Royal Caribbean Blog

Royal Caribbean's Oasis-class ships, Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas and the new Harmony of the Seas, all met at sea earlier today.  This marked the first, and possibly only time an meeting like this might occur.

The three ships rendezvoused off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida in a celebration of the arrival of Harmony of the Seas to her new homeport of Port Everglades.

Harmony of the Seas is the largest cruise ship in the world, just edging out her sister ships Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.  The three ships represent the meeting of the largest cruise ships in the world, in one place.

Royal Caribbean's three Oasis class ships are meeting just off the coast of Florida today, and Royal Caribbean is sharing a live stream of this historic event.

Harmony of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas are meeting together for the first time.

If you are new to cruising, or just new to Royal Caribbean, you might have heard about one particular ship in Royal Caribbean's fleet that is getting a lot of attention but were not sure why.  This post is intended for people like you.

Alternatively, this might be a post you share with someone that you want to go on Harmony of the Seas, but need to explain the significance of this ship.

In short, this post is a primer for what Harmony of the Seas so darn intriguing and a compelling cruise ship to book.

It's big (like, really big)

Royal Caribbean has a well-deserved reputation for building large cruise ships in the industry, and Harmony of the Seas follows that tradition by being the largest passenger cruise ship in the world.

Harmony of the Seas first debuted in May 2016, and she is 226,963 gross tons in size.  How big is that, exactly?  If she were to be stood upright, she would be 361 meters tall.  The Eiffel Tower is 324 meters tall and Big Ben is only 96 meters tall.

Harmony of the Seas can handle 5,497 guests at double occupancy, is 66.4 meters wide and has 2,747 staterooms.  

While this size sounds impressive, what it means for guests is there is plenty of space onboard for Royal Caribbean to offer some truely unqiue and fun activities.  Harmony of the Seas is the kind of ship that was designed to be a destination in of itself, with lots to see and do onboard.

Being onboard Harmony of the Seas, it feels less like a boat and more like a city, with different neighborhoods and things to do throughout the day.

First rate shows

Royal Caribbean prides itself on the entertainment it offers onboard its ships, and Harmony of the Seas offers guests brand new shows that are great performances.

First and foremost, guests can see the classic Broadway show, Grease, onboard Harmony of the Seas. Admission to Grease (and all shows) is included in your cruise fare.  This fun love story features a soundtrack of crowd favorites such as “Summer Nights,” “Greased Lightnin’,” “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee,” “Born to Hand-Jive,” “Beauty School Dropout” and more.

Royal Caribbean also developed its own musical, Columbus, The Musical!.  This production created in the spirit of “Spamalot” and “Something Rotten,” recounts the imagined history of Marvin Columbus, Christopher’s fictional, down on his luck, distant cousin. Combining smart, nuanced humor and breathtaking set design, Columbus is the kind of family show you will really love to see.

Harmony of the Seas is an Oasis-class ship, which means it features at the aft of the ship an open-air ampitheater with a large pool in the center, known as the AquaTheater.  The Aquatheater has two 10-meter high platforms and a hydraulic-floored pool, the largest and deepest freshwater pool at sea. 

There are two different shows to see in the AquaTheater. The Fine Line is a 360° immersive entertainment show, revelers will be wishing for eyes in the back of their head to take in all the action happening around them. Hideaway Heist is a new comedy dive show, that jumps into the world of the 1950's holiday resort and tells the story of a detective pursuing a crafty burglar.

You might be thinking just these shows are enough to impress you, but there is much more enteratinment onboard. There are two ice skating shows, held in the ship's indoor ice skating rink; An escape room experience, where guests try to solve a riddle by deciphering the clues in the room before time runs out; Special dance parties throughout the cruise and much more.

Slides!

If you prefer to spend time onboard getting your adrenaline going, try one of the many slides available.  Royal Caribbean's addition of water and dry slides to Harmony of the Seas is a big deal, because Royal Caribbean never really did slides before this ship.  With this ship, there are plenty to choose from and that means fun for the entire family.

Beginning with the water slides, Royal Caribbean added what it calls, "The Perfect Storm" water slides in the center of the ship.  These are three slides that twist and turn down to the pool decks below.  One slide features a champagne bowl that swirls riders around as they approach the end of the slide.  The other two water slides are racing slides that are meant to see just how fast guests can rocket to the bottom.

