Anyone can make a mistake on a cruise, but no one wants to make a mistake that could cost them thousands of dollars.

A costly mistake has a deeper effect than simply a lesson learned, and it can truly ruin your vacation.

There was a news story recently in the UK where a woman went on a Caribbean cruise and left her cell phone's antenna on, and it racked up some serious charges.

She was unaware that using her phone normally on a cruise ship shot up her monthly phone bill from £35 to £1186.59!

Why was her bill so high? Her phone was outside of its normal cellular network, and when you try to use a cell phone for calls, data, or texting on someone else's network, you incur crazy high rates.

Many cellular plans (even international plans) do not include calls, texts, or data on cruise ships and they will charge you extremely high roaming rates for such services that will show up weeks later on your phone bill.

Data usage is especially troublesome because smart phones will use data even when you are not actively using your phone.  Phones will continuously check for updates or notifications, as well as run app updates in the background.  All of this uses data, and that can drive up your bill without you even using the device.

In the case of this British woman, she was able to negotiate with the phone carrier to drop the price by half, but that's still many hundreds extra in fees that could have been avoided.

If that sounds like scary, the good news is you can protect yourself from running into a giant cell phone bill with a very simple trick.

Airplane mode

Every cell phone has a feature that prevents the phone from using its antenna, but you need to remember to activate it.

There's a feature on every phone to put your phone into airplane mode, which disables your antenna until you re-enable it. 

As the name implies, it was designed for use while on an airplane but works just as well on a cruise ship. 

Your best bet is to get on the ship and before sail away, use your phone to let anyone know what's going on and then turn on airplane mode.  Keep it in airplane mode until you return home.

By keeping your phone in airplane mode, your phone cannot join any cellular networks and will not get you a giant bill later.

Don't worry, you can still use Wi-Fi while your phone is in airplane mode, which means you can connect to the ship's Wi-Fi or use a Wi-Fi hotspot in one of the ports of call you visit. This includes iMessage.

Some cruisers will tell you to turn data roaming off as a feature in your phone, but that requires a bit more digging into your phone settings and isn't as simple to enable or re-enable as airplane mode.  

Read more: 40 Best Royal Caribbean tips, tricks & hidden secrets

How to turn on airplane mode on with an iPhone

The easiest way to turn on airplane mode with an iPhone is to swipe up.

Swipe down from the top-right corner of your screen to bring up Control Center. Then tap the airplane mode button, which looks like an airplane.

To turn it off later, just follow the same steps and click the airplane button again.

If you want to enable Wi-Fi or Bluetooth while your phone is in airplane mode, just swipe up from the bottom once again. Tap the Wi-Fi button to enable Wi-Fi or the Bluetooth button to enable Bluetooth.

How to turn airplane mode on with an Android

If you have an Android device, the easiest way to activate airplane mode is similar to an iPhone.

Swipe down from the top of your home screen and then click the airplane mode button, which looks like an airplane.

You can still make calls with Wi-Fi calling

What if you want to be able to call and text friends and family, but don't want a giant bill?

The best strategy is to buy a Royal Caribbean Voom Wi-Fi package for your cruise and then use a feature known as Wi-Fi calling.

With an internet package for your cruise, you could rely purely on data and call with Facetime, Whatsapp, Facebook messenger or some other messaging app.

Read more: Royal Caribbean WiFi: Guide to Internet at sea

If you need to make a "real" phone call, make sure Wi-Fi calling is enabled on your phone.

Wi-Fi calling is a feature nearly every cellular carrier provides that allows the phone to use Wi-Fi data instead of a cellular signal to place the call. This is useful in areas where there's bad cell coverage on land too!

The important thing is to activate Wi-Fi calling before your cruise while you're still at home.  There's no cost to use Wi-Fi calling, but it's a setting in your phone you need to activate.

Depending on your device and cellular carrier, the instructions will vary. Here are some instructions for the major carriers, but you can always do an internet search for your carrier:

• AT&T
• T-Mobile
• Verizon

Your cellular provider might sell a cruise ship specific cell plan, but I don't recommend them because they are expensive and perform poorly.  A cruise ship Wi-Fi package will probably work better, be cheaper, and has no limit.

Don't forget about Royal Caribbean's free chat feature

If you don't want to pay for a Wi-Fi package but still want to be able to communicate with people on your ship during the voyage, there's a free alternative.

The Royal Caribbean app has a chat feature that is free to use.

Read more: Royal Caribbean app walkthrough and tips

You just need to have the Royal Caribbean app downloaded and installed on your phone before the cruise. Then once onboard, connect to the Wi-Fi and select the option to just use the app.

While not as full featured as other messaging apps, it's free to use and works well enough for communicating with someone else on the ship that has the app too.

Of course, it wont work for messaging anyone not on the ship.

Royal Caribbean announced an update to its cruise ship cabin categories that reclassify certain cabins, create new categories, and separate out a few other room types.

Every cabin has a stateroom code, which correlates to the type of room it is, location, and price. 

With today's change, Royal Caribbean has consolidated and reduced the overall number of categories, along with new categories added.

These changes are going to roll out with 2025-2026 deployment. For the Icon of the Seas categories, these changes are already live for the 2025-2026 season since those bookings are already open.

Read more: Royal Caribbean cruise ship cabin and suite guide

Part of the reason to make this change is to simplify the choices for travel agents as well as add new room types meant to appeal to certain types of people that cruise.

