It's Christmas, and while you may be reading this from your home or a relative's home, we're all hoping there is a Royal Caribbean cruise waiting for us under the tree.
Today we have photos from Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas by Dana Mathis showing what it's like to celebrate this joyous holiday on a Royal Caribbean ship.
Enjoy the photos and Merry Christmas!
It appears that Royal Caribbean is beginning to charge guests for rides on some of its signature attractions onboard Quantum of the Seas.
Guests on Quantum of the Seas will now be charged $20 for a ride on North Star or $26 for a 1 minute Ripcord by iFly flight.
Quantum of the Seas, the cruise line's first Quantum class cruise ship, is offering cruises in Asia and Australia and is now charging for rides made in advance via the Cruise Planner web site.
Rides on North Star and Ripcord had been complimentary until now on all Quantum class ships.
There is no indication of a pricing change for these experiences on sister ship Anthem of the Seas.
Royal Caribbean's North Star takes guests in an observation pod 300 feet above sea level for amazing views of the area around the ship. RipCord by iFly is a skydiving simulator that allows guests to get the sensation of skydiving without the incredible risk of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.
It is not clear yet if the change to charge for these experiences is a test or a permanent change. In addition, it is unknown if guests that opt to skip advanced reservations and wait in a standby line will also be charged for the experience.
Would you pay extra to reserve a spot on North Star or Ripcord? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Royal Caribbean opened bookings for Empress of the Seas this week and already it has lots of guests talking about her return to the fleet.
With Empress of the Seas returning to service for Royal Caribbean, here are a few interesting details about Empress of the Seas that might entice you to give her a try.
Before Empress of the Seas rejoins the fleet, Royal Caribbean will give her a bow-to-stern makeover.
Staterooms will be refreshed, a reimagined Casino Royale will be introduced, Boleros Latin Lounge, spa services and more are coming to the ship!
On Empress of the Seas, guests will be able to choose between traditional dining or My Time Dining.
A lot of the marketing information that came out with the bookings opening up pointed heavily towards My Time Dining, but guests can opt for traditional dining as well.
Another option is to dine at Chops Grille, which will be adding during Empress’s upcoming revitalization.
Photo by Chris&Steve
Each evening onboard Empress of the Seas will be relaxing and casual for your guests; therefore, formal attire is not required on any of the 4 or 5-night Empress of the Seas itineraries.
Yes, the qualifying components of BOGO Getter are applicable to guests booking on the recently deployed Empress of the Seas Caribbean itineraries.
Royal Caribbean is offering some new and different options for guests on Empress of the Seas. Some are even exclusive to Empress of the Seas.
Empress will offer every day Sunday Brunch with complimentary Bloody Mary or Mimosa.
There will also be pool side activities, like Plunge, the new pool party.
Voom high speed internet will also be available, allowing guests to stay connected with the fastest internet at sea.
This week's podcast episode is ready to go, as we present episode 125 of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast for your downloading pleasure.
This week, Matt looks at the top 5 Royal Caribbean desserts. There are so many tasty treats to enjoy on a Royal Caribbean cruise, and Matt will list his favorite five desserts as well as share some of your favorite desserts too.
There's also lots of reader emails to share this week about everything Royal Caribbean.
Here’s the podcast page for Episode 125. 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!
On a Royal Caribbean ship, dining is as much a part of the cruise experience as the pools, activities, and entertainment. It’s also something that affords you and your family wonderful opportunities to sample, share, learn from and enjoy flavors from literally around the world. And not every dining opportunity has to be enjoyed during breakfast, lunch or dinner. So this week, we’re going to countdown my top 5 Royal Caribbean desserts.
Royal Caribbean UK is kicking off a new multi-million pound television marketing campaign that will debut on December 26 and run until February 6 across the UK.
The campaign has the slogan of, "Where extraordinary happens" that focuses on the destinations and experiences Royal Caribbean offers more than the ship itself, similar to the United States recent "Come Seek" campaign.
The campaign will run across TV, radio, print, digital and social media. The company will also relaunch its website.
Royal Caribbean UK director of marketing and public relations, Tamara Strauss, spoke to TTG about the decision to marketing in this way, "We did a lot of market research to road test this and look at our creative positioning. We felt it was important that we focused on the experiences and memories that we want our guests to have on our holidays. We wanted to show that these will be more than just ok – they will be something extraordinary. It’s part of our new positioning – we wanted to set a new look and feel across the product."
As part of its wave campaign, Royal Caribbean is offering a Buy One Get One Half Price promotion; the third and fourth guests in a stateroom to receive 25% per person cruise fare saving; an all-inclusive promotion for the first and second guests with a “Royal select beverage package”, which includes beer and wine by the glass or the “Royal refreshment soda package; and those who book cruises 57 days or more before a sailing to be given reduced deposits of £50 per person.
The promotion will be applicable to new bookings made before February 29 on selected six plus night worldwide sailings departing February 1 2016 and December 31 2016.
Royal Caribbean signed a 10-year deal with the U.S. Virgin Islands to help boost tourism and generate revenue.
According to the U.S. Virgin Islands Port Authority, Royal Caribbean has commited, among other things, to guarantee a certain amount of passengers and pay a fee to berth at the island of St. Croix.
Royal Caribbean owns two of the largest cruise ships in the world that already visit St. Thomas on alternate weeks (Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas).
Officials said the deal was reached after several years of negotiation and becomes effective October 2016.
There are multiple reports that unfortunately an eight year old boy drowned in a pool on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas yesterday.
Cruise Critic and Cruise Law News are reporting guests aboard Liberty of the Seas were notified that the child was spotted in the pool by another guest, at which point he was pulled from the pool and the ship's medical team performed CPR for more than 60 minutes to no avail.