Families with younger children will love the new aquatic adventure park, known as Splashaway Bay. This play area features slides, water cannons, waterfalls and more for kids to run around and enjoy to their heart's content. Royal Caribbean describes Splashaway Bay as, "a vibrant waterscape for kids and toddlers with sea creature water cannons, winding slides, a gigantic drench bucket and a multi-platform jungle-gym to keep everyone entertained for hours."

There is still one more thrill ride on Harmony of the Seas that anyone with the courage to do can try, the Ultimate Abyss.  

The Ultimate Abyss is a 10-story dry slide that is the tallest slide at sea and a the biggest thrill ride to date for Royal Caribbean. The Ultimate Abyss is more than 150 feet above sea level and offers side-by-side slides that send guests down 10 decks at a rate of 9 miles per hour.

Launching onto the ride from a glass platform, guests climb onto a customized mat and then descend into a tunnel filled with spontaneous audio effects that create a multi-sensory thrill.

Lots and lots of dining

When Royal Caribbean built its first Oasis class ship, Oasis of the Seas, the cruise line re-defined how many dining options could be offered on a Royal Caribbean ship.  Harmony of the Seas continues in that vein, with a wide assortment of dining options that are sure to please everyone.

Harmony of the Seas dining options are a mix of complimentary and specialty restaurants.  Complimentary restaurants are included in your cruise fare, while specialty restaurants have an additional cost to them.  It is at your discretion if you choose to dine at a specialty restaurant, but there are lots of choices across many different price points.  All of the dining options offer very delicious food that you are certain to enjoy quite a bit.

At the heart of the complimentary dining is the beautiful main dining room.  Guests on Harmony of the Seas can dine here each evening with the elegance and traditionalism that the cruise industry wass built on.  Each evening there is a different menu, with creative, classic and contemporary choices to enjoy.

All around Harmony of the Seas are a number of complimentary eateries that offer grab-and-go options and sit down choices.  Park Cafe is home to the famous Kummelweck sandwich, and the Windjammer buffet is where you can go to get pretty much everything.

If you want to try a specialty restaurant (or four), there are so many great choices.  Harmony of the Seas features two specialty restaurants that are new to the Oasis-class.  Jamie's Italian is the creation of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, which features rustic Italian dishes made from seasonal ingredients and tried and true recipes.  Wonderland is an imaginative take on specialty dining, where the experience is just as important as the food offered. While Wonderland is on a few other Quantum-class ships, on Harmony of the Seas, this is the first two-story Wonderland restaurant in the fleet.

There is also Johnny Rockets, a 1950's inspired diner that serves up burgers, hot dogs and milk shakes; Chops Grille, the high-quality steakhouse that offers dry-aged steaks in addition to its menu of quality cuts of meat; Sabor Tacqueria & Tequila Bar offers some of the best Mexican food we have ever had, with favorites like tacos, quesadillas and margaritas, as well as contemporary Mexican dishes; Izumi Hibachi and Sushi offers fresh and flavorful Japanese cuisine, including teppan-style dining.

In short, there is a lot of dining choices on Harmony of the Seas, and that means you have a large variety of choices available for you to choose from.

Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas is nearly at her new home of Port Everglades, Florida, and I will be onboard two of the first few sailings and LIVE blogging every day of the cruise, to share with you what it is like to experience this amazing ship.

This is a somewhat different type of live blog, and cruise experience, for me.  I will be on two different sailings, separated by two days between them.  Our cruise begins later this week, but here is a cruise preview to share with you what to expect on our trip!

The Cruise

As I mentioned, I will be on two different Harmony of the Seas sailings. The first is a three-night Bahamas cruise on November 5th, and the other is a two-night Bahamas cruise on November 10th.

The story of booking this cruise goes back a few months ago, when Royal Caribbean invited me to come aboard a two-night Harmony of the Seas preview cruise, where members of the media, travel agents and other VIP's are invited to check out this new ship.

Royal Caribbean Blog has been lucky enough to have been invited to a couple other preview sailings on Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas, so to be honored with an invite for this sailing is quite wonderful.

These two-night preview cruises go by extremely quickly, and are filled with a number of events meant to educate and provide a deeper insight into how the ship functions. The events are very interesting and offer quite a bit of insight, but it comes at the expense of the limited time onboard.

I had noticed there was a 3-night sailing on Harmony of the Seas just prior to my 2-night sailing, and it was over a weekend.  This seemed to be the perfect solution to allowing me additional time for ship-based research prior to the media cruise experience.

