents are available during the day time, but it's not a 24 hour operation, so if you try to call after hours, you'll have to wait until the next day.
Moreover, hold times on the phone can vary greatly. Sometimes there's barely a wait, while other times hold times can be over an hour. This is especially true when there is something out of the ordinary occurring, such as a new cruise booking release, weather impact to existing cruises, etc.
Certainly a phone call is quite simple, but it's a bit of a guessing game how long you will have to wait until you get a hold of someone. Plus, Royal Caribbean has different phone numbers for reservations, excursions, groups, and more. So you if you don't call the right department first, it may be more wasted time.
Still, calling Royal Caribbean on the phone is a good starting point.
The general Royal Caribbean customer service phone number is 1 (800) 256-6649.
If you are booking a new reservation, or need to modify a reservation you made directly with the cruise line, call 1 (866) 562-7625.
If you're going on a cruise the same day you're calling, the phone number is 1 (800) 256-6649 or (305) 539-4107 (Int'l)
If you already went on your cruise and have a question, you can call Post Cruise Assistance at 1 (800) 256-6649.
One of the best ways to get your concern routed efficiently is to contact Royal Caribbean on social media.
Royal Caribbean's Twitter and Facebook pages are quite responsive with getting you pointed in the right direction.
They may not directly address your concern, but often they inform whom to contact. If your question is fairly rudimentary, they can also answer questions for you.
Contacting Royal Caribbean's social media for your questions is actually one of the best cruise hacks.
One of the best reasons to use a good travel agent is to get answers to tough questions or problems you run into with the cruise line.
Billing discrepancies, changes to your sailings, policy updates and more are usually in any good travel agent's wheel house.
First and foremost, the travel agent is the one that may need to sit on hold for an extended period of time to get the right answer. Let them do it, while freeing you up to do something else.
Plus, travel agents have resources guests do not, including more leeway with certain policies. While no travel agent can guarantee they can solve any problem, I'm constantly amazed how some agents are able to "bend" or get exemptions to Royal Caribbean policies, thanks in part to their years of experience and relationships with the cruise line.
When I have a question or problem, the first person I turn to is my travel agent for help and it saves me so much time.
Did you know Royal Caribbean has a dedicated phone number exclusively for Crown and Anchor members?
If you've cruised at least once with Royal Caribbean, you're eligible to use this phone number and I've found on average the hold times to be less for this line.
It's a benefit you receive as a loyal cruiser, so you may as well take advantage of it before trying the main phone numbers.
The Crown and Anchor phone number is 1 (800) 526-9723.
This customer service hack is becoming more well-known as a way to get help when you have a concern, and that's to email Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley.
It's quite clear his (public) email is monitored by a team of employees, so you probably aren't reaching Mr. Bayley. However, the results speak for themselves.
Time and time again, I see anecdotal evidence from Royal Caribbean Blog readers who reach out to Mr. Bayley via email and get a prompt response. This is especially true for complicated issues related to a personal experience on a ship.
The other methods of contacting Royal Caribbean customer support will be sufficient for most issues, but for escalating a problem, emailing the CEO might work for you.
Michael Bayley's email is [email protected].
In my opinion, don't both emailing Royal Caribbean with a problem, change, or concern.
I hear from so many cruisers who complain they emailed the cruise line to get an answer and haven't heard back, and that tells me emailing is not as efficient as the other ways outlined in this article.
Royal Caribbean has various email addresses it provides for many different facets of the business, as well as regions of the world:
Contacting Royal Caribbean customer service via your travel agent or social media is a much better idea.
If there's one waste of time in trying to get customer service, it's posting a lengthy message about your problem with the cruise line on a forum or message board.
Whether you try posting your problem that you want rectified on our Royal Caribbean message boards, or a Facebook group, or some other unofficial and unrelated website, you won't get a response from the cruise line.
Some people do this because they believe Royal Caribbean monitors certain sites. While this may be true, that doesn't mean they reach out to customers on unofficial sites to help them with their problem.
If you want to vent, that's fine, but if you want a response, go directly to the cruise line and not a forum post.
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I get asked all the time which Royal Caribbean cruise ship is my favorite, and while there are lots of good reasons to pick different ships, I think Mariner of the Seas is without question the best value in the fleet today.
This week I'm sailing on Mariner of the Seas for the 12th time. I didn't even know I had sailed on her quite that many times until I looked up my cruise history, and I think a big reason I keep coming back is worth the ship has for how I like to cruise.
While I might enjoy a ship that has more onboard activities like Wonder of the Seas, or a ship with more for my kids to do like Odyssey of the Seas, Mariner seems to balance what you get for your the money spent quite well.
