Beginning in November 2016, guests staying in Boardwalk or Central Park view balcony staterooms will be able to enjoy complimentary amenities such as free food, drinks and more.

The new EAT • DRINK • PLAY complimentary amenities offer guests in Boardwalk balcony staterooms

• Complimentary meal for four at Johnny Rockets.
• Complimentary Royal Refreshment soda package for two guests.
• Exclusive rock climbing wall experience for the entire family.

The new EAT • DRINK • PLAY complimentary amenities offer guests in Central Park balcony staterooms

• Complimentary lunch for two at Giovanni's Table.
• Complimentary bottle of red wine in your stateroom.
• Private casino gaming lessons from an onboard expert.

The new EAT.PLAY.DRINK complimentary amenities for Neighborhood balconies on Oasis Class ships are available for sailings beginning in November 2016.

Royal Caribbean announced today it has extended its current 100 hour Caribbean sale through the end of the month.

The 100 hour sale was set to end today, but Royal Caribbean has decided to extend the promotion through January 31, 2016. During this promotion, guests can take advantage of BOGO offer, 25% off friends and family and 50% reduced deposit. They'll also get an extra $50 bonus for up to $350 to spend at sea.

Special 100 Hour Sale up to $350 onboard credit total per stateroom on 6-9 night Caribbean sailings departing April 1-Dec 31, 2016 excluding Harmony of the Seas. All other offers apply to all sailings excluding China departures.

The offer includes

• 50% off cruise fare for second guest booked in the same stateroom as first full fare guest
• 50% reduced deposit
• Onboard credit
  • Interior: $75
  • Oceanview: $250
  • Suite: $350
• 25% cruise fare savings for 3rd and 4th guests booked in the same stateroom as first two qualifying guests

Cruise must be booked Jan. 27-31, 2016.

BOGO is combinable with the adjoining OBC, 3rd and 4th Guest Savings, Crown & Anchor discounts and NextCruise offers; BOGO and 3rd and 4th Guest Savings are not combinable with restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military). OBC Offer is combinable with restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military, BOGO) and NextCruise offers. OBC is not combinable with Crown & 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, Shareholder Benefits. 

Offer available to residents of United States and Canada.

Royal Caribbean was able to resume stops at its private destination of Labadee, following three cancelled scheduled stops due to local protests.

Allure of the Seas was able to dock in Labadee earlier this morning, and its guests were able to disembark and enjoy the activities onshore.

Good morning Haiti #royalcaribbean #labadee #haiti

A photo posted by Brittany (@_brittnaynay_) on Jan 26, 2016 at 6:06am PST

I'm at Labadee, Haiti https://t.co/tDhyjfUiJT pic.twitter.com/rc6TvtODpp

— mehmetelmastas (@mehmetelmastas) January 26, 2016

Royal Caribbean est de retour à Labadee.@DieudonneLuma @MTourismeHaiti @samueldameus @MCHaiti @David_Toussain pic.twitter.com/45DHEOn9kv

— Le Nord An Avan (@LeNordAnAvan) January 26, 2016

Royal Caribbean has been working closely with local and government officials in Haiti to monitor the situation and ensure the safety of its guests.

We love to show off various stateroom categories that guests can enjoy on Royal Caribbean ships and today we have one of the most impressive suites available on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas: the Loft Suite.

Tracy Pearce shared these photos from her cruise, while staying in stateroom 1702.

Loft Suites are Category L1 staterooms and span two decks, with a staircase and floor-to-ceiling full wall windows, giving you an amazing panoramic view of the land and sea.

Crown Loft Suites feature a master bedroom on the second level with two twin beds that convert to a queen-sized bed, and a master bathroom with his and her showerheads.

The main level is home to the living room, an entertainment center with large flat-screen LCD television, stereo, and DVD/CD player, dining area, double sofa bed, guest bathroom, and entrance to your private verandah.

The Loft Suite measues 540 square feet inside with an additional 98 square feet of balcony space.  A Loft Suite can accomodate up to 4 guests.

Royal Caribbean and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced today a five-year global partnership to help ensure the long-term health of the oceans.

The partners will set measurable and achievable sustainability targets that will reduce Royal Caribbean’s environmental footprint, raise awareness about ocean conservation among the company’s more than five million guests, and support WWF’s global oceans conservation work..

