Good news, we are all one week closer to our next Royal Caribbean cruise!  In case you missed any of the Royal Caribbean fun from this week, here is our weekly round up!

The Royal Caribbean news everyone was talking about was the rise in price of the unlimited alcohol packages.

Royal Caribbean rose the prices of its unlimited alcohol and non-alcoholic drink packages a bit this week. The increases ranged from less than a dollar to a few dollars per day.

This was the first change in the base price of the drink packages since Royal Caribbean introduced the drink packages in late 2012.

Royal Caribbean News

There was plenty more Royal Caribbean news, so dig into this week's batch!

• Royal Caribbean launched its new BOGO Further sale this week and today is the last day of an add-on sale.
• Check out our guide to Royal Caribbean's 2016 new cruise ships and refurbishments.
• Royal Caribbean has no plans (yet) to charge for WOWBands on Ovation of the Seas.
• We shared seven surprising facts about Allure of the Seas.
• The best itinerary recommendations for first time cruisers.
• A 10 drink card was spotted on Oasis of the Seas.
• Royal Caribbean won a few awards at the 2016 Travvy Awards.
• We reviewed a great alternative beach in St Thomas, Emerald Beach.
• Take a photo tour of Labadee.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 127th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available and this week, we are discussing what shore excursions to do in Nassau, Bahamas.

In this episode, Matt and Erin discuss why a lot of guests struggle with what to do in Nassau and share some of their picks for what to do (and not to do) in Nassau.

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.

How you can support Royal Caribbean Blog

So many of our readers have reached out to us to ask how they can help the blog and we are introducing the Royal Caribbean Blog Insiders for just that reason.

The Insiders group is a way readers can contribute to Royal Caribbean Blog and help fuel some of the really amazing ideas, projects and new content that we have lined up.

As a way of saying thank you for your contribution, there are some fun rewards for being a member of the Royal Caribbean Blog Insiders.

Becoming a member of the Royal Caribbean Blog Insiders is completely up to you and you can cancel at any time. No questions asked! 

As always, thank you for visiting Royal Caribbean Blog and being a part of our community!

Royal Caribbean Blog Reader Finds

If you are on a Royal Caribbean cruise and spot something cool, new or just fun, share a photo with us on Facebook or Twitter so we can add it to our Royal Caribbean Blog Reader Finds each Sunday!

Collier Swecker took this photo of Adventure of the Seas docked in San Juan.

Andrew McConnell took a panoramic photo from Oasis of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Royal Caribbean shared six unique adventures on Anthem of the Seas.

Fortune Magazine looked at how cruise lines are targeting gamers.

Cruise Critic answered the top frequently asked questions about Oasis of the Seas.

Shermans Cruise has a 90 second tour of Anthem of the Seas.

Most Royal Caribbean guests looking for a shore excursion in St. Thomas are likely to consider something at the beach and for good reason.  St. Thomas has a reputation for having some of the best beaches, including the world famous Magens Bay.

On our recent visit to St. Thomas, we tried a different beach that was much closer to the cruise ships at Emerald Beach.

Description

Some background is necessary for understanding why one would want to consider a lesser known beach, like Emerald Beach.

We had been to Magens Bay many times and while beautiful, it requires a long taxi ride across the interior of St. Thomas to reach there and then a modest entrance fee.

We endeavored to return to Magens Bay until our taxi driver pointed out two basic facts: almost any beach in St. Thomas is beautiful and there are beautiful beaches closer and for less money.

Enter, Emerald Beach, which is located just a few minutes drive from Charlotte Amalie.

Emerald Beach is a public beach that anyone can access, although there is a hotel that is located near the beach as well.  Despite the hotel, anyone can use the beach.

There is an outdoor bar and restaurant at the Best Western that anyone can go to to get drinks or food.

Comments

As our taxi driver promised, Emerald Beach is indeed quite beautiful and certainly a lot less crowded than what we have experienced on previous visits to Magens Bay.

If you want to be really picky about the details, Magens Bay is situated in a lush tropical valley, whereas Emerald Beach has a hotel behind it and the airport is across the street.  I would not characterize either as a problem, but it is worth noting.

Emerald Beach is a good choice for anyone looking for a quiet(er) beach experience with less crowds and/or a closer drive.  At five minutes from Charlotte Amalie, it is a really quick ride.

Address: 8070 Lindbergh Bay | West, Charlotte Amalie 00802, St. Thomas

Cost: Admission to beach is free

Royal Caribbean kicked off a 72-hour weekend cybersale today that offers up to $50 onboard credit that is combinable with the existing BOGO Further promotion.

Beginning on January 8, 2016, guests can take advantage of the 72-hour sale on all sailings departing on or after February 8, 2016. Offer excludes China departures.

