Royal Caribbean released its summer 2017 itineraries today and bookings for the European season will open on Friday, March 4, 2016.

Here is a breakdown of the deployments by ship.

Jewel of the Seas

Jewel of the Seas will sail from Italy on seven- and nine-night voyages that visit Greece and Turkey, as well as seven-night sailings through the Western Mediterranean – offered more frequently with additional departures dates in 2017 – visiting France, Spain and Italy.

Freedom of the Seas

Freedom of the Seas will host guests on seven-night sailings through the Western Mediterranean, departing from Barcelona, Spain.

Brilliance of the Seas

Brilliance of the Seas will offer eight European destinations with a 12-night itinerary, departing from Barcelona, Spain.

Independence of the Seas

Independence of the Seas will sail the Mediterranean and the Spanish Canary Islands from Southampton, England with itineraries that extend from 7 to 14 nights.

Navigator of the Seas

Navigator of the Seas will sail the Mediterranean and the Spanish Canary Islands from Southampton, England with itineraries that extend from 7 to 14 nights.

Serenade of the Seas & Vision of the Seas

Both ships will head to northern Europe with a checklist of ports that includes Copenhagen, Denmark, Tromso, Norway and Stockholm, Sweden.

2017 Europe Adventure Collection Deployment Summary Guide

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!

Columbus, The Musical!

Royal Caribbean has built a reputation in the cruise industry for offering some of the best onboard entertainment, and that reputation is sure to rise with its brand new original show coming to Harmony of the Seas.  The musical was created in the spirit of “Spamalot” and “Something Rotten."

Columbus, The Musical! is a new Royal Caribbean original production that tells the tale of Christopher’s luckless distant cousin, Marvin, on a madcap voyage to the Caribbean.

Marvin Columbus is the very, very, very, very, very distant relative of Christopher and spent his entire life ‘neath Chris’ shadow. Marvin’s disappointed nobleman father, sends him on a voyage to find his destiny. Storms, pirates, and even flying sharks – all lead Marvin to his greatest discovery; himself. Romance, adventure, and ‘happy ever after’ are on the map, as Marvin Columbus finally finds his destiny.

A breathtaking and revolutionary set design, transporting the audience across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, will awe the entire family and adults will thoroughly enjoy the smart, nuanced humor.

As promised... #ColumbusTheMusical #TheShip #SneekPeek pic.twitter.com/uZrzwubXWV

— Nick Weir (@NickWeirShowbiz) March 1, 2016

#RoyalCaribbean #HarmonyOfTheSeas #ColumbusTheMusical #Ornicycle #DesignDuo A clip of the model of the Ornicycle pic.twitter.com/Ea545bRmb6

— Nick Weir (@NickWeirShowbiz) February 21, 2016

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

Watch this time-lapse video Royal Caribbean released of the North Star installation on Ovation of the Seas at Meyer Werft Shipyard in Germany.

Perhaps no Royal Caribbean specialty restaurant has spread as quickly and has been as well received as Izumi.

Izumi has become a favorite go-to restaurant for me on my Royal Caribbean cruises, and on Allure of the Seas, I had the chance to dine there on three separate occasions.

Izumi offers guests high quality sushi at a reasonable price and has been well received by guests and crew members alike.  

It is well worth a visit for lunch, dinner or just a quick bite to eat and is conveniently located on deck 4, near the main dining room.

Let's take a look.

Atmosphere

Guests who have sailed on Allure of the Seas in years past may remember Izumi being located high up on deck 16, overlooking the pools.  

In a somewhat recent ship refurbishment, Royal Caribbean moved Izumi down to deck 4 to give it much more room and a better location.

The restaurant is located near the Grande dining room, near the stairs on the port side of the ship.

Walking into Izumi, you will be greeted in a room filled with dark reds, browns and blacks.

The restaurant is divided into two sections: one dining area for those eating sushi and other Japanese cuisine, and another section for the hibachi.

This review will focus on the sushi side, but it is worth noting the restaurant offers both experiences.

Once inside Izumi, you quickly get that feeling of being in a Japanese restaurant.

The seating area is comprised of one large room, with optional seating at the sushi bar.

During the day, there are large windows offering a view to the ocean.

Izumi is a colorful restaurant that has its own unique look that is not found elsewhere on Allure of the Seas.  Izumi strikes me as somewhere that certainly evokes a Japanese motif and sets the right tone for the upcoming meal.

