Hi everyone, I'm really excited to announce our next live-blog experience as we get ready for a cruise aboard Freedom of the Seas for a 7-night Eastern Caribbean adventure.

It is my hope to provide to our readers a daily look at what this cruise will be like and share our experiences with you.  This means I will try to post photos every day along with a written report of how things are going (internet permitting).

If you're new to our live blogs, check out the live blogs we did for Quantum of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas (back in 2013) and Jewel of the Seas last year for an idea of what's in store for you. I'm hoping to give our readers a daily look into what we did that day, what was good/not good and what we have planned for the next day.  

For this cruise, we are driving from Connecticut down to Florida, where we will board Freedom of the Seas in Port Canaveral.  Yes, this will be quite a long drive but I wanted to avoid flying and saw this is an opportunity to take a fun family vacation.  We are driving down a week early for some fun in Orlando prior to our cruise, so getting to the cruise port should not be a problem for us.

This will be our third time on Freedom of the Seas, which is the most of any Royal Caribbean ships.  We chose this cruise because friends of ours are getting married onboard and we were invited.  As it turns out, we are going to two weddings while aboard Freedom of the Seas.  One wedding will be on embarkation day on the ship, and the other will be on CocoCay.  Both experiences will be new to us!

For this cruise we ended up booking two connecting inside staterooms.  We have two kids now and my wife and I felt having the extra space (and bathroom) would be worth the additional cost and two inside staterooms seemed to be the most cost effective strategy to get us extra space.

Speaking of kids, we are hoping to take advantage of the kids facilities on Freedom of the Seas.  My oldest daughter is excited to go back to Adventure Ocean and we are hoping she will love it as much this cruise as the last time she on Navigator of the Seas.  My younger daughter, who is 6 months old, will mostly be with us but we plan on taking advantage of the Royal Babies and Tots Nursery, especially in the evenings.

I am pretty excited to see the changes Freedom of the Seas had as a result of her refurbishment earlier this year.  There are two new restaurants and we have already booked Sabor Modern Mexican, because my wife and I loved it so much while we were on Navigator of the Seas.  

For our itinerary, we are sailing the eastern Caribbean and visiting CocoCay, St. Thomas and St. Maarten.  Crossing my fingers for great weather and smooth sailing because we are all looking forward to some beach time!  I have blogged about my plans for St. Thomas, if you want to get a preview of what we have in store for that stop.

Who is going

Matt (me), Marissa (wife), Gabriella (4 year old daughter) & Aubrey (6 month old daugher).

Our itinerary

Next update should be on our embarkation day, Sunday July 26.  Stay tuned for all of our live blog updates right here.

Live Blog Index

• Live blog introduction
• Day 1 - Embarkation Day
• Day 2 - CocoCay
• Day 3 - Sea Day
• Day 4 - Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas
• Day 5 - Philipsburg, St. Maarten
• Day 6 - Sea Day
• Day 7 - Sea Day

Have a question about Freedom of the Seas? Want Matt to cover something specifically in the live blog series? Tell us in the comments!

Royal Caribbean announced today it has named Jim Berra its new Chief Marketing Officer.

Photo by Orlando Business Journal

Jim will be responsible for all aspects of the cruise line’s marketing program, including brand strategy and positioning, consumer and trade advertising, web and loyalty marketing, research, brand development and communications. He will report to Michael Bayley, Royal Caribbean International President and CEO.

Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley commented on the appointment, "We are delighted to have Jim join our team. With so many exciting initiatives on the immediate horizon for our brand, we feel that Jim’s impressive history of creativity and proven results will continue the momentum of innovation the brand has created."

Jim joins Royal Caribbean after most recently serving as senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Carnival Cruise Line, where he oversaw the company's advertising, public relations, customer marketing and digital efforts.

