Royal Caribbean announced today a partnership with Coca-Cola to bring the 2014 FIFA World Cup games to its cruise ships.  

The Coca-Cola Party at Sea will be complete with broadcast of the games at the official watch party hosted by Coca-Cola and complete with samba dancers. 

Ships will offer soccer match broadcasts in public viewing areas and in guest staterooms. Throughout the cruise, guests also will experience additional family activities, Adventure Ocean activities, giveaways and more for everyone to enjoy during their vacation – free of charge.

Limited edition Coca-Cola soccer themed souvenir cups will accompany the purchase of any all-inclusive soda beverage package.

“Royal Caribbean is proud to partner with The Coca-Cola Company to host their Party at Sea,” said Nick Weir, vice president, entertainment, Royal Caribbean. “We know how important this event is to our guests and we are certain that even casual soccer fans will enjoy the experience of watching the competition onboard our family of ships.” 

For more information, visit RoyalCaribbean.com/WorldCup.

Royal Caribbean is offering its first summer sale with up to $400 in onboard credit when you book a cruise between May 7 and 31.

Cruises of six-nights or longer departing to the Caribbean and Bahamas between July 1 and December 31, 2014 are eligible for the sale. 

The offer applies for all new U.S. and Canadian bookings made from May 7 - 31, 2014, for sailings departing from July 1 through Dec. 31, 2014. Vacationers will receive $50 onboard credit per interior or oceanview stateroom; $100 onboard credit per Jr. suite or stateroom with balcony; and $200 onboard credit per Grand Suite or higher category stateroom.  As an added incentive, the cruise line is also doubling onboard credits up to $400 for all eligible sailings between Dec. 15 and Dec. 31, 2014. The offer is valid fleetwide, excluding Quantum of the Seas. 

Details on this promotion are available at www.RoyalCaribbean.com/MayWow.

Royal Caribbean layed the keel for it third Oasis-class cruise ship by placing a 1,000 ton block into position.  

Photo by Royal Caribbean

In addition to keel-laying, the coin ceremony was held at STX France shipyard.  

The keel-laying marks the official beginning of a ship's construction.  The third Oasis-class ship is scheduled to be completed in 2016.

Photo by Lyan Sierra-Caro

Also during the ceremony, Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain announced the company would build a fourth Oasis-class cruise ship that will be ready by 2018.

Let's start the weekend off with some great Royal Caribbean photos by our readers.  Each week we ask our readers to send us their photos and here's just a few that we have to show off this week.

Hunter Raines sent us this week's first photo from Margaritaville in Falmouth, with Liberty of the Seas in the background.  Now that is what I call a view!

Next is a photo from Nick in the Viking Crown lounge on Explorer of the Seas.  I love spending time here and enjoying a drink or two.  You cannot beat the view!

Next is a photo of sunset while on Liberty of the Seas in Cozumel by John Siegmund.  Great shot John!

Jeremy sent us this photo of Strings ice show on Independence of the Seas.  I love the ice shows Royal Caribbean puts on because it's always an impressive display.

Let's go to this photo next by Steven Brinkman of the Royal Promenade on Navigator of the Seas.  Steven said he took this photo during a port day because he wanted photo without lots of guests in the background.  Mission accomplished!

Last, but no least, is this photo by Ken Slusser of his selfie with Jeff Eaton, cruise director on Independence of the Seas during his March 2014 cruise.  Love how "into it" these cruise directors get!

Thank you to everyone who sent in photos and don't forget that we want to see your photos too.  Use our form to send us your favorite Royal Caribbean photos and we will share them in an upcoming Friday Photos post!

Royal Caribbean announced today it has ordered a fourth Oasis-class cruise ship to be built at STX France that will be ready in 2018.

Royal Caribbean chairman Richard Fain made the announcement today at the keel-laying ceremony for the third Oasis-class ship in STX shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France.

The order of a fourth ship in the Oasis class is subject to documentation and satisfaction of financing and other customary conditions. Projected capital expenditures for 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 are $1.4 billion, $1.4 billion, $2.2 billion, $0.3 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively, taking into account this order and existing ship orders.

“The Oasis Class was a revolution in maritime design when it was launched in 2009. Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas continue to be in a class by themselves both in terms of guest satisfaction and financial returns. Today’s announcement is a reflection of their success,” said Richard D. Fain, chairman and chief executive officer, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. “We are thrilled to announce the order of a fourth Oasis-class ship during the keel-laying milestone of the third. This announcement is also a testament to the men and women of STX France who have worked so hard and so cooperatively on Oasis III.”

The third Oasis-class ship is also being built in Saint-Nazaire, France. It is scheduled for delivery in mid-2016.

Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas was the shooting location for a brand new Tamil film, written and directed by Aishwarya R Dhanush, called, "Vai Raja Vai".

Some scenes in the film were shot onboard the ship as part of a a seven-night itinerary across Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Ratna Chadha, Chief Executive, TIRUN Travel Marketing, India Representative for Royal Caribbean International, said, “We are honoured to have had the crew of ‘Vai Raja Vai’ onboard. The staff onboard the ship were excited at the opportunity to interact with celebrated cinematic figures from the South Indian film industry. We were thrilled to be able to showcase our largest and most innovative ships in Asia and some of her many offerings, and look forward to hosting more such shoots from the film industry onboard our other ships as well.”

Royal Caribbean will send Legend of the Seas to Brisbane, Australia for five months in 2015 through 2016.

Legend of the Seas will offer cruises throughout Southeast Asia.  She will start out in Singapore in summer season and then move to Brisbane for the winter.

Legend of the Seas will join Mariner of the Seas, Voyager of the Seas and Radiance of the Seas while in Australia.  

​The move is aimed at addressing the growing demand for cruises in the Australian cruise market.  This will be part of the largest deployment ever for Royal Caribbean to Australia.

Legend of the Seas 2015-2016 Southeast Asia and Australia cruises will go on sale May 21, 2014.

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

Episode 40 is available for downloading and this week we are reviewing the beautiful island of St. Maarten.

Matt loves visiting St. Maarten for the sheer beauty of the beaches and landscape this island paradise offers.  Matt also shares his favorite excursions and tips for visiting St. Maarten.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 40. 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!

Once thought to be impossible, Royal Caribbean has made ice-skating at sea a reality. One of many Royal Caribbean innovations, the ice-skating rink is now a favorite that cruisers love.

Royal Caribbean will change the menu of its specialty restaurant, Chops Grille, across the entire fleet of ships by the end of August 2014.

Chops Grille new menu had debuted on Navigator of the Seas back in February. Among other changes, the new menu offers dry-rub steaks, veal chop parmesan and a slow-braised short rib of beef with bordelaise sauce.

This email was sent by Royal Caribbean to a cruiser on CruiseCritic, "We are pleased to inform you that we do in fact have a new menu for Chops Grille that is currently available onboard the Freedom of the Seas and the Navigator of the Seas. This new menu will be available fleet wide by the end of August. "

READ OUR REVIEW OF THE NEW CHOPS GRILLE MENU

The price for dining at Chops Grille will remain $35 per person.