Royal Caribbean will increase its calls to the Caribbean island of St. Kitts in the summer of 2016.

Two of Royal Caribbean's biggest cruise ships, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, will make scheduled stops in St. Kitts in the 2016 summer season as part of an expanded summer offering to the island.

Oasis of the Seas will make four stops and five from Allure of the Seas will make five stops next summer.

Freedom of the Seas, Adventure of the Seas and Independence of the Seas will also make off-season calls in St. Kitts next summer.

In total, five Royal Caribbean ships will make 51 calls to St. Kitts between May and September 2016, which is up from the 25 calls the cruise line made during the same period in 2015.

St Kitts Tourism Minister Lindsay Grant commented on the news, “With two Oasis-class ships contributing to an increase in total summer port calls from Royal Caribbean on the whole, the line will be bringing significantly more cruise passengers to our shores next year during what is typically the off-season for cruising in the Caribbean. We anticipate that this will lead to an increase in the amount of money spent in our shops, restaurants, activity providers and other businesses and thereby boost St. Kitts’ local economy. I’m very grateful Royal Caribbean for their expanded partnership, which has been developing over the years.”

We love to share the amazing Royal Caribbean photos our readers have sent us each and every week for Friday Photos.  Basically, it's a showcase of the best Royal Caribbean photos from our readers and this week's batch looks to be the best yet.

If you have photos that you would like included in an upcoming Friday Photos blog post, then please send us your best Royal Caribbean photos!

First up this week is a photo by Keith Davis from Jewel of the Seas.  The great thing about the Radiance class of ships is the views you get of the ocean from all over the ship!

Next is a photo of the Starwater preshow by Kim Olsen on Quantum of the Seas.  Starwater is an amazing spectacle and I can't wait to see it again!

Patrick Kortendick sent us this photo of Independence of the Seas in Labadee.  Even on a cloudy day, Labadee is still paradise!

Here's another photo from Quantum of the Seas, and this is one is by Victor Sacal of Roboshow.  Those robot displays are very impressive.

There's no such thing as too many photos from Labadee, so here's one by Harry Yerikyan of Oasis of the Seas in Labadee.  Looks like a much brighter day!

Thank you to everyone who sent in their photos this week. Have a great weekend and be sure to send us your photos so we can post them next week by using this form.

Ship builder Meyer Werft delivered Anthem of the Seas to Royal Caribbean today in Bremerhaven, Germany.

Anthem of the Seas is the second in Royal Caribbean's Quantum-class and is equipped with the latest and greatest features onboard from technology, to safety, to environmental friendly features to entertainment.

Anthem of the Seas will depart from Bremerhaven to Southampton, UK on April 14, 2015. More than 1,300 invited special guests and dignitaries will be present at the ship’s inaugural ceremony in Southampton, U.K., on April 20, 2015.

Photo by Royal Caribbean

Anthem of the Seas will sail its inaugural season from Southampton before the ship repositions to its permanent homeport of New York in November.

Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas has a new giant piece of art, named Gigi the Giraffe.  Check out Gigi's addition to Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship.

In the United States, income taxes are due in just a few days so Royal Caribbean is getting into the "spirit of the season" with a new promotion where Royal Caribbean will cruise taxes, port charges and fees, a savings of up to $200 savings per guest

For five days only, from April 11 through 15, 2015, vacationers who book a new Royal Caribbean International sailing will have their cruise booking taxes, port charges and fees paid by the cruise line.

With Royal Caribbean’s Tax-Free Holiday, U.S. residents can save up to $200 per guest when they make a new booking on a six-night or longer Bahamas, Caribbean and roundtrip-Europe itinerary.

The offer applies to sailings that depart on April 15, 2015, through March 31, 2016, but does not include Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas.

For more information, please visit www.RoyalCaribbean.com/TaxFree starting Saturday, April 11.

Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas is in the middle of a drydock refurbishment in Cadiz, Spain and we've found some photos of the ship getting some work done. Enjoy!

Photos above by Puerto de Cádiz

A photo posted by Jesus (@jesuscollants) on Apr 5, 2015 at 11:41pm PDT

Thanks to Scott Sanders for alerting us to these photos!