Previously, he served as senior vice president and general manager for Rodale Interactive, where he led the development and marketing of the company’s online businesses. Rodale is a global media company publishing some of the best-known health and wellness lifestyle magazines and books. Prior to that Jim also held various marketing positions at Starwood Hotels & Resorts including as the senior vice president of customer marketing and strategic alliances, where he oversaw Starwood’s loyalty programs, customer relationship management and strategic alliances. Jim began his marketing career at Hyatt Hotels & Resorts.

Jim received Bachelor’s degrees in economics and philosophy from Northwestern University. He has been recognized with several awards and was listed as one of the World's 50 Most Influential CMOs in 2013 and 2014 by Forbes Magazine; received the Industry Impact Award by Inside Flyer Magazine; and was included in Brand Week’s list of Next Generation Marketers.

Royal Caribbean Productions is always looking for new ways to take entertainment to the next level.  As the latest addition to entertainment onboard Anthem of the Seas, The Stowaway is sure to surprise and delight guests - if they are lucky enough to spot him! 

Royal Caribbean is offering free cruise fare for third and fourth passengers for guests in a triple or quad occupancy stateroom on Explorer of the Seas sailings to Alaska in 2016.

The deal is valid on 7-night round trip Explorer of the Seas Alaska sailings between May 20 – September 9, 2016.

The deal offers free cruise fare for third and fourth passengers in a triple or quad occupancy interior stateroom.  If you book a balcony stateroom, third and fourth passengers will be eligble for a "cruise savings" instead.

In addition, all staterooms booked qualify for Buy One Guest, Get Second Guest 50% Off promotion.

If you book a qualifying cruise to get third or fourth passengers, all other charges, including, but not limited to, government taxes and fees, are not included and apply to all guests.

To qualify for this promotion, eligible sailings must be booked between July 3 and July 31, 2015.

Offer open to residents of the United States or Canada.

When you sail on your next Royal Caribbean ship, there is a good chance you will find Coca-Cola's amazing self-serve beverage dispensers known as the Coca-Cola Freestyle machine.

The Freestyle machine offers guests 100+ flavors of various Coca-Cola products that you can mix together to create the perfect drink for you.  Royal Caribbean is the only cruise line to offer Freestyle machines.

In order to use the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines, guests must purchase an all-inclusive beverage package or the Royal refreshment package and use their complimentary Coca-Cola souvenir cup. The Coca-Cola souvenir cup has a special chip in it which activates the machine.

The following Royal Caribbean ships have Coca-Cola Freestyle Machines

• Adventure of the Seas 
• Allure of the Seas 
• Anthem of the Seas 
• Enchantment of the Seas 
• Explorer of the Seas 
• Freedom of the Seas 
• Grandeur of the Seas 
• Harmony of the Seas 
• Independence of the Seas 
• Jewel of the Seas 
• Mariner of the Seas 
• Navigator of the Seas 
• Oasis of the Seas 
• Odyssey of the Seas
• Quantum of the Seas 
• Ovation of the Seas 
• Rhapsody of the Seas 
• Symphony of the Seas 
• Wonder of the Seas

It seems that Freestyle machines are only available in the United States, Canada and limited availability in the UK and Europe and Royal Caribbean has added the machines to ships based mostly in the United States.

Using the Freestyle machines is pretty simple too, you pick a base flavor (like Coke or Fanta) and you can customize the drink with fruit flavors (Orange Coke or Orange Fanta, Lime Fanta, etc).  You can also stop a drink mid-pour by just releasing the dispense button and select another drink to mix two together. So if you want to mix Orange Fanta with Mello Yello Grape you can!

Some of the base flavors available to choose from are Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Caffeine-Free Diet Coke, Sprite, Sprite Zero, Fanta, Fanta Zero, Minute Maid Lemonade, Minute Maid Light, Dasani, Dasani Sensations, Powerade, Powerade Zero, Hi-C, Barq's, Diet Barq's and Seagram's Lemon Lime Seltzer. and more.

