Royal Caribbean will kick off a seven-day WOW sale starting September 24, 2015 that will run through September 30.

This new WOW Sale offers guests 50% off the second guest, up to $200 to spend onboard and a 50% reduced deposit on nearly any sailing. Plus there will be a holiday bonus added.

The September WOW Sale is combinable with BOGO+ promotion already currently running.

The WOW Sale is valid on all cruises departing on or after October 24, 2015, excluding China departures.

The onboard credit breakdown is as follows

• 5 nights or less
  • $50 onboard credit (per stateroom) & 50% reduced deposit
• 6-9 nights
  • $100 onboard credit (per stateroom) & 50% reduced deposit
• 10 nights or longer
  • $200 onboard credit (per stateroom) & 50% reduced deposit

Plus, for all eligible sailings departing Dec. 15-31, 2015 or Dec. 15-31, 2016, offer includes an additional per stateroom onboard credit in the amount of $100 for 5 nights or less, $200 for 6-9 nights, or $400 for 10-nights. One offer per stateroom.

Offer is combinable with standard/full fare and restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military, BOGO, Upgrade, etc.), Harmony of the Seas VOOM Offer, and Next Cruise offer. Offer is not combinable with any other offer or promotion, including, but not limited to Interline, Travel Agent, Travel Agent Friends and Family, weekly Sales Events, Net Rates, Shareholder Benefits, and Crown & Anchor Discount programs or rates.

Offer is available to residents of United States and Canada.

Washington, D.C.-based Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) has certified Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. as the first corporation certified for compliance with new standards aimed at preventing or responding to sexual assault.

RAINN's certification for Royal Caribbean comes after a highly detailed inspection and analysis of onboard plans and practices by Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises.

Examiners covered 10 key areas for compliance, including general prevention efforts; victim care and mental health services; medical service and supply; training of general crew, medical and security staff; hiring guidelines; physical ship security; and prospective passenger screening.

In addition to reviewing RCL’s written plans and policies, RAINN inspectors also conducted onboard staff interviews with the three brands.

RAINN auditors spent about four months reviewing more than 2,000 pages of RCL policies, protocols and staff training materials for sexual assault prevention and response.

Onsite inspections and audits included RCL headquarters and ships, and some 200 onboard interviews were conducted with crew members to ensure their full understanding and implementation of RCL policies.

The work was completed this summer, and compliance certification will remain in effect until summer 2017, when RAINN will re-examine RCL’s operations to ensure continued compliance.

“Nothing is more important to us than the safety and security of our guests and crew,” RCL Chairman and CEO Richard D. Fain says of the distinction awarded by the Washington, D.C.-based Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, or RAINN. “We set high standards for ourselves – and on the most important subjects, we look to experts for guidance.

“RAINN’s evaluation was complete and thorough, and we take pride in reaching the standards they set for certification.”

Royal Caribbean announced today it has replaced its ChoiceAir program with the new Air2Sea program.

It provides guests with the option to purchase air accommodations the new website, RoyalCaribbean.com/Air2Sea.

Royal Caribbean promises with Air2Sea that guests will receive premium service and the best value for securing flights that get guests to their cruise ship on time.  In addition, there is 24/7 support specialists available to handle any concerns.

Royal Caribbean International charges a service fee of $15 per person for travel within North America, and Canada, and $25 per person for International destinations.

Confirmed Air2Sea reservations are backed by Royal Caribbean's “Low Fare Guarantee.” If guests are able to find a lower fare on any website for the same flights, class of service etc., Royal Caribbean will provide an onboard credit worth 110% of the fare difference.

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

Episode 112 is available for downloading, where we have an exclusive interview with artist and designer Larry Kirkland.

Mr. Kirkland has contributed works of art on numerous Royal Caribbean cruise ships and this week, Matt asks Mr. Kirkland about the stories behind his art and takes us through the creative process of creating art for a cruise ship.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 112. 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!

Royal Caribbean raised the prices for its private cabanas that guests can rent on its private destination of Labadee.

Prices posted on Cruise Planner jumped to

• $350 for beach cabanas at Nellie's Beach (old price was $250)
• $495 for over the water cabanas at Nellie's Beach (old price was $320)

The price change appears to be effective starting with 2016 reservations.

In comparisson, Disney Cruise Line offers somehwat similar cabanas on its private island of Castaway Cay that can be rented for $549 per day on the Family Beach or for $399 on the Serenity Bay Beach.

Tip of the hat to Alisa of the Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society Facebook group for alerting us to this news!

UPDATE: It appears the price increase is for Nellie's Beach cabanas only.  Prices at Barefoot Beach, which are available to suite guests only, remains unchanged.  The standard Barefoot Beach cabanas are $175 and the over the water Barefoot Beach cabanas are $250. Thanks to blog reader Stephanie for confirming the information.

Are you planning on booking a cabana on Labadee? Tell us in the comments if you will book a cabana!