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

Episode 88 is available for downloading, where Matt previews Beth's upcoming transatlantic European cruise aboard Serenade of the Seas.

Beth discusses why she chose this particular itinerary and the challenges she faced with planning a cruise that is so different than what she was used to from her North American cruises.  We will preview her pre-cruise planning, onboard plans, and what she is looking forward to.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 88. 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's Quantum of the Seas has a lot to offer, including a number of staterooms.  Today, we will look at the category L inside stateroom and take you through the cabin to give you an idea of what to expect if you book this category.

Inside staterooms on Quantum of the Seas feature what's known as a virtual balcony.  Virtual balconies are inside staterooms with an 80-inch LED screen that serve up ultra high definition views from floor to ceiling that make it look like you have a real balcony view but without the real balcony price.

On Quantum of the Seas, we reviewed stateroom 12231, which is located on Deck 12 just outside the aft elevator bank. Entry to the room is by RFID scanner, which is above the door handle.

Walking into the stateroom, it's hard to miss the focal point of the room, which is the virtual balcony.  The virtual balcony serves up views from various vantage points around the ship, depending on where the ship is.  When in port, you will get a view of the port but at sea, the view will change usually to the aft.

The bed is joined together but can be split apart if need be.  The virtual balcony can be turned on or off via a remote, although there are curtains provided if you would like to have the morning light come into your stateroom.

There is a large, flat screen television across from the bed, as well as a dresser below the television that has drawers for clothing and is also home to your mini-fridge.  Adjacent to the television and dresser is a desk with large mirror and power connectivity options.  You will also find along this wall one of the two large chairs.

On the other side of the room, there is a full-length mirror as well as your second large chair.  On both sides of the bed are bureaus and more storage options.  The safe is also located in one of the large dressers.

The bathroom features a stand up shower, sink and toilet.  Guests will find small bottles of shampoo, lotion, body wash and conditioner for use in the bathroom.  Your stateroom attendant will replenish your supply when necessary.

At 178 square feet, the category L inside stateroom offers the most room of the inside stateroom category.  It's quite comfortable for two passengers and perhaps a third passenger (preferably a child) could make the space work.  Anything more would be too tight a fit for comfort in our opinion.

For a solo cruiser or couple that wants to take advantage of the great inside stateroom pricing but wants a little more space, the Category L stateroom will be a perfect choice.

One of the stand out restaurants that are available on Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas has to be Jamie's Italian.  This simple yet tasty take on Italian food by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver brings a whole different Italian restaurant experience to Royal Caribbean.  

We're excited to share with you what Jamie's Italian offers and if you should give it a try on your cruise as well.

Atmosphere

Jamie's Italian is located in the Via section of the Royal Esplanade, close to Two70.  As you walk towards the restaurant, you will find an open air eatery that reminds you of a city sidewalk restaurant.

Once inside Jamie's Italian, you will find a restaurant that is simple in its look.  There's no traditional red and white checkerboard, Lady and the Tramp style tables either.  There's also not a hint of the formal look you may find in other Royal Caribbean specialty restaurants like Chops Grille or Portofino.

The tables and chairs are an assortment of different styles that almost look like the host called all of their friends to bring tables and chairs because the host did not have enough.  I'm not celebrity chef expert, but I do know that Jamie Oliver, the restaurant's namesake, purposefully makes his restaurants and food simple. 

After a few minutes looking around, Jamie's Italian feels like you're eating in someone's (very large) kitchen.  Tables are located all around the restaurant and the waiters are wearing simple white shirts with jeans.  There are also televisions on the walls showing Jamie Oliver cooking his food and there's an eclectic mix of popular music that we are told Jamie himself listens to.

Sitting down, you will find the restaurant feels very different than most other specialty restaurants.  If not for Wonderland, Jamie's Italian would certainly be the most unconventional specialty restaurant I've ever dined at on a Royal Caribbean ship.

Eats

The food at Jamie's Italian is quite obviously Italian but like the decor, it's not just spaghetti, pizza and other traditional fare.  

One of the neat things Jamie's Italian does is it makes all of its pasta by hand, each day.  When our waiter told us that, I immediately reconsidered what I was going to order because hand-made pasta makes a big difference compared to the boxed stuff.

