Royal Caribbean released a digital copy of its Harmony of the Seas brochure, which previews some of the new and exciting features on its soon-to-be-built third Oasis class ship.

Harmony of the Seas will debut with a European cruise season June through October 2016 and then follow it up with year-round Caribbean 7-Night Eastern & Western sailings starting November 2016 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

You can read the entire brochure here, but here are the highlights.

Harmony of the Seas will have a two-story Wonderland specialty restaurant

One of the big hits on the Quantum class ships was Wonderland, and on Harmony of the Seas it will be available too but it will be the first two-story Wonderland Imaginative Cuisine.

Other specialty restaurants on Harmony of the Seas will include Chops Grille, Vintages Wine Bar, 150 Central Park, Sabor Taqueria & Tequila Bar, Izumi Hibachi & Sushi.

Royal Caribbean introducing the Royal Suite Class

Royal Caribbean had announced earlier this summer it was revamping its suite class offerings and on Harmony of the Seas, guests in suites can expect a new kind of suite service.

The new Royal Suite Class will offer 

• 24/7 Personal butler service
• All-inclusive beverages
• Private dining at Coastal Kitchen specialty restaurant
• Private sun deck
• Onboard gratuities covered
• Complimentary high speed internet
• Complimentary access to the Vitality Spa thermal suite

UPDATE: You can read all about the new Royal Suite Class details.

Pool & sports zone offerings

Royal Caribbean has reimagined its pool and sports zones with some new offerings and classic favorites returning.

Royal Caribbean has adding the Perfect Storm water slides, a new H2O Zone, and the Ultimate Abyss 10-story drop.

Entertainment on Harmony of the Seas

Royal Caribbean guests can expect to find onboard Harmony of the Seas a lot of entertainment.  Some of the highlights include.

• Bionic Bar by Makr Shakr
• The Attic - A new comedy club to the Entertainment Place neighborhood
• AquaTheater
• Broadway in the Royal Theater (no word on which show yet)

Harmony of the Seas will feature lots of new tech

Royal Caribbean will roll out its best tech on Harmony of the Seas, with new features first developed for the Quantum class ships.

Guests will have access to high speed Voom internet, that gives guests high speed internet access just like at home for $15 per day, per device.

Royal Caribbean's brand new RFID bracelets, WOW Bands, will also be available, so guests can leave their SeaPass in their stateroom and have an easy and wearable way to enter your stateroom and make purchases.

The Royal IQ smart phone app will be available for guests to let you book shore excursions, reserve entertainment or manage dining reservations.

Guests can book virtual balcony staterooms to have an inside stateroom price but with a balcony view.

Thank you Katina Bradley for finding this brochure.

New renders have appeared that show the H2O Zone onboard Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship, Harmony of the Seas.

The renderings show the water play area that is sure to be frequented by plenty of kids onboard.

Based on these renderings, there appears to be at least two kids water slides in addition to the play area comprised of fountains, sprayers and buckets.

Last month Royal Caribbean announced Harmony of the Seas would also have three water slides and a giant 10-story slide.

Harmony of the Seas is being worked at STX France shipyard. She is the third Oasis-class cruise ship.

Tip of the hat to Matthew Brand for finding and posting these renderings.

Does the H2O Zone on Harmony of the Seas look like fun? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Royal Caribbean offers a variety of impressive specialty restaurants that serve up some of the best food available at sea and there are some ways to save money on the total cost to eat at these hot spots.

Whether you want to indulge in steak, sushi or Mexican, Royal Caribbean has added a number of specialty restaurants to its ships with cover charges per person that start at $25 and go up from there.

With these tips, you can cut down that cost and have more money to spend elsewhere on your cruise vacation!

First day discount

On most Royal Caribbean ships, the day you board you will find specials if you eat at many of the specialty restaurants that evening.

Most guests do not consider a specialty restaurant for the first night.  It is not clear why exactly, but specialty restaurants seem to enter guests' radar as the cruise progresses.

Look at your Cruise Compass or go to any of these restaurants and look for discounts available if you dine that day. Usually, there is a 20% discount if you dine at one of the restaurants that evening.

OUR IN-DEPTH LOOK AT SPECIALTY RESTUANTS

Pre-pay online

Royal Caribbean wants to encourage its guests to eat at more than just one specialty restaurant so they will reward you if you happen to go to at least three.

Using Cruise Planner on Royal Caribbean's website, you can save up to 30% onboard credit when you make three or more reservations at any specialty restaurants.

You will get the onboard credit on day one of your cruise and that's more money to spend onboard!

If you know you will dine at three (or more) specialty restaurants, pre-book them online to take advantage of the savings.

Dining Package

If you really love eating at the specialty restaurants and you just cannot get enough, consider the dining package.