Of course, value is an extremely subjective proposition, but here's why I think the onboard experience balanced with the price is worth considering every time for budget cruisers.
When I think about the value you get as a consumer on any cruise ship, I think about the cost of the cruise versus what you get to see, do, and eat onboard the ship.
On the extreme ends, a brand new cruise ship, like Wonder of the Seas, is on average going to have the higher price tag because it's a new ship and Royal Caribbean charges a premium for its newest vessels.
Of course, Wonder of the Seas also packs in the absolute newest (and arguably best) things to do. In fact, there's a ton to do onboard.
On the other end of the spectrum is probably a Vision Class ship, such as Grandeur of the Seas.
Grandeur is the oldest ship in the fleet and also doesn't have as many whizz-bang features and amenities as Wonder. But it tends to be priced substantially less as well.
The Voyager Class ships (of which Mariner of the Seas is one) benefits from being having a big ship feel, but is old enough now that the prices are much lower than newer ships.
Generally speaking, as a ship ages and newer ships enter the fleet, the average price tends to cost less than in years past. Essentially, the price for Mariner of the Seas today is probably less than it was years ago.
When I consider a cruise on Mariner of the Seas, I see a great price without compromising too much on what you can do onboard.
I liked Mariner of the Seas before she was upgraded, but Royal Caribbean's Royal Amplification program hit a home run with the changes they made to Mariner.
In 2017, Royal Caribbean announced a ship upgrade program that would new amenities to many of its existing ships, including Mariner of the Seas.
The goal of the program was to add new pool deck attractions, bars, and dining options. By making these upgrades, it would offer more for guests to enjoy, provide added incentive to book an older ship, and generate additional revenue for the cruise line.
Mariner of the Seas received $120 million in upgrades:
In retrospect, Mariner got one of the best upgrades across the fleet. While I think Oasis of the Seas probably came out with the overall best upgrades and I prefer the water slides that Navigator of the Seas got, Mariner is no slouch with its additions.
One thing I like about Mariner of the Seas is the variety of activities onboard.
The sports deck has a FlowRider, water slides, climbing structure, hammocks, and even (a now defunct) SkyPad. There's also a great mini-golf course on the front of the ship.
From a family perspective, I wish it had a Splashaway Bay area for the kids, but as long as the kids can get wet and splash, they're content with any pool.
Adding escape rooms has proven to be a real hit with guests, and I've done the escape room twice on Mariner (it had been sufficiently long enough between visits that I forgot almost all the sequences) and it's a real challenge!
In the evening, I think this is where the layout of Mariner and venues really shine. The pub and Schooner Bar are, in my opinion, the best size and layout for these venues because it's big enough to have a crowd for the live music without becoming immense.
Ditto for Boleros, especially with the changeover to turn the other half into Starbucks. I never liked having half of Boleros on the other side of the Centrum and disconnected from the music.
Royal Caribbean traditionalists will also love the Viking Crown Lounge on deck 14. Fantastic views, and Ellington's is a great venue for late-night dance parties.
One of Royal Caribbean's goals was to bring new dining choices to its ships with the Royal Amplification program, and I really like the choices Mariner has now.
I could spend half this article waxing poetically about the virtues of Izumi hibachi because of how satisfying it is to dine here each and every time.
Teppanyaki dining has been incredibly popular and the venue on Mariner is quite large, as they tried to include as many hibachi tables as possible. Based on how often Izumi sells out, I'd say it was the right move.
Of course Mariner has Chops Grille, and it has Jamie's Italian. While I think Jamie's Italian has lost top billing among Italian cuisine on Royal Caribbean ships from the revamped Giovanni's Italian Kitchen, I never leave Jamie's hungry.
And then there's the Bamboo Room, which is a tiki lounge on the Royal Promenade and it's only available on Mariner of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas.
Maybe I'm a sucker for a tiki bar, but I really enjoy having drinks here with friends and just hanging out. Plus, they have a fun and different drink menu from other bars.
If all of this sounds good, let's look at the prices for Mariner of the Seas that exemplify the value.
The price for any Royal Caribbean cruise will vary from sailing to sailing depending on how many cabins have been booked, time of year, and other factors, but it's rare to not see cheap rates when planning ahead.
Prices for a Mariner of the Seas cruise start as low as $290 per person when the ship is based in Galveston, Texas.
Happy weekend! I hope Spring is starting to arrive where you live. Regardless of the weather, it is time to sit back, relax, and check out the latest in Royal Caribbean news!
