Royal Caribbean's Next Cruise program rewards guests that book another Royal Caribbean cruise while onboard their current cruise and that might generate some questions about how it all works.

If you want to take advantage of this offer when you go on your next Royal Caribbean cruise, then here is what you need to know about Next Cruise.

Why book onboard with Next Cruise

Photo by Bobby Southard

Essentially, booking another Royal Caribbean cruise onboard with Next Cruise gets you free onboard credit for doing so. The price and booking incentives will be the same onboard as on land, but the difference is the extra onboard credit that you will get by doing so.

The Next Cruise offer is perfect for anyone that knows they will certainly take another Royal Caribbean cruise in the future.  Exactly which cruise and when is not important, but considering the Next Cruise offer is "free money," anyone that wants to take another Royal Caribbean cruise in the future will stand to benefit from this offer.

Next Cruise incentives

By booking a cruise with the Next Cruise program, guests will receive onboard credit equivalent to the deposit amount required for the cruise length and stateroom category.

Onboard credit and deposit required per stateroom

• 5-7 night cruises
  • Interior/Oceanview: $50
  • Balcony/Junior Suites: $100
  • Grand Suite & Above: $200
• 8-10 night cruises
  • Interior/Oceanview: $100
  • Balcony/Junior Suites: $150
  • Grand Suite & Above: $300
• 11-14 night cruises
  • Interior/Oceanview: $150
  • Balcony/Junior Suites: $200
  • Grand Suite & Above: $400
• 15 nights or longer cruises
  • Interior/Oceanview: $200
  • Balcony/Junior Suites: $250
  • Grand Suite & Above: $500

Open Booking

If you prefer, there is an open booking Next Cruise option, where instead of booking a specific sailing, you will get a certificate that can be used on any upcoming cruise.

Open booking shipboard credit per stateroom:

• 5-7 night cruises: $25
• 8-10 night cruises: $50
• 11-14 night cruises: $75
• 15+ night cruises: $100

After booking a Next Cruise open booking, you will get via email a booking reservation number and that is the number you will need when you are ready to book a specific Royal Caribbean sailing.  Give your travel agent or Royal Caribbean your Next Cruise number and they will turn it into an active reservation that reflects the deposit amount you made plus booking incentives your certificate has.

Next Cruise also allows additional flexibility for guests with which reservation they make.   These include:

• Option to change your reservation to suit your needs prior to final payment.  This means, you can change the sailing later to any other cruise and retain the Next Cruise benefits.
• Combinable with Crown & Anchor exclusive savings
• You can retain the services of your travel agent with any Next Cruise reservation
• Book up to three staterooms for friends or family on any cruise with the same benefits

Can I still use my travel agent if I book onboard?

Guests can still use their travel agent when making a Next Cruise booking.  In fact, if you booked the cruise you are on with a travel agent, they will automatically get notification of the Next Cruise booking.

Disadvantages of Next Cruise

There is really just one consideration about Next Cruise to keep in mind and that is the deposit you make is non-refundable.  

Unlike other Royal Caribbean cruise reservations, the Next Cruise deposit is non-refundable, which means you either have to take that Royal Caribbean cruise eventually or lose that money.  The reason why we stated earlier to book Next Cruise is if you know with certainty that you will take another Royal Caribbean cruise, it is free money to take advantage of.  But if you have doubts about taking another Royal Caribbean cruise, keep in mind that Next Cruise program is non-refundable.

Downgrades

One other policy you should be aware of is changing your mind to downgrade your cabin after booking.

Downgrades to your NextCruise  will result in an additional charge of between $50 to $500 on your booking and in the loss of your special promotional offer.

Downgrades include booking a shorter duration cruise or booking a lower class of staterooms.

More Next Cruise rules

• For Guests who choose the Instant Onboard Credit offer, downgrades to your Next Cruise booking will result in an additional charge of between $50 to $450 on your booking and in the loss of your special promotional offer. Downgrades include booking a shorter duration cruise or booking a lower class of staterooms.
• Guests who choose the Future Onboard Credit offer and later Downgrade their Next Cruise booking, the amount of that future onboard credit shall be reduced.
• Bookings made through the Next Cruise program are not combinable with certain rate plans, promotions or other offers.

Next Cruise Tips

• The Next Cruise office tends to get busy, especially towards the end of the cruise. Make an appointment early in the cruise to get it done before the crowds hit.
• You can make an appointment with the Next Cruise staff by adding your name and stateroom number to a book near the entrance to their area.
• The Next Cruise office is open on disembarkation day and is often quite empty.
• The best time to visit the Next Cruise office if you do not have a meeting is on port call days, when most guests are off the ship.