When you walk into the restaurant, you will likely see many other tables enjoying food served off of a giant wooden plank and there's a good reason for it.  Citing the famous cliche, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, we also ordered the plank.  There are two to choose from: cured meats and seasonal vegetables.

Regardless of which plank you order, the waiter will ask you how many people will be enjoying the plank.  We told him two people and we wanted the cured meats plank.  Soon thereafter, he came out with a generous sampling of meats and cheeses.  There's fennel salami, pistachio mortadella, prosciutto & schiacciata picante.  If antipasti is your thing, this will be heaven for you.

I also sampled the arincini margherita, which are tomato & mozzarella risotto rice balls with arrabbiata sauce & Parmesan.  Of all the appetizers I sampled, this was my favorite.  I loved the texture and the sauce it was served on top of had a bit of kick to it.  

My table mates really liked the mushroom flatbread, which was definitely not pizza.  A mixture of fresh mushrooms and sprinkled cheese on top of a thin breading made for a great choice.  We realized about now that the appetizers alone were really, really good.

The crispy squid was exactly as the name implies.  My friend was the squid fan and reported it was quite good and definitely not chewy.

Perhaps the only disappointment of the meal was the Tuscan bean & single estate Italian olive oil bruschetta.  Ordinarilly, I love bruschetta but this was quite different than any bruschetta I've ever had.  It was cheesy (and not in a good way) and after one bite each, we all went back to our favorites.

A quick side note, I noticed on other tables in the restaurant there were View Finders and asked our waiter why we did not get one.  He informed me it was for children to see what the food they are going to order looks like.  I kindly requested I too get a chance to see our food in faux 3D, 1980's glory and I recommend asking for one too just for the fun of it!

Moving onto the entrees, once I figured out what aubergine meant (it's another name for eggplant), I ordered the aubergine parmigana. It's essentially a stack of baked eggplant slices in a warm pool of tomato sauce topped with cheese.  

Eggplant parmigana is an Italian food classic and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Was it better than the eggplant parm from Giovanni's Table? I'm not ready to go that far.

It is worth noting the freshly baked twisted garlic bread is really, really good and I recommend ordering an entire order of these just for your table to enjoy (or hoard them for yourself while giggling how good they are).

Earlier I had honed in on the fact their pasta was hand-made, so I ordered the penne pomodoro.  To most people, this is penne in a red sauce but again, the fresh pasta makes even a simple dish like this stand out.

The baked lasagna was a real treat as well, with the blend of fresh pasta (notice a trend yet?), mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and beef and pork.

I'm no connoisseur of lamb but the lamb chops were also quite good.

By now, we had been through a food war but our waiter insisted we try the desert.  Who am I to argue with a man in jeans?

There's a number of intriguing selections on the dessert menu but the one that caught my eye was the epic homemade brownie.  I mean, who can resist that kind of a title?

I can report that there is no case of false advertising here.  The epic homemade brownie was terrific.  What makes it epic?  There's a freshly baked warm fudgy brownie with vanilla ice cream and caramelized amartetti popcorn on top.  Yup, epic.

Overall

We had eaten at Jamie's Italian towards the end of my cruise and all throughout the voyage, other passengers had always mentioned how good Jamie's Italian was whenever the topic of dinners came up and now I know why.

Jamie's Italian offers a great selection of Italian food that differentiates itself from most other food available on Quantum of the Seas. It's an interesting "reboot" of what we think about when it comes to Italian food.

Nearly everything we offered was very good.  In fact, I think of all the restaurants onboard Quantum of the Seas, Jamie's Italian had the best ratio of hits to misses, in terms of good food to bad food picks.  

I was lucky to have dined with a group of friends because the food here is perfect for sharing and it gives everyone a chance to sample a little of everything.  

Like most Royal Caribbean restaurants, I found the portion sizes to be on the small size, which makes ordering multiple entrees (and appetizers earlier) an easier decision.

Today is our last day on board Oasis of The Seas and this week flown by!  This morning I told my girlfriend we would try some of the things she had wanted to do. But first we are starting the day with a lite breakfast at Johnny Rockets on the Boardwalk. 