New details about Royal Caribbean's new beach club in The Bahamas were revealed exclusively to RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com.
The Royal Beach Club in Nassau will be an all-inclusive experience, which will have a limited capacity.
It will also be a first-of-its-kind collaboration with the people of the Bahamas to ensure they can profit from the revenues.
The 495th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, with tips on how to have a stress-free cruise.
Matt shares six ways he recently employed a strategy to reduce stress on his cruise.
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.
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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 — We tried EVERY cabin on our Royal Caribbean cruise! — and don’t forget to subscribe here.
When Utopia of the Seas launches next year, she'll have a new restaurant never before offered on Royal Caribbean.
There's no name announced for it yet, but it's being described as "an immersive train dining experience."
The restaurant will rely on mixed reality, which means it will have a blend of physical and digital worlds.
We love the Main Dining Room, but there are a few tried-and-true tips you should follow to have the best experience possible.
We recommend knowing the ins and outs of the Main Dining Room before your cruise begins to avoid surprises once you get onboard.
These secrets should ensure you have a great meal, every time!
Royal Caribbean onboard credit is something nearly every cruise ship passenger gets, but how do you use it and what are other ways to get it?
This form of "free cash" often given as an incentive to book a cruise can be very helpful, so we wanted to share the best ways to use your Royal Caribbean onboard credit.
From spending it on gratuities to doubling up your onboard credit, there's plenty of ways to maximize it all!
Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas finished a multiweek dry dock earlier this month, but what exactly has changed?
Every five years or so, cruise ships are temporarily taken out of service so that they can go in for maintenance work.
Unlike a Royal Amplification, Royal Caribbean doesn't discuss the details of a dry dock, which leaves many cruisers wondering what's new or different about the ship once it returns to service.
I boarded Mariner of the Seas today and walked around the ship to see what noticeable changes are present for anyone else sailing on her.
Depending on the cruise line's plan, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship could get a number of enhancements and changes. Or, it could simply go in for maintenance without real changes the average guest would notice.
There are two terms for these kind of services: refurbishment and amplification.
A refurbishment is when a ship is taken to dry dock for a shorter period of time to do primarily cosmetic changes and maintenance work.
During an amplification, the same cosmetic and maintenance work is done, but there are also enhancements made to the ship, such as adding new restaurants, activities, bars and more.
When Mariner of the Seas went in for dry dock in 2018, she had a $120 million Amplification, but this time around in 2023, it was a dry dock.
I walked around Mariner of the Seas to see what's new, different, or generally noticeable.
First and foremost, the outside of the ship has a new paint job.
During a dry dock, the ship is taken out of the water so that not only can its engines, propellors, and other systems be attended to, but the hull can be repainted. All that sea water and humid air from the ocean takes a toll on the aesthetics of the ship.
Speaking of the hull, Royal Caribbean also took the opportunity to fix a hole in the aft of the ship that occurred when a cargo vessel drifted into Mariner while in Freeport, Bahamas.
In April 2022, a cargo vessel made contact with the ship while Mariner of the Seas was docked in Freeport.
A small, superficial gash was left near the jogging track on the back of the ship and it was temporarily covered up with some steel.
During the dry dock, this is now completely fixed.
Another change Royal Caribbean made to Mariner of the Seas (and every other ship that has a SkyPad) was to remove the trampolines and supporting equipment for the SkyPad.
Last month, Royal Caribbean announced it was getting rid of the SkyPad on all of its ships.
The SkyPad structure is still there, but the area is now being used for various complimentary activities such as bean bag toss and dance classes.
The SkyPad was also re-painted.
Both pool decks on 11 and 12 were re-surfaced.
Not directly related to the refurbishment, but the pool chairs have signs on them about not reserving them all day.
We've seen this on other cruise ships in the fleet as an attempt to prevent the chair hog problem, which has been an issue for many years.
The door on deck 13 to the sports deck was replaced. It used to be a heavy door with a handle and is now a sliding automatic door.
The water slides were re-painted.
The ending area where you splash in when the ride is also remodeled.
Speaking of aquatic fun, the FlowRider received a new pump.
Underneath the ship is where most of the maintenance occurred, with the ship's azipods, engines and other critical systems serviced.
One incredibly small change was the aft stairwell had their wallpaper replaced.
There were no changes to the cabins, and also no carpeting was replaced on the ship.
Since dry dock, Mariner of the Seas has been experimenting with a complimentary lunch open to all guests in the main dining room on deck 3.
The goal is to alleviate pressure on the Windjammer buffet, but from what I've heard from crew members, it's still a test and not a fleetwide policy.