Tips and advice for how to get the most out of your day at Perfect Day at CocoCay!
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Happy July 4th and Canada Day to everyone out in blog land! Many of you are enjoying a relaxing and long weekend, and I hope this week's round up of all the Royal Caribbean news makes it even better!
There will be a new batch of cruise ships visiting Royal Caribbean's private island.
Celebrity Cruises announced two of its ships will begin visiting Perfect Day at CocoCay, beginning in early 2024.
Celebrity Reflection & Celebrity Beyond will offer cruises that visit this private island in The Bahamas as part of a larger effort to offer more cruises year-round from Florida.
The 503rd episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, recorded while onboard Navigator of the Seas.
This week's episode was recorded during the Royal Caribbean Blog group cruise, and talks about the cruise and all the fun had during the week.
Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can!
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Have you subscribed to the Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel? We share some great videos there regularly, all about taking a Royal Caribbean cruise! This week, we are sharing our latest video — Cruise tips that make sense until you're on the ship — and don’t forget to subscribe here.
While the Radiance Class ships may be known for their sleek elegance, they are also lacking in some important areas.
Allie sailed on 12-night cruise on Jewel of the Seas, and while she had a great time, she won't be sailing on this class again until more is done to upgrade the ships.
Compared to other ships in the fleet, Allie thinks the Radiance Class seem to lack important amenities.
If you buy a Royal Caribbean drink package, you're probably going to be eager to try out as many drinks as you can during your cruise.
The advantage of a Royal Caribbean drink package is that you can order as many drinks as you like with no extra cost. There's no penalty for trying a drink and not loving it and leaving it to the side.
Our team has tried dozens of cocktails on Royal Caribbean, and narrowed the list to 21 drinks to order if you have a cruise drink package.
The two inside-facing balcony rooms are intriguing options, but which one should you pick?
Central Park and Boardwalk cabins are identical to traditional balcony staterooms that face the ocean, but usually are priced less.
When considering either cabin, there are important things to now when picking a Boardwalk or Central Park balcony cabin.
Royal Caribbean informed guests on select sailings in November and December 2024 that their cruises have been cancelled in order for the ship to undergo work.
Guests and travel agents received notifications of cancellations of select Freedom of the Seas cruises, which includes the popular Christmas sailings.
"We’re continuously working to improve our ships and the many amenities they have to offer. We’re taking Freedom of the Seas into dry dock for routine maintenance and exciting improvements."
It's not unheard of for a cruise to be cancelled because of dry dock work, but the fact it includes one of the most popular times of the year is eye-opening.
Christmas and New Years week is among the most popular times for a cruise, and it also commands the highest prices.
Cruise ships undergo work every five years (or less), and Freedom of the Seas finished her last dry dock in 2020 when Freedom of the Seas wrapped up a $116 million Royal Amplification.
Guests that were booked on that sailing have three choices:
Re-book one of the following 2024 or 2025 itineraries departing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida:
Freedom of the Seas:
Oasis of the Seas:
Your original stateroom category price will either be protected at your original cruise fare rate or reduced to the current cruise fare rate (whichever is lower). This excludes taxes, fees, gratuities, and other non-cruise fare items.
And, you’ll also be reimbursed for non-refundable, pre-purchased transportation change fees incurred (such as a flight, train ticket, or rental car).
Royal Caribbean will cover up to $200 USD per guest for Domestic changes, or up to $400 USD per guest for International changes.
Re-book any other Royal Caribbean International sailing
Royal Caribbean will waive any non-refundable deposit change fees.
You’ll be responsible for any difference in pricing for your cruise fare, taxes, fees, gratuities, and other non-cruise fare items.
And, you’ll also be reimbursed for non-refundable, pre-purchased transportation change fees incurred (such as a flight, train ticket, or rental car).
Royal Caribbean will cover up to $200 USD per guest for Domestic changes, or up to $400 USD per guest for International changes.
Cancel and refund
A full refund of any paid portion of your cruise fare (including non-refundable deposits) and any pre-paid amenities to the original form of payment, within 14 business days.
Royal Caribbean has not announced the scope of work expected to be completed for Freedom of the Seas when she goes in for dry dock.
When cruise ships get routine maintenance done, it usually entails the ship being taken from the water so that it can be repainted and critical systems taken offline so they can be properly maintained.
Royal Caribbean rarely divulges the work being done on a ship that is getting refurbished, unless it's a major upgrade.
Our wrap-up of the first Royal Caribbean Blog group cruise of the year, plus some special guests!
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Celebrity Cruises will soon offer cruises that visit Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Royal Caribbean International's private island has been a mega success since getting a $250 million makeover in 2019, with high guest satisfaction scores along the way.
Sister brand Celebrity wants to share that experience with its passengers.