The goals of the room recategorization are:

• More options & configurations for guests with large families
• Separated Triple and Quad occupancy interior & oceanview staterooms
• New high occupancy guarantee staterooms
• New Junior Suite & Balcony categories

Read more: Guide to balcony staterooms on Royal Caribbean

• Suites
  • AquaTheater 1 Bedroom Suite (A4) - Oasis and Allure of the Seas only
  • Sky Junior Suite (JY) - Icon Class, Oasis Class, Quantum Class
  • Sunset Juniot Suite (JT) - Icon Class, Freedom Class, Voyager Class, Vision Class
• Balcony
  • Spacious Sunset Balcony (SG) - Freedom Class, Voyager Class, Radiance Class, Vision Class
  • Sunset Balcony (SB) - Freedom Class, Voyager Class
• Oceanview
  • Ocean view (5N) - Quantum Class, Radiance Class
• Interior
  • Interior (5V) - Freedom Class, Voyager Class)
  • Interior with Virtual Balcony (Quantum Class)

Here's a deeper look at what's different and new as part of this effort.

AquaTheater 1 bedroom suite

On Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the seas, there are two cabins on each that the room size and the balcony size are significantly smaller than the other AquaTheater one bedroom cabins.

In an effort to ensure guests have the correct expectations of what their suite was going to look like, Royal Caribbean decided to separate out those cabins as a distinct category.

Those four cabins total will now become A4 category, which will be the AquaTheater suite one bedroom, and all other AquaTheater suite one bedrooms across the fleet will now be called Spacious AquaTheater one bedroom and will remain the A3category code.

Nothing else is changing with these suites. They'll still have the same benefits and amenities. It's simply the way that the cruise line is categorizing them.

Sky Junior Suites

Royal Caribbean is also adding Sky Junior suites, which are Junior Suites with Sky Class amenities such as complimentary Wi-Fi and access to Coastal Kitchen and the Suite Lounge.

Sky Junior Suites were first introduced on Icon of the Seas and Royal Caribbean said they got a lot of demand for them, so they're extending them the rest of the Royal Suite Class ships.

Read more: Guide to Icon of the Seas cabins and suites

All Icon, Oasis and Quantum class ships will now have eight Sky junior suites, with the exception of Spectrum of the Seas, which will only have six.

On a Oasis class, all Junior suites on deck six will be Sky Junior suites and on Quantum Class, all Junior Suites on deck 13 will be Sky Junior Suites.

Sunset Junior Suite

One thing Royal Caribbean has heard from its guests is booking an aft balcony is a favorite type of room on older ships. The aft facing balconies and Junior Suites are now going to be separated out as new categories new categories, starting with the Sunset Junior Suite.

Read more: 5 Royal Caribbean cruise ship balcony cabins to book (and 2 to avoid)

With the Sunset Junior Suite, nothing's changing in these amenities or with the stateroom itself, but all of the aft facing Junior Suites on the back of the ships will now become Sunset Junior Suites.

There will be a total of 110 suites between 12 ships on Freedom, Voyager and Vision class ships.

Royal Caribbean says they are making the change so that guests can quickly and easily find these cabins.

Sunset Balcony and Spacious Sunset balcony

Another new aft facing category is the Sunset Balcony and Spacious Sunset Balcony.

These are the balconies that are on the aft of the ships, and there will be about 100 Sunset balconies (category SB) and then 100 spacious sunset balconies (category SG) and spacious being the stateroom.

Oceanview triples

Royal Caribbean has heard from travel agents is that sometimes it's difficult to find a cabin when you have a group of three guests and what availability there is for cabins that have triple occupancy.

In the past, they've separated out some triple occupancy balcony cabins and they want to do the same with inside and oceanview rooms.

First up is the Oceanview triple cabins, and these will be category 5N. 

It will apply 120 staterooms across all five Radiance Class ships, as well as Quantum of the Seas.

Next are interior triples, which will be category 5V on Explorer of the Seas, and all Radiance Class ships.

On Quantum of the Seas, it will be category 5U because Quantum has the interiors with virtual balcony rather than the standard interiors.

New Guarantee staterooms

Royal Caribbean is also adding new guarantee cabins, which is when Royal Caribbean picks the exact room assignment instead of the guest.

The advantage of a guarantee cabin is you will pay less for it than if you select the specific room. However, you give up the ability to choose your cabin location and end up at the luck of whichever location is selected.

Read more: The 5 best cabin locations on a cruise ship

By offering new types of guarantees, it provide guests more options.

High occupancy guarantees

In addition to the existing guarantees, Royal Caribbean is adding in an additional guarantee for triple and quad occupancy bookings.

If you have a booking with 3 or 4 guests, you'll now be able to book a ZQ as compared to a ZI. If you have a double occupancy, you can still book the ZI.

Royal Caribbean says they are making this change to offer a lower price point.

This will be offered across all category classes:

• Balcony: XQ
• Neighborhood: NQ
• Oceanview: YQ
• Inside: ZQ

Infinite Balcony Guarantee

This is a room type exclusively for Icon of the Seas, and it will be category code XI.

Similar to other guarantees across the fleet, this change will just be extending to now infinite balconies.

If a guest doesn't have a preference on where their infinite balcony is located, they can book an infinite guarantee at a lower price point versus choosing a cabin.

Infinite balcony guarantees and quad guarantees are now are live on Icon season two for 2025-2026.

It's one thing to make a mistake, but quite another when you realize early on that you've goofed.

Shore excursions are a major part o the cruise experience, and some cost as much as hundreds of dollars each.  No one wants to spend their time and money on a substandard tour, but unfortunately, there are a few duds out there.