Eats

On Allure of the Seas, we dined at Izumi three times during our cruise, both for lunch and dinner.  

Izumi's menu offers a lot of variety and it is not just sushi, although sushi is a big part of it.

Guests can choose from salads, noodle soups, carpaccio and appetizers.  Of course, there is quite a lot of sushi to choose from as well.

Unlike Izumi on other Royal Caribbean ships, Izumi on Allure of the Seas does not feature ishiyake (hot rocks), presumably because of the hibachi option.

There is no cover charge to dine at Izumi, guests are seated at their table and will pay a la carte pricing for all items on the menu.

All guests receive a complimentary bowl of edamame soy beans, sprinkled with salt. It is a delicious appetizer and I highly recommend trying them.

Our group opted for a combination of sushi and non-sushi choices.  Our group ranged from die-hard sushi fans to those who preferred cooked food.

Starting things off was the pork gyoza dumpling that is served with gyoza sauce.

The dumplings were quite tasty and cooked just right (not too hard, not too soft).

To me, no sushi meal is complete without a bowl of miso soup.

The Windjammer offers most mornings a make-your-own miso soup option and suffice to say, the Izumi miso soup was significantly superior.  

One of our friends was vegetarian and ordered the shrimp and vegetable tempura appetizer.

My grandfather used to say that it is difficult for any food that is fried to taste bad, and certainly tempura vegetables follow that rule as well.  Eating your vegetables was never so tasty!

My wife ordered the nabeyaki udon soup, which is a collection of shrimp and assorted Asian vegetables cooked in dashi stock with udon noodles. 

Of course, the focus of our meal was the sushi.

Izumi's sushi ranges in choice from basic nigiri/sashimi rolls, to signature rolls and even a few of the chef's signature rolls.

Izumi also features sushi combination dishes, that offer a tremendous value for the price.

My favorite go-to combination dish at Izumi is the DX Sushi Combo.  Not only is it a great assortment of rolls, but you cannot beat the price.  

The sushi was well-prepared and offered some really great tastes.  What I like about Izumi is that the sushi here is more than just regular sushi that you can find anywhere.  Rather, Izumi offers high quality sushi choices that combine different ingredients to give a really interesting and unique taste.

In addition, the amount of sushi offered in any of the rolls we ordered was quite high.  There is no skimping on quality or quantity when dining at Izumi.

There is also something to be said about presentation, and the sushi chefs at Izumi do a fantastic job at making their food as pretty to look at as it is to eat.

Overall

There is one good way to determine if an ethnic restaurant has good food, and that is if you spot a lot of guests dining there that are originally from that part of the world, where the food is from.  On Royal Caribbean cruise ships, the best way to tell if a specialty restaurant is good is by how many crew members you spot eating there.

Consistently, I have seen many crew members dining in Izumi or stopping by for take out and that is a microcosm of an example that shows how good Izumi really is.

When you consider how quickly Izumi has spread across Royal Caribbean's fleet since the first one debuted on Oasis of the Seas just six years ago, it is quite impressive.

Izumi on Allure of the Seas did not disappoint and continued in the tradition of offering high quality Japanese cuisine that tastes really good.

The staff at Izumi is quite attentive and willing to work with any special requests you may have in order to ensure you have a great time.

In the grand scheme of Royal Caribbean specialty restaurants, Izumi stands out as a fabulous option for a night out or just an afternoon bite to eat.  The prices are quite fair (especially compared to land based sushi restaurants) and the fact it is on a cruise ship does not provide an excuse to compromise on the experience.

If you want great Japanese cuisine (especially sushi), be sure to make a reservation (or three) at Izumi.

What do you think of Izumi? Please let us know with a comment!

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has reported 3% of the guests and 1% of the crew aboard Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas have reported being ill during the February 21 - March 4, 2016 voyage.

The CDC report shows 125 guests and 16 crew members reported symptoms, such as vomiting or diarrhea.