Conclusion

The bottom line is if you are certain that you will take another Royal Caribbean cruise at some point in the future, you are best off booking a Next Cruise offer because it is free money.  Seeing as the only drawback is the deposit is non-refundable, there is very little risk involved.

The onboard credit you receive can be taken on the cruise you are on or deferred to the cruise you just booked. We prefer to defer the onboard credit to that future cruise because we have already budgeted for the current cruise, but it is a subjective option.  

Royal Caribbean announced it is building a new Innovation Lab facility at PortMiami, adjacent to its corporate headquarters.

Royal Caribbean is being touted as a first-of-its-kind facility built entirely designed to promote the “relentless innovation” that powers the cruiseline, the building will house unique collaborative spaces where new ideas can tested and tweaked.

Much of the first floor will be open space large enough to allow the construction of full-size mockups of shipboard spaces and the things that fill them – "real" reality rather than virtual – for trials, tests and aesthetics. he rest of the building will contain "ignition hubs" where people from different departments and vendors will gather to spend hours, days or weeks talking through problems and projects.

The new 20,000-square-foot, two-story lab, is intended to be as functional as it is architecturally stunning. Royal Caribbean vice president of architectural design, Kelly Gonzalez, is very excited about the the lab as an idea mill where most of the moving parts are human, "Innovation is nothing new for us. Our daily existence here is thriving off of always wanting to raise the bar a little higher. And go a little further."

"Imagine a large conference room that eight to 10 people would walk into. Now imagine the floor is one seamless sheet of glass and there’s rear projection underneath it."

"The whole room is Virtual Reality," Gonzalez continues. "But when you put the glasses on, you and the people you’re with are all sharing the same experience in that room."

Completion date for the lab is the end of January.

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

Episode 158 is available for downloading, which has a first-hand review of Royal Caribbean's Empress of the Seas.

Empress of the Seas is back in Royal Caribbean's fleet once again and Michael Poole was able to take a 4-night cruise on her recently.  Michael shares what this ship is like and who might love a cruise on Empress.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 158. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Stitcher or on iTunes!

Take a listen and as always, let us know what you think! Please rate and review the podcast on iTunes and leave your comments below!

Royal Caribbean is celebrating Crown and Anchor Society Member Appreciation Week by giving all Crown & Anchor Society members an exclusive perk to celebrate.

From August 15-22, 2016, all tiers will enjoy balconies and suites discounts for the tier above them on sailings departing on or after August 17, 2016, and it is combinable with our current offer of 30% off every ship, every guest! 

Gold, Platinum, Emerald, Diamond, Diamond Plus, and Pinnacle Crown & Anchor Society member will receive an increased discount for making a reservation for a sail date outside of six months.

Royal Caribbean's Crown and Anchor Society has posted an update that it will stop offering a balcony discount for members that book a cruise less than six months out.

As of September 1, 2016, balcony and suite discounts that Crown and Anchor members are eligible for, will only apply to sailing’s booked more than six months out.  Royal Caribbean has offered a discount on balcony and suite staterooms to Crown and Anchor Society members that were at least a Platinum level member on all cruises, but this will now change a bit.

In the event a guest purchases an upgrade within six months of sailing, the Balcony & Suites Discount will be protected.

UPDATE: Royal Caribbean shared on their Facebook page a little more insight into why this change is occuring: "We've found that a large majority of our Crown & Anchor guests reserve outside of the 6 month window. For those who do not, we've noticed that, due to the lack of promotional combinability, it's more beneficial for our guests to take advantage of other promotions offered. We appreciate your honest feedback, and are using it to research ways to improve our Crown & Anchor offerings."

What do you think of this change in the balcony discount? Will this change what stateroom you book? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

The largest cruise ships in Asia, Ovation of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas, will be back in Singapore from October 2016 through May 2017 to offer Royal Caribbean's longest-ever homeporting season in Singapore.  The season will run for eight months, totalling 55 cruises and will bring about 200,000 guests to ports in Southeast Asia.

Photo by Royal Caribbean International

The 2016-2017 cruise season will see a 30% increase in Royal Caribbean's capacity in Southeast Asia over last year.

Ovation of the Seas, which is Asia's largest and newest cruise ship, will be back in March to April 2017 with a total of 10 new sailings, comprising three to five nights to Penang, Phuket, Bangkok (Laem Chabang) and a 12-night one-way cruise to Tianjin with calls at Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My) for an overnight, Hue/Danang (Chan May), Hong Kong and Seoul (Incheon).

Mariner of the Seas will offer 39 sailings until next March, ranging from three to seven nights to popular destinations such as Penang, Langkawi, Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang), Phuket, Bangkok (Laem Chabang) and Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My). The new itineraries for the season are the 3-night Penang Weekend Cruise which will feature night touring and the 4-night Phuket Cruise.