We have seen the dining package offered on a few Royal Caribbean ships (Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas and Jewel of the Seas to name a few) where for $20 per day, guests can dine at any of the specialty restaurants every day of the cruise.

The dining package is not available on every Royal Caribbean ship, but if it is available on your sailing, it can be a great way to save money provided you want to dine at a specialty restaurant each night.

Which specialty restaurant discount have you used before? Tell us in the comments!

We love social media because it makes communicating with folks so much simpler and Royal Caribbean has embraced it too.  

Royal Caribbean has a presence on many social media platforms, including Facebook, Tumblr and Google + (their MySpace account is oddly missing), but we feel their Twitter account is the most entertaining.

Royal Caribbean uses Twitter mostly to share news, help guests with getting more information and otherwise sharing amazing images and video.  But occasionally, they will slip in some entertaining tweets that we love because it shows they have a sense of humor and try to make us laugh.

Without further adieu, here are our favorite @RoyalCaribbean tweets that we could dig up.  Enjoy!

@OMFGitsjillie OMG We're so excited to see you, Jillie.

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) August 4, 2015

@MrPaulSegal Turtle works. A very cool turtle.

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) August 3, 2015

@wagesofwins @getDeestweets Can it be in the name of fun AND science?

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) August 3, 2015

@tiff_ann We're Tiff ready.

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) August 3, 2015

@InternetKidsO2L We miss you too.

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) July 31, 2015

@tvandermoere We could never bore you.

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) July 28, 2015

@jamieharrington We can be into health foods, but we're more into champagne

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) June 24, 2015

@PICOchu_ Best decision ever.

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) July 10, 2015

@ExpertCruiser The early bird gets the (Turkish) worm. How is Istanbul?

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) July 2, 2015

@impossible_gurl You can think of it as an extended slumber party.

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) July 21, 2015

@xkatie26x Well, thats rude. See you again soon?

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) June 24, 2015

We also discovered that Royal Caribbean likes to quote popular songs.

@lindzhawk Reunited and it feels so good :)

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) July 5, 2015

@lakieee_13 #BabyComeBack

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) August 5, 2015

@theRCLblog @IGGYAZALEA First things first, we're the realest.

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) July 16, 2015

@KristenDaukas The best is yet to come.

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) June 19, 2015

If you have been on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas, you have probably seen the impressive and colorful bridge on the Royal Promenade that is near Guest Relations.

It's a beautiful expanse that changes colors with four golden spires at each corner.  Besides being nice to look at, there is meaning behind it and here is why the bridge is there.

Royal Caribbean has always made an effort to include a great assortment of art onboard its cruise ships and Freedom of the Seas has quite a lot of art on display, including this bridge.

The bridge was designed by American artist Larry Kirkland and the four light columns are topped with a gilded angel.

The angels are exact replicas of a bronze sculpture, "Vittoria Alata" (Winged Victory) that is found in Positano, Italy. 

Each angel is holding an astrolabe that represents one of the four essential elements of our world: air, water, earth and fire.

The bridge itself has ever-changing lights that suggests the evolution of the cosmos and the mystery of the origin of the universe.

Now you have something to think about as you are walking on the bridge on your way to somewhere else on the ship!

Royal Caribbean Crown and Anchor Society has launced the "Get More Sweepstakes", where guests can enter for a chance to win a cruise on Anthem of the Seas plus a $2000 Visa gift card.

Registration for the contest is open from August 1, 2015 through September 15, 2015.

Guests may enter the contest by going to the contest page.  In addition, use any Visa card, including the Royal Caribbean Visa card with MyCruise® Rewards, to make any Royal Caribbean® purchase before September 16, 2015 and get an additional entry for each purchase.

The prizes are

GRAND PRIZE

A 2-day pre-inaugural sailing for two on Royal Caribbean'sAnthem of the Seas™, plus round-trip air transportation.
A $2000 Visa Gift Card

Additional prizes:

FIRST PRIZE

A 7-night Royal Caribbean cruise for two with Ocean View category stateroom, air transportation and a $1000 Visa gift card.

SECOND PRIZE

3 nights at Aria Resort® & Casino in Las Vegas with tickets toZarkana® by Cirque du Soleil® and air transportation.

THIRD PRIZE

3 nights at Bellagio® Resort & Casino with tickets to "O" by Cirque du Soleil® and air transportation.

FOURTH PRIZE

3 nights at MGM Grand Las Vegas with tickets to KA' by Cirque du Soleil® and air transportation.

FIFTH PRIZE

$750 Visa Gift Card.

SIXTH PRIZE

$500 Visa Gift Card.

PLUS TEN (10) PRIZES

$100 Visa Gift Card. 

The Visa 2015 Royal Caribbean Sweepstakes is open only to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia, age 18 or older as of 8/1/15.

You can view the full contest rules and enter by going to the sweepstakes page.  

Good luck!