With as much of a serious tone that one can use in a written blog post, I will be using my collective 5-nights on Harmony of the Seas to spend it researching what is unique about this ship, and using my time to collect information that I plan on using in future blog posts.  Of course, I relish this sort of "work", and the opportunity to check out Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship is extremely exciting to me.

Stateroom

I will be staying in two different stateroom categories between the two sailings.

On the first sailing, I will be in a Boardwalk view balcony stateroom.  When I made the reservation, I got a Neighborhood Balcony Guarantee stateroom, because it was less expensive and I was fairly open to the room type.  I will be sailing solo on the 3-night sailing and believe it or not, the Neighborhood Balcony Guarantee was the cheapest option available.

After a couple of weeks, my room was assigned and discovered it would be a Neighborhood Balcony guarantee.  I have stayed in Central Park Balcony rooms, but never a Boardwalk Balcony.  I am excited to try something new and see what the whole Boardwalk view experience is all about.  Also, my room is very close to the end of the hall (4 rooms away from the aft of the ship), so I am hoping I might have a decent view of the AquaTheater too.

On the two-night sailing, my wife will join me and we will be in an oceanview balcony.

This is a classic stateroom option, and this will be the first time I will be staying in an oceanview balcony on an Oasis class ship.

Itinerary

Both cruises are short and will include a stop in Nassau, Bahamas, although I do not plan on getting off the ship on any of the stops.  I want to take full advantage of my time onboard Harmony of the Seas, and will stay onboard to ensure I have as much time as possible to experience as much of what the ship offers as I can.  Plus, I will be back to Nassau in March on a different sailing, so there will be time to explore there later.

Three things I am excited to try

3. Water slides

Harmony of the Seas features a number of firsts, and its water slides are one aspect of the ship that many families are super excited to try.  Even as an adult, I cannot wait to try them out for myself and check out one of the first water slides at sea on a Royal Caribbean ship.

There are three new slides on Harmony of the Seas, collectively known as The Perfect Storm. Two racer slides and a champagne bowl slide mean I will be taking quite a few trips (in the name of research).

2. Boardwalk balcony

This is my first time staying in a Boardwalk balcony stateroom, and I am excited to compare the experience to staying in a Central Park balcony. Both room types are quite popular with many guests, and getting a chance to check it out for myself is going to be a real highlight.

When staying in a neighborhood balcony, the key feature is the balcony experience.  I always loved having the ambiance of Central Park around me, so I cannot wait to see what it is like with the busy nature of the Boardwalk.

1. Columbus, The Musical!

Of all the amazing entertainment that I have booked so far on Harmony of the Seas, the one I am most excited to see for myself is Columbus, The Musical!

This is a Royal Caribbean original production that was created in the same style as Something Rotten and Spamalot. I have high hopes for this show, based on the reviews I have read about it and the stories I have heard from Royal Caribbean about the show's creation.

What's next

Our Harmony of the Seas cruise begins on Saturday, November 5th, and I will be sharing the details on the blog, as well as across my social media channels.  Be sure to follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Periscope for live updates throughout the day.

I invite you to share in this experience with me, by posting in the comments for any blog post questions and comments you may have.  I try to make these live blogs as interactive as I can, so I want everyone to feel welcome to share their thoughts.

Thanks for reading all of this and welcome aboard our next fun live blog experience!

When Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas arrives in her new home of Port Everglades, Florida, the cruise line is planning a celebration with multi-platinum-selling band DNCE.

In a spin-off of Thanksgiving, Royal Caribbean is celebrating "Friendsgiving " by throwing, "the Ultimate Friendsgiving party onboard".

On the November 10-12 Harmony of the Seas VIP sailing, Royal Caribbean will hold the Ultimate Friendsgiving celebration. In addition to custom Friendsgiving menus and cocktails, the party will culminate with an exclusive live performance by multi-platinum-selling band DNCE, fresh off their win for “Best New Artist” at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards. They will be performing songs from their highly anticipated self-titled debut album, which will be released on Nov. 18.

Consumers are invited to attend the Ultimate Friendsgiving experience by following @RoyalCaribbean on Instagram and Twitter and RoyalCaribbean on Snapchat. Those on land can also tune in live on Thrillist Facebook to on Friday afternoon, Nov. 11 for an inside look at adventures onboard Harmony, plus some tips and tricks from Royal Caribbean on how to take Friendsgiving celebrations to the next level this year.