On Tuesday, Celebrity said it will start offering weekend cruises to The Bahamas, beginning in April 2024.
Celebrity Reflection will sail 3-night and 4-night cruises from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
3-night sailings departing Friday
4-night sailings departing Monday
In addition, Celebrity Beyond will sail from Florida year-round and offer visits to CocoCay.
Beyond is taking over Celebrity Reflection's 6 and 8 night sailings.
Guests booked on Reflection for those 6 and 8 night sailings will automatically be moved to Celebrity Beyond at a protected rate.
Celebrity Beyond, will offer a mix of six and eight-night cruises to places such as Grand Cayman, The Bahamas, Mexico, and the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.
Anyone booked on Beyond in Europe will have opportunity to move to another European cruise.
"Our customers are consistently asking for more opportunities to visit this stunning region year-round, have more weekend options so they can getaway easier, and have expressed a desire for a private island destination. By introducing this new program, we can meet this demand and offer something new and historic to all our guests,” says Laura Hodges Bethge, President of Celebrity Cruises.
"Perfect Day is a destination like no other, and we are honored to add it to our portfolio."
This will be the first time a non-Royal Caribbean International cruise ship has visited the private destination since the island was relaunched as Perfect Day at CocoCay.
If you've heard how well-received Perfect Day at CocoCay has been among the public, then Celebrity's decision to add visits there makes a lot of sense.
Perfect Day at CocoCay has a number of beaches, a water park, beach club, freshwater pool, and helium balloon, along with many other activities to choose from.
Royal Caribbean has touted the overwhelmingly positive guest feedback it has received about the island time and time again.
Royal Caribbean President and CEO Michael Bayley said earlier this year the island was a major success, "The demand for that product [Perfect Day at CocoCay] is exceptionally high."
"CocoCay is the number one destination that Royal Caribbean goes to in the world out of 100 global destinations, because it’s a curated experience designed and built to deliver a high-level experience to the customer."
Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty talked in May 2023 about how lucrative it's been for the company, "While demand has been strong across all products and markets, we continue to see exceptional strength from the North American consumer. This strength, in combination with the incredible perfect day at CocoCay has resulted in record yields for our Caribbean sailings."
All of that positive feedback had to be enticing to offer Celebrity Cruise guests as well.
If you're thinking a day at CocoCay might not be a good fit for Celebrity's "modern luxury" vibe, keep in mind a major addition is coming.
The new adults-only Hideaway Beach is opening in early 2024.
This will be a new expansion to Perfect Day at CocoCay that offers an area of the island exclusively for the mature crowd.
Royal Caribbean has not announced yet what exactly you'll be able to experience at Hideaway Beach, but the new area is coming to coincide with the launch of Icon of the Seas in January 2024.
The addition of Celebrity Cruises visiting the island along with the new adults-only area opening seems to be perfect timing.
Happy Sunday! Hope you are having a relaxing weekend and enjoying summer! It is time to sit back, relax, and catch up on all the recent Royal Caribbean news!
Royal Caribbean revealed this week Utopia of the Seas will begin sailing in July 2024 with short cruises only.
Instead of offering 7-night cruises, Royal Caribbean will offer 3-night and 4-night cruises on its newest ship in a bid to attract new cruisers.
Utopia is the sixth Oasis Class ship, but will include a few new amenities not found on other Oasis Class ships.
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Have you subscribed to the Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel? We share some great videos there regularly, all about taking a Royal Caribbean cruise! This week, we are sharing our latest video — Early Dinner vs. Late Dinner on Royal Caribbean — and don’t forget to subscribe here.
Icon of the Seas wrapped up her first set of sea trials this week.
The new ship spent four days at sea testing out its systems before returning to the Meyer Turku shipyard.
During her first set of sea trials, Icon of the Seas traveled hundreds of miles, during which the main engines, hull, brake systems, steering, noise, and vibration levels were all tested.
The announcement of Utopia of the Seas offering only short cruises is part of a broader strategy the line has to offer the very best in short cruises.
Utopia is one big piece of a larger plan that will seek to establish Royal Caribbean as the preeminent choice for a weekend cruise by crafting a curated cruise experience second-to-none.
Between the new ship and destinations it will visit, Royal Caribbean is setting itself up to offer something we haven't seen before.
If you’re looking at just Royal Caribbean’s Utopia of the Seas announcement offering short cruises, you’re missing the bigger picture.
Royal Caribbean revealed this week that its next new mega cruise ship will sail short weekend cruises (along with 4-day sailings too), and it's a major deviation from the cruise line's traditional plan.
When a new Royal Caribbean cruise ship enters service, it always starts with 7-night cruises. Later in the ship's life, it may transition to shorter cruises.