It seems like most tours ends up being quite satisfactory, but occasionally there is an excursion that is disappointing from start to finish.

Sometimes the problem could be bad luck and factors you couldn't anticipate, like a new tour guide trying to learn to ropes or bad weather. Other times, you might think you would enjoy a certain kind of tour but then realize you don't. 

Whatever the reason, sometimes tours don't measure up to expectations and Royal Caribbean Blog readers have encountered these as well.

I picked out eight cruise ship shore excursions our readers took and reconsidered their decision making almost immediately.

Ensenada

Having been to Ensenada, Mexico a few times, smokeybandit found the tour choices less than appealing.

"I enjoyed my tequila tasting, and if I spoke Spanish it could be a fun town to drink in, but that port is a PVSA port and nothing else."

What he is referring to with "PVSA port" is the fact cruise lines use Ensenada as a way to satisfy the Passenger Vessel Service Act (PVSA) of 1886. It requires foreign flagged cruise ships to call on a foreign port if sailing a closed-loop cruise form the United States.

This means, cruise ships cannot sail from Los Angeles and only visit California ports.  It must make a stop outside the country, and Ensenada, Mexico is the closest port of call that is in close proximity to Southern California.

The justification for both the PVSA is to protect the U.S. Merchant Marine (the licensed (officers) and documented (trades) personnel on the ships) and to protect U.S. shipyards that both build and repair the ships.

Bus tours

By far, the overarching theme we got from our readers was that bus tours in so many different places was a major regret.

ChessE4 wrote about a bus tour in Corsica, "The guide talked way too much at each stop, and about the time we returned to the city center the local market was closed for the day.  Had we gone on our own, we would have seen most of the same sights and enjoyed the market."

BeachGal tried an open-air, double-decker bus around St. Maarten, "Tour started about 40 min. late, and we were all standing in the sun waiting and wondering what was going on. The guide at the front of the bus narrated the tour, but only the folks on the top level could hear her.  It took a couple of stops before they got it fixed."

"Maho Beach was the only interesting stop on the tour, and we didn't get to stay there long.  Ugh, never again!"

Mturk did the Sorrento & Amalfi Coast by Motor Launch tour found it to be too much in a short window of time, "tried to pack too much into the day for sites that were too geographically dispersed to be properly enjoyed. We ended up spending most of the day on the bus instead of enjoying any of the locations we went to."

Bus tours are attractive because they're usually priced low and offer an easy way to see an area. This is very attractive to someone who is unfamiliar with the port and might be hesitant to go on their own.

The reality is a bus tour may leave you feeling constricted and not enough time to properly enjoy any one stop. Moreover, you may spend more time at a stop that you do not care for, but the tour must go to anyway.

One alternative is to forgo an organized tour and explore on your own, especially when your ship is visiting a city or town. If your ship docks near downtown, you can walk on your own or even use public transportation to easily get around.

Another option is to book a smaller group tour or private tour. Royal Caribbean sometimes offers small group tours, or you can book through a third party provider.

Horseback riding tours

I always thought horseback riding on a beach would be fun, but tonyfsu21 painted a different picture.

"As you can imagine, the guide in position number one in line is the only one who gets through the water without excessive amounts of horse excrement all over their legs. Really kind of gross and I highly advise you avoid at all costs."

Peggy's Cove

Two different readers wish they hadn't booked a tour to one of the premier spots in Nova Scotia, Peggy's Cove.

Peggy's Cove is a famous lighthouse that is quintessentially encompasses what someone imagines an Atlantic lighthouse to look like. It's perched along a narrow inlet and on wave-washed boulders facing the Atlantic.

RCIfan1912 thought it was amazing, but he wouldn't do it again, "It was a super long bus ride and holy cow was it crowded. We were very late getting back to the ship."

letscruise agreed, and thought the issue was lack of enough time because the tour was coupled with other stops, "we could have definitely shortened time spent at the Titanic cemetery to be able to spend more than the 30 minutes we were allotted at Peggy's Cove."

Just like bus tours, you could see about booking a private tour to get you to a particular tourist attraction.

No matter if you book a group tour or a private tour, try to get there early to beat the crowds that come as the day progresses.

Snorkeling in Cabo San Lucas

Snorkeling is a very popular cruise ship excursion, but DDaley thinks there's no point to doing this in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

"We’ve done these twice and while it’s fun on the boat, there’s just not that much to see when you’re actually snorkeling. We’ve snorkeled just about everywhere, and there is certainly no need to do it on the Pacific coast ."

Save the snorkeling for another port and prioritize time spent at a beach or whale watching when the season is right.

Read more: Top 10 things to do in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on a cruise

ATV tour in Cozumel

I've done a few ATV tours and enjoyed them, but it sounds like Keanoknick might have found a dud.

They booked a ATV tour that would take them through a jungle during a stop in Cozumel, "The so called jungle we rode through felt like I was riding in my back yard in Texas, nothing jungle about it. "

One tip for previewing any tour is to look for reviews, especially videos. Doing a YouTube search for the tour you're taking is a good place to start, as well as looking through reviews in our shore excursion forum.

Read more: Guide to picking the perfect Royal Caribbean shore excursion

Cave tubing in Belize

Va4fam wrote simply, "what could go wrong with a hike through the jungle and a gentle tube ride in giant bat-filled caves?"

I would think cave tubing would be a lot of fun, especially since it's a well-known activity in that area of the Caribbean.

"Let's start with the bus.  We took several small buses to connect with the large bus that would take us to our destination.   About 15 minutes into the trip, we heard a loud bang and smelled something burning.  