Royal Caribbean's next sales promotion begins today, with a BOGO (Buy One Guest, Get Second Guest 50% Off) and up to $100 onboard credit per stateroom to spend at sea. 

The November BOGO offer runs from November 3 - 30, 2016 and is valid on sailings departing on or after Dec 3, 2016. Offer excludes China departures.

Here are the offer details

• Buy One Guest, Get Second Guest 50% Off
• 25% savings for 3rd and 4th guests
• Bonus onboard credit
  • 5 nights or less
    • Interior/Oceanview – $25 OBC per stateroom
    • Balcony/Suite – $50 OBC per stateroom
  • 6 nights or longer
    • Interior/Oceanview – $50 OBC per stateroom
    • Balcony/Suite – $100 OBC per stateroom

BOGO is combinable with adjoining 25% Savings for 3rd and 4th guests, OBC, Crown & Anchor discounts and NextCruise offers. BOGO, 3rd and 4th Guest Savings and OBC are not combinable with restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military.  

OBC is not combinable with Crown & Anchor discounts. 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, Shareholder Benefits.

Offer available to residents of United States and Canada.

Traditionally, guests that book a Royal Caribbean cruise (or a cruise in general), have booked a stateroom with at least two guests sharing a room.  The cruise industry was built on this model, but in recent years, more and more guests have opted to cruise alone and Royal Caribbean has responded to this new demand with a special kind of stateroom category for folks that want to cruise alone.

Here is your guide to understanding what a solo cabin is all about, and why you might want to reserve one if you elect to cruise alone.

Why book a solo stateroom?

The primary reason why someone cruising alone would want a single/solo stateroom is because Royal Caribbean will charge a fee for someone trying to stay in a traditional stateroom by themselves.  Royal Caribbean refers to this fee as a "single supplement fee," and it is a means of recouping the cost of that second passenger that is expected to be in the stateroom.  Quite often, the single supplement fee is equivalent to double the cost of a single guest. Because the cruise lines business model depends on staterooms filled with at least two guests in them, single supplement fees have been the means of ensuring the cruise line is not taking a loss on a solo cruiser.

With single staterooms, there is no single supplement fee. When Royal Caribbean added these rooms, they designed them to be respective of the ship's business model and this means solo cruisers do not have to pay double the cost of what the cruise should be.

Studio staterooms are smaller than standard rooms, but they are meant to have enough space for a single guest to live in during their cruise.

Which ships have solo staterooms?

Here is a breakdown of the studio staterooms across Royal Caribbean's fleet.

Why you might want a regular room

It is important to note that while solo cruisers may seek out a studio stateroom, there are two main advantages of booking a regular room, despite the single supplement fee.

First, a regular stateroom will offer significantly more living space, along with a far greater variety of choices.  As you can see from the chart above, there are not many variations available for studio cruisers and no options for a solo cruiser that wants a suite.

Second, Royal Caribbean does offer double Crown and Anchor Society points for guests that pay the single supplement fee for cruising alone.  While it does have a higher cost than a studio stateroom, the extra Crown and Anchor Society points can help guests move up the status levels quite quickly.

Depending on your budget, booking a regular cabin may be an option to consider.

With their unique flavors and spectacular presentation, the culinary creations at Wonderland are as imaginative as they are delicious. Royal Caribbean’s talented culinary team collaborate to dream up everything from completely transparent tomato gazpacho to a melt-away chocolate dessert surprise. These interactive dishes combine gourmet cuisine and art inspiration for a dazzling culinary experience.

Royal Caribbean is offering a special military rate in honor of the Veterans Day in the United States and Canada.

To qualify for a Military rate, at least one guest in the stateroom must be classified as one of the following,

• Active personnel currently serving in the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard, Reserves or Canadian National Defense.
• Retired from any of the divisions listed directly above.
• Veterans with an Honorable Discharge serving a minimum of 2 years, or 6-months in an active war zone, in any of the United States service divisions listed above.

Select price code MIL when booking. 

Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas is packed with offerings for guests of all ages, and families will find the most options Royal Caribbean has ever included in one cruise ship. To demonstrate that fact, Royal Caribbean has released a new infographic that showcases it all.

Harmony of the Seas spans 16 guest decks, encompasses 226,963 gross registered tons, carries 5,479 guests at double occupancy, and features 2,747 staterooms.