With Utopia of the Seas, Royal Caribbean is flipping its script and starting off with short cruises immediately. But there's more to the cruise line's plans than meets the eye.
Utopia is one big piece of a larger plan that will seek to establish Royal Caribbean as the preeminent choice for a weekend cruise by crafting a curated cruise experience second-to-none.
The first part of Royal Caribbean's strategy is to start off Utopia of the Seas with 3- and 4-night cruises so it's an attractive option for first-time cruisers.
The first-time cruiser market is the single largest source of new customers and growth in the cruise industry. An overwhelming majority of people have never cruised before, and new cruisers have long been the target of Royal Caribbean for creating new loyal guests.
Someone that has never cruised before might be leery of taking a longer cruise, because they're concerned they aren't sure if they'll like a cruise.
Short cruises are more attractive to newbies because the time commitment is less.
By jumping on this desire, Royal Caribbean not only wants to offer short cruises, but offer them on its newest ship that has all the best features.
The 236,860-ton ship will be the second largest ship in the world at the time she launches, right behind equally new Icon of the Seas.
Utopia will dazzle new cruisers with pools, surf simulator, basketball court, mini golf, zip line and a kids aqua park.
Utopia will also have a variety of eye-opening shows, ice skating, bars, and plenty of dining choices.
In short, Utopia will offer the latest and greatest things you can do on a cruise ship that is heads-and-shoulders above what you'd find on any other cruise ship sailing short cruises.
Short cruises are a crowded market, with each of the major mass market cruise lines having something that they hope lures in new cruisers: Disney Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Carnival Cruise Line.
It's also probably not a coincidence Royal Caribbean is basing Utopia from Port Canaveral, which is a short half hour drive from Orlando.
Orlando is the number one family vacation destination, and it's why Disney Cruise Line has always placed its newest ships in this spot so that families have an easy way to get from land to sea and combine trips.
Royal Caribbean seems to want to position its newest ship to offer the most choices for families, with a near overwhelming amount of family fun, as the kind of choice where you have to wonder why anyone would pick anything else when comparing amenities.
You might think a new cruise ship filled with everything you'd want would be enough, but the second part of Royal Caribbean's plan is to offer cruises that always stop at Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Ever since Royal Caribbean revamped its private island in the Bahamas, it's been a mega-hit for the line.
Guest feedback has demonstrated overwhelming favorable responses to CocoCay being a favorite choice among cruisers.
Royal Caribbean President and CEO Michael Bayley said earlier this year the island was a major success, "The demand for that product [Perfect Day at CocoCay] is exceptionally high."
"The demand not only is there from a volume perspective, but the rate is there and that rate has been going up again in a very healthy way."
"CocoCay is the number one destination that Royal Caribbean goes to in the world out of 100 global destinations, because it’s a curated experience designed and built to deliver a high-level experience to the customer."
Not only is CocoCay popular, but it's profitable too.
Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty talked in May 2023 about how lucrative it's been for the company, "While demand has been strong across all products and markets, we continue to see exceptional strength from the North American consumer. This strength, in combination with the incredible perfect day at CocoCay has resulted in record yields for our Caribbean sailings."
Regardless of if you book a 3-night or a 4-night cruise on Utopia, you'll be able to visit Perfect Day at CocoCay and combine a compelling brand new cruise ship with a proven hit for shoreside fun.
You can see that formula in Royal Caribbean's marketing, which combines all the water fun you can have between Utopia of the Seas and Perfect Day.
The goal seems to be to for guests to love their ship and private date experience.
The final piece of Royal Caribbean's strategy is to address the other port call in Nassau, Bahamas.
Nearly every short cruise visits Nassau, Bahamas, which is traditionally rated poorly by cruise ship passengers when compared to other ports of call in the Caribbean.
Read more: Best things to do in Nassau on a cruise
Mr. Bayley said recently Nassau ranks among the bottom 10% of ports in feedback.
Why so low? Part of the answer is there aren't enticing options.
According to Mr. Bayley, cruise ship passengers have, "come here many times before and there’s nothing new, fresh or innovative. Secondly, there needs to be more product, more experience, more uniqueness, more options."
"We want to improve the experience of our guests. We can’t keep selling experiences to people who say we love going to Perfect Day, it’s fantastic, we want to go back, but the Nassau thing, can you guys stop going there? We can’t do that, so yeah, we want to be a part of the solution."
The answer is the Royal Beach Club at Paradise Island.
In 2025, Royal Caribbean will open its first Royal Beach Club, which is an extra-cost all-inclusive beach on Paradise Island, just across the waterway from where Royal Caribbean's ships dock their ships in Nassau.
It will be a limited capacity area, and a shore excursion option that will be open exclusively to Royal Caribbean ship passengers.
There will be pools, beaches, dining experiences, and live entertainment too.
