Being healthy and active onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship is easy with activities such as rock climbing, roller skating, and even simulated skydiving. Biggest Loser and award winning chef, Devin Alexander stays active with all these activities and more onboard Anthem of the Seas.
Royal Caribbean's private island of Labadee is considered by many to be a true paradise. From the water color to the lush surroundings, there is a lot to love about a day in Labadee.
One of the most sought after amenities on Labadee are the cabanas that are available to rent at Barefoot Beach Club and Nellie's Beach. Today, we're showing off exactly why so many guests love to rent one for themselves and secure their private part of paradise.
Cabanas in Labadee come in a few different varieties and this one is an over the water cabana.
Each cabana can accommodate up to 4-5 guests comfortably.
Despite not being on the beach, there is direct access from the cabana to the ocean.
Cabanas come with waiter service, so you are never too far from a Labadoozie!
The views from the cabana are hard to beat!
There are cabanas all around and guests in the ocean, so you are never far from the fun.
We hope you enjoyed this little tour of the Labadee cabanas!
Have you stayed in a cabana on Labadee? Do you want to stay in one? Please let us know in the comments!
Royal Caribbean kicked off a 72-hour weekend cybersale today that can save you an additional $50 on top of Royal Caribbean's other current offers.
Begining June 5 and running through June 7, 2015, guests can save up to $50 per stateroom on all sailings departing on or after July 5, 2015, excluding China departures.
Guests will receive
The deal is combinable with Royal Caribbean's current offer of up to 30% off select accomodations that launched earlier this week. Anyone that booked a sailing under the 30 FOR 30 deal should look at if this deal can save them a little bit more.
Offer is combinable with current standard/full fare rates, restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military, BOGO), Next Cruise offer, and Anthem Upgrade 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, Crown & Anchor Discounts.
Offer available to residents of the United States or Canada.
Royal Caribbean has reversed a change on its newest cruise ship, Anthem of the Seas, by going back to a cover charge at its Jamie's Italian specialty restaurant.
The cover charge for a meal at Jamie's Italian will be $30 per person.
Cruise Critic is reporting Royal Caribbean brought back the cover chanrge instead of an a la carte pricing structure.
When Jamie's Italian first debuted on sister ship Quantum of the Seas, the restaurant featured a cover charge but when Anthem of the Seas debuted, the restaurant pricing shifted to an a la carte structure.
According to Cruise Critic, the decision to go to an a la carte pricing in the first place was made by Jamie Oliver's team.
Royal Caribbean released new photos that show off the construction progress being made on its third Oasis-class cruise ship, Harmony of the Seas.
Harmony of the Seas is under construction at the STX shipyard in France and should be ready for her maiden voyage in about a year.
The photos were taken between late May and June 4, 2015 and are all copyright Royal Caribbean International.
Royal Caribbean has a flexible dinner option called My Time Dining that is perfect for someone that wants to be able to have dinner at different times of the evening.
It's a simple program where you get to eat in the main dining room on your own schedule. All of the mainstream cruise lines offer something like this, but Royal Caribbean has its own twist.
Here's what you need to know about My Time Dining.
Essentially, My Time Dining is a program where for dinner in the main dining room, you can select times to eat between the hours of 6:00 and 9:30 p.m.
It differs from traditional dinner, where you have the same time, table, and waiters every night of your cruise.
With My Time Dining, you can choose a different time each day, so you can fit dinner around the rest of your onshore and onboard plans. You can pre-book a time or show up and wait for an available table.
For example, you could have dinner at 8:30pm on the first night of the cruise and then have dinner at 6pm on the second night. Just like traditional dining times, you can skip the main dining room all together and eat at a specialty restaurant or the buffet.
There is a maximum of 10 guests per reservation.
Yes, it's exactly the same menu for both traditional and My Time Dining.
Booking My Time Dining is simple, you can select it as your dining option when making your cruise reservation or at any time prior to your cruise by contacting Royal Caribbean or your travel agent.
When selecting My Time Dining, you must pre-pay all gratuities in advance.
It is recommended that you make reservations in advance of your sailing if you prefer to dine at the most popular times, between 6:30pm and 8pm.
You can make reservations onboard your ship, although there will be less reservations available by that time and typically the crew members will try to steer you to keeping the same time each night.
In general, the larger the group, the less flexibility you have to modify your dining time.
If you don’t get the time you prefer initially, keep checking back to see if you can change your dining time. Even during the cruise, time slots open up.
Read more: How to book My Time Dining on Royal Caribbean
On your Royal Caribbean ship, there is one deck of the main dining room dedicated to My Time Dining.
You arrive at the main dining room at your reserved time to be seated. You can optionally arrive without reservations, but you should be prepared to wait for a table. Often, this wait can be up to an hour.