The targets announced today focus on supply chain sustainability and emissions reductions through 2020. Royal Caribbean and WWF also are working together to develop targets aimed at strengthening the company’s sustainable sourcing strategy and its destination stewardship and sustainable tour operations platforms.

Royal Caribbean and the WWF have developed a new 2020 environmental sustainability target that includes

• Carbon Emissions 2020 Target
  • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent by 2020.
• Sustainable Seafood 2020 Target
  • Responsibly source 90% of its wild-caught seafood by volume from MSC certified sustainable fisheries, fisheries in full assessment for MSC certification, comprehensive Fishery Improvement Projects (FIPs), and/or sourced from International Seafood Sustainability Association (ISSA) member companies.
  • In North America and Europe operations, responsibly source 75% of its farmed seafood by volume from ASC certified responsible farms, farms in full assessment for ASC certification, and/or comprehensive aquaculture improvement projects.
  • In addition, by June 30, 2016, RCL will set specific traceability goals with targets for obtaining MSC and ASC chain of custody.

In addition, Royal Caribbean and WWF have agreed to develop and announce new targets by June 30 that will address destination stewardship. As part of this, WWF and RCL will collaborate to strengthen RCL’s destination sustainability assessment and selection process.

Royal Caribbean also will financially support WWF’s global ocean conservation work through a $5 million philanthropic contribution during the partnership, and will collaborate with WWF to build global awareness about ocean conservation issues among its millions of passengers.

The organizations made their announcement at an event in Donsol, Sorsogon, Philippines that is home to a model community-based ecotourism program. At the event, RCL also made a separate, $200,000 donation to WWF Philippines in support of conservation programs in the Donsol area.

Photo by John Roberts

Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO Richard Fain commented on the partnership, "Our mantra at Royal Caribbean is ‘Continuous Improvement,’ and this partnership with WWF represents a great opportunity to make a big step forward in meeting our special responsibility to protect the oceans. It is also gratifying to see that our determination to make a meaningful difference is shared by our employees and our guests. This new partnership aligns all of us at RCL with WWF’s mission to conserve the world’s oceans. Together we are setting aggressive goals and together we will start implementing them right away."

Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas will be featured in a new television show on the Nine Network in Australia as part of a new commercial partnership.

The one-hour primetime special, "Australia's Mega Cruise Ship" will show off Explorer of the Seas and will air on January 28 at 7:30pm in Australia.

The show will air on Nine Network and be hosted by Natalie Gruzlewski and will look at what a typical sailing offers its guests.

Gruzlewski will take guests into all corners of the ship, showcasing many of the stateroom categories and public features including the restaurants, theatre and Flowrider surfing simulator. Viewers will also check-in regularly with a family of four and an experienced cruise couple as they enjoy their real-life holidays, looking at many of the activities suited to each demographic.

Royal Caribbean is celebrating Australia Day by launching a new cruise sale for five days, the Mega Ships, Mega Sale, on sailings throughout Australia and the South Pacific.

Guests booking cruises on select sailings can pick from 'guarantee' staterooms (category Z, Y and X). The exact stateroom grade, number and location on the ship will be allocated at the discretion of Royal Caribbean International. 

The offer is valid on new bookings made between January 25 - 29, 2016 for the following ships

• Explorer of the Seas voyages departing 14-Feb-16 & 21-Mar-16.
• Legend of the Seas voyages departing 18-Feb-16 & 26-Feb-16.
• Radiance of the Seas voyage departing 12-Mar-16.
• Voyager of the Seas voyages departing 19-Feb-16, 27-Feb-16 & 05-Mar-16 only. 

Offer is applicable to Interior (category Z), Oceanview (category Y) and Balcony (category X) staterooms only.

Please ensure that promotion name ‘MegaSale’ is listed in the reservation at time of booking.

A limited number of staterooms are available at the prices shown. Once sold out, prices may be increased, withdrawn or further reduced without notice. Any eligible booking that is cancelled and then reinstated after 29 January 2016 will no longer be eligible for the promotion. Any booking that is modified after the promotion has ended will result in the loss of the promotion. Examples of changes that will result in the promotion being forfeited include, but are not limited to: change of ship, sail date, category booked, amending the travel agency ID or selecting an alternate price/promotion. 

Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas skipped her scheduled stop at Labadee today because of concerns related to protests by locals in the area.

Photo by Michael C

Royal Caribbean confirmed that Vision of the Seas did not call on Labadee today.  Guests onboard Vision of the Seas have indicated the ship will head to San Juan earlier than expected.

