Royal Caribbean launched a new marketing campaign in Hong Kong, entitled "Cruise Extraordinary."

The new campaign is designed to show the cruise line's imaginative approach to cruising in the Chinese market and will be shown in targeted television and print ads.

Royal Caribbean wants to highlight the experiences guests can enjoy onboard that give are all about enjoying oneself on a Royal Caribbean cruise.

The new TV commercial was shot onboard Quantum of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas during actual cruises.

The commercial includes a cast of 200 actors and cost tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars and is aimed at guests who are looking for a different vacation adventure.  

Balwin Yeung, director of sales and marketing of Royal Caribbean Cruises Hong Kong said, “As the market leader in Hong Kong, this year Royal Caribbean has adopted a more visible positioning on the market with aggressive advertising and sales strategies to appeal to customers looking for something truly special.”

The commercial will be aired in Hong Kong starting from today and will work hand in hand with messages in other media to create more touch points for consumers to get a taste of the cruising experience.

Are you excited for Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas to debut? We are too and that is why every day, we are posting something new about this incredible new cruise ship leading up to her arrival in less than 99 days.

Engine tests

Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas wrapped up her first set of sea trials over the weekend, and part of that exercise was trying out her new engines.

This was the first time Harmony of the Seas had her engines used, which were aimed at testing the ship's propulsion and maneuverability.

Royal Caribbean released these images of the engines at work and while we are no engineering experts, it certainly looks like they are working well!

Photos by Royal Caribbean International

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

Last week, Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas began her conveyance down the River Ems and it was the first real look the public got of this brand new cruise ship.

In the days that followed, a lot of really talented photographers were able to check her out and we wanted to show off some of their amazing work that exemplifies how beautiful this new ship is.

First up are these two beautiful night time photos of Ovation of the Seas by Björn Haß.

Here are some more great shots of Ovation of the Seas, taken by Andreas Depping.

And here are couple more from Jeroen Houtman of Ovation from a slightly different perspective.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I wonder what a 4K video is worth.  Here's a great one that was sent to us by Peter Sahara.

Royal Caribbean has already released some of its 2017-2018 itineraries, but has provided an updated deployment schedule for some of the itineraries that are still not available yet.

The updated deployment schedule is as follows

• Now open for booking
  • Caribbean, Europe and Alaska
• Week of April 4, 2016
  • Seasonal Caribbean, Northeast and Exotics
• Week of April 25, 2016
  • Dubai
• May 2016
  • Additional Caribbean
• Summer 2016
  • China

All itineraries and openings are subject to change without notice. Deployment schedules gives consumers an idea of when to expect particular cruise schedules to become available to start looking at future cruises.

Personally, I love to eat on a Royal Caribbean cruise and indulge in the amazing variety of food offered onboard. Royal Caribbean offers a lot to choose from and for someone who enjoys trying new foods, this is terrific.

What happens if you or someone you are cruising with (such as a young child) is a picky eater and hates trying new foods?  

You might think this could ruin your trip, but it doesn't have to!

Here are some good tips for how to deal with the pickiest eaters on a Royal Caribbean cruise that I have found over the years.

Best place for kids: Windjammer buffet

Children are notoriously picky eaters because they tend to judge food purely on its aesthetics instead of what it tastes like.  

You can try explaining to your kids how tasty broccoli really is, or just head to the "great equalizer at sea", the Windjammer.

The beauty of the Windjammer is the sheer variety of food offered.

You will find the widest selection of food in the Windjammer, including some really basic foods, such as grilled meats, cheeses, fruit, pasta and more.

In fact, much of the food served in the Windjammer is based on the idea of creating it yourself, so the pasta has no sauce on it and the grilled chicken comes out bare. There are plenty of sauces and toppings you can add right next to it, but for picky eaters, it is always best to keep foods simple and go from there.

In short, when it comes to appeasing a picky eater, you want as much choice as possible on your side.

Places offering picky eater-friendly choices

On any Royal Caribbean ship, you will find a lot of restaurants onboard that serve up food to guests. Each has their own menu and different options to choose from.

