Royal Caribbean is kicking off a Weekend WOW deal that offers a deal on cruises booked this weekend.

Royal Caribbean is offering

• Book an Interior or Ocean View stateroom and receive $25 Onboard Credit
• Book a Balcony or Suite and receive $50 Onboard Credit

The deal is valid on all sailings between August 24 – December 31, 2014, excluding Quantum of the Seas.  Bookings must be made on August 23 or 24.

Offer is combinable with current standard/full fare rates and restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military, BOGO, Kids Sail Free). 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, Shareholder Benefits or Next Cruise offers, promotions, or benefits.

Raul Soler recently returned from his cruise on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas.  He took some great shots and we wanted to share these photos with anyone interested in seeing how the ship looks these days or just wants a quick "mental escape" aboard one of Royal Caribbean's beautiful ships.

All photos were taken by Raul Soler.

We're counting down the days until Royal Caribbean's next cruise ship debuts, Quantum of the Seas, with our 99 days of Quantum countdown.  Each day we will post something about this amazing new ship.

Mamma Mia

Royal Caribbean revolutionized the cruise industry when it first started offering Broadway shows at sea and on Quantum of the Seas, the tradition continues with the hit musical Mamma Mia!.

The long running hit show will be performed on every Quantum of the Seas sailing and it's included in the price of the cruise.

The fact it's complimentary is a big deal when you consider what Broadway show tickets cost, even if the show is on tour off Broadway.  

Since 2009 three other Broadway musicals have debuted on Royal Caribbean: Hairspray, Chicago and Saturday Night Fever.  Each show has been a big hit with guests onboard as it offers yet another great entertainment option.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we celebrate 99 days of Quantum!

If you're ready for a mental escape to a Royal Caribbean cruise, then you're at the right place because we have some great Royal Caribbean photos our readers have sent in.  Each week we ask our readers to send us their best Royal Caribbean photos to showcase right here on the blog so be sure to send yours in too!

Let's kick off this week's photos with a photo from John Siegmund that he took whule snorkeling the reef at Key West, FL while on Majesty of the Seas.  What an experience!

Next is this photo from Matt Smith of Radiance of the Seas with Seward, Alaska in the background.  Love the backdrop!

Here's a photo from Bill O'Donnell of Central Park on Oasis of the Seas at Sunset.  Love those dusk photos!

Here's a creative photo by Sue of what she did with two pool towels, a bath robe, a pillow and a few other bits.  Wish I was there to see the Stateroom attendant's reaction!

Let's wrap things up with this photo by Dan Hillary of Charlotte AMalie as seen from Drake's Seat with a Royal Caribbean ship in the harbor.  Beautiful!

Is your photo missing from here?  Well, send all your Royal Caribbean photos in right now and we can use it for upcoming Friday Photo blog posts! 

Royal Caribbean released the cruise itineraries for Legend of the Seas' Singapore season from June to November 2015.

Legend of the Seas is returning to Singapore after being homeported there from 2008 to 2013 and will offer a variety of three- to 10-night itineraries to destinations throughout Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Brunei, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Taiwan till November, as follows:

• A 3-night cruise during the June school holidays that will call at Penang and Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang)
• A 3-night cruise and 5-night cruise over the September school holidays that visit Penang, Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang), Bangkok (Laem Chabang) and Ko Samui
• Two 10-night cruises to Ko Samui, Bangkok (Laem Chabang) (overnight), Sihanoukville, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My)
• Three 10-night one-way cruises to Ko Samui, Bangkok (Laem Chabang), Sihanoukville, Ho Chi Minh City (Phu My), Nha Trang, Hue/Danang (Chan May) and Hong Kong
• Two 10-night one-way cruises from Hong Kong to Taipei (Keelung), Manila, Boracay, Puerto Princesa, Kota Kinabalu. Bandar Seri Begawan (Muara) and Singapore.

There's also two consecutive 14-night itineraries in September, a southbound sailing from Singapore to Perth (Fremantle), Australia that will call at Kuala Lumpur (Port Klang), Langkawi, Phuket, Bali (Benoa), Lombok, Broome and Geraldton, followed by a northbound return to Singapore with the same ports-of-call.  

