Royal Caribbean has today opened bookings for four new cruises for the upcoming 2016/17 summer season on Ovation of the Seas.

The new sailings are in January and February 2017, and were added by Royal Caribbean, "to the unprecedented demand" for the new-build cruise ship.

vation of the Seas will offer two short cruises as part of her season extension, including a five-night Tasmania taster cruise priced from $959 per person, departing from Sydney on 23 January 2017, as well as a three-night weekend sampler cruise from $599 per person, departing 17 February 2017.

Additionally she will sail two mid-length cruises; an eight-night voyage to Tasmania and South Australia departing 9 February 2017 from $1,599 per person, and a 12-night sailing to New Zealand and the South Pacific, including calls to Auckland, Tauranga, Bay of Islands, Noumea in New Caledonia and Mystery Island in Vanuatu, departing 28 January 2017 and priced from $2,319 per person.

Ovation of the Seas will then commence her 14-night repositioning cruise from Sydney to Singapore on 20 February 2017, calling at Brisbane, Darwin and Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang) in Malaysia, priced from just $1,889 per person.

Royal Caribbean is starting to have guests sign waivers prior to purchasing one of its unlimited alcohol packages on at least one Royal Caribbean ship.

Royal Caribbean Blog reader Rich Triplett spotted this new waiver specifically for guests who wish to purchase an unlimited drink package on Independence of the Seas.

The waiver reinforces the rules of the drink package, and focuses on a few key aspects of the package rules

• Your package is for your own personal use only
• One drink at a time
• Safety (as it pertains to being over-served)
• Drinks excluded from the drink package
• Room service and mini bar not included

Guests must sign at the bottom of the form during the purchasing process.

It is not clear if this waiver is being made available to guests on other Royal Caribbean ships yet, but it may be a sign of things to come.

As we get closer to Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas launch, we are counting down until the ship's debut with new blog posts about an aspect of the cruise.

Away We Go!

Entertainment on Royal Caribbean ships comes in many forms, including entertainment specifically for kids and their families.

Harmony of the Seas will feature a brand new show in the Adventure Ocean Theater called, Away We Go!, a black light puppet show created by Tony award-nominated actors and imaginative producers John Tartaglia by and Michael Shawn Lewis of Gable Grove Productions.

Away We Go! is aimed at 3- to 11-year olds and follows up Tartaglia's previous creation for Royal Caribbean, ImaginOcean. The show was originally performed on Oasis of the Seas and actually ended up being shown on land as well. It was also shown on Allure of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas.

The show utilizes blacklight sets and lighting as well as puppets with fabrics that work well with blacklight, giving the illusion that the puppets are floating against the black background. As such, the show is marketed as the first "glow-in-the-dark" musical.

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

Royal Caribbean celebrated with senior Vanuatu government representatives the completion of Mystery Island’s brand new tender pier yesterday with a maiden visit from Explorer of the Seas.

The $2.5 million pier was paid for by Royal CAribbean and replaced an older, smaller pier, which was frequently damaged during cyclones.  This new pier ensures that Mystery Island can continue to receive cruise tourists year-round. The bigger pier also allows the island to handle increasingly larger cruise ships as the local industry evolves.

This follows the earlier upgrade of the cruise berth in the capital Port Vila, where Royal Caribbean supported the addition of four new bollards capable of berthing its Voyager Class ships.

The pier was officially opened by Acting Prime Minister, The Honourable Joe Natuman from the Vanuatu government at a ceremony attended by the Captain and senior executive team of Explorer of the Seas.

“Tourism is incredibly important to our economy and the wellbeing of our people. We are committed to working with Royal Caribbean to ensure we can continue to bring Australian, New Zealand and international guests to our beautiful country into the future,” Mr Natuman concluded.

Adam Armstrong, managing director for Royal Caribbean in Australia & New Zealand, said the investments in Mystery Island and Port Vila are the first of several potential infrastructure projects in the South Pacific islands, where the cruise line is investing significantly to ensure the region continues to benefit from cruise tourism as the size of ships increase, and therefore the number of passengers grows.

“Cruises to the South Pacific are the most popular itineraries for Australian travellers – and Vanuatu is one of the highest rated destinations for our guests. Being able to guarantee calls to destinations like Mystery Island and Port Vila with our larger ships is vital to cruise tourism to Vanuatu and is an important economic driver for our island nation neighbour. Our investment here solidifies Royal Caribbean’s long-term commitment to cruising in the South Pacific,” Armstrong said.