For breakfast they don’t have a cover charge so this is a little secret for a less crowded option, note this is only available on Oasis Class ships. 

The breakfast options are eggs, omelets, hash browns, toast, ect.  The food here is not outstanding, but was very fast for a sit-down breakfast, I think we were here for a total of 25 minutes.  

Zip Line

Right after breakfast we headed up to the top deck to try out the Zip Line.  This is located on the aft of the ship crossing the boardwalk deck.  I often wonder if people think this cost money, because there was never really a long line. 

We showed up around 9:30AM and there were only 2-3 people in line.  First, they scan your sea pass card, and I forgot to sign our waivers online.  No worries, they just have you esign on their tablet.  Next, they help you gear up with the equipment and you are off! There are no real instructions other than “try to stop yourself” on the other side. 

My girlfriend had no luck with this and her line just hit the stopper at the end, I laughed!  My only advice for you, is don’t look down. I wished we had gone at different times, so I could have had pictures of us, but we enjoyed the moment together and it was a lot of fun. 

Rock Climbing Wall

Now that we had Zip Line out of the way we headed back down to the boardwalk deck to climb rock wall.  I must admit in all my cruises I’ve never tried the rock wall.  Of course I wait until now when I’m older with a few extra pounds to climb. 

Pretty much same check-in process as zip line, they scan card, had me esign.  They do require you to wear their shoes to climb the wall, so be sure to wear socks.  When it’s your turn they just put you where the last person was, my luck I ended up on the expert course.  I only made it a quarter of the way up and dropped off, wow was that much harder than it looked. 

My girlfriend had better luck than me and made it to the first bell.  By the time we were leaving at 10:30 the line was 20+ deep, so get an early start if you are doing these actives on the last day. 

Pool Deck

Since I didn’t get a chance to get to the pool deck early, I was unsuccessful finding a chair anywhere.  I didn’t look on the top deck, because the wind was unbearable.  I

just place my belonging on the side and jumped in the pool.  I found a great bartender who was bringing me drinks while I was in the pool, now that’s what I call service!  The weather was perfect and I stayed out here until it was time to get ready for dinner. 

Sabor Dinner

Okay if you are keep count, this was my third time eating here.  My love for their guacamole is real. 

We wanted to end our cruise on a fun casual note, so we thought this was the perfect option.   Not much more to say, since I’ve talked about my dining experience here twice already now, but great food once again.  Only thing I could say, my brother asked for a regular tomato and they were out. Not a big deal, since it was the last night of the cruise.   Again we had margaritas, which are included in the drink package, other wise they are $12 + 18%.

Evening Activates

After dinner we explored the ship and just taking a few more moments in of the cruise.  We just kept hoping all around the ship bars, actually a few we had never stepped foot into all cruise. 

When we were at the Champagne bar the Cats Cast was there having cocktails.  We actually ran into them all week out and about, they get full privileges throughout the ship.  So if you are looking to work on board that’s the way to go!  Around 11pm I called it a night and headed back to the room, I had a long drive the next morning and wanted to get some sleep. 

Disembarkation

My disembarkation number was 70, and they start with 1 on Oasis Class.  I forgot to tell my stateroom attendant I wanted the express option at 6:30AM, when you carry everything off.  Honestly, it doesn’t matter, if you want to leave at that hour just get your bags and walk off. 

There was no lines to get off the ship, I walked down to deck 5 and walked off the ship, so they must have started a little early for those lining up.   My thoughts were, this was way to easy with zerolines.  Then it happen we get to customs and they only had three people working, perhaps they didn’t get the memo we had 5,490 people on board. 

Since there were only 200 or so people in line, it didn’t take that long and we were in our car by 7AM.  My brother had a later flight and went down around 9AM to leave and the line from customs was all the way backed up to the ship and circled around the promenade deck.  He told he it took him two hours to get through that process, so the key here is leave very early or the last minute. 

Overall I was very pleased with my time on Oasis of The Seas, the food was by far the best I’ve ever had on a cruise.  The service was also outstanding everywhere we went, except the Schooner bar, they were never happy so I just stopped going there.  If you have any questions please feel free to ask and thank you to all for following along.  Now the countdown begins for my next one, 10 weeks…