"We asked the guides if everything was ok, they said it was just the brakes burning.   As we went further from Belize City, the bus shook and rattled before the driver finally pulled to the side.   Yep, definitely a tire blow out. "

"Sat on the road with no air conditioning for over an hour before the little buses retrieved us and took us to the excursion."

"The first family stepped off the bus and into a colony of fire ants and needed to be evacuated back to the port." 

Unfortunately, a lot of the issues on this tour were bad luck and there's not much you can do about that. It's always a good mantra to be as flexible as possible on a cruise.

Read more: 23 Do's and Don'ts for your Royal Caribbean cruise in 2023

Going to Hell

As soon as I saw readers posting about a Hell in Grand Cayman, I knew exactly why they regretted it.

Hell is the name a tourist trap in Grand Cayman that is noteworthy for its name, which serves as an excuse to make the joke that you went to hell on your cruise.

LCWind wrote, "Overhyped, dated, creepy.  The stops the tour makes are to shops to entice you to buy. Not worth."

Research any tour or place you want to visit and get past the marketing hype to determine how much fun these places actually are in reality.

Royal Caribbean is on the verge of releasing new cruise ship itineraries for 2025 and 2026, and now is the time to start preparing.

The deployment schedule for new Royal Caribbean cruises has been posted, and we will get new cruises to start booking beginning at the end of October.

While your first instinct might be to wait and see what's available and make a decision based on that, I think there are some really important things to do start doing now to properly prepare.

Booking a cruise when sailings first go n sale is one of the best ways to save money on a cruise. Prices tend to be lowest when they first go on sale, and go up from there. A tried-and-true strategy is book early and take advantage of a price drop between now and the final payment date (assuming you live in a country that allows this).

A few simple steps now can make the decision making process easier once the new bookings are available. If nothing else, you'll take care of a few important tasks and that means less things to do later.

Check your vacation time availability

Some people work at companies where their PTO time goes quickly and you'll need to get your requests in first.

It's a good idea to outline times of the year you want to take vacation time from work to go on a cruise and put those requests in as soon as possible.  Some companies have a "first-come, first-granted" policy and once someone has time off, others cannot take the same week.

Now is a good time to get those requests in, or at least evaluate how competitive it will be.

Coordinate with travel agent which ships and times to target

I love to work with a good travel agent to make booking any cruise easier, and once again, this strategy is how to approach a newly released sailing.

It's a good idea to let your travel agent know what you have in mind to book.  Maybe it's an Alaska cruise, or a 7-night on a brand new cruise ship to the Caribbean.  Whatever the plans, loop your travel agent in early so they are on the same page as you.

Read more: Royal Caribbean Alaska cruise guide

This is doubly important because sometimes travel agents have access to new sailings before they are loaded onto the Royal Caribbean website. It's not uncommon for new cruises to appear in Royal Caribbean's backend first, and then appear on the website later.

By letting your travel agent know which times of the year, ships, and who will be sailing now, it makes the booking process so much smoother later when you're ready to pull the trigger on a new booking as they are available.

Pick a cabin

If you have an idea of which ship or ship class you're interested in booking, you should also start researching cabins to book.

Read more: Royal Caribbean ship classes ultimate guide

I like to give my travel agent two or three cabins I would be interested in booking, so that when she gets me a quote, we both know what to expect.

Since you wont know which ships are going to be in a particular region before the new bookings go live, you could refer to what's available in 2024 or early 2025 and make an educated guess.  Even if the ship changes from year to year, the ship class tend to be the same.

If you're interested in a suite, then you will want to make an extra effort to book early.

Read more: Royal Caribbean suites guide & review

Suites book up the fastest of any cabin type because there are so few of them, and demand for suites is higher than other cabins.

It wouldn't be a big deal if you took a few days to decide on a balcony vs inside room, but suites tend to go so quickly you may want to narrow down the choices early.

Look at historical airfare prices

No matter how fantastic a cruise sounds, if the overall cost to go on that vacation is too high, it may sink your plans.

If you think cruise fare prices are fluid, you should look at airfare prices.  Therefore, it's a good strategy to look at historic airfare prices to get a ballpark idea of how much that will cost.

A lot of families have a budget in mind for their entire trip, which includes the cruise fare, shore excursions, incidentals, and airfare.

Fare Detective has an Airfare History Chart that you can plug two airports in and get historical flight price data.

You could also look for a flight coming up in 2024 and use that as a metric for what to expect as well.

Double check when new ships will start sailing

If there's one step I always forget, it's to think about what's not on sale yet.

There's nothing like a new Royal Caribbean cruise ship and it generates a lot of buzz. So before you plan to book any cruise in 2025, think about the new ships that will be coming online at that time.

As an example, Star of the Seas will begin sailing sometime in summer 2025, and that might change your plans to go to Europe or try Alaska.

If going on a new ship would be important, you might consider holding off booking a summer 2025 cruise now, or book a refundable cruise fare so that you can change your mind later.

Read more: Royal Caribbean refundable versus non-refundable cruise fares

Planning a cruise? Start here:

• 8 cruise tips for first-time Royal Caribbean cruisers
• What’s included in your Royal Caribbean cruise fare
• 5 quick and easy tips for finding a great shore excursion on your own
• Food on a Royal Caribbean cruise
• Which is the best Royal Caribbean cruise ship?
• What is the best time to go on a Caribbean cruise?

We now know when Royal Caribbean will open up the first set of new 2025-2026 bookings.

Royal Caribbean has posted most of its new sailings and when they will go on sale.