The beach club will give Royal Caribbean a leg up on any other cruise line, because those lines will be stuck with the same old things to do in Nassau and nothing on the same level as Royal Caribbean.
When Utopia launches, Royal Caribbean will have a three-pronged approach to attracting new cruisers to a vacation that other lines simply can't match.
A new ship with fun activities for everyone, a private island day, and an optional add-on beach club experience. It's the recipe for covering every day of a vacation with the wow-factor Royal Caribbean has always sought.
If a family prefers a longer trip, the new Icon of the Seas will offer 7-night cruises on a ship that the cruise line is calling the ultimate family vacation.
"Icon will be the best family vacation in the world," is what Royal Caribbean's Senior Vice President and Chief Product Innovation Officer Jay Schneider said in a recent interview about the plans for this ship.
Utopia will have 40-plus ways to dine, drink and dance, more pools than days to count, more ways to thrill and chill, and even more of all the above at Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship has made it out to sea.
Icon of the Seas left her pier at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland to commence her sea trials.
Icon of the Seas will be conducting week-long series of sea trials where the ship's maneuvering and onboard technology are tested in real-life conditions.
There are over 450 specialists on the ship to carry out crucial, preliminary tests with Icon’s main engines, hull, lifeboats, thrusters and more.
This is the first sea trial for Icon, and this round will prepare the vessel for the second round of sea trials later this year. That is when Royal Caribbean says the ship will be, "pushed to its limits".
Before you pack your bags, there's still quite a bit of time left before she is ready to take on passengers.
Icon still needs plenty of work and fine tuning, and she's not slated to have her first cruise with paying passengers until January 2024.
On a webinar last week, Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley talked about the excitement building now for Icon, "I think for all of the teams who've been involved in Icon for the past five years, the excitement level is beginning to really increase. You can feel it."
The shipyard is equally excited for the sea trials beginning, "We are once again very happy that we get to celebrate yet another significant achievement, as Icon leaves the outfitting pier for the first time, and continues her journey through the Turku archipelago towards the sea."
Not only is Icon of the Seas a new ship, but it it's a new direction for what a cruise ship can offer families on a vacation.
The ship is packed with just about everything Royal Caribbean thinks families will want on their trip.
There's a water park, more pools than ever, lots of new dining choices, adult-only spaces, an entire neighborhood for kids and more superlatives than you can associate with a cruise ship.
Sea trials are tests of a cruise ship's navigational and technical systems, which are the final part of cruise ship construction prior to delivery.
Everything from the ship's propulsion, to navigation, to engines are tested before it can be ready to join the fleet.
Sea trials range in duration, sometimes one or two sessions is common.
The sea trials are conducted with a combination of Royal Caribbean crew members, as well as shipyard workers.
Happy Sunday! I would like to wish all the dads out there a very Happy Father’s Day! Hope you get to have a relaxing and fun-filled day with your family!
Now it’s time to sit back, relax, and catch up on all the latest Royal Caribbean news!
Royal Caribbean is poised to release more information on Utopia of the Seas.
The cruise line has not yet announced where Utopia will sail from, her itineraries, or any other details. But that will change next week.
Royal Caribbean posted a countdown teasing a release of information to be posted on June 20.
The 502nd episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available with small tweaks to how you cruise.
By doing things slightly differently, you can get a better overall cruise experience. Try these tips on your next sailing.
Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can!
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Have you subscribed to the Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel? We share some great videos there regularly, all about taking a Royal Caribbean cruise! This week, we are sharing our latest video — 15 ways board your cruise ship faster! — and don’t forget to subscribe here.
Icon of the Seas is approaching the next step on her journey towards completion.
Icon will depart from the Turku shipyard for the first time ever during the weekend.
Sea trials are when the ship's engines and systems are powered on to evaluate its performance.
Sailing on a new cruise ship vs an old ship there are certain nuances you can expect.
New cruise ships have much more modern aesthetics, along with other advantages. But they also come with a higher price tag.
If you've only sailed on older ships, or are simply curious what makes a new ship different from an older ship, here's a rundown of what to expect.
Given how expensive excursions are in Alaska, it’s easy to break the budget on an Alaska cruise.
From exploring ports without shore excursions to taking advantage of onboard discounts, it's easy to save money on my Alaska cruise without feeling like you're missing out.
Check out our list of 10 easy ways to save money on an Alaska cruise.
What are the best reasons to book a cruise super early or at the very last minute?
Both options offer have their benefits, whether saving money by booking far in advance or coming across a last-minute cruise deal.
We've got a look at the pros and cons of booking your cruise late and early to help determine which option works best for you.
Doing things slightly differently on a cruise can save you time and stress and make your overall vacation more pleasant. Here are easy ways to do things differently on your next Royal Caribbean cruise.
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