Bermuda's Ministry of Public Works indicated it will begin dredging the North Channel by the end of the month that will remove approximately 0.1 million cubic metres of rock and/or reef.

The Royal Gazette reports the widening of the channel and dredging is so that the island can handle the scheduled visits by Royal Caribbean's Quantum class ships.

Royal Caribbean's Quantum class ships are wider, deeper and longer than the older vessels and they require deeper and wider approach channels with smoother turns.

The work to dredge the channel will be a "24 hour, seven day a week operation and will take approximately one month to complete", according to the Cabinet Office.

The dredging is being done in Late October to avoid main coral and fish spawning season.  In addition, 598 corals have been relocated to adjacent reefs and are being monitored.

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

Episode 116 is available for download, where Matt talks all about the wonderful shows and entertainment onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise.

Matt looks at the various shows you can expect to find on a Royal Caribbean cruise and explains why these shows are worth your time, as well as some of his favorite picks.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 116. 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!

It appears that the Cruise Director for Royal Caribbean's brand new Harmony of the Seas cruise ship will be Ken Rush.

Royal Caribbean Vice President of Entertainment, Nick Weir, posted on Twitter a message that Ken Rush will be the ship's cruise director.

At RCCL Studios today. Meetings abt Harmony Bway show. (news soon). Then dinner with Ken Rush, harmony Cruise Dir. pic.twitter.com/xmCxpGGTEs

— Nick Weir (@NickWeirShowbiz) October 21, 2015

Ken Rush has been working at Royal Caribbean for over 30 years and has been Cruise Director on a number of new Royal Caribbean ships, including Allure of the Seas and Quantum of the Seas.

As cruise director, Rush said he will head all entertainment for guests onboard. In doing so, Rush said he will manage a team of dancers, musicians, youth and activities staff.

Royal Caribbean has a well-deserved reputation for offering its guests world-class entertainment and chief among the cruise line's offerings are the Broadway shows onboard.

Select Royal Caribbean ships offer Tony Award-winning shows that are the exact show you would have seen on The Great White Way.

Here is a breakdown of everything you need to know about the Broadway shows Royal Caribbean offers and what to expect.

Royal Caribbean's Broadway Shows

Here is the current list of which Broadway shows are shown on which ships

Hairspray

Ship: Symphony of the Seas

Back by popular demand, the hugely successful “Hairspray” – the brand’s first Broadway musical at sea – will return on Symphony with a total refresh to headline the Royal Theater.

Hairspray is the classic Broadway musical set in 1962 that deals with racial integration, dancing and the advent of television. Hairspray is a fun show that tackles a serious issue . The show features some very famous songs that many will find themselves singing along to. Excellent lighting, choreography and staging really make this a show not to miss.

Grease

Ship: Harmony of the Seas & Independence of the Seas

Hit musical specially adapted by Royal Caribbean Productions, boasts a soundtrack of crowd favorites such as “Summer Nights,” “Greased Lightnin’,” “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee,” “Born to Hand-Jive,” “Beauty School Dropout” and more.

We Will Rock You

Ship: Anthem of the Seas

Musical from London's West End that was written by legendary comedian and author Ben Elton.

Show features a score of Queen songs such as Radio Ga Ga, I Want to Break Free, Bohemian Rhapsody and of course We Will Rock You.

Cats

Ship: Oasis of the Seas

Based on T.S. Eliot's “Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats,” CATS was one of the longest running productions on Broadway and is the winner of numerous awards including seven Tonys, two Oliviers and a Grammy.

Mamma Mia!

Ship: Allure of the Seas

Based on the hit music from ABBA, Mamma Mia! is the story of a girl getting married and wanting to meet her estranged father.  Mamma Mia! played on Broadway for over 10 years.

Saturday Night Fever

Ship: Liberty of the Seas

Go back to the 1970's with Tony Manero, the king of the disco dance floor.  It's a great mix of classic music, platforms and polyester!

Royal Caribbean used to offer the following shows as well, but they have since been retired from the cruise line's offerings

• Hairspray - Oasis of the Seas
• Chicago - Allure of the Seas
• Mamma Mia! - Quantum of the Seas

Broadway show costs

There is no additional cost to see the Broadway shows on a Royal Caribbean cruise. Admission is included in guests' cruise fare.

Reserving tickets

On Royal Caribbean ships that allow for entertainment reservations, guests may reserve tickets in advance for the Broadway shows.

To reserve tickets, simply log into the My Cruises section of Royal Caribbean's website and then access the Cruise Planner section.

Broadway shows will be listed under entertainment.  Reservations for Broadway shows are usually not available until about 120 days in advance.

You can absolutely still see one of the Broadway shows without tickets, you will simply need to show up in advance of show time.  Being at the theater at least 20-30 minutes before show time should suffice.

Which Broadway show are you most excited to see on a Royal Caribbean cruise? Tell us in the comments!

Royal Caribbean's smart phone app, Royal iQ, has been updated to provide the cruise ship's daily newspaper in digital form.

Guests using the latest version of the Royal iQ app can now view their daily Cruise Compass right from on their smart devices.

Royal Caribbean released the new version of the app, 1.3.99 to the iTunes App Store (Android version still appears to be on the older version) and the update description reads, "Royal iQ now includes the daily Cruise Compass. See everything happening onboard from your personal device and add the daily activities directly to your calendar to make the most out of your vacation."

Royal iQ already let guests track their luggage delivery status on embarkation day, manage a personal calendar of reservations and events, communicate with other guests onboard, book shore excursions and modify existing reservations.

Royal iQ only works when onboard Quantum of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas, Ovation of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas.  Royal Caribbean advertises that Royal iQ will be available on Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas in 2015.

