Happy Sunday! We hope you are having a wonderful weekend and we cannot wait to share with you all the exciting Royal Caribbean news from this week!

Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas returned to Galveston this week, following a week-long detour to avoid Hurricane Harvey.

The Port of Galveston re-opened to cruise ship traffic earlier in the week, and Liberty of the Seas arrived on Friday.  

Liberty of the Seas is planning to depart on September 3rd for her regularly scheduled sailing.

Royal Caribbean News

• Allure of the Seas had her itinerary changed due to Hurricane Irma.
• Royal Caribbean updated its booking engine on its website.
• We shared 25 tips for a great day at Labadee.
• Royal Caribbean kicked off a Labor Day cruise sale and cruise planner sale.
• Here is a look at the Thermal Spa on Harmony of the Seas.
• We had a live blog from Majesty of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 213th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, where we share a first-time Royal Caribbean cruiser's review of Oasis of the Seas.

In this episode, Mike and Michelle talk about their first Royal Caribbean cruise experience after years of cruising with Disney Cruise Line.

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

Cruise Habit shared the reason why power strips are not allowed on cruise ships.

US Business Leadership Network named Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd one of the best places to work for disability inclusion.

USA Today compared Harmony of the Seas to the Norwegian Escape.

Cruise Critic wrote about the drop in drink package prices for Australians.

Moms of the Seas answered the question if Oasis of the Seas is toddler friendly.

Royal Caribbean announced it has changed the scheduled itinerary for Allure of the Seas due to the recently developed Category 2 hurricane.

Hurricane Irma is expected to begin a northwest turn just before Saint Maarten on Wednesday, according to Royal Caribbean Chief Meteorologist James Van Fleet.

For those on #AllureoftheSeas leaving 9.3: due to #HurricaneIrma, the E.Carib itinerary is now W.Carib. Updates on https://t.co/ANopt1JnOy

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) September 1, 2017

Given the storm's location and for the comfort and safety of our guests and crew, Royal Caribbean felt it necessary to alter the currently scheduled Eastern Caribbean itinerary for Allure of the Seas September 3 to a Western Caribbean itinerary. The new itinerary is outlined below.

Pre-booked shore excursions for our previous ports of call will be cancelled and refunded to the guest’s original form of payment while onboard. Guests will also have the ability to book shore excursions for our new ports of call at the Shore Excursions desk onboard Allure of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean noted they do not expect to make any further itinerary changes, but it may happen depending on the path of the storm.

James Van Fleet will continue to offer more frequent updates on his twitter account.

This week's batch of beautiful Royal Caribbean photos is here and it's always fun to share with all of you the great photos our readers take while on their cruise vacation.

The photos we have to show this week are fun and of course anyone can send us their Royal Caribbean photos to use as well!

We begin with Joe Carolan's photo of Enchantment of the Seas in Nassau, Bahamas. If you look close enough you can see the Majesty's Viking Crown Lounge.

Next, here is a photo from Navigator of the Seas by Irina. I have been on Navigator a number of times, but do not recall ever finding this.

Phillip Webster took this photo while in Havana, Cuba, on Empress of the Seas.  They took the photo in a 1952 Buick.

Karina D'Avignon took this photo while snorkeling in Bonaire, while on Navigator of the Seas. 

Here is a shot of Allure of the Seas, taken in Port Everglades while Ken was aboard Freedom of the Seas.

Check out this photo in Wonderland on Harmony of the Seas, taken by George Alcázar.  Great view of the Boardwalk!

Our last photo this week comes to us from Thomas Lemmer.  It is of Anthem of the Seas docked in Labadee.

Do you have Royal Caribbean photos that you want to share?  We'd love to feature them so send them in by using our nifty submission form and maybe your photos will show up in next week's edition!

Royal Caribbean is offering up to 30% off certain Cruise Planner purchases during its Labor Day Weekend sale.

Guest that log into the Cruise Planner will find certain items discounted.  The exact discount available will vary from sailing to sailing, but we spotted the Royal Refreshment package discounted 30% off, along with similar discounts for many spa treatments and some shore excursions.