Guests will receive up to $50 onboard credit per stateroom

• Interior & Oceanview staterooms: $25 onboard credit per stateroom
• Balcony & Suites: $50 onboard credit per stateroom

Anyone that has a current booking should see if this promotion can be combined with their existing rate to save them a little more.

Offer applies to new bookings made January 8-10, 2016.

Offer is combinable with current standard/full fare rates, restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military,) BOGO Further offer, and Next Cruise offers. Offer is 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, Crown & Anchor Discounts, and Shareholder benefits. 

Offer available in the United States and Canada.

Royal Caribbean has been experimenting with offering guests various drink package offers beyond the usual unlimited drink packages and on Oasis of the Seas this week, there is a 10 drink card offer that has been spotted.

Royal Caribbean Blog reader Dan Kohout sent us this photo of an offer for 10 drinks for $79 on Oasis of the Seas.

Guests can pay one price for 10 drinks at any onboard, bar, restaurant and lounge that is valid for the purchase of most beers, glasses of wine and cocktails, as well as fountain sodas, specialty coffee and fresh juices.

We also received a report from Kris Leppien-Christensen, onboard Liberty of the Seas, of a similar offer this week, where guests can purchase ten drinks for $69.

Royal Caribbean has been experimenting with these special offers over the last couple of weeks, with a one-day unlimited alcohol package on Enchantment of the Seas and a 10 drink ticket on Grandeur of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean spokesperson Celia de la Llama told Cruise Critic, "Ships have been given the option to test different beverage package offerings onboard.  The decision of which program to offer, if any, is made by the ship."

Would you buy a drink ticket like this instead of an unlimited alcohol package? Share your thoughts in the comments!

When the calendar says it is Friday, that means it is the perfect time to share some Royal Caribbean cruise photos that our readers have sent to us. Each week, we invite all of our readers to send us their best Royal Caribbean photos so we can show them off on the blog!

First up this week, is this photo of Legend of the Seas in Bali by Ross and Pam.  I love the contrast between the various boats in the foreground and Legend looming large in the background.

Here is a fun photo by Frederic of Santa and his elves arriving to Anthem of the Seas, via the North Star. Santa knows how to arrive in style!

Kalya submitted this shot of Enchantment of the Seas as seen from Coco Cay on a beautiful and cloudless day.  Sign me up for this kind of weather!

Heath sent us this photo as they were leaving Labadee while walking on deck 11 towards the front of the ship.  Amazing colors!

John had some Halloween fun on Serenade of the Seas with these costumes!

Thank you to everyone that sent in their photos this week and if you have Royal Caribbean photos, well, we want to see them!  You can use this form to send us your photos and we will feature them on an upcoming Friday Photos blog post!

Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas is among the cruise line's most popular cruise ships, and for good reason.

She is the largest cruise ship in the world (as of the writing of this blog post) and offers guests so much to do onboard.

Here are some quick facts about Allure of the Seas that you might not have known about!

7. Her godmother isn't human

Every cruise ship has an honorary godmother, that attends the ship's naming ceremony and officially welcomes the ship into the fleet, but for Allure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean did something unusual by making an animated character her godmother.

Princess Fiona, from the Shrek films, was named Allure of the Seas' godmother on November 28, 2010.

Princess Fiona appeared in 3-D on the screen in the ship's Amber Theater to preside over the festivities, interacting with Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO, Richard D. Fain.

The decision to have Fiona be the godmother is another part of the tightly knit deal between Royal Caribbean and Dreamworks to integrate the characters into the ships of the Royal Caribbean fleet.

6. Allure of the Seas is longer than Oasis of the Seas by accident

When Royal Caribbean was building Allure of the Seas, they wanted to make sure she was very close to sister ship Oasis of the Seas, because Oasis had been performing so well that the company did not want to ruin a good thing.

There is one key difference between the two and that is Allure of the Seas is 50mm longer than Oasis of the Seas.

Interestingly, the shipyard where she was build maintains this difference was not intentional.  

STX Finland Project Director Topivo Ilvonen said, "Indeed this is a curiosity only.  In a ship that is 360 metres long such small differences may occur due to the temperature of steel."

5. Allure of the Seas does not "squat" when going faster

Those that remember Allure of the Seas' delivery from the STX Finland shipyard may recall as she passed under the Great Belt Bridge, a story came out that by traveling at a higher speed in a shallow channel, the ship will be drawn deeper into the water.

The fact is, that is just not true.

The shipyard builders contend it is a myth that the "squat effect" would have any significant effect on the draft of the vessel when passing the Great Belt Bridge because the water is too deep.

4. Allure of the Seas offered the first Starbucks at sea

These days, many Royal Caribbean ships offer Starbucks beverages onboard their ships but the Royal Caribbean and Starbucks connection first began with Allure of the Seas.

The Starbucks at sea is operated under a license between Starbucks and Royal Caribbean and was first launched on Allure of the Seas.