Yesterday Royal Caribbean announced a technology reveal event for its newest cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas and today they announced that technology expert David Pogue will be part of the event.

Pogue is the host of NOVA ScienceNow on PBS, a columnist for Yahoo! Tech and a former technology columnist for The New York Times.

The big event is scheduled for August 25 at 10am eastern and will take place at they Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany.

The technology reveal for Quantum of the Seas is expected to follow the recent dining and enterttainment reveal events in showcasing what's new and exciting for Quantum of the Seas.  Royal Caribbean has built a reputation of pushing the envelope when it comes to technology on its cruise ships and this event should further than agenda.

One aspect of technology we know about that is coming to Quantum of the Seas is brand new high speed internet that will allow guests to stay connected at speeds never seen at sea.

We're counting down the days until Royal Caribbean's next cruise ship debuts, Quantum of the Seas, with our 99 days of Quantum countdown.  Each day we will post something about this amazing new ship.

Music Hall

An under-appreciated new feature coming to Quantum of the Seas has to be the Music Hall.  It's a dedicated venue for passengers to enjoy intimate and exclusive access to live performances.

Royal Caribbean describes the design as "rebellious and edgy" and when there isn't a live act performing, there will be dance classes and improv workshops.  

At night, the Music Hall will live up to its name with bands, musicians and DJs playing music for all to enjoy.

Music Hall will span two decks (decks 3 and 4) and was inspired by "the spirit of rock and roll". There's rich tones and lots of leather and mirrors.

Music Hall is purposely designed for unobstructed views of a raised main stage, creating optimal views from any area, including the balconies on a mezzanine level.

READ YESTERDAY'S POST ALL ABOUT HIGH SPEED INTERNET

The second level will feature a Royal Caribbean signature, multiple self-leveling billiard tables.

Music Hall feels like the evolution of the live music venues we've come to enjoy on many Royal Caribbean ships and bring the best elements of each to create a really fun dedicated venue for those that want to enjoy great live music.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we celebrate 99 days of Quantum!

Royal Caribbean is teasing a new Quantum of the Seas event that will reveal the technological advances of this cruise ship next week.

The event will take place on Monday, August 25, 2014 at 10am Eastern time.

No other information about this has been released or announced yet but it will be another big event following the entertainment and dining reveals earlier this year.

To celebrate the launch of Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas in less than 100 days, we're counting down each day with some really cool about the ship.  Check out our blog each day for a brand new post all about Quantum of the Seas.

High speed internet

Traditionally the internet on cruise ships has been slow.  As in 1996 at your parent's house on a dial-up modem slow.  With Quantum of the Seas, that's about to change.

Royal Caribbean has teamed up with O3b Satellite Communications to launch a new generation of medium-Earth-orbit satellites with sophisticated antenna arrays aboard the cruise ships.

The higher internet speeds will make it feasible for a guest to download streaming video or post video clips to Facebook. Royal Caribbean is developing new pricing plans for added service.

READ YESTERDAY'S POST ALL ABOUT RIPCORD BY iFLY

When Quantum of the Seas launches, it will have the new internet speeds ready to go, which is something Royal Caribbean COO Adam Goldstein was quoted as saying,"several new, show-stopper uses of the bandwidth."

"In the old days,” Goldstein said, “we sold escape from the outside world. But today’s younger travelers want full-time access to the Internet." Along those lines, Quantum will feature a new broadband technology for cruise ships, currently being tested aboard the line's largest ships, Oasis and Allure of the Seas.

So how fast is fast? During a test back in March, Royal Caribbean reported bandwidth speeds exceeding 500 Mbps during tests aboard Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we celebrate 99 days of Quantum!

This week's podcast episode is ready to go, as we present episode 55 of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast for your downloading pleasure.

This week, Matt looks at the top 5 things to do aboard Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas.  The ship offers a lot to see and do and Matt has sifted through everything onboard to find the top 5 experiences he enjoys the most.

There's also lots of reader emails and voicemails to share this week about everything Royal Caribbean.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 55. 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!