Royal Caribbean Blog

With November here, time is running out of 2017 and we cannot help but look forward to some of the exciting cruises coming in 2018.  By the looks of it, things are shaping up to be a big year for Royal Caribbean.

If you are considering booking a Royal Caribbean cruise for 2018 and want to be a part of Royal Caribbean taking a step forward, then consider these cruises (assuming there's still availability).

Return to New Orleans

Photo by Michael Hicks

In 2018, Royal Caribbean will return to New Orleans as a homeport after a number of years absence.  

Starting in Winter 2018, Vision of the Seas will offer weeklong cruises from New Orleans to the Bahamas, as well as destinations in the Western Caribbean.

Mariner of the Seas refurbishment and new home

Mariner of the Seas will undergo a six-week modernization program that will see Royal Caribbean invest over $100 million in upgrading the ship.  When she finishes her refurbishment, Mariner of the Seas will be a great ship for first time cruisers and those new-to-cruise.

If you are looking for a rather long sailing, Mariner of the Seas will take a "Global Odyssey" cruise, going from Singapore to Dubai, then on to Barcelona prior to her arrival in her new home in North America.

Mariner of the Seas will call Miami, Florida home in 2018, and will be the first Voyager Class ship to offer short Caribbean sailings. Mariner of the Seas will offer 3- and 4-night itineraries from PortMiami, beginning on June 21, 2018.

Symphony of the Seas European inaugural sailings

There is little doubt that 2018 will be the year of Symphony of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's next new cruise ship.  Symphony of the Seas is the fourth Oasis class cruise ship in the fleet, and will debut in Barcelona, Spain on March 31, 2018.

For her inaugural season, Symphony of the Seas will spend the summer in the Mediterranean and offer stops in Provence, France; Rome, Naples and Pisa, Italy.

Panama Canal sailings

Before making her way to New Orleans, Vision of the Seas will offer two 16-night sailings through the Panama Canal from Miami to Los Angeles, California. This will be the first time in three years that Royal Caribbean has offered a cruise through the Panama Canal.

The first of the trips, departing on November 13, 2018, will go from Miami to Los Angeles. It'll be followed by a voyage from Los Angeles to New Orleans.

Symphony transatlantic and new home

Following Symphony of the Seas' European debut, she will embark upon a transatlantic sailing that will bring her to new home of Miami in November 2018.

Symphony of the Seas will be welcomed to Miami with the brand new state-of-the-art terminal at Port Miami, known as the, “Crown of Miami.” This 170,000-square-foot Royal Caribbean terminal will be LEED certified and showcase the innovation and elegance travelers expect from our ships, with a striking “crown” design and facade lighting to illuminate the city’s night skyline.

Happy Sunday! November has arrived, and we hope you had a great week with friends, family, and plenty of food.  Each week we summarize all of this week's Royal Caribbean news, just in case you missed any of it.

The big news this week was Royal Caribbean's tease for a big announcement next week.

Royal Caribbean is promising to reveal something next Tuesday, with simply the tag line of, "Mark your calendars and tune in on November 7, 2017! The Thrills are about to get even bigger."

This has prompted a number of guesses from our readers, including enhancements to CocoCay, new itineraries, and other speculative ideas.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean provided answers to some commonly asked questions about cruises sailing out of San Juan.
• Royal Caribbean has scheduled its third quarter earnings call with investors for next week.
• Here are eight tips for first-time Royal Caribbean cruisers.
• A Cruise Planner sale ends at the end of today.
• Royal Caribbean UK is sponsoring the Chorley Football club.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

On this week's episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast, Matt talks all about cruise sales and what they entail.

These days, there seem to be new Royal Caribbean sales promotions every week, and this episode is discussion of what the sales are all about, how lucrative the deals can be, and if you ought to wait for a sale.

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.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Travel Market Report talked with Royal Caribbean's CEO about facial recognition and non-refundable cruise deposits.

Cruise Critic reviewed a recent sailing on what used to be Royal Caribbean's Song of America.

Mesophere shared how they collaborated with Royal Caribbean to bring microservices to cruise ships.

Eat Sleep Cruise reviewed Johnny Rockets on Majesty of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean tried to answer the question of which room to book for a cruise.

