Carnival Cruise Lines has announced on select five-night sailings of its Carnival Fascination will swap out a stop at Key West for the private island of Little Stirrup Cay, which is better known to Royal Caribbean fans as Coco Cay.

The Fascination sailings that will stop at CocoCay are scheduled for 03/11/2013, 04/08/2013, 05/06/2013, 05/27/2013, 06/10/2013, 06/24/2013, 07/08/2013, 07/22/2013, 08/05/2013, 08/19/2013, 09/02/2013, 09/16/2013, 09/30/2013, 10/14/2013, 10/28/2013, 11/25/2013, 12/09/2013, 01/20/2014, 03/03/2014, 03/17/2014, 04/14/2014 & 04/28/2014.

The news of Carnival stopping at Coco Cay came via emails sent to Carnival passengers that had booked the cruise previously.

The exact details of the agreement between Carnival and Royal Caribbean are unknown at this time.  Royal Caribbean has an existing agreement with the Bahamas for exclusive access to the island via its lease.  Many are speculating that Carnival will pay Royal Caribbean for access to the island because Carnival's private island of Half Moon Cay is booked up already.

Royal Caribbean received yesterday an award from the CruiseNews Media Group for "Best entertainment onboard"  in the Excellence Awards ceremony held at the Museo Picasso in Malaga, Spain. The event brought together more than 200 professionals between shippers, carriers, ports and destinations in the Mediterranean. 

Wangüemert Bethlehem, CEO of Royal Caribbean in Spain said: " At Royal Caribbean, we constantly strive to provide the most innovative ships and a very important part of this lies in the leisure and entertainment on board. The company continues relentless seeking agreements with exclusive partners who make a cruise an unforgettable experience.'s one of the premises of the company."

This is not the first time that Royal Caribbean has won an award in Excellence.  In previous years, Royal Caribbean has won awards for "Best Popular-Family Company" as well as several awards for its cruise ships, such as Liberty of the Seas being selected "Best Ship"..

Hi everyone! As you may already know, we're embarking on a seven night cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas.  We've already posted a few video blog posts talking about our plans for the cruise, the ship and the eastern Caribbean itinerary.

It is my hope to provide to our readers a daily look at what this cruise will be like and share our experiences with you.  This means I will try to post photos every day along with a written report of how things are going (internet permitting).

Our plan for day one is simple.  We live in the Orlando, Florida area so early Sunday morning we will get the family loaded in the car and drive to Port Canaveral.  We'll drop the wife and kid off at the port with the luggage, and then I'll drive the car to the Radisson Hotel to park it for the week (saving a few dollars in parking) and then take the shuttle back to the ship.

We're looking forward to a fun cruise and can't wait to begin our Eastern Caribbean adventure in less than two days.  The weather forecast looks good and the whole family is excited.

Who is going

Matt (me), Marissa (wife) & Gabriella (2 year old daughter)

Our itinerary

Our ship

Next update should be on our embarkation day, Sunday February 24.  Stay tuned for all of our live blog updates right here.

Royal Caribbean has announced its first WOW Sale of 2013, with offers of up to $200 onboard credit and 50 percent reduced deposits for sailings departing on or after May 1, 2013.

This WOW sale is valid on all worldwide sailings of three nights or longer departing after May 1, 2013.

• Cruises of 3 to 5 nights get US$50 onboard credit per stateroom
• Cruises of 6 to 9 nights get US$100 onboard credit per stateroom
• Cruises of 10 nights or more get US$200 onboard credit per stateroom

The onboard credit and 50 percent reduced deposit offers are applicable to all Royal Caribbean International cruises that sail on or after May 1, 2013, including cruisetours. Offer is available only in the U.S. and Canada and applies to all categories available. All bookings must be made and the required deposit must be paid by February 27, 2013, by 11:59 p.m. local time to qualify for the promotion.

What is a WOW Sale? Are WOW Sales good deals?  Read our Cruise 101: WOW Sale post to get information on what this deal is all about.

Condé Nast Traveler released its list of the top spas around the world and in the case of the best spas for cruise ships, three of Royal Caribbean's onboard spas made their Top 25 list.

Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas (9), Grandeur of the Seas (16) and Allure of the Seas (20) all ranked in the top 25.  The list of the best spas ranked them by treatments, staff & facilities.

The polls results came from Condé Nast Traveler readers who shared their findings with the web site over the course of the year.

Photos of a water tank-testing model that purports to be the brand new Quantum of the Seas ship that is in development by Royal Caribbean were posted online today by a cruise blog.  

The model was spotted in a document released by the shipyard that is building the new ships, Meyer Werft.

In addition the following documentation was found: 

During the towing test, the shape and hydrodynamics of the ship which were developed on the computer are tested and optimised.

“Approximately 250 technicians and engineers are currently working on developing and constructing the project in detail. The construction of the first ship will begin in 2013. The ships will be completed in 2014 and 2015″.

“Sunshine will break new ground in terms of its hull shape and overall hydrodynamics. The design guarantees very low fuel consumption and ensures that the latest safety regulations are adhered to.” Henning Luhmann, Technical Design Manager

“With both Sunshine class ships, we will once again produce a totally new kind of ship in Papenburg. Very environmentally friendly and energy efficient – and at the same time the ship offers very innovative concepts in on-board comfort and entertainment.” Uwe Wulff, Project Manager.

“We are currently developing very innovative and exciting solutions for the hotel operations and the on-board entertainment with Royal Caribbean and selected suppliers in order to meet the highest passenger requirements.” Manfred Bresler, Accommodation Department Manager

Royal Caribbean notified its passengers via email today that as of March 1, 2013, all passengers would be charged an automatic daily gratuity for the crew members in the dining room and housekeeping that serve are traditionally tipped.

Royal Caribbean will add an automatic daily gratuity of $12.00 USD ($14.25 USD for Suite guests) to the onboard account of each guest to be shared by Dining Services Staff, Stateroom Attendants and Other Housekeeping Services Personnel. This new gratuity replaces the previously optional gratuity guidelines.

Passengers who had previously prepaid their gratuities for their upcoming cruise will not be affected by the change.

This change to force all passengers to automatically pay for gratuities can be viewed from two major viewpoints.  First, proponents of the automatic gratuities will point to the fact there have been passengers in the past who do not tip at all and thus, this will guarantee the hard working Royal Caribbean crew members a fair wage.  On the other hand, critics complain that automatic gratuities will lead to sub-par service if crew members are aware they are getting a tip already.

Royal Caribbean's change mirrors what competitors Carnival , Princess, Cunard, Holland America and Norwegian have already instituted.  

All of the competitor cruise lines do allow passengers to go to the guest relations desk onboard the ship and ask to change the automatic gratuity charges if they feel service is not up to the expected levels.

What do you think of the new automatic gratuities on Royal Caribbean cruises? Share your thoughts in the comments below.