In the letter to guests, Royal Caribbean stated, "We extend our most sincere and heartfelt condolences to the family and friends. I ask that you join us in keeping the child's family in our thoughts and prayers.".
Perhaps no specialty restaurant is as well known (or liked) on Royal Caribbean cruise ships as Chops Grille.
Over the years, Chops Grille has seen her fair share of changes, but it remains a fan favorite restaurant for the high quality food offered.
While on Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas, we just had to go back and try Chops one more time and see if all the admiration it receives is deserved.
Located on deck 6 of Brilliance of the Seas, Chops Grille is right outside the Schooner Bar and is the only specialty restaurant that was not a recent addition.
The restaurant is essentially one large room, with booth tables along the sides, some smaller tables by the windows and larger tables in the interior.
There is an open kitchen, which allows guests to watch the "action" in the kitchen from tables close enough to get a view.
In the evening, the lights are dimmed and it certainly feels like you are dining in a fine steakhouse, with the dark and light browns contrasting against the white tablecloths and plates.
What is interesting about Chops Grille is fleet wide, the experience inside is pretty much the same and all Chops Grilles have a very similar flow.
Though the focus at Chops Grille is naturally on the steaks, there are plenty of other things to talk about as well.
To begin the meal, a plate of warm bread with butter is served.
My wife swears this is the best butter ever. We are not certain what is in it, but it just tastes really good. Certainly a great start to the meal.
Admittedly, it is often difficult to not over eat just the bread, but you must avoid the temptation because the food that is forthcoming is always worth it.
There are quite a few appetizers to choose from, and it sets the tone for the entire meal of there being too much good food to try for one stomach to handle.
For salads, we tried the mesclun salad and the crispy goat cheese salad.
Both are freshly made and good starts to our meal. Plus, eating a salad before hitting the "heavy stuff" totally offsets the calories, right?
The signature appetizers offer some of the best food that do not end in the word "steak".
The charred beef carpaccio is some of the thinnest and tastiest slices of beef I have ever had.
The beef carpaccio has been a staple of the Chops Grille menu for years and something I always have to order.
However, the award for most impressive appetizer goes to the grilled black pepper bacon.
Comparing this slab of slow-cooked Berkshire pork to bacon you might get at a diner is like comparing a 12 year old Pee Wee football player to an NFL linebacker.
This is a massive serving of bacon and among bacon aficionados, it is a must-order.
For our entrees, I went "off the reservation" and actually did not order a steak. Please, hold your fire!
In an effort to document all aspects of the Chops Grille experience (and to watch my girlish figure), I opted to order something other than steak.
I asked my waiter if he recommended the Everything Crusted Tuna or the Snapper Veracruz and without hesitation, he pointed me to the tuna.
As the name implies, everything is indeed crusted on this tuna and it was mighty good.
I love tuna and this was definitely a great piece of fish and I enjoyed the Asian inspired seasoning.
Fret not, steak fans, because my wife went with old faithful: the "petite" filet mignon.
The steaks at Chops Grille have been historically great and this time was no different. A beautiful piece of meat and cooked to perfection. I may or may not have snuck a few bites in from my side of the table.
For dessert, I do not even read the dessert menu because I always order the same thing and regret nothing!
Yes my friends, I always order the red velvet cake.
I do not care about what it used to be or anything else. It is still really, really good and arguably the best red velvet cake I eat every time.
We also ordered the chocolate mud pie, which is a rich chocolate cake served with a berry sauce.
By this point in the meal, we were stuffed, so it was time to waddle out of the restaurant with the knowledge of another great Chops Grille meal complete.
I have eaten at Chops Grille on a number of Royal Caribbean cruise ships and each time I have a great experience and this meal on Brilliance of the Seas was no different.
I feel the consistently good meals at Chops Grille are why so many guests come back time and time again. In fact, it is not unusual to hear about guests that dine at Chops Grille on multiple nights of their cruise. It really is that darn good.
Chops Grille offers a lot of food and we did not even try the dry aged steaks this time (for our review of the dry aged steaks, check out our Navigator of the Seas review). However, that is the strength of the menu that you can order so many options and still come away with a great meal.
Chops Grille excels at all aspects of the meal and it is because of this consistency that it is hard to ever go wrong with dining here.
What are your thoughts on Chops Grille? Leave us a comment and tell us about it below!
Royal Caribbean's Empress of the Seas will be sailing out of Miami, Florida starting in March 2016 and offering 3-, 4- and 5-night cruises.
Royal Caribbean's web site is now allowing guests make bookings for Empress of the Seas and it confirms that she will be sailing out of Miami.
Sailings will begin on March 30, 2016 and are open for sale through mid-June 2016
Empress of the Seas will offer 4- and 5-night getaways from Miami to Nassau, The Bahamas; Cozumel and Costa Maya, Mexico; Grand Cayman and Key West, Florida. With longer stays in every port guests will be able to experience spectacular golden sunsets in the Caribbean. Plus, on select 5-night itineraries guest can experience overnight stays in Cozumel, Mexico.
Other itineraries include sailings to ports such as Key West, Florida; Costa Maya, Mexico, Cozumel, Mexico and Grand Cayman.
In addition, Royal Caribbean will offer guests a "Sunday Brunch" every day, with a complimentary Mimosa or Bloody Mary, as well as offering no formal nights.
Upon her return, Empress will have a whole new look and feel that will extend to the ship's staterooms as well.
Concept drawing for a Junior Suite on Empress of the Seas by Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean announced in October 2015 that Empress of the Seas would return to Royal Caribbean's fleet after an 8 year absence.
UPDATE: Royal Caribbean formally announced the news of Empress of the Seas homeport being Miami, with some additional details.
Empress of the Seas will offer guests