For guests wondering what the future holds for upcoming scheduled stops in Labadee, Royal Caribbean is still planning on taking the situation in Labadee on a day by day basis.

Vision of the Seas marks the third time a Royal Caribbean ship has skipped a stop at Royal Caribbean's private destination since the protests began last week.

In a statement, Royal Caribbean commented further on the situation, "Royal Caribbean has not received any guarantees or assurances that there will not be any protests in the future. If a protest takes place while a ship is port, there would be a significant impact on our guests’ ability to enjoy Labadee, or we may have to cancel the visit completely."

We wrapped up a busy week of Royal Caribbean fun, but if you missed any of it, we have it all wrapped up nicely for you in this weekly news round-up!

Unfortunately two Royal Caribbean ships were unable to stop in Labadee this week due to peaceful protests preventing guests from enjoying the private destination.

Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas and Navigator of the Seas both opted for sea days instead of allowing guests to go ashore in Labadee because of the protests. 

It is Royal Caribbean's policy that if a protest takes place while a ship is port, there would be a significant impact on guests’ ability to enjoy Labadee they may have to cancel the visit completely.

Royal Caribbean News

• Two Royal Caribbean ships had their itineraries changed due to Snowstorm Jonas.
• We have the 2017-2018 Royal Caribbean deployment schedule dates to share.
• Royal Caribbean has scaled back Majesty of the Seas' refurbishment plans.
• New photos of Liberty of the Seas' refurbishment progress.
• We also have photos showing Harmony of the Seas construction progress.
• Everything you need to know about Central Park.
• Royal Caribbean signed a deal with China's Forbidden City this week.
• Royal Caribbean was named Best General Cruise Company at the Irish Travel Awards.
• Photo tour of the Category A1 stateroom on Oasis of the Seas.
• What you can expect to encounter on embarkation day.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 129th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available and this week, and we are sharing a listener review of their cruise on Oasis of the Seas.

In this episode, Matt welcomes Bryon to talk about his experience on Oasis of the Seas and share what their first Royal Caribbean experience was like.

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.

Announcing our Fall 2016 Royal Caribbean Blog Group Cruise!

We are so excited to announce our fall 2016 group cruise plans for readers and staff of RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com aboard Freedom of the Seas. This is an exclusive group where we are inviting you, our readers, to join us on the beautiful Freedom of the Seas on an 7-night cruise to the Western Caribbean.

This Royal Caribbean Blog group cruise is all about enjoying this brand new ship with other fans who are big fans of Royal Caribbean.  Don't miss this opportunity to check out this fabulous cruise ship as well as be a part of exclusive events for those that book with our group!

For more details on booking the cruise, the itinerary and prices, check out the Royal Caribbean Blog group cruise page and if you have any questions, email me!

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Bloomberg interviewed Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO Richard Fain about the cruise industry and the Chinese economy.

Beyond Ships has a photo tour of Serenade of the Seas.

Cruise Critic has a look at 3 things they loved (and 2 they didn't) about Freedom of the Seas refurbishment.

Sherman Cruise has a look at the food Chef Michael Schwartz brings to Anthem of the Seas.

Cruise & Ferry has an interview with Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley.

Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas is currently in drydock at Freeport, Bahamas undergoing an impressive refurbishment and we found some new photos to share that hint at the changes coming.

Royal Caribbean has divulged the details of the refurbishment, but typically does not share looks at the work underway.

Here are four photos that show off Liberty of the Seas undergoing her revitalization work.  We cannot wait to see the finished work!

Here they are! #AzamaraJourney and #LibertyOfTheSeas #ShipLife getting an upgrade. Aqui estão os dois. #Azamara Jo… pic.twitter.com/jLLza5LHPF

— Rodrigo B Gonzalez (@bragancaphoto) January 19, 2016

My 164,000 ton home suspended up out of the water in Freeport #Bahamas. Dry dock begins! #libertyoftheseas #royalcrewlife #freeballininfreeport

A photo posted by Peter Ricardo (@peteraricardo) on Jan 13, 2016 at 12:29pm PST

"It's not a photo is a video..." #Freeport #Bahamas #LibertyOfTheSeas #DryDock #Work #WorkFlow #LifeAtSea #LifeIsGood #MakingMoney #Azipod #CruiseShip

A video posted by Ramón Melendez (@melen_10) on Jan 16, 2016 at 10:10am PST