Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast Episode - Visiting St. John

Royal Caribbean will hold a conference call on August 1, 2017 at 10am to discuss its second quarter 2017 financial results.

The call will be available on-line at the company's investor relations web site, www.rclinvestor.com. To listen to the call by phone, please dial (877) 663-9606 in the US and Canada. International phone calls should be made to (706) 758-4628. There is no passcode or meeting number. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same site for a month following the call.

Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody of the Seas is a popular ship that offers cruises in Europe and North America. There is a lot to love about this ship, and we have five important facts you should be aware of before your next cruise on Rhapsody of the Seas.

Covered Solarium

The adults-only enclave of the Solarium is always a popular spot with many Royal Caribbean fans, and the fact it has an enclosed Solarium means the fun is available rain or shine.

The Solarium offers a terrific pool, along with comfortable lounge chairs and lots of sun (or shade, if that is your preference).  Whether on a sea day, or just a break between activities, the Solarium is the perfect refuge for guests looking to sit back, and relax.

Great itineraries

These days, Rhapsody of the Seas splits her time between North America and Europe.  This means that Royal Caribbean fans have the opportunity to take advantage of some great destinations.

In the fall and winter, Rhapsody calls the Port of Tampa home. Tampa is a convenient and lovely cruise terminal to sail from, including an amazing sailing underneath the Sunshine Skyway bridge. At sea, Rhapsody visits some beautiful ports in Central America, including Costa Maya and Roatan.

In the spring and summer, Rhapsody heads to Europe, where she offers a variety of itineraries from Venice.  Guests sailing on Rhapsody of the Seas will have the opportunity to visit the historic and beautiful ports of the Eastern Mediterranean, including Dubrovnik, Santorini and the Amalfi Coast.

Park Cafe

Royal Caribbean added Park Cafe to the cruise ship's Solarium, and that means not only a convenient spot to enjoy a quick meal, but one of the best sandwiches ever: the Kummelweck roast beef sandwich!

The Kummelweck sandwich was first offered on Oasis class ships, but Park Cafe has spread to other ships in the fleet since then. Guests are served a rare, thin cut of beef dipped in au jus accompanied by a secret sauce. If it sounds mighty tasty, that is because it really is and something that is a must-try (at least a half dozen times) for any guest.

Bars to visit late at night

If your idea of a fun cruise is staying up late and enjoying drinks while perhaps dancing, talking or relaxing into the late hours of the evening, then there are a few bars you will find open later than others.

On Rhapsody of the Seas, the Casino Bar, Viking Crown Lounge, R-Bar and Schooner Bar remain open later than other bars. Guests who want to avoid an (earlier) last call notice, should head to one (or a few) of these locations to enjoy uninterrupted late-night beverages.

Specialty restaurant

Just because Rhapsody of the Seas is smaller in size than the Oasis or Freedom class ships, does not mean she lacks the variety of specialty dining those ships offer.

During their cruise on Rhapsody of the Seas, guests can choose from Chops Grille, Giovanni's Table, Izumi and Chef's Table.

With Royal Caribbean's dining packages, enjoying some (or all) of these restaurants is very convenient and affordable.

Your favorite

What is your favorite thing about Rhapsody of the Seas? Is it on our list or do you have something you think is worth the cruise fare alone? Tell us about in this blog post's comments!

While Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas is offering cruises from the United Kingdom this summer, the cruise line has temporarily changed Sabor Modern Mexican to Sabor Indian Cuisine to cater to the tastes of its British cruisers.

Amanda Scriven-Purcell shared photos on Facebook of the changeover, with a look at the Indian food offered.

Royal Caribbean Blog reader Craig Duncan is also on Navigator of the Seas, and indicated the change was made on the current sailing to cater to the U.K. market.

This is not the first time Royal Caribbean has made a temporary change to its specialty restaurants.  On Radiance of the Seas, Rita's Cantina became Rita's Crabshack while the ship was in Alaska.

Last year, we ran across Royal Caribbean selling drink floaties onboard its ships and the cruise line seems to have augmented its offerings with a new kind of drink floatie.  Yes, the one we have all been asking for... the swan drink floatie.

On Harmony of the Seas we spotted the swan floatie alongside the usual drink floatie assortment in the Boardwalk gift shop.

Just like the other drink floaties, the swan floatie is an inflatable life preserver for your drink that fit around most beverages or cups.

Happy Sunday! We hope you are having a great weekend! Now it’s time to sit back, relax, and catch up on all the Royal Caribbean news from the week!

Royal Caribbean announced its holiday sailings in December 2017, with confirmation of events happening onboard and great rates still available.

All December long, Royal Caribbean is getting in the holiday spirit with special holiday sailings. From a tree-lighting ceremony right on deck to an arrival parade with Santa himself. And it all culminates in the biggest New Year’s celebration at sea.

There are twenty Christmas sailings and sixteen New Years Eve sailings to consider as the perfect vacation to celebrate.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean is now offering swim lessons onboard their ships.
• Check out these nighttime photos from Harmony of the Seas.
• We shared a guide to visiting St. John while on a Royal Caribbean cruise.
• Royal Caribbean showed off its Innovation Lab in a new video this week.
• You can read our full review of Sabor on Harmony of the Seas.
• A look at the Royal Mystery escape room game that is now offered on Harmony of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 207th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, where we discuss what you need to know about taking a last minute Royal Caribbean cruise.

In this episode, Matt shares strategies for booking a last minute cruise, as well as areas of the planning process that are different when booking close to the sail date.

Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can! We’d appreciate it.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Cruise Enthused shared a list of her favorite cruise podcasts.