As per usual for Royal Caribbean, they will post new sailings in the fall and again in the spring.

The deployment schedule will cover Alaska, Europe, Caribbean, and West Coast sailings.

• Week of October 30, 2023: Alaska
• Week of November 6, 2023: Europe
• Week of November 13, 2023: 7-night Caribbean (Phase 1)
• Week of December 4, 2023: 7-night Caribbean (Phase 2)
• Week of February 12, 2024: Short Caribbean, Los Angeles & Northeast 
• Week of February 19, 2024: Long Caribbean

Keep in mind the sailings could be released at any point within that week, and not necessarily on the first day of the listed week.

Australia, China, Singapore and other deployments will be forthcoming at a later date.

This is in addition to the Icon of the Seas sailings already released for 2025-2026.

All itineraries are subject to change without notice.

Rumored Star of the Seas release date

In case you're wondering when Royal Caribbean will open up new bookings for Star of the Seas, there's a rumor of when that might occur.

Star of the Seas will be Royal Caribbean's second Icon Class cruise ship.

When a new cruise ship goes on sale, it's not usually included in other deployments. Rather, it gets posted as its own deployment.

A travel agent posted on Cruise Critic's message boards that Star of the Seas will go on sale December 5, 2023. This has not been officially announced or confirmed by Royal Caribbean.

This travel agent also indicated it looks as though Star of the Seas could be homeported from Port Canaveral.

Other rumored deployments posted by the same person include:

• Wonder of the Seas will offer short Caribbean cruises, in addition to Utopia of the Seas
• Alaska's cruise season will have four ships: Grandeur of the Seas, Radiance of the Seas, Ovation of the Seas & Anthem of the Seas.
• Anthem of the Seas is listed as well under the "Short Caribbean and Los Angeles" deployment.

Keep in mind none of this has been officially announced by Royal Caribbean.

What is a deployment schedule?

The deployment schedule is the plan for when Royal Caribbean will open select sailings for sale.

There is no indication of which day, just the week the new itineraries will become available to book, but it could be on any day of the noted week.

Guests will commonly misconstrue the new cruises to come out on the exact day, rather than at some point during the week.

When the new sailings are available, it is common for the new itineraries to be entered into the booking system first, and the website second. This means in some cases cruises are bookable earlier if booked over the phone or with a travel agent, even if they do not appear on the website.

What can you do now before the new bookings are posted?

If you are in the market for a cruise during one of these new deployments, you will want to keep an eye out for once cruises go on sale.

Royal Caribbean typically allows Crown and Anchor Society members a 24 hour head start on the general public, but since anyone can sign up for Crown and Anchor Society, there is no excuse for waiting.

Talk with your travel agent in the days leading up to the new deployments coming online so you can jump on specific bookings and book them.  

One of the best strategies for the lowest prices is to book a cruise as soon as it goes on sale.  Hard-to-find staterooms are also available during this period, so now is the time to lock in a studio room or a suite.

Planning on booking a cruise in 2024-2025? These stories will help:

• What is the best time to cruise to the Caribbean?
• 7 tips for a great Mediterranean cruise
• What is the best time to cruise to Alaska?
• What is the cheapest month to go on a cruise?

Days after Royal Caribbean cancelled cruises from Israel, it has sent a cruise ship back to Israel but not to start a vacation.

As the war between Israel and Hamas intensifies, Americans in Israel are looking for a way to get out of the region.

The United States State Department requested Royal Caribbean's assistance in evacuating Americans from Israel.

Royal Caribbean Group issued a statement on Monday to confirm their involvement in assisting evacuation efforts, "Royal Caribbean Group is actively assisting the U.S. Department of State in an effort to evacuate American citizens in the area."

The U.S. Embassy in Israel posted on its website it was helping Americans and their immediate family members with valid travel documents leave Haifa to be transported to nearby Cyprus.

Why cruise ships? Air travel has stopped to Israel, and so a sea connection was the next best option. The major U.S. airlines have temporarily suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv.

Rhapsody of the Seas was at the Port of Haifa on Monday.

The U.S. Embassy issued a statement that boarding began on Monday morning and Rhapsody will move the Americans to Limassol, Cyprus.

According to a report by The Times of Israel, dozens of U.S. citizens and their spouses were in line to get on Rhapsody of the Seas in Haifa.

The journey will take about 10-12 hours, with food and wifi available to use during the short cruise.

Canceled cruise season

At the onset of the Hamas attack on Israel, Royal Caribbean began cancelling cruises scheduled to operate to and from Israel.

In less than a week, the cruise line pulled the plug on the remainder of the Israel cruise season, which was centered around Rhapsody of the Seas.

Rhapsody had plans to offer cruises from Haifa to the Greek islands through early November.

Since then, other cruise lines have cancelled their visits to Israel as well.  Sister brand Celebrity Cruises cancelled a visit to Israel that Celebrity Apex had scheduled for earlier this week.

Like Royal Caribbean, planned stops in Israel were replaced with visits to Turkey or Greece.

A history of helping out

This is not the first time Royal Caribbean has used their cruise ships to provide humanitarian aid.

Following the Surfside, Fla. condominium collapse in 2021, Explorer of the Seas was used to provide accommodation and assistance to the first responders that are aiding the Surfside work.

Royal Caribbean worked with with different government agencies in the wake of that disaster, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Miami-Dade County Port Authority and Port Miami.

In 2019, Royal Caribbean pledged $1 million to The Bahamas for Hurricane Dorian disaster relief, and subsequently sent ships to make stops in the Abaco islands to drop off much needed supplies.