Based on the countdown timer, the sale expires at midnight on Tuesday, September 5 2017.

Royal Caribbean's Labor Day Sale is offering guests 50% off the second guest, kids sail for less, and up to $250 in spending money onboard.

The Labor Day Sale is valid on cruises must booked between September 1, 2017 through September 5, 2017 at 12:00 AM EST  and applies to sailings departing on or after October 1, 2017. Offer excludes China departures.

Offer includes

• 50% off cruise fare of second guest who must be booked in the same stateroom as a first guest who books at full fare.
• 25% cruise fare savings for 3rd guests and higher booked in the same stateroom as the first two qualifying guests.
• Labor Day sale provides onboard credit determined by category booked and sailing length:
  • $25 to spend onboard for interior and oceanview on sailings 5 nights or less
  • $50 to spend onboard for balconies and suites on sailings 5 nights and less
  • $50 to spend onboard for interior and oceanview on sailings 6 nights and longer
  • $75 to spend onboard for balconies on sailings 6 nights or longer
  • $100 to spend onboard for suites on sailings 6 nights or longer
• Deck the Holidays Deals offer provides additional onboard credit for guests who book a holiday sailing departing from December 19, 2017 through December 31, 2017 and December 18, 2018 through December 31, 2018.
  • Includes an onboard credit determined by category booked and sailing length: $25 more to spend onboard for interior and oceanview on sailings 5 nights or less, $50 more to spend onboard for balconies and suites on sailings 5 nights and less, $50 more to spend onboard for interior and oceanview on sailings 6 nights and longer, $100 more to spend onboard for balconies on sailings 6 nights or longer, and $150 more to spend onboard for suites on sailings 6 nights or longer.

BOGO offer is combinable with NRDB OBC, promotional OBCs and instant savings, NextCruise offers, restricted discounts (for example, Senior, Resident, Military), Crown and Anchor discounts and Shareholder Benefits. Deck the Holidays sale is combinable with NextCruise offers, NRDB OBC, and restricted discounts (for example, Senior, Resident, Military) but is not combinable with Shareholder benefits and Crown and Anchor discounts. BOGO50 bookings made for China departures are combinable with NextCruise offers and Crown and Anchor balcony/suites discounts only. 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.

The Port of Galveston announced the Captain of the Port has opened the Port of Galveston (Galveston Ship Channel) and surrounding area to all inbound/outbound vessels with a draft of 33ft or less in daylight only.

The re-opening of the port means cruise ships, like Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas, are able to dock there once again following the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey.

Liberty of the Seas is on her way back to Galveston, and is due to arrive on Friday morning.    Royal Caribbean is expecting Liberty of the Seas' next sailing to take place on Sunday, September 3rd. 

Royal Caribbean recommends those traveling to Liberty of the Seas review the latest information on road conditions at the Texas Department of Transportation’s website.

Both of Houston's airports, George Bush International Airport and Hobby Airport, resumed operations with limited domestic airline passenger service yesterday afternoon.  Authorities at both airports are expecting to resume full service by this weekend.

Royal Caribbean's Chief Meteorologist, James Van Fleet is onboard Liberty of the Seas and will continue to monitor the situation in the Galveston/Houston area.

Royal Caribbean has a phone number open for guests that have questions about their upcoming Liberty of the Seas sailing, or if you are coping with significant storm impacts that affect your ability to get away for your cruise. The phone number is 1-800-256-6649.

Royal Caribbean has updated the look to the part of its website where visitors can book their cruise.

The updated look makes quickly comparing prices between different sailings simpler, as users can click between different sail dates and see pricing without leaving the search result page.

Do you like the new design for the cruise booking engine? 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 213 is available for downloading, which has a review of Oasis of the Seas by two first time Royal Caribbean cruisers.

Matt has tried for years to convince two of his friends to finally try Royal Caribbean after only cruising Disney Cruise Line. This week, Mike and Michelle share their experience on their first Royal Caribbean cruise from onboard Oasis of the Seas. They share what they liked and did not like about their first time on Royal Caribbean.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 213. 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!