For picky eaters, we have found these Royal Caribbean restaurants offer a higher likelihood of making picky eaters happy.

Sorrento's Pizza

Any Royal Caribbean ship with a Royal Promenade or Royal Esplanade will offer a food that almost any picky eater can enjoy: Sorrento's Pizza.

While Sorrento's may not win any culinary awards for the pizza it offers, the pizza available here is always a hit with kids and picky eaters alike.

At any given time, guests can enjoy a few different varieties of pizza, but plain cheese and pepperoni pizza are almost always available. And it's complimentary!

Wipeout Cafe or El Loco Fresh

Royal Caribbean figured if kids are going to be spending a lot of time near the amazing onboard activities, such as the FlowRider, Rock Climbing Wall, or Teen Club, then they should put somewhere to eat that appeals to them nearby.

Wipeout Cafe has hot dogs, burgers, fries, and ice cream - not much else. But for picky eaters, this must be heaven.

In terms of easy-to-please food that is near the pool decks, Wipeout Cafe is a great choice and usually features very short lines.

On newer Royal Caribbean ships, you may find El Loco Fresh on the pool deck. Picky eaters will love the nachos, cheese quesadillas, or tacos offered here.

Main Dining Room

Royal Caribbean designed its main dining room to be able to accommodate thousands of guests and almost as many tastes.

Whether you are a super picky eater, have dietary restrictions or just do not like wet and dry foods touching, the staff at the main dining room is there to make your dining experience perfect.

Ask to speak to the head waiter and explain what you would like, even if it is not on the menu. With advanced notice, the chef can create something perfect that should satisfy the pickiest of eaters.

Johnny Rockets

For a small charge, picky eaters can do quite well at Johnny Rockets, where you will find classic American food prepared to your liking.

Burgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese, chicken sandwiches and more are available at Johnny Rockets. You really cannot beat the quality of food served here when it comes to this classic fare.

While the burgers, dogs and sandwiches served elsewhere onboard are complimentary, the quality of the food at Johnny Rockets is top-notch and always seems to hit the spot.

Get your picky eater involved in planning

When you have picky eaters in your group, one important step you can take to ensure a smoother dining process is to involve them in the decision making.

Empowering them to help with planning not only helps alleviate anxiety about what they are about to eat, but it also helps get them onboard with the plans.

When planning where to eat, encourage your picky eaters to help with the planning and take a look at Royal Caribbean menus in advance.

After all, eating on a Royal Caribbean cruise is more than just about getting sustenance to fuel your body. Dining is a big part of the cruise fun!

The secret menu: side dishes

Just because you have a picky eater does not mean you cannot eat at restaurants without burgers or hot dogs on the menu.

On this blog, we love to dine at Royal Caribbean specialty restaurants such as Giovanni's Table, Sabor, Chops Grille and more, but picky eaters may not be thrilled about the menu choices there.

An overlooked aspect of all these restaurants are the side dishes, which are often basic options that can easily be turned into entrees (especially for kids).

In most specialty restaurants, the side dishes can be ordered in as much quantity as you like, so picky eaters can use those options as a basic part of their meal without having to venture out to the main dishes on the menu.

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We want to hear from you! What are your best tips for dining with picky eaters on a Royal Caribbean cruise? Leave a comment and share below!

We're counting down the days until Harmony of the Seas debuts later this year with our 99 days of Harmony blog series. Each day we will post something about Harmony of the Seas to share with all of you!

Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas has returned to the shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France after completing the first three days of sea trials.

Harmony of the Seas traveled almost 1000 nautical miles in the time span of about 60 hours.

During the trip, Harmony of the Seas had her power plant capacity tested in its basic configuration up to full power (96 MW), as well as tests for propulsion and maneuverability.  

A statement by STX France indicated the ships' performance was what they expected.

With these sea trials complete, STX will put the ship into dry dock for final cleaning of its hull before delivery. Delivery to Royal Caribbean is expected to take place on May 12.

Prior to delivery, a second set of sea trials must take place in April.

When Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas debuts, she will be the world's biggest cruise ship and offer a lot for guests to do onboard.

Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas will debut in less than 99 days and to celebrate, we are counting down every day with a brand new blog post all about Harmony of the Seas.

Three ways Harmony of the Seas will be different

Today, we have three big ways Harmony of the Seas will be different from any other Royal Caribbean ship in the fleet, including her sister ships.

More efficient than its sister ships

Harmony of the Seas will be about 20% more efficient than Oasis of the Seas or Allure fo the Seas, thanks to improvements in hydrodynamics, equipment, new design for the ship and more.

Royal Caribbean considered all possibilities to find energy efficiencies in an effort the make this ship do more, with less.

They found the biggest savings came from the hydrodynamic piece, but improvesments with new kinds of propulsion units are more effective as well.

The main engines are more fuel efficient than their predecessors and Royal Caribbean changed most of the ship’s lighting to LED lighting, whcih recovers wasted heat.

The air conditioning is more efficient and SMART systems have been implemented to control the consumption of electricity.

Harmony of the Seas will be longer than other ships

We mentioned earlier that Harmony of the Seas will be the biggest cruise ship in the world, and that means she is about 33cm longer than other ships.

Harmony of the Seas is also a little bit wider and has a bigger gross tonnage.  Essentially, Harmony of the Seas is bulked up all around.

Harmony of the Seas staterooms will be bigger

Guests will find the staterooms on Harmony of the Seas larger than previous Royal Caribbean staterooms, especially from deck six and above.

Royal Caribbean has made those staterooms on deck six and higher longer, which is part of the reason why the ship is a bit wider than the others in its class.

Learning from Quantum class ships that already have some of the most efficiently-designed cabins, designers on Harmony were able to gain a few inches here and there.

Guests will find there’s a great amount of floor space and they’re versatile in every conceivable way. They have great balcony spaces attached, that means guests can maximize the available space for each of the staterooms. 

Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas began her conveyance down the River Ems yesterday and Royal Caribbean has a brand new infographic to show everyone just how impressive a feat this is.

This graphic helps explain what you need to know about the conveyance process and everything that goes into it.

The conveyance is a unique process for ships built at Meyer Werft as the shipyard is situated inland along the banks of the River Ems and the ship must make the trip from Papenburg down the river backwards to get to the North Sea. The journey will be completed in 12 hours.

At 346 meters long (1,138 feet long) and 41 meters wide (136 feet wide), this 167,800 gross ton ship is one of the largest ever to go through conveyance. Thousands of revelers from the surrounding local villages typically line the 26 mile route along the river bank to watch and celebrate the ship’s journey.

Ovation of the Seas will be officially launched in April 2016, when she departs Southampton, England for Tianjin, China on a 52-day Global Odyssey. She will begin her first homeport sailing season in China from Tianjin on June 24, 2016. Ovation of the Seas, together with Quantum of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas and Legend of the Seas, will make up the largest fleet of any cruise line sailing in China.

If you have been wishing for more photos from Harmony of the Seas' sea trials that began yesterday, your wish has been granted!

Royal Caribbean has published more photos that show off the work being done on Harmony of the Seas, as well as documenting this momentus occasion.

Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas has left Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany and is headed down the River Ems on her 26-mile conveyance to the North Seas.

The conveyance will be complete when Ovation of the Seas reaches Eemshaven in the Netherlands at approximately 6:00pm on Saturday, March 12, 2016.

And she's off! #ovationoftheseas conveyance pic.twitter.com/yJWkO64xrd

— Royal Caribbean PR (@RoyalCaribPR) March 11, 2016

Following her arrival in Eemshaven, she will be ready to begin sea trials in the North Sea.

Ovation of the Seas will be officially launched in April 2016, when she departs Southampton for Tianjin, China on a 53-day Global Odyssey. She will begin her first homeport sailing season in China from Tianjin in June 2016. Ovation of the Seas, together with Quantum of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas and Legend of the Seas, will make up the largest fleet of any cruise line sailing in China.