Travel Agent Central shared remarks by Royal Caribbean's CEO about hurricanes, travel agents, and more.

Welcome to this week's edition of Friday Photos, where we showcase our readers favorite Royal Caribbean photos.  If we all cannot be on a Royal Caribbean cruise at the moment, then the next best thing is to look at photos of a cruise longingly as a means of getting a "cruise fix."

If you want to submit your photos for a future Friday Photos post, be sure to send them to us via this form.

Our first photo this week is from Duncan McGregor, and it is of Navigator of the Seas alongisde in Amsterdam.

Next, we have a phot of the Boardwalk entrance taken by Kinny Lee.

Pamela spotted this red phone box on a beach in Antigua.

Here we have the man, the myth, the living legend... Captain Johnny on his motorbike on Harmony of the Seas.  Photo by Danny Paquot.

Justin Amrhein shared this photo of Anthem of the Seas in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

James Woodward took this photo on Grandeur of the Seas, while docked in Nova Scotia.

Our final photo this week is by Robert Fernandez of Adventure of the Seas docked in Curaçao, as seen from the pier.

That wraps up this week's edition of Friday Photos. If you want your Royal Caribbean photo featured here, use this form to send them in!

Royal Caribbean is offering up to 30% off select Cruise Planner purchases this weekend, with its Sip, Tour, & Save sale.

The weekend Cruise Planner sale promises savings on certain shore excursions and drink package purchases.  Guests can check which discounts, if any, are available for their upcoming sailing by visiting the Cruise Planner site.

Based on the countdown timer, the sale will expire at midnight on Sunday night.

Royal Caribbean has posted a new teaser hinting at an announcement coming next week.

Royal Caribbean alerted travel agents to the news that will be announced next Tuesday, with simply the tag line of, "Mark your calendars and tune in on November 7, 2017! The Thrills are about to get even bigger."

A couple of observations that may or may not have any relationship to the announcement:

• The teaser image does not have a cruise ship in it, just land (although there is a beached boat on the left side).
• The image file is named 17059107_Deployment_Tease_1024x640.jpg.
• The word "thrills" is prominently mentioned.

What do you think this announcement will be about? Share your ideas in the comments!

Royal Caribbean UK and the Chorley Football Club announced today a new shirt sponsorship deal.

The shirt sponsorship has been agreed for the Emirates FA Cup First Round game with Fleetwood Town, which will be screened worldwide on Monday 6 November. Royal Caribbean will also take TV arc advertising, programme advertising and hospitality as part of the sponsorship agreement.

Ben Bouldin, UK Managing Director, Royal Caribbean, said: “We are very excited to be sponsoring the shirts for Chorley FC’s biggest game in the club’s history. We wish Chorley FC all the best and look forward to a positive result!”

The FA Cup game will be screened on BT Sport in the UK and throughout Europe, North Africa, USA, Russia and China by FA official broadcast partners.

Royal Caribbean's Double Up Sale rolled out today, which offers combinable instant savings and money to spend at sea.

The Double Up Sale is valid on cruises booked November 1-5, 2017 11:59 p.m. EST on sailings departing on or after December 1, 2017.

The Double Up Sale includes

• Instant savings
  • 5 Nights or Fewer
    • Interior / Ocean View: $25 USD per stateroom
    • Balcony: $50 USD per stateroom
    • Suite: $75 USD per stateroom
  • 6 Nights or Longer
    • Interior / Ocean View: $25 USD per stateroom
    • Balcony: $75 USD per stateroom
    • Suite: $200 USD per stateroom
• Onboard credit
  • 5 Nights or Fewer
    • Interior / Ocean View: $25 USD per stateroom
    • Balcony: $50 USD per stateroom
    • Suite: $75 USD per stateroom
  • 6 Nights or Longer
    • Interior / Ocean View: $25 USD per stateroom
    • Balcony: $75 USD per stateroom
    • Suite: $100 USD per stateroom

The Double Up Sale is combinable with the November BOGO Offer(Cruise must be booked between November 1, 2017 through December 8, 2017 at 11:59 p.m. EST), which also includes

• 50% off cruise fare of second guest who must be booked in the same stateroom as a first guest who books at full fare
• 25% cruise fare savings for 3rd guests and higher booked in the same stateroom as the first two qualifying guests
• Northeast Bonus
  • Kids age 12 and under sail free on select Anthem, Adventure and Grandeur of the Seas sailings.