Royal iQ is available for iPads, iPhones, and Android phones, and available at freestanding iQ stations around the ship.

Royal Caribbean also indicates future Royal iQ updates will allow guests to reserve spa treatments, schedule fitness classes, purchase Beverage Packages, and sign your electronic waivers for all of the activities such as the Rock Climbing Walls and the FlowRider.

Thanks to Rich Freudenberg for alerting us to this update!

Today marks the official launch of Royal Caribbean's new marketing campaign, "Come Seek" and already its website is showing off the new branding.

A new mini-site launched today that reinforces the three main messages of the campaign: "You are not a tourist", "This is not a cruise" and "This is not the Caribbean".

The site also shows off still and moving imagery that focuses on the one-of-a-kind experiences a Royal Caribbean cruise can offer.

The "Come Seek" campaign is aimed at people that have never taken a cruise before and may have never even considered one.  Royal Caribbean is specifically going after Millenials and those that have misconceptions about what a cruise vacation is.

In addition, Royal Caribbean re-branded its Twitter and Facebook designs to match the "Come Seek" motif.

With the official launch of the "Come Seek" campaign today, Royal Caribbean will be also running ads on popular TV shows, such as the "Late Show" with Stephen Colbert, the "Tonight Show" starring Jimmy Fallon and also the reality show, "The Voice."

The first salvo of advertising will be quick five-second ads that are meant to pique the interest of a viewer, which will be followed up by more traditional 30-second spots with similar music and theme.

Ads will be seen on ABC, NBC, CBS, ESPN, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, Bravo and TBS.

Later in the campaign, Royal Caribbean will launch “Come Seek Live” - a first of its kind crowd-sourced Periscope activation originating from a Royal Caribbean ship and streamed onto a series of animated billboards in major metro areas.

Is the new "Come Seek" campaign your favorite Royal Caribbean marketing campaign? Tell us in the comments!

Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas rescued seven Cubans from a small raft at sea on Saturday.

Royal Caribbean Blog reader Keith Hect was on Freedom of the Seas and reported that the ship picked up the Cubans during their cruise.

Photo by Ron Lodowski

Local10 also confirmed the report and shared video of the rescue.

Videos by Desiree Stovall

Another guest onboard Freedom of the Seas reported that the group of Cubans had been out to sea for 10 days with nothing but "small amounts of water and crackers."

The United States Coast Goard coordinated the rescue with the Royal Caribbean ship.

It’s been an exciting week as we have a front row seat to all the Royal Caribbean news from this week!

Royal Caribbean gave us all a sneak peak at their new brand marketing, which aims to breakthrough cruising stereotypes and show how exciting a Royal Caribbean cruise can be.

Dubbed, "Come Seek", the new marketing campaign will begin on October 19th and will be a combination of television and web based ads.

The campaign is directed at Millenials, who have certain preconceptions about what a cruise is and Royal Caribbean wants to erase those notions.

The "Come Seek" campaign will also integrate live billboards that use Periscope, a new Tumblr page port recommendations by crew members and ads that promote authentic experiences.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean made improvements to its private island of Coco Cay.
• Royal Caribbean added two new Harmony of the Seas sailings.
• We spotted new life vests available for kids to use in the pool on Oasis of the Seas.
• Ovation of the Seas' construction is about half way done.
• Six ways Anthem of the Seas is different from her sister ship.
• Royal Caribbean scheduled its third quarter fiscal results call for October 23rd.
• Have you ever had a BBC on a Royal Caribbean cruise?
• Voyager of the Seas finished her Hong Kong cruise season.
• Five things you will love about Izumi.

Let's cruise together on Allure of the Seas

I want you to join me on Allure of the Seas!

The Royal Caribbean Blog staff are going on Allure of the Seas and we are inviting all of our blog readers to join us!

We will be sailing on Allure of the Seas on February 21, 2016 and there are some fabulous rates available.  Interior staterooms start at only $850 per person (double occupancy)!

Read all the details (and the fun meets we already have planned).  This will be an amazing week with plenty of surprises and exclusive events for those that book into our group!

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!

Nick Vitani took this photo of the Royal Promenade on Liberty of the Seas from this weekend.

Svenn-Harald Eikenes is on Explorer fo the Seas and enjoyed some time by the pool.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 115th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available and this week, our friend Susan returns to talk all about her back-to-back Independence of the Seas cruise.

In this episode, Matt discusses what the NextCruise program is, explores the benefits of booking another cruise onboard and why you might want to take advatnage of NextCruise.

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.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Fortune has an interview with Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley about the increased bandwidth available on ships now.

Explore with Ed explored Explorer of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas has a lot of different staterooms to choose from and today, we will look at the Grand Suite with Balcony (GS) stateroom to give you an idea of what to expect if you book this category.

This photo tour comes to us from Royal Caribbean Blog reader Ron Lodowski, who recently sailed on Freedom of the Seas.

Ron took photos of his Grand Suite, which was in stateroom 1598 on Oasis of the Seas during an October 2015 sailing.

The Grand Suite measures 401 square feet and has a balcony that is 107 square feet.

Grand Suite staterooms on Freedom of the Seas include two twin beds that convert to a Royal King, measuring 72.5 inches wide by 82 inches long, private balcony, sitting area (some with sofa bed) and private bathroom. 

Also includes minibar, TV, stereo, DVD player, larger private bathroom with bathtub and double sink, vanity area, hair-dryer, phone, vanity table with an extendable working surface for laptop computers and 110/220 electrical outlets. Sleeps up to four people and can accommodate a rollaway bed and/or Play Yard.

All photos by Ron Lodowski