Cruise tourism injected $34 million into Vanuatu in 2013 and brought an estimated further $18 million dollars in indirect economic benefits, according to the Assessment of the Economic Impact of Cruise Tourism in Vanuatu.  Each cruise ship arriving in Vanuatu brings an estimated $257,000 worth of direct benefits to a range of businesses and organisations – or around $125 in passenger spend per person.

During the 2015/16 summer season alone, which concluded this week, Royal Caribbean made almost 50 calls to ports in Vanuatu and brought more than 120,000 tourists to the country.

There's less than 99 days until Royal Caribbean's brand new Harmony of the Seas debuts and we're counting down each day with a brand new blog post all about this amazing ship. Check into the blog every day for something new to read about Harmony of the Seas.

Harmony of the Seas' cruise director

The heart of any Royal Caribbean cruise is the cruise director, who is the force behind all the onboard activities you find on your cruise. On Harmony of the Seas, Royal Caribbean has selected two cruise directors to get the party started on Harmony of the Seas.

Ken Rush will be Harmony of the Seas' cruise director until the ship reaches Barcelona on June 5.

Ken Rush has been working at Royal Caribbean for over 30 years and has been Cruise Director on a number of new Royal Caribbean ships, including Allure of the Seas and Quantum of the Seas.

As cruise director, Rush said he will head all entertainment for guests onboard. In doing so, Rush said he will manage a team of dancers, musicians, youth and activities staff.

From June 5 through October 23, 2016, Bobby Brown will take over the cruise director role while the ship is operating in Europe.

Bobby joined Royal Caribbean in 1995 and has worked on a number of ships, including Majesty of the Seas, Rhapsody of the Seas, Vision of the Seas, and Brilliance of the Seas.

When Harmony of the Seas makes her way to the United States, Ken Rush will return on October 23 to take the ship to Florida.  He is expected to remain the cruise director on Harmony of the Seas through at least New Years 2017.

Here is a great interview with Ken Rush from a few years ago, that talks about Ken's role as Cruise Director.

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

Royal Caribbean offers a lot of activities, events and shows for guests to do onboard their ships, including a themed event that takes us back to the days of the Great Gatsby.

The Prohibition Party is offered on Royal Caribbean's Oasis-class cruise ships and is a themed dance event that has a cover charge for guest to experience it.

While on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, we were able to see what the Prohibition Party is all about and experience it for ourselves.

We reserved the Prohibition Party prior to our cruise and it is usually held late at night, with a start time of 10:00pm.

The premise of the Prohibition Party is you are going to a 1920's-style speakeasy, where the Eighteenth Amendment is in full effect, and guests are there to sing, dance and drink "tea".

Guests will receive in their stateroom an invitation for the special event and a place to meet.  Once there, they are instructed to give the person at the side door the secret password and are then allowed admission.

The event occurs on Jazz on Four and encourages all guests to dress up for the event with clothing fitting of the 1920's.  A vast majority of guests elect to dress up and it is highly recommended you do so as well.

Your $35 per guest admission charge includes entertainment, food and of course, drink.  There are plenty of alcoholic beverages provided throughout the event in the form of various cocktails.  Most of the drinks we had were fruit based drinks.

There is a loose storyline as part of the event, but it is mostly about guests enjoying some drinks and getting onto the dance floor to dance to some great live jazz music.

One interesting part of the event is when all guests are handed play money and betting cards to bet on a horse race.  Guests fill out their betting cards and then a recorded radio broadcast plays to reveal the winner.  Pretty neat!

Overall, the Prohibition Party is a fun excuse to get dressed up, enjoy ample cocktails with live jazz music. Guests looking for something different in their evening entertainment are sure to enjoy this fun choice.

What we liked: Lots to drink for the money, different event from anything else offered, great live music.

What we did not like: It starts fairly late, limited food choices.

Cost: $35 per guest

Hey everyone! Episode 143 of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available for your listening pleasure.

This week, we're sharing the details about our cruise on Navigator of the Seas to the Eastern Caribbean that begins this weekend.  Let's look at why we picked this cruise, the cool things to do on Navigator of the Seas and our plans for each port of call.  

Be sure to also check out our pre-cruise summary of what our plans are for the cruise and for how you can read our live blog each day from the cruise.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 143. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via RSS 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 will unveil a new deal that will offer 60% off a 2nd guest, plus 30% off 3rd and 4th guests.