Voyager of the Seas is returning in May 2017 to offer six sailings of three to five night Southeast Asian itineraries to Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang), Penang, Phuket and an 8-night one-way cruise to Hong Kong, with stopovers at Bangkok (Laem Chabang) for an overnight, Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My) and Nha Trang.

Located in the Forward Centrum deck 10 of Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas, is a mixed media art display that features fighter jets that you might notice when taking a ride in one of the elevators.

This is not just a display of F-18 and F-16 planes, but actually the work of Italian artist Antonio Riello, entitled "Komba Tiepolo 30, 31 and 32".

If you look closely, you can see that Riello has taken fighter planes and decorated them with mythological fragments from Giambattista Tiepolo frescoes found in Italian churches and palaces.  The artist likes to explore the common territory and the curiosities of our collective imagination.  By turning what we desire or fear into a mix of the banal and the sublime, he creates the unexpected and the unpredictable.

Riello gathers his inspirations from the great amount of historical and artistic heritage found all over Italy - Roman ruins, medieval walls, Baroque churches and more.  He likes to mix these elements of the past with contemporary Italian life.

In this piece, Riello uses the Tiepolo frescoes to mask war instruments, which turns them into delightful and irresistibly bizarre paintings.

“Komba Tiepolo 30” The paintings are inspired by G.B. Tiepolo’s frescos in Wurzburg Residence. The aircraft is a copy of an F18 (Hornet).

“Kompa Tiepolo 31” Paintings are inspired by G.B. Tiepolo’s in Wurzburg Residence and Venice’s Ca Rezzonico. The aircraft is a copy of an F16.

“Kompa Tiepolo 32” Paintings are inspired by G.B. Tiepolo’s frescos in villas of the countryside in Venice. The aircraft is a copy of an F16.

The pieces are made of fiberglass, resin, metal wood and acrylic. 

Can you believe August is already here? It is the middle of Summer and there is a lot of Royal Caribbean news to catch up from during this week.

Royal Caribbean has added a new swim up bar at its private destination of CocoCay.

The popular island that is exclusive to Royal Caribbean guests now features a new bar that guests cans swim to and enjoy a drink, surrounded by the natural beauty of the ocean.

Royal Caribbean is in the midst of upgrading a number of experiences on the island, including new cabanas and even a dock for the island.

Royal Caribbean News

• Tropical Storm Earl forced Royal Caribbean to change itineraries for two cruise ships.
• Royal Caribbean has no plans to move ships away from China.
• Royal Caribbean added new Vision of the Seas sailings from Galveston through April 2018.
• A new Coca-Cola souvenir cup for the Olympics has been spotted on Royal Caribbean ships.
• How to get a table for two in the main dining room.
• How Spark Cooperative developed the Ultimate Abyss slide for Harmony of the Seas.
• A new specialty coffee beverage card was spotted on Serenade of the Seas.
• We compared and contrasted the Premium drink package versus the Ultimate drink package.
• 5 great local restaurants to try on your next Caribbean cruise.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 157th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, where we have an exclusive interview with Anthem of the Seas' Godmother.

In this episode, Matt talks with Emma Wilby about her role as Godmother to Anthem of the Seas, as Emma shares her story of how she was chosen to become the Godmother along with Emma's favorite aspects of Anthem of the Seas.

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

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Travel Weekly has a summary of their recent cruise on Empress of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean has a look at how they are fostering fuel efficiency.

CNBC interviewed Royal Caribbean Ltd CEO Richard Fain about the state of the company.

Man Travels World has a look at what it was like to be a crew member on Adventure of the Seas.

Bloomberg has a photo tour of Harmony of the Seas.

The National provides a look at the high-tech that Royal Caribbean is investing in.

Royal Caribbean has added even more Vision of the Seas sailings from Galveston, Texas, with guests now able to book sailings through April 2018.

Royal Caribbean announced initial Vision of the Seas sailings for November and December 2017, but has now expanded those offerings to extend through April 2018.

Vision of the Seas will offer 4- and 5-night itineraries to destinations in the Western Caribbean, such as Costa Maya and Cozumel.

Vision of the Seas is the second Royal Caribbean ship offering cruises from Galveston, joining Liberty of the Seas.

Just in time for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, guests on Royal Caribbean can enjoy new souvenir Coca-Cola cups on their cruise.

The new souvenir cups are available on Royal Caribbean ships when a guest purchases one of the unlimited drink packages.

It is not clear how long these will be available, but it seems to be a recent addition.

These souvenir cups are compatible with the self-serve soda machines on the pool deck as well as the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines. The Coca-Cola souvenir cup has a special chip in it which activates the machine.