Blog reader Niclas Jakob had the opportunity recently to check out construction progress of Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas, at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany.
He took a few photos to share. Enjoy!
Happy weekend Royal Caribbean fans!
The big Royal Caribbean news of the week occured yesterday when Royal Caribbean made big changes to its future cruise booking program.
Effective immediately, Royal Caribbean revised how much onboard credit guests can get by booking a specific cruise as well as an open booking onboard their Royal Caribbean cruise.
The new promotion largely benefits those booking cruises 8-nights or longer and those staying in a balcony stateroom or higher. In addition, the open booking onboard credit amounts have been greatly reduced across the board.
Have you listened to the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast yet? Our newest episode came out this week and it's all about the most challenging aspects of planning a Royal Caribbean cruise.
Matt shares his biggest challenges and also shares challenges other Royal Caribbean Blog members ran into and tries to offer solutions to avoiding these problems or at least minimizing the issues.
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.
We're so excited to announce the first ever group cruise for readers and staff of RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com aboard Quantum of the Seas! This is an exclusive group where we are inviting you, our readers, to join us on one of the first Quantum of the Seas sailings on an 8-night cruise to the Caribbean.
This Royal Caribbean Blog group cruise is all about enjoying this brand new ship with other fans who are big fans of Royal Caribbean. Don't miss this opportunity to check out the brand new cruise ship as well as be a part of exclusive events for those that book with our group!
For more details on booking the cruise, the itinerary and prices, check out the Royal Caribbean Blog group cruise page and if you have any questions, email me!
Advertising Age included Royal Caribbean in a list of 15 of Marketing's Most Memorable Experiential Moves.
Royal Caribbean has solutions to five travel conundrums like planning and shopping.
Metro looks at the looming "cruise war" between Anthem of the Seas and the Britannia.
Royal Caribbean's popular NextCruise program appears to have changed signifigantly in terms of the benefits, according to an updated document released by Royal Caribbean.
The NextCruise program allows guests onboard their cruises to book future Royal Caribbean cruises, either a specific cruise or an open booking.
Under the terms of the new program, the amount of onboard credit a guest receives has been adjusted depending on the length of their cruise and the category of stateroom they pick.
Here is a break down of how much onboard credit you wil receive when booking a specific future cruise onboard your cruise.
In addition, the NextCruise open booking program incentives have had their onboard credit amounts reduced, with the amount varying depending on the length of your cruise.
The changes appear to favor cruises of longer length as well as those in balcony or suite accomodations.
The changes appear to be in place now and effective going forward. The new policy does not affect NextCruise bookings or open bookings previously made.
Earlier this month, Royal Caribbean announced a very popular promotion offering third and fourth passengers on a Royal Caribbean cruise would sail free on select cruises between May and December 2014 but it excluded Quantum of the Seas and Grandeur of the Seas. Until now.
Royal Caribbean has now expanded the offering to include the Baltimore-based cruises on Grandeur of the Seas.
The details of the deal remain the same: Royal Caribbean is giving free cruise fare to third and fourth passenger of any age sharing a cabin with two paying passengers on sailings departing from May 1 to December 15. Bookings must be made by March 31.
The deal is advertised as "kids sail free", but the reality is there is no age restriction on the offer so any third and fourth passenger
Once more it is Friday and once more we are sharing lots of fun Royal Caribbean photos our readers have sent in to us. Let's get started!
Our first photo this week comes from John Siegmund and it's of tour ships sailing the sunset in Key West, Florida back on February 20, 2014. Great shot!
I really love this photo from Lauren McCrillis of bon voyage cupcakes that she made before going on Liberty of the Seas. Great idea and further proof funfetti makes everything better.
This beautiful photo of Voyager of the Seas' sports deck while on a 14-night cruise around New Zealand looks amazing. The colors are so vivid and sunsets at sea are the best.
Alejandro sent us this photo of his souvenir scale models that he bought on his cruises. In this picture there is Allure of the Seas, Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas, Serenade of the Seas & Brilliance of the Seas.
Kayla's photo of Jackson Square in New Orleans and she writes, "Jackson Square in New Orleans, where we got on the Voyager of the Seas for her Western Caribbean Itinerary. Fell in love with that city and cant wait to go back!"
The photo that wins the "Matt wishes he was most at right now" award goes to this photo of CocoCay by Michael Poole. Looks perfect!
This week's photos were great but we want more of your Royal Caribbean photos, so please use this form to send us your favorite Royal Caribbean photos so we can share them on the blog!
If you've been a reader of this blog for a while, you may know that my last trip to Johnny Rockets on Freedom of the Seas did not go so well. So when my Navigator of the Seas cruise came around, I was quite content not stopping here if things didn't work out scheduling wise.
A few nights into the cruise, my wife and I were at the main dining room and I was enjoying my meal when I finished my entree and still felt a little hungry. I then thought about what I wanted and for whatever reason, I started craving a burger.
I mentioned this notion to my wife who also said she was in the mood for french fries. So we decided to skip dessert (to the horror of our waiter) and took the elevator straight up to Johnny Rockets.
I was hoping for a short wait and for the food here to finally redeem itself.
Johnny Rockets across Royal Caribbean's fleet of cruise ships is pretty much the same look and feel. Based on the restaurant chain on land, you'll find a vibe to the place, with lots of chrome and red leather.
The seating is mostly booths, both inside the restaurant and outside. It was still a little too breezy to eat outside so we opted to remain inside. There are also stools at the bar that you can sit at, which if there is a wait, you can go right up to and seat yourself.