In response to the outbreak, Royal Caribbean and the crew aboard the ship reported the following actions:

• Increasing cleaning and disinfection procedures according to their outbreak prevention and response plan,
• Collecting stool specimens from passenger and crew gastrointestinal illness cases for testing,
• Making daily reports of gastrointestinal illness cases to the VSP,
• Sending 4 Hotel and Housekeeping Operations Managers, 3 Public Health staff, one nurse from the cruise line corporate office to oversee and assist with implementation of the sanitation and outbreak response procedures,
• Sending 10 additional internal cleaning crew and 10 contract cleaning staff and equipment to the ship to assist in the execution of the ship’s outbreak response,
• Consulting with CDC on plans for their comprehensive sanitation procedures in Bayonne, NJ, including:
  • planning staged disembarkation for active cases to limit the opportunity of illness transmission to well guests, and
  • planning for sanitation of terminal and transport infection control procedures.

Two CDC Vessel Sanitation Program environmental health officers and an epidemiologist will board the ship in Bayonne, NJ on March 2, 2016 to conduct an environmental health assessment and evaluate the outbreak and response activities. Specimens have been collected and will be sent to CDC for testing.

Anthem of the Seas voyage was cut short, but Royal Caribbean reports the reasoning was not the illness, but a forecasted storm in the path of the ship.

Some #AnthemoftheSeas guests have experienced norovirus symptoms. About 10 per day from 6,000 total pop. Didn't affect decision to return.

— RCLcorp (@RCLcorp) February 29, 2016

We love new Royal Caribbean ships and really great looking photos, and today we have both!

Check out these five new photos of Ovation of the Seas taken at the Meyer Werft shipyard.

Photos by Björn Haß

Photo by Royal Caribbean

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!

Coastal Kitchen

Suite and guests and Pinnacle members can take advantage of a restaurant just for them aboard Harmony of the Seas, Coastal Kitchen.

Coastal Kitchen is a relatively new restaurant concept for Royal Caribbean, centered around the the idea of combining Mediterranean influences with California fresh food.

Royal Caribbean designed the restaurant to be all about fresh food. From Pacific Coast favorites like sea bass ceviche, to the Central Valley’s sliced avocado and homemade blueberry pie, to Med-inspired tastes like Serrano ham, whipped goat cheese and roasted grapes.

With seating for 135, simple décor, earth tones, wood accents and a vibrant, sunny ambiance, Coastal Kitchen is both casual and elegant, and brings a relaxed Californian feel to the Harmony of the Seas.

Coastal Kitchen will feature gourmet California-Mediterranean fare that are healthy and made with the freshest ingredients.

Of course, California is also known for its wines and at Coastal Kitchen you will find an extensive selection of vintages await by the glass or bottle from Napa as well as Tuscany.

Coastal Kitchen is a complimentary restaurant available to guests in Sea Class or Junior Suites. It will be included in your cruise fare and is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

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

The world's most innovative cruise ship, Ovation of the Seas nears completion as she floats out from Meyer Werft Shipyard in Germany.

Royal Caribbean Australia and New Zealand experienced a record-breaking first month of the year. January 2016 has seen the biggest month for sales since the company opened its local offices, eight years ago.

Bookings for its three brands – Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises – reached an all-time high, with an increase of 50 per cent in new bookings compared to the same period last year.

January 2016 also outperformed Royal Caribbean's previous record breaking month for bookings – June last year, when Australasia’s first ever new-build and the biggest ship to ever be based in Australia, Ovation of the Seas, went on sale – by 30 percent. 

In particular, the last week in January saw Royal Caribbean bookings almost double year-on-year.

“We said it would be a record-breaking summer and we’re excited to see booking volumes beat our own projections. Australia’s appetite for cruising with us continues on a very positive trajectory, driven by strong early booking offers and the biggest and best ships in the region,” said Adam Armstrong, regional commercial director for Asia/Pacific.

“In response to the increasing demand, this season we introduced three new ships – Explorer of the Seas, Legend of the Seas and Azamara Quest – as well as a brand new cruise line in Azamara Club Cruises; so for the first time, we have our trifecta of three brands sailing down under. All up, that represents 20% of RCL’s worldwide fleet – a very significant number and a testament to the strength of the Australian cruising market,” Adam continued.

Bookings on international sailings have shown substantial increases year on year; Alaska cruise bookings grew by more than 25% and Asia sailings increased by 10% when compared to the same month last year. But the most significant increase is reflected in local sailings – in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific – where bookings increased by more than 65% in January 2016 compared to January 2015.

The arrival of Explorer of the Seas made a big impact, with it and sister-ship Voyager of the Seas recording a third of all bookings created in January.