When La Soufrière volcano in St. Vincent was expected to erupt, Royal Caribbean sent Serenade of the Seas to the Caribbean island to assist in evacuating residents.

Have you ever noticed there is no deck 13 on most cruise ships?

Historically, the maritime industry has been quite superstitious and some of that even holds up today with how decks are planned.

When you go on most ships, the elevators will have deck 12 followed by deck 14.  Not all ships do, but some certainly have this idiosyncrasy.

This can confuse some people that they missed a stop on a non-existent deck or simply wonder why it doesn't exist.

As you might imagine, the reason for skipping deck is out of fear the number brings bad luck.

As an example, Royal Caribbean's ground-breaking new cruise ship, Icon of the Seas, doesn't have deck 13.  A brand new cruise ship that launches in 2024 omits number 13 from its layout!

In fact, there's not even a room that ends in "13". 

Read more: 11 reasons Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas will change the cruise industry

Most Oasis Class ships skip deck 13, however, Quantum Class cruise ships have deck 13.

Radiance, Voyager and Freedom Class ships have it.  The Vision Class is too short to reach deck 13.

Another interesting twist is you wont find cabins on deck 13.  If a ship has a deck 13, they use it for sports activities or other public venues.

Part of the reason is higher decks are usually where you find public venues, but there may be a part of sailing public that would not want to stay on deck 13 because of the unlucky connotation the number has.

It's probably why many hotels in the United States also don't have a floor 13, because some customers wouldn't want to stay there.

Other cruise ship superstitions

Deck numbering isn't the only superstition that holds up to this day.  

If you cruise enough, you'll probably run into at least a few other superstitions within the cruise industry.

Godmothers

Every cruise ship has a godmother, which serves as a ceremonial position, and yes, it's almost always a woman.  Other ships have had women hold the role, including renowned athletes, celebrities and royalty.

The godmother's job is to give the ship a blessing for the safety of the crew members and passengers who will sail onboard it. 

Not only does having a godmother ensure luck is on the side of the ship and crew, it's a great marketing opportunity for the cruise line.

Lucky coins

New cruise ships also have a coin ceremony, which takes place at the time of keel laying.

Keel laying is an important milestone in new cruise ship construction. It's when shipbuilders place a pair of coins under the keel block of the new ship to bless the ship and as a symbol of good fortune.

Some Royal Caribbean cruise ships indicate where the coins are located. In the case of Oasis of the Seas, you will need to head up to the bow sundeck on deck 14.  The lucky coins are held in a cabinet that is welded to the ship and has a small commemorative plaque. 

Naming ceremonies

The Egyptians, Greeks and the Romans called upon their respective Gods to protect their ships and crew. 

The Vikings would make human sacrifices in honor of a new ship to appease the gods, and Greeks drank wine while blessing the new ship with water.

Many decades ago, they would smash a bottle of Champagne across the hull of a new ship for good luck.  They still do that today, but usually it's done mechanically, with the godmother pressing a button to make the magic happen.

Missing deck 17

Similar to skipping 13, some European cruise ships skip deck 17.

In Italy, the number 17 is considered unlucky, because the number 17 written in Roman numerals is XVII, which is an anagram of VIXI. This translates in Latin to "I have lived", which means to be dead.

For that reason, you may not find a deck 17 on their ships.  MSC Cruises is one line that goes from deck 16 to deck 18, such as on MSC Meraviglia, MSC Grandiosa, MSC Bellissima.

Star of the Seas will be the second of Royal Caribbean's Icon Class cruise ships when she launches.

Royal Caribbean has not announced many details about Star of the Seas, such as what will make this ship different than Icon of the Seas. This page will be updated periodically when Royal Caribbean reveals what the ship will offer to guests.

Being the second in the Icon Class, Royal Caribbean is expected to build upon the interest Icon of the Seas has generated.

Here is a look at the most important things we know about Star of the Seas.

Star of the Seas facts

Star of the Seas will be the second Icon Class cruise ship when she's built.

She will be based from Port Canaveral, Florida and her maiden voyage with paying passengers will take place August 17, 2025.

The ship is under construction at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland. 

Read more: Icon of the Seas sneak peek: Inside Royal Caribbean's next new ship

Star of the Seas should be right around the same size as Icon of the Seas, although Royal Caribbean is fond of making new ships just a little bit bigger than the previous vessel so they can market the new ship as the "biggest cruise ship in the world."

Icon of the Seas is 20 decks high and 1,198 feet long and measure 250,800 gross tons. It has more than 40 dining venues and bars, a waterpark, and seven pools, and can handle 9,950 people (2,350 crew and 7,600 guests).

Royal Caribbean International President & CEO, Michael Bayley, thinks Star will build on the impressive legacy Icon has already, "The idea of combining the best of every type of vacation into one ultimate adventure has created more excitement than ever anticipated, and Star of the Seas will be the next bold answer to the record-breaking consumer demand we’ve seen for nearly a year and counting with Icon of the Seas."

Royal Caribbean has not announced any onboard activities, entertainment or things to do yet.

Star of the Seas construction progress

In February 2023, a steel cutting ceremony was held for Star of the Seas, which when the first piece of steel is cut. This is an important milestone in the construction of any new cruise ship.

Read more: How long does it take to build a cruise ship

In December 2023, the keel was laid at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland. The hull assembly of Star of the Seas followed shortly thereafter in late December.

The laying of the keel means a crane lowered a massive steel block to the bottom of the construction pool on trestles to signal the start of assembling the ship's hull.

When will Star of the Seas be delivered?