Cruise Habit shared what the muster drill exactly is and why it is important.

Cruise Hive shared how to make your first day on a cruise count.

We really like night photos on Royal Caribbean ships because of how beautiful everything looks lit up with the lights. So it made sense that on our recent Harmony of the Seas cruise, we flexed our photography muscle (which admittedly is not very strong) and took as many night photos as we could find.

Here is our gallery of the better night photos from Harmony of the Seas. Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed taking them!

Do you have a nice nighttime photo from Harmony of the Seas? Feel free to share them in our comments below!

Royal Caribbean has extended its current WOW Sale for a few more days, and is adding on Kids Sail Free too.

Royal Caribbean cruises booked between July 24 - 25, 2017 on sailings on or after August 24, 2017 (excluding China departures) are eligible for this promotion.

Offer includes:

• 50% off cruise fare of second guest booked in the same stateroom as first full fare guest and 25% cruise fare savings for 3rd and 4th guests booked in the same stateroom as first two qualifying guests.
• Kids Sail Free
  • Guests 12 years old and younger sail free on Oasis of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas and Allure of the Seas on sailings departing September 2,2017 through October 9, 2017.
• Deck the Holidays Deals
  • Applies to sailings departing from 12/19/17 - 12/31/17 and 12/18/18 - 12/31/18.
  • Includes an instant savings determined by category booked and sailing length
    • $25 off per stateroom for Interior and Ocean View on sailings 5 nights or less
    • $50 off per stateroom for Balconiess and Suites on sailings 5 nights and less
    • $50 off per stateroom for Interior and Ocean View on sailings 6 nights and longer
    • $75 off per stateroom for Balconiess on sailings 6 nights or longer
    • $100 off per stateroom for Suites on sailings 6 nights or longer
• Onboard credit determined by sailing length
  • $50 to spend onboard on sailings 3-5 nights
  • $100 to spend onboard on sailings 6-9 nights
  • $200 to spend onboard on sailings 10 nights and longer

WOW Sale is combinable BOGO50, 25% Savings for 3rd and 4th Guests, NextCruise offers, NRDB OBC, restricted discounts (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military). WOW Sale is not combinable with Shareholder Benefits and Crown and Anchor discounts. All offers are not combinable with any other offer or promotion, including, but not limited to, Standard Group, Interline, Travel Agent, Travel Agent Friends and Family, Weekly Sales Events, Net Rates.

Offer is combinable with select promotions.

Welcome back to Friday Photos, our weekly showcase of Royal Caribbean photos that were taken by readers of this blog.  

Every week, we ask our readers to send us their best Royal Caribbean vacation photos to be considered for this post. We love to feature photos of the ships, excursions, activities onboard and anything else that reminds you of a great time while sailing with Royal Caribbean.

So without further adieu, here is this week's batch of photos.

Laura took this photo in Tallinn, Estonia, and she felt it was like being in a fairy tale.

Andy took this photo on Liberty of the Seas and captured a beautiful sunrise while pulling into Port of Galveston.

Here is a favorite photo of Melissa Hershey, who thinks this is the best view ever.

AJ shared this photo of Grandeur of the Seas docked in Portland, Maine, while on a 9 night New England and Canada Cruise.

Here is a photo of Oasis of the Seas in Cozumel, taken by Scott Brooks.

Mandy sent us this photo of Independence of the Seas at the beach in Malaga, Spain.

We end this week's edition of Friday Photos with this rainbow, taken by Don Jackson from aboard Anthem of the Seas.

Thanks to everyone who sent in their photos this week.  Be sure to send your photos in as well by using this form.

Royal Caribbean recently added a second escape room experience to Harmony of the Seas (as well as some other ships in the fleet), called A Royal Mystery.

Royal Mystery is an onboard activity offered to guests, where they must solve a series of puzzles based on clues hidden throughout the room to help solve a whodunit murder case.  Unlike Escape the Rubicon, Royal Mystery has no cover charge and is held in a public spot (for our game, it was in the On Air Lounge).

Guests participating have a set amount of time to comb over the details provided, as well as clues and puzzles they will discover until they can solve the case.  

What to expect

If you are unfamiliar with an escape room game, essentially it is a timed challenge, where you and those in your group have a set time limit to figure out various puzzles and clues to solve an overall solution that provides the means of "escaping" the room. Royal Mystery was created by Royal Caribbean's partner company, Puzzle Break.

When you arrive, the crew members will instruct everyone in attendance to form teams.  Teams can be between two and six people in total, which often results in teaming up with your fellow guests. Afterwards, a crew member will explain the basics of the game, play a short video introduction and provide the opening clues for all teams. 

Once the game begins, all teams must work to solve the puzzles in order to figure out who the murderer is, with the first team that comes up with the correct answer being the winner.

The puzzle

When you start out, your team will receive a packet full of information.  Some of this information includes puzzles, biographies on all the suspects, and pieces to puzzles that will be important later.  Teams must review the information in their possession, and then try to solve the various puzzles. Once a team has a possible puzzle solution, they bring it to the crew member for review.  If correct, the crew member provides a new clue for the team to use.

During the course of the game, crew members will share tips, advice and hints with all teams.  Most of these hints are suggestions or manners in which to investigate that aim to narrow down possibilities for teams.

The key to success is for teams to work together, but also delegate the various work.  Some puzzles can be solved by one or two team members, while others may need the whole team's input. Clues are hidden throughout the room, which team members may not take with them, but they can take pictures.  Bringing a phone that can take pictures is a good strategy.

Cost: Complimentary