Environmental Officers on each of the ships on Royal Caribbean's fleet are focused everyday on staying above and beyond compliance with environmental standards. Discover what these officers do on a day-to-day basis to further the cruise line's dedication to the environment.

Over the last couple of weeks, Royal Caribbean filed to abandon United States federal trademarks it had registered for that would have been used for a new cruise ship.

On Monday, September 7, 2015, Royal Caribbean abandoned the following trademarks

• Emblem of the Seas
• Passion of the Seas
• Pulse of the Seas

On Monday, September 14, 2015, Royal Caribbean abandoned another three trademarks

• Apex of the Seas
• Joy of the Seas
• Spectrum of the Seas

The reason provided for all of the names being abandoned was "No statement of use filed".

All six of these names had been registered between 2012 and 2014.  Some of the names in those groups were eventually used for cruise ships, including Quantum of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas.  

Royal Caribbean still has an unnamed fourth Oasis class cruise ship on order that will be delivered in mid-2018 and an unnamed fourth Quantum class ship on order that should be complete in 2019.

Royal Caribbean is poised to move its home port in Australia from Sydney Harbor to Port Botany as a way to get around the cruise ship overcrowding issue in Sydney.

Photo by ebroh

Cruise Critic reports that Royal Caribbean regional vice president Asia Pacific, Gavin Smith, believes Port Botany was "more commercially confident" of a solution because of a drop in traffic at Port Botany.

Syndey Harbor has been the homeport for Royal Caribbean ships but the fact there is only one berth that can handle mega-sized cruise ships means Royal Caribbean needs more options.  

If Port Botany was selected as homeport, Royal Caribbean ships would leave Port Botany at 4pm and then sail into Sydney Harbor at around 6pm to give a great view of the city before heading out to sea.

Earlier this month Royal Caribbean had expressed interest in having ships leave from Wollongong, but according to Smith it does not make sense to split the ships across multiple ports.  

Royal Caribbean kicked off today a special 72-hour sale on Anthem of the Seas cruises, where guests can get a free upgrade to a balcony stateroom and $200 in onboard credit.

Guests that book a qualifying cruise can get

• Free Upgrade – from Interior to Balcony (starting at $799 per person).
• An additional $200 onboard credit per stateroom for all categories.

The cruise sale runs from September 21 through 23, 2015 and is for all Anthem of the Seas sailings departing November 10 – December 19, 2015.

Free Upgrade offers are combinable with the adjoining OBC offer, Crown & Anchor discounts, Next Cruise offers, and Shareholder Benefits. Free Upgrade offers are not combinable with restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military, BOGO). OBC offer is combinable with restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military, BOGO, Free Upgrades, Free Gratuities) as well as Next Cruise offers. OBC offer is not combinable with Crown & Anchor discounts and Shareholder Benefits. Neither offer is 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.

Offer open to residents of the United States or Canada.

When the days until your next Royal Caribbean cruise start to tick down to the point where you start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, that means it is time to pay off your Royal Caribbean cruise in full.

Royal Caribbean requires guests pay the full fare by a certain point in advance of embarkation day. 

Guests only have to put a deposit down well in advance to reserve a stateroom and price but a good two months before your Royal Caribbean cruise, you will have to make a final payment.

When is payment due

Final payment for your cruise will due on a specific date prior to your cruise. The exact date depends on the length of your cruise:

• Cruises over Christmas or New Years day: 90 days prior to sailing
• 7+ night cruise: 75 days prior to sailing
• 3-6 night cruise: 60 days prior to sailing

If you fail to make final payment on time, you risk jeopardizing your stateroom you reserved and the rate you had locked in.

How to make final payment

If you booked your Royal Caribbean cruise directly with Royal Caribbean, you can either call Royal Caribbean directly and give payment over the phone or you can log onto the Royal Caribbean web site and provide payment there.

If you booked through a travel agent, you can simply contact your travel agent and provide payment to them.  Some travel agents will require final payment a few days before final payment date because the agents want to make sure there are no slip ups.

How to make final payment easier

Let’s face it, no one likes having to lay out thousands of dollars at once because, well, most folks prefer to make smaller payments than a large lump sum.  Larger lump payments mean it is more of a hit on your family’s personal finances.

Make smaller payments

One option you have is to spread out payments between when you make a deposit and the cruise itself.

Royal Caribbean will allow guests to make payments of any amount in the interim period before final payment.  This will require some pro-active work on your part but it will mean less of a “big hit” once you have to pay the cruise. 

Guests may make payments of $500 or more online or call Royal Caribbean directly to make payments of less than $500.

Save money on your own

Another option if you would prefer to keep your money with you but avoid that “big hit”, is to stash the money in a “piggy bank” of sorts.

Many banks allow automatic transfers between accounts, so conceivably one could have a little bit of money stashed away at specific periods so when final payment date shows up, you are prepared.