Royal Caribbean announced Star of the Seas will begin sailing sometime in "summer of 2025."

According to filings Royal Caribbean Group made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, delivery of the ship from shipyard to cruise line should take place in the second quarter of 2025.

Delivery date represents when the ship would be handed over from the shipyard to the cruise line, but that is not when the ship is ready to enter service.

When a new cruise ship is delivered, formal construction is complete, but the ship still needs to be staffed, and amenities brought onboard as the ship prepares to enter service.

Incredible demand

Even though no Icon Class ship has sailed yet, the demand for this new ship class has been incredible, and Star of the Seas will be Royal Caribbean's follow-up to Icon of the Seas.

Read more: Royal Caribbean ship classes

Icon of the Seas is better booked than any other ship launch, and when Star of the Seas goes on sale, they'll expect similar results.

The company saw the largest booking day in its history when reservations for the Icon opened in October 2022. Royal Caribbean President & CEO Michael Bayley said Icon was "the best-selling product in the history of our business."

Next-gen power

Like Icon of the Seas, Star of the Seas will take advantage of cleaner fuel options.

This will be Royal Caribbean's third cruise ship powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well using some of the cleanest-burning marine fuel available to date with a proven lineup of industry-leading environmental programs on board.

With applications ranging from waste heat recovery systems to shore power connection, Royal Caribbean’s most sustainable ship will advance parent company Royal Caribbean Group’s journey to introducing a net-zero cruise ship by 2035.

When do bookings open for Star of the Seas?

Royal Caribbean opened bookings for Star of the Seas on December 5, 2023.

You can now book a cruise on Star of the Seas between August 2025 and April 2026. The new ship will offer seven-night cruises to the Eastern and Western Caribbean.

The inaugural sailing will visit three ports of call: Perfect Day at CocoCay, St. Thomas, and St. Kitts.

The escalating war between Israel and Hamas has resulted in Royal Caribbean pulling the plug on the rest of its planned cruise season in the region.

Royal Caribbean had already cancelled a few sailings from Israel, as well as visits to the country on other ships.

Guests booked on the November 1 and November 6 sailings received updates that their sailings had been cancelled as well.

"As you may be aware already, the geopolitical situation in Israel is escalating," Royal Caribbean wrote in an email to guests booked on these sailings.

In the email, Royal Caribbean conveyed the need for the safety of guests, crew, and the ship to make the change, "With your safety and wellbeing in mind, and in conjunction with our Global Security Department, we've decided that we must cancel our November 1st, 2023 Rhapsody of the Seas sailing."

Rhapsody of the Seas was scheduled to operate a 5-Night Greek Isles and 6-Night Med Highlights before moving to Barcelona, Spain to conclude their fledgling cruise season from Israel.

Guests will receive a 100% refund, including taxes and fees, pre-paid packages and gratuities, amenities, shore excursions, any flights purchased through Royal Caribbean, and pre-purchased Royal Caribbean Travel Protection.

Royal Caribbean was one of the first cruise lines to cancel cruises that visited Israel over the weekend when Hamas launched a surprise attack that targeted civilians and military personnel.

Since then, other cruise lines have cancelled their visits to Israel as well.  Sister brand Celebrity Cruises cancelled a visit to Israel that Celebrity Apex had scheduled for earlier this week.

MSC Cruises revised its Eastern Mediterranean itineraries for MSC Sinfonia and MSC Musica by removing stops in Israel.

"The safety of our passengers and crew is always our top priority and we have worked rapidly to revise the itineraries of MSC Sinfonia and MSC Musica to offer an extremely attractive alternative for the winter months," MSC Cruises CEO Gianni Onorato said in a statement.

Similar cancellations have been made by Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, and many other lines.

Cruise lines that have cancelled their scheduled visits to Israel are mostly re-routing to Turkey or Greece.

It's not just cruise ships bypassing Israel, as major U.S. airlines have temporarily suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv.

The U.S. State Department has issued advisories for the region, warning against travel to Gaza and urging increased caution in visiting Israel and the West Bank.  

A return to Israel next year?

Royal Caribbean has plans to return to Israel in 2024 with a new season of cruises on Jewel of the Seas.

Between August and October 2024, Jewel of the Seas is scheduled to offer 3- and 7-night Greek Isles cruises from Israel.

In addition to Jewel, Odyssey of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas have itineraries with planned stops in Israel.

Earlier this week, Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed said the company would review events taking place as they happen and see what transpires, "as far as next year goes, I think we just have to see where we are a month from now, two months from now."

"No choice but to cancel"

No one wants their vacation cancelled, but given the circumstances it seems understandable for many.

Leeor Plotkin is an Israeli that had a cruise booked on Rhapsody of the Seas for the November 1st sailing and sees more important priorities at the moment than a cruise.

"Obviously Royal Caribbean had no choice but to cancel given the situation here, and we as Israelis have much more important things to deal with at the moment," he wrote in an email to Royal Caribbean Blog.

"Since Royal set Haifa to be a home port I fell in love with cruising and this was supposed to be my fourth time on Rhapsody."

As for next year, he quipped about the chances for a better cruise season to come, "Hopefully next season on Jewel will happen as planned, and there will come a moment again when our biggest concern will be 'is the deluxe package worth it'".

The most popular type of cruise ship cabin to book is a balcony, and there are a few types that really stand out as great choices (along with a couple that you might want to think twice about).

It's easy to see the appeal of a balcony cabin on Royal Caribbean: You get more living space than an inside room, and a private verandah to enjoy the views and get fresh air anytime you want it.  Plus, the cost of a balcony cabin is probably not much more than interior cabins.