3. Restaurants have been replaced and moved on Allure of the Seas

Allure of the Seas is just five years old, but has seen quite a bit of change onboard, including restaurant changes.

Rita's Cantina used to be on the Boardwalk for guests to enjoy, but in a recent refurbishment, Royal Caribbean replaced Rita's with another Mexican cuisine offering, Sabor Taqueria & Tequila Bar.

Japanese restaurant Izumi is still available on Allure of the Seas, but it was moved from its small location on Deck 16 all the way down to deck 4, and now includes Teppanyaki cuisine.

Coastal Kitchen, the restaurant open exclusively to guests booked in suites, took up residence on Deck 17, which used to be the location of the Viking Crown Lounge.

2. Electricity for the shopping district is provided by solar energy

The next time you do some shopping onboard Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas, you can feel better about the ship's footprint on the Earth because all the electricity in the ship's shopping district comes from the sun.

Royal Caribbean partnered with United Solar to install laminates that provide electricity for the ship's shopping district.

The 80kW system, which covers a floor area of 2,000m2, is listed to generate 111,108 kilowatt hours of energy a year.

1. Clarissa Parish designed many of the interiors aboard Allure of the Seas

Anglo-Italian muralist Clarissa Parish designed many of the beautiful decorations found around Allure of the Seas.

If you walk around Allure of the Seas, you will see her work without ever knowing one person was largely responsible for the art.

In fact, Parish also created a number of murals again for Royal Caribbean on the Freedom class cruise ships.

Royal Caribbean came away a big winner at the 2016 Travvy Awards, which were held at Gotham Hall on January 6th, 2016 in New York City.

Photo by Vicki Freed

Royal Caribbean won a total of six awards in these categories

• Best Overall Cruise Line
• Best Cruise Line in the Caribbean
• Best Contemporary Cruise Line
• Best LGBT Cruise Line
• Best Cruise Line in Europe
• Best Cruise Line for Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean Senior Vice President of Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed, posted on Facebook how proud she was of the wins, "I am so proud and humbled to announce the awards Royal Caribbean was honored with at last night's Travvy Awards Event! We can not thank you enough for your continued support and love. Thank you Travel Partners."

The Travvy Awards recognize the highest standards of excellence in the industry today and honor travel companies, travel products, travel agencies, travel executives, travel agents and destinations for their outstanding achievement.

In a Twitter post earlier today, Royal Caribbean UK confirmed it has no current plans to charge guests for WOWbands on the soon to be launched Ovation of the Seas.

@markfazzy Hi Mark, the new pricing only applies to #AnthemoftheSeas at the moment.

— Royal Caribbean UK (@MyRoyalUK) January 4, 2016

Royal Caribbean has been testing charging for the RFID bracelets, known as WOWbands, on Anthem of the Seas since November 2015, by charging guests $4.99 for each band.

WOWbands are RFID enabled bracelets that that allows passengers to connect with a number of Royal Caribbean experiences, such as purchase goods and services, access stateroom doors and check-in for activities or entertainment.  They are essentially a replacement for the traditional SeaPass card.

According to a Royal Caribbean spokesperson, WOWBands do not have an additional cost on Quantum of the Seas either.

Ovation of the Seas launches in April 2016 and will be the third Quantum class ship in Royal Caribbean's fleet.

Royal Caribbean is beginning to raise the prices of its popular unlimited alcohol packages on select sailings.

We ran spot checks across a variety of Royal Caribbean sailings in 2016 and 2017 and found in more than half the cases, the drink package pricing has changed as follows:

• Select drink package: $46.02 per day (old price $42)
• Premium drink package: $57.82 per day  (old price $57)
• Ultimate drink package: $69.62 per day  (old price $67)

The increase has also affected the non-alcolohic drink packages.  Most notably, there is now no longer a change in price between children and adults for the Royal Refreshment package.

• Royal Replenish package: $22.42 per day (old price $22)
• Royal Refreshment package 
  • Adults: $9.44 per day (old price $8)
  • Children: $9.44 per day (old price $5.50)

Interestingly enough, the Evian bottled water package went down in price

• Evian bottled water package: $46.02 (old price $47)

The new pricing does still include the service charge.

The change in pricing is not reflective of all Royal Caribbean sailings we have seen.  Some sailings still reflect the old pricing, and it is unclear as of yet if or when this new pricing will spread fleetwide.

Royal Caribbean has not increased the base price of its drink packages since they debuted in 2012, although they have played with service charge pricing, as well as increasing the service charge to 18%. 

What do you think about the drink package pricing change? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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

Episode 127 is available for downloading, where Matt shares excursion ideas for cruises to Nassau, Bahamas.

Nassau is among the most commonly visited cruise ports in the Caribbean and this week, Erin Foster joins Matt to discuss what the options are to do in Nassau and review some excursions they have done in the past.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 127. 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!