The special souvenir Coca-Cola cups that Royal Caribbean sells also has a time restriction, which prevents guests from getting refills until 10-15 minutes have passed since their last pour.  This time restriction is to prevent abuse of the Freestyle machine privileges.

Use of the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines is available with a few unlimited drink packages:

• Royal Refreshment package
  • $8.00 per day, per guest
• Royal Replenish package
  • $22.42 per person, per day (includes service charge)
• All of the Royal Caribbean unlimited alcohol packages
  • Unlimited alcohol packages begin at $42 per person, per day

Have you tried the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines on your Royal Caribbean cruise? Thinking about using them on your next cruise? Tell us about it in the comments!

Another week has come to an end and we've gone through and hand-picked some fun articles for you to take a look at in case you missed any of it.

By far, the big Royal Caribbean news this week was Royal Caribbean's decision to cancel Dynamic Dining expansion to the rest of the fleet.

Royal Caribbean had expressed plans to add Dynamic Dining to the Oasis class of ships specifically, but delayed the action for many months and now decided to abandon the idea all together.

Guests who had booked Dynamic Dining on an Oasis class ship will select from two seating times in the main dining room or My Time Dining.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean is going to add a 10 story water slide to Harmony of the Seas.
• Speaking of water slides, Liberty of the Seas will get a new water slide.
• Our top 10 Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas hidden secrets.
• Enjoy our tongue-in-cheek Iggy Azalea guide to taking a Royal Caribbean cruise.
• We provided a look at Royal Caribbean's Grand Suites.
• We planned our upcoming port stop in St. Thomas.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 102nd episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, and this we're talking using social media to plan and share your Royal Caribbean cruise vacation.

In this episode, Matt and Joe Tolley talk about how folks can use social media to enhance their cruise as well as the ways in which Royal Caribbean is looking to get more and more guests using it too.

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 Radio has a review of Doug's recent cruise on Majesty of the Seas.

Beyondships.com has a look at the daily programs on Oasis of the Seas.

In The Loop Travel takes a look at the water slide news on Harmony of the Seas.

Cruize Cast is back with a new podcast episode!

We have a quick tip to share on how you can save money on your next Royal Caribbean cruise before you ever set foot on the ship from the comfort of your own home.

Specialty restaurants have become a focal point of a Royal Caribbean cruise, with more specialty restaurants available to dine at on your ship than ever before.  Royal Caribbean has been adding them to nearly all the ships in the fleet and the result has been more choices than ever for where to eat.

Most specialty restaurants have a cover charge, which is a one time fee you pay to dine at the restaurant and that covers most, if not all, of the food on the menu.

Prices for specialty restaurants range between $25 to $75 per person.  It depends on the ship you are sailing on and which restaurants are available.

If you book a reservation at three or more specialty restaurants, Royal Caribbean will give you back 30% of the total cost of the specialty restaurants in the form of onboard credit.

Assuming you make a reservation for two people at the least expensive specialty restaurants on your next cruise, Royal Caribbean will have a $45 onboard credit waiting for you when you board.

In practice, it is more likely you will save more than $45, since many other restaurants have a higher cover charge than just $25 and the more people you dine with, the more you can save.

You need to book the reservations in advance via Royal Caribbean's Cruise Planner site to qualify for this discount.

Here's another example: 4 adults eating on a 7-night cruise on Freedom of the Seas

• Sabor Modern Mexican: $25 per person
• Giovanni's Table: $25 per person
• Chops Grille: $35 per person

Total onboard credit back: $102 

In many cases, if you were already thinking about dining at two specialty restaurants, by adding a third, you will end up paying about the same because of the 30% discount.

Will you be taking advantage of the 30% off three specialty restaurants deal? Share your thoughts on this discount in the comments!

At a media event in New York City last night, Royal Caribbean mentioned Jewel of the Seas will have a revitalization in April 2016.

