Royal Caribbean's added a way to track the ships and places you've been, and it's captured the attention of a lot of people who want them all.
Cruise fans have always been a competitive bunch, whether it's bragging rights to be on the maiden voyage of a new ship, reaching the top tiers of the loyalty programs, or sharing impressive itineraries they have book.
Now there's one more way to prove you are a top cruiser.
Virtual Badges are an achievement tracker that you can find in the Royal Caribbean app, and it's been improved already with new options.
Track destinations and ships
In March, Royal Caribbean quietly added the badges to the app that listed which ships you've sailed on.
There's a total of 29 ships listed that are lit up if you've sailed on it at least once.
It will also indicate how many other cruisers have earned the badge. For instance, according to Royal Caribbean's app, over 1.1 million passengers have sailed aboard Allure of the Seas.
Freedom and of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas are tied for second with 1 million.
Royal Caribbean has added a new feature with destinations.
There are 