Johnny Rockets plays music from the 1950's and 1960's primarily and while there are jukeboxes at every booth to pick music from, none of the jukeboxes seemed to actually work.
As we walked into Johnny Rockets at around 9:30 or 10:00pm, there was no wait and just a few people eating. We chose a booth inside and took a seat.
Everyone who eats at Johnny Rockets get a plate of french fries and onion rings along with dipping sauces. You can get as much of this as you want. Unlike other times, the fries and onion rings tasted freshly made. No 99% breading, 1% onion in these rings. And the fries did not taste like they had been under heat lamps all day.
For my wife, who was craving the fries, it hit the spot. Even I enjoyed a few of these, especially the onion rings.
For our main courses, I wanted a burger but felt a little guilty having a burger after eating dinner so I decided I would order two items and just sample each. That was the plan anyway.
I ordered the double burger and the chicken sandwich. A couple of bites of both and I'd be satisfied.
To my delight, both sandwiches came out really, really good. The burger meat was very moist and had a lot of flavor. Without realizing it, I had polished off about three quarters of the burger before I decided my "sampling" was done.
The chicken sandwich was also really good and there was no tough, chewy parts of the chicken filet here. Once more, I ate more of this than I had originally planned.
My wife went with the grilled cheese sandwich as she wanted something lighter than a burger to eat.
Grilled cheese is a pretty simple sandwich and my wife reported it tasted quite good. The right amount of grilling without burning the bread and not too much cheese in the middle.
It was kind of a shock to me, but we walked away with a satisfying and really good meal at Johnny Rockets!
I was pleasantly surprised with my experience at Johnny Rockets on Navigator of the Seas. Not only did it "hit the spot" for my craving, but it also restored my faith in Johnny Rockets on Royal Caribbean cruise ships being a good idea.
Perhaps the Johnny Rockets experience varies from ship to ship and maybe going in the evening improved our chances.
I know what many of you are thinking, "Matt, how could you not have a milk shake?" and we were so full by the time we got our food that a milk shake was just too much. And I never doubted the awesomeness of Johnny Rocket's milkshakes because even on my worst Johnny Rockets experiences, the milk shakes remained quite good.
I enjoyed my meal at Johnny Rockets and while I don't think it's somewhere I would go to have dinner, it is a great spot for lunch or late night snacking. Its hours of operation are much later than the main dining room or Windjammer.
We have a brand new Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast episode for everyone to enjoy today!
Episode 32 of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is available and this week we are looking at the most challenging aspects of planning a Royal Caribbean cruise.
Matt shares what he finds the most difficult aspect of planning a cruise and also reads what other Royal Caribbean Blog members thought their most difficult challenges were too. Together, Matt offers advice and hints to overcome these obstacles.
Here’s the podcast page for Episode 32. 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!
Resolve Marine Group provides state-of-the-art experiences for Royal Caribbean crews.
When Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas stops in for its revitalization, it will take place at Sembcorp Marine's Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore.
Currently the shipyard expects Voyager of the Seas in for its work in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Kevin Douglas, Vice President of Technical Projects and Newbuild for Royal Caribbean said, "Sembawang Shipyard is a very technically competent and efficient shipyard, and, as such, is one of our preferred partners. We are very happy to work with them again as part of Royal Caribbean International's ongoing fleetwide revitalization. The shipyard will help introduce on Voyager of the Seas many of the innovative and most popular onboard amenities that debuted on the Oasis-class of ships, as well as brand new innovative concepts that will greatly elevate the experience for our guests."
This isn't the first Royal Caribbean ship to get work done here. Sembawang Shipyard carried did the revitalization work on Rhapsody of the Seas in 2012 and the Legend of the Seas in 2013.
The revitalization work being done on Voyager of the Seas is part of a fleet-wide effort to upgrade all of its cruise ships to add features and amenities first found on its Oasis-class of ships.
So you're about to book a Royal Caribbean cruise and you get to the part where you need to decide which stateroom to book. Suddenly, you have multiple options for each category of stateroom and you wonder, "what is the difference?".
There are four basic stateroom categories on any Royal Caribbean cruise ship
Sounds simple enough but within each of those basic categories are a number of sub-categories to further define what you are booking. At its very basic level, not all staterooms in one these four basic categories are the same.
When you compare sub categories of staterooms, you will need to compare a few different aspects of the stateroom to see what is most important to you.
Generally speaking, the most basic differential for any stateroom category to the next is how much square footage the room is. Usually, the more space a stateroom has, the more expensive the stateroom is.
When we are talking about square footage, we are also talking about balcony size. For staterooms that have balconies (balcony and suite categories), the size of your balcony may be just as big a difference as how large the living space is.
Just like real estate, where your stateroom is located can factor into a difference in category (and price).
The general thought is everyone wants to be mid-ship and high up for the stability and view, respectively. Being in the middle of the ship means everything is equidistant from you and it's easiest to get everywhere.
Of course, some staterooms may be right in the middle but have outside factors that make it less desirable. This includes balconies with obstructed views or staterooms above or below restaurants or public areas (noise bleed).
How many people you want to put into one stateroom will also dictate a difference between the rooms.
Family staterooms offer much more space and capacity than regular staterooms but at a higher total cost. Suites offer even more space, at an even higher cost than family staterooms.
What you get in your stateroom also factors into the different types of rooms to choose from.
Virtual balcony staterooms are a new category of inside staterooms, where you will get a virtual view of the ocean as opposed to other inside staterooms with no such add-on.
Suites differentiate themselves by offering more than one bathroom, Jacuzzi, separate rooms and more.