BOGO offer is combinable with NRDB OBC, promotional OBCs and instant savings, NextCruise offers, restricted discounts (for example, Senior, Resident, Military), Crown and Anchor discounts and Shareholder Benefits. Deck the Holidays and Double Up Sale are combinable with NextCruise offers, NRDB OBC, Kids Sail Free and restricted discounts (for example, Senior, Resident, Military) but is not combinable with Shareholder benefits and Crown and Anchor discounts. BOGO50 bookings made for China departures are combinable with NextCruise offers and Crown and Anchor balcony/suites discounts only. All offers are not combinable with any other offer or promotion, including, but not limited to, Standard Group, Interline, Travel Agent, Travel Agent Friends and Family, Weekly Sales Events, Net Rates.

Offer available to residents of United States and Canada.

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

Episode 222 is available for downloading, focusing on the various sales and promotions Royal Caribbean offers throughout the year.

These days, there are a lot of different sales offered by Royal Caribbean.  Matt takes a look at what these offers are all about, how lucrative they really are, and if you ought to wait to book a cruise.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 222. 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 will hold a conference call on November 7, 2017, at 10am to discuss its third quarter 2017 financial results.

The call will be available on-line at the company's investor relations web site, www.rclinvestor.com. To listen to the call by phone, please dial (877) 663-9606 in the US and Canada. International phone calls should be made to (706) 758-4628. There is no passcode or meeting number.

A replay of the webcast will be available at the same site for a month following the call.

Understandably, many guests are concerned about their upcoming Royal Caribbean cruises that leave out of San Juan, Puerto Rico, or just apprehensive about booking a cruise departing from there. The damage caused by recent hurricanes can still be felt across the island.

Royal Caribbean has released a new set of frequently asked questions to address the current state of affairs in San Juan, and what guests can expect.

This information was up to date as of October 30, 2017.

What is the current status of Puerto Rico, more specifically the city of San Juan?

Rebuilding is underway! The Puerto Rico Tourism Company has collaborated with government agencies and the private sector to provide relief following the damage caused by recent hurricanes. The safety of all visitors and residents remains a top priority as the island takes steps towards a full recovery. Airports, hotels, and cruise infrastructures are operational and are on a steady path to rebuilding an even stronger Puerto Rico.

Is the port of San Juan open and fully functional?

San Juan Harbor is open and has resumed homeporting operations.

Have airports in Puerto Rico returned to normal flight patterns?

Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan is fully operational with scheduled domestic and international flights. Other airports in surrounding areas are operational with limited service.

Have hotels reopened? Is there availability?

At this time, approximately 69% of hotels are operational and accepting reservations. Availability varies by hotel and can change at any time.

Has electrical power been restored across the island?

Roughly 70% of Puerto Rico remains without power. 

Are services available to safely transfer cruisers to-and-from the airport?

Though transportation services remain somewhat limited, ongoing clean-up efforts and increased availability of fuel are improving the outlook. Currently, 83% of gas stations on the island are functioning. To assist in this arena, those Royal Caribbean guests arriving and departing San Juan on the embarkation and debarkation days of their cruise vacation are eligible to receive complimentary transfers from the airport to the pier and vice versa. This service will remain complimentary for Jewel of the Seas and Adventure of the Seas guests traveling through December 31, 2017. Specific flight parameters apply.

Have cell towers and telecommunication services been restored across the island? 

Nearly 70% of the island’s cell phone towers and telecommunication services are working in full capacity.

What attractions and/or tours are available for cruise guests to participate in?

The following tourist locations have been restored:

• Old San Juan / Old City shops
• Some restaurants & bars
• City has been cleaned but some debris and damaged buildings will be visible in New San Juan
• Plaza Las Americas (Mall of San Juan)
• Biking, Segway, & Walking tours
• Food tours
• Yoga on the Green

What humanitarian efforts are available should cruise guests wish to assist?

Guests can opt to participate in relief assistance through monetary contributions or through the donation of much-needed, essential supplies. For many of these recovering islands, tourism plays an instrumental role in their overall economic status, impacting local jobs and livelihood. Now more than ever, these impacted islands need you!