The BOGO60 deal applies to sailings departing on or after June 2, 2016, excluding China departures.

Offer includes

• Buy One Guest, Get Second Guest 60% off
• 30% off for 3rd and 4th guests

This new deal is valid on new bookings made May 2, 2016 – June 6, 2016.

The 60% off second guest discount offer is not combinable with restricted rates including Seniors, Residents and Military or 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.

This offer is combinable with NextCruise offer, Future Cruise Certificates, Letters of Credit. and Crown & Anchor Society savings benefits.

As a parent, I am keenly aware of the saying that you do not have favorite children, but when it comes to Royal Caribbean ships, it is a completely different story.

This week, we are heading back for our second cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas, which I am unabashidly call my favorite Royal Caribbean ship.

 

I sailed on Navigator of the Seas back in 2014, following her refurbishment that added a lot to the ship.  You can read the live blog I did from that cruise here.  We are returning to Navigator of the Seas largely in part because of the great experience we had the first time.

I think it is insightful to share why people book the Royal Caribbean cruises they end up going on, because it reveals the thought process in picking between the 24 ships in the fleet and what compels us to pick one ship over another.

In booking this cruise, I engaged in some pro spouse strategy.  I figured my wife would be somewhat hesitant to book a cruise around this time of year, so I did the sensible thing: I told my wife I was booking a cruise for her birthday!

Despite some eye rolling and that look wives give their husbands when they know there is scheming going on, she went along for the ride and we started looking for cruises.

We had some requirements when booking this cruise: it had to be on or around her birthday, it had to be reasonably priced and it would be nice to get a special stateroom category to make this cruise more memorable.

The issue with cruises in late-April is Royal Caribbean is about to move many of its ships over to Europe for the summer season, so the inventory of possible cruises to choose from is somewhat varied.

We ended up picking this eight night eastern Caribbean cruise on Navigator of the Seas because it meant a return to a ship we really enjoyed, a somewhat different itinerary than we had done in the last few years and we managed to snag a junior suite.

First and foremost, I really liked the idea of going back on Navigator of the Seas.  I thought the 2014 refurbishment added a lot of great amenities that breathed new life into the ship.  I really liked the assortment of specialty restaurants added and the ship in general was a lot of fun.

We also booked a Junior Suite, which is something we have not done since our honeymoon cruise on Mariner of the Seas.  With 2 kids, we should have plenty of space and a balcony that faces the ocean (my wife loves these).

Our itinerary is also interesting to us, because we get to visit some favorite ports and a new one too.

• Labadee
• San Juan, Puerto Rico
• St. Kitts
• St. Maarten

Labadee will naturally be a beach day. No cabana this time, but I did reserve a beach lounger because it was something I have never seen available on Labadee previously.

In San Juan, we are there from 2pm - 9pm, and that is some odd timing.  Nonetheless, our plan is to leave the kids in Adventure Ocean and my wife and I walk around Old San Juan.

We have never been to St. Kitts before and because I love exploring new ports, I cannot wait to see what St. Kitts offers.  We were going to book an old time train tour of the island, but it was no longer available to book online.  Our plan is to try to book it onboard or just get off the ship and see where we end up.

In St. Maarten, we will be using the services of a taxi driver that we have used many times, Leo Brown, and will likely do a few different things.  I would like to go to Marigot first and then end up at the beach, rather than beach first and then take tired (and wet) children to try to eat.

Onboard Navigator of the Seas, we made reservations at Sabor Modern Mexican on Cinco de Mayo, because... why not?  We also aspire to try as many of the specialty restaurants as we can.  My wife has requested we hit up Chops Grille, because we did not go there on Allure of the Seas.

Otherwise, this should be a great family cruise and we are all super excited to get onboard and start our adventure.  Follow along right here for a new blog post every day all about what we did that day.  I will also be sharing the experience on Twitter and Instagram, if you enjoy lots of photos.

Hope you will follow along with us and please feel free to post questions and thoughts in the comments of this and any post.  I want this live blog to be an interactive experience, so please join in and don't be shy!

Our next update will be on Saturday, April 30, when we board Navigator of the Seas!

Live Blog Index

• Live blog introduction
• Day 1 - Embarkation Day
• Day 2 - Sea Day
• Day 3 - Labadee
• Day 4 - San Juan
• Day 5 - St. Kitts
• Day 6 - St. Maarten
• Day 7 - Sea Day
• Day 8 - Sea Day