No word yet as to what the revitalization will entail, but TravelPulse reports the new features will be announced, "early next month."

Jewel of the Seas is one of the last ships in Royal Caribbean's fleet to not have had a revitalization yet as part of the fleet-wide effort to bring features and onboard amenities from the Oasis class to the rest of the ships.

One change that is very likely to happen is the removal of the Seaview Cafe, based on the fact all the other Radiance class ships have had their Seaview Cafes replaced with a new specialty restaurant when they had a revitalization.

UPDATE: We originall reported the date of Jewel of the Seas' refurbishment being in April 2017 but that was in error. It will be occuring in April 2016.  We apologize for the error.

One of my favorite songs in the last few years was "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea (yes, I am a 15 year old trapped in an adult body) and besides being quite catchy, the song talks about how the singer is famous, stylish and confident.

So if you want to live the "Fancy" lifestyle on a Royal Caribbean cruise, here's what you need to know so the whole world asking how you does that.

First things first, the ship

If you think you can hold others down like you're givin' lessons in physics, then you are going to want to be on the right ship to prove it.

Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas is the newest in the fleet (as of the writing of this post) and it offers the latest and greatest of everything.  It's the perfect ship to get your swagger on super and have access to the latest in cruise ship tech, entertainment and dining.

You can drop it low and pick it up in the Music Hall, or maybe a little champagne spillin' during dinner at The Grande.

And since Anthem of the Seas is coming to New York City, where she will be based for the foreseeable future, it's the perfect spot to be in the fast lane.

Get your cup of Ace, cup of Goose and cup of Cris 

If you prefer to takin' all the liquor straight, then Royal Caribbean's Ultimate beverage package is perfect for you.

The Ultimate alcohol package offers virtually unlimited combinations of beer, wine, liquor, juices and more.  You won't have to get drunk on the mini bar with the Ultimate package, because you will have access to it all.

Stores to match

Anthem of the Seas features a number of boutique brand stores, such as Hublot, Bvlgari and more.

After all, you have your swagger on super and can't shop at no department.  In these stores, you can purchase somethin' worth a half a ticket  to have on your wrist.

Shopping here is classic, expensive and you don't get to touch (unless you buy it).

Put your name in bold in a Royal Loft Suite

The perfect stateroom for rooftop like you're bringing '88 back has to be the Royal Loft Suites.

These two deck suites are not just the perfect way to show you're so fancy, but also because it just has everything.

On the main level is an open living/dining room with dry bar and sofa.  There's also a separate media room with full bath and shower.

Outside, you will find a large private balcony with whirlpool and dining area.  

Upstairs on the second level is your master bedroom, private bath with soaking tup and a private balcony with dual whirlpool tub.

If you are staying in a Royal Loft Suite, it says you're so fancy.  But you already know.

Is Anthem of the Seas the perfect ship if you want to be fancy? Tell us in the comments below how you would make a Royal Caribbean cruise the realest

Royal Caribbean will offer a 72 hour sale this week on holiday cruises in 2015 and 2016 that will include buy one fare, get 50% off their second guest, 50% off their deposit plus their prepaid gratuities for free.

The 72 hour Holidays in July sale will be available between July 17 and 19, 2015 and is valid on all sailings departing Dec. 15-31, 2015 or Dec. 15-31, 2016, excluding China departures and Ovation of the Seas sailings.

If you book a qualifying cruise during this promotion, you will be eligible for

• 50% reduced deposit
• Buy one guest, get second guest 50% off
• Pre-paid gratuities for the first and second guest in the stateroom.

BOGO offer is combinable with the adjoining Pre-Paid Gratuities and 50% Reduced Deposit offers, Crown & Anchor discounts, NextCruise offers, and Shareholder Benefits. BOGO offer is not combinable with restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military). Pre-Paid Gratuities offer is combinable with restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military, BOGO) as well as NextCruise offers. Pre-paid Gratuities 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.