If you are going to see the Caribbean island of St. Thomas, why not see it from over 700 feet above sea level?  The Skyride to Paradise Point allows guests to go to the top of a mountain and enjoy a stunning view of the island.

Description

The premise of the Skyride is simple, take a cable car from the base of the mountain all the way up the hillside in just minutes.

Located within walking distance from the Havensight Pier, the Skyride is a 5-10 minute walk.  No taxis or transportation needed, it is easily accessed.

There are no set times for this excursion.  Guests may purchase tickets from the ship's Shore Excursion Desk or purchase tickets at the attraction.  If you bought tickets on your Royal Caribbean ship, you can exchange your tickets for wristbands at the ticket office.

Admission to the Skyride is good for the entire day, so you may return later on and experience it again.

Once you have your wristbands, guests will walk up a set of stairs to the loading area.  

Guests will be lined up in the order they arrived to board the next available cable car to the top.

The cable cars can hold about 6-8 people and there are windows on all sides to allow a view on the way up.  The ride itself takes roughly five minutes and is fairly tame.  There is little in the way of swaying or motion and the ride is quite smooth.

Once at the top of Paradise Point, guests disembark the cable car and can walk to a number of platforms to enjoy the view.

In addition to the view of the harbor, Paradise Point features shops, a nature trail, a restaurant and a bar.

Guests may return down to the bottom at any time.

Comments

There is no question that the skyride offers some fantastic views of the harbor, Charlotte Amalie and the surrounding area.  It is the perfect perspective to see your Royal Caribbean ship in the harbor.

Getting to the skyride and up the mountain is pretty simple and the only caveat worth mentioning is there are a lot of stairs involved, so if you have a stroller or wheelchair, keep in mind that there is no alternative to the stairs.

Once at the top, the view is impressive and it makes for great photos.  

The Paradise Point folks advertise a Carnival show everyday, although we were not present for it on our stop. 

The shops and bar at the top are your typical tourist-centric diversions and we opted not to go there.

If you have never done the skyride, it is an impressive attraction that can be completed fairly quickly.  You should have plenty of time to do other activities on St. Thomas even after experiencing the Skyride.

Royal Caribbean also advertises that the excursion is risk free, so if you purchase a ticket at the Shore Excursion Desk and then decide not to go for whatever reason, you may return the unused ticket to the Shore Excursions Desk onboard for a full refund.

Reservations

The St. Thomas Skyride has a tremendous capacity and the benefit of a full refund is reason enough to purchase tickets in advance either on Royal Caribbean's web site, or at the Excursion Desk on board your ship.  

Cost: $21.75 per adult, $10.75 for kids.  

Hey everyone! Episode 105 of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available for your listening pleasure.

This week, Matt is back from his latest Royal Caribbean cruise on Freedom of the Seas and is sharing everything about his experience onboard this impressive ship.  From what's new on the ship to the dining to the ports of call, this episode is full of details from Matt's cruise experience.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 105. 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!

Royal Caribbean will be adding three new water slides to Liberty of the Seas, including the first Boomerango at Sea.

Liberty of the Seas will be undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation in January 2016, as she settles into her new homeport of Galveston, Texas in 2016. The Sports Deck will be re-imagined and the three new water slides will be a focal point of it.

Liberty of the Seas will have three slides, a Boomerango and double body racer slides.

The Boomerango will let guests ride in rafts, where they will "plummet down a steep drop, then shoot up a nearly vertical wall, high into the air, for a moment of weightlessness".

The Boomerango appears to be a water slide built by WhiteWater and here is a video of a Boomerango that may be similar to the one coming to Liberty of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean had announced in July 2015 it would add a water slide to Liberty of the Seas.

Do you want to ride on the Boomerango?  Share your thoughts in our comments below!

Royal Caribbean has embarked upon an environmental initiative to reduce its cruise ship emissions by 2017, called Advanced Emissions Purification (AEP).

The program is underway and scheduled for completion in 2017 and will see the installation of so-called exhaust “scrubbers” on 13 Royal Caribbean ships.

Put most simply, AEP works by spraying diesel exhaust with fine mist from a ring of water jets. As the mist combines with sulphur dioxide it creates sulphuric acid. In a happy coincidence, seawater is naturally alkaline so it neutralizes the sulphuric acid to a degree that meets strict water discharge standards after the wastewater is centrifuged to remove toxic particulates.

In some of the areas where RCL ships sail, alkaline levels in the seawater are too low to be effective. So the company opted for hybrid AEP systems allowing ships to switch as necessary between an “open loop” of untreated seawater to a “closed loop” system that boosts alkalinity with the addition of caustic soda.

The work will be done on some ships during scheduled drydocks and on others while the ship is in service.

The AEP systems being installed are manufactured by Wärtsilä of Finland and Alfa Laval of Sweden.