If you are more than 5 minutes late, your table may be given away to a stand by group
Generally speaking, My Time Dining is great for those that think dinner before 6pm is too early and 8pm as too late. Additionally, My Time Dining is good for those that may want to change their time for dinner depending on their plans for the day.
The evening shows aboard the ship are more structured for those in early and late traditional seating.
The challenge is to try and book way ahead to get the limited number of slots available between 6:30pm and say 7:45pm.
Smaller groups provide the greatest flexibility. There is usually just a few tables for 6 or more when you’re asking for a table for just your group.
As an example, on a cruise on Independence of the Seas last year, there was only one table for 10 guests, so there was not much wiggle room for changing times.
Without reservations, how important reservations are depend on your table size.
If you are up to two guests, you may not have much of a wait to get a table. Groups of 4 or more and you have to wait 30-60 minutes until a table is ready.
The crew members will give you a pager to let you know when your table is ready but going to dinner without My Time Reservations is a gamble in terms of how long you will be seated, especially if you are trying to eat during the prime hours of 6pm to 8pm.
If you make reservations for the same time every night, it is more likely you will have the same wait staff.
You may request a certain waiter each night, although it may increase your wait time, even if you have a reserved time.
Altering your dinner time will increase the change substantially of getting a different pair of waiters in our experience.
Yes! That does not mean you will get a table for two, but the crew members will try their best to accommodate your request.
Just like at a restaurant at home, you may need to wait for a table for two to open up.
Your best bet is to make reservations in advance, as those with a reservation already seem to get preferred treatment over people that show up and ask for a specific table.
If you want to have a table for two every night of your cruise, my advice is to ask the head waiter to assist.
Possibly, but it all depends on availability.
You could certainly book the same time every night of your cruise and effectively re-create the traditional dinner experience. The "catch" is My Time Dinner starts later than early seating, so you would not be able to replicate quite as early a time window.
If you're not liking My Time Dining, the first thing to do is speak to the head waiter and address the problem. In many cases, there could be a simpler solution that changing you to another type of dining.
A big thank you to Ken Slusser for assisting in writing this blog post!
Royal Caribbean has extended its offer on Anthen of the Seas, where guests can get a balcony for the price of an ocean view stateroom, plus 50% reduced deposit.
Guests can book a balcony stateroom on Anthem of the Seas for the price of an ocean view stateroom at standard/full fare.
The "Rock Your View" offer is valid on new Caribbean and Bahamas itineraries on Anthem of the Seas sailings departing between November 10, 2015 – April 18, 2016.
The 50% reduced deposit is applicable to all stateroom categories.
O ffer available to residents of the United States and Canada and must be booked by June 30, 2015.
Our newest podcast episode is out to help give you a quick "audio escape" to a Royal Caribbean cruise!
Episode 96 is available for downloading, where Beth shares her experience aboard Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas on a transatlantic European cruise.
From what to do on a cruise with many sea days, to what Serenade of the Seas offered and fun things in Europe, this week we take a virtual look at what Beth's Serenade of the Seas cruise offers and what her thoughts were on the experience.
Here’s the podcast page for Episode 96. 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 extended its deal with Mood Media Corporation to be the sole provider for all the on-board, overhead music for Royal Caribbean's new Quantum class cruise ships.
Mood has provided the sound for Royal Caribbean ships in 220 distinct zones of music across 12 ships since 2007. In creating Royal Caribbean’s on-board sound, music designers carefully capture the global, exploratory nature of the company and its guests by blending traditional classics and contemporary favorites with hand-picked Italian, Spanish, French, English and Asian selections.
Additionally, Mood now provides music to the smart ship via 14 players covering 28 zones (gym, spa, smaller themed restaurants and larger dining halls, café, casino, pool deck, discotheque and more). One featured program is the highly customized RCC playlist, “Royal Caribbean Core.” The music straddles the line between familiar mainstream pop and hip indie pop to convey exhilaration and adventure. The tracks feature “seize-the-day” lyrics and a feeling of momentum from artists like Fitz and the Tantrums, U2 and Coldplay.
Royal Caribbean Vice President of Entertainment, Nick Weir, commented on the new deal, "After years of experience working with Mood Media as a music provider to our fleet, we knew we were placing our ship in good hands. The team was a key contributor in achieving the big picture experience we envisioned for our 21st century patrons"
“Royal Caribbean ascended above its competitors within the tourism industry because they value the importance of creating a holistic cruise experience that truly touches all sensory touch points for their loyal guests. They certainly took that mindset to another level with the new Quantum Class, and it’s a very exciting time for them,” said Ken Eissing, President of Mood Media – North America.
Going above and beyond safety compliance is a priority for Royal Caribbean International. Find out more about the groundbreaking technology and award-winning design behind the Safety Command Center onboard Anthem of the Seas.