Read more: Inside cabin vs. balcony room on a cruise ship

No matter which Royal Caribbean ship you sail on, there's sub categories of balcony rooms to choose from that differ based on location, room size, and other factors. If you didn't know any better, you'd assume all balcony cabins are the same, but the reality is that's not the case.

Most balcony cabins are fairly interchangeable in the sense of how large they are, and where they are located.  The difference comes in a few special cases, which can make for a compelling choice.

If you know about these special balcony rooms, you might be able to get your family a room with bonus space or benefits.

Before you book any balcony room on a Royal Caribbean cruise, consider these balcony cabins as great (and not-so-great) choices.

Extra large Central Park balcony

I couldn't believe these extra large balcony cabins existed until someone pointed them out to me on a cruise.

On Royal Caribbean's Oasis Class ships only, you'll find the Central Park neighborhood (it's on Icon of the Seas too, but it remains to be seen if this trick works on that ship class yet). Each deck has balcony rooms that face into Central Park instead of facing the ocean.

There are two Central Park balcony cabins on each deck that have double the width of a normal balcony room. This is because these rooms are next to a storage area, and there's no cabin space available to create a different cabin. Yet, the balcony is still there.

The cabin numbers are on decks 10, 11 and 12:

• 10629
• 11229
• 11629
• 12229
• 12629

Whenever I sail on an Oasis Class ship, I always check if these extra large Central Park balcony cabins are available because you get double the balcony space.

Aft balcony

I think the first trick I ever learned from people that cruised more than I have is to book an aft balcony on Vision Class or Radiance Class ships.

Read more: 5 things people that cruise a lot would tell first time cruisers if they could

There's two reasons to book an aft balcony on these ships.

First, you'll probably get more balcony space.  Because of the way the aft cabins are situated, they tend to be set further back into the hull, but have a balcony that extends out to make up the difference.

Second, people that cruise a lot love the views aft cabins provide because it's a different experience.

On other Royal Caribbean ships, aft balcony cabins could have more space, but there tends to be more in the way of the view. Freedom and Voyager Class ships have a lot of metal superstructure that partially block the view. 

Read more: The 5 best cabin locations on a cruise ship

Connecting balconies

My favorite family cruise tip is to book connecting cabins instead of a single room.

Families tend to look at their cabin choice in the same way they'd pick a hotel room.  Because cruise ship cabins are smaller than your average hotel room, and you'll probably spend more time in your stateroom than in a land hotel, cramming into one room is a mistake.

This draws some people to book a suite to make up for the lack of living space, but suite prices can get very expensive.

Instead, look at two (or more) connecting balcony rooms.

On most ships, the balcony divider can be opened up between cabins adjacent to each other, which means you can end up with an extra large balcony space that rivals most suites.

Plus, you'll pay less than a suite and get separate bedrooms and bathrooms too!

Read more: 7 Best Royal Caribbean cruise ships for kids

Sky Junior Suite

I wasn't going to include suites in this list, but the Sky Junior Suite is an interesting exception.

When Icon of the Seas launches, she will have a new kind of Junior Suite category that greatly builds upon the standard Junior Suite offering.

On all other ships, a Junior Suite is essentially a glorified extra large balcony room.

Sky Junior Suite benefits include Suite Neighborhood access, all-day dining at two suites-only restaurants, free wifi, and concierge service.

Hump balcony

When I went on my first Radiance Class ship, we booked a hump balcony room and it felt like we hit the jackpot.

If you look at the design of a ship, towards the middle is usually a part that bulges outward, and rooms in this area can sometimes have significantly more balcony space.

There are hump balcony rooms on Radiance Class, Voyager, Freedom, Oasis or Quantum.

You will need to look closely at the deck plan to see which balconies are larger.

Avoid: Obstructed view

It can be tempting to book an obstructed view cabin to save money, but based on how many negative reviews I read, I'd advise against it.

There are certain balcony rooms that have something blocking the view, which Royal Caribbean refers to as "obstructed view".  It could be a partial obstructed view or full obstructed.

You're at a higher chance to get an obstructed view when booking a guarantee cabin.  This is because Royal Caribbean picks from leftover cabins your room assignment and as you might imagine, there are not many guests who want to book a room with an obstruction in the way.

Sometimes the obstruction can be minor, like a lifeboat below your balcony which makes it difficult to look down to the sea below.  But other obstructions can truly block your view in the academic sense of the word.

To avoid disappointment, I don't recommend booking these cabins. In fact, I'd sooner book an inside room instead of an obstructed balcony room.

Read more: Royal Caribbean cabins to avoid

Avoid: Virtual balcony

Despite the name, a virtual balcony isn't actually a balcony room.

The idea is simple: take an inside cabin and add a floor-to-ceiling television that has live views from the outside and augment it with a graphical representation of what a balcony would look like in the foreground.

It sounds nice on paper, but virtual balcony rooms don't compare to the real thing at all.

Think of a virtual balcony as an upgrade from an inside room, rather than a replacement for a balcony cabin.

If you want a balcony because you want the fresh air and extra living space, a virtual balcony will give you none of those.

Planning a cruise? Start here:

• 8 cruise tips for first-time Royal Caribbean cruisers
• What’s included in your Royal Caribbean cruise fare
• 5 quick and easy tips for finding a great shore excursion on your own
• Food on a Royal Caribbean cruise
• Which is the best Royal Caribbean cruise ship?
• What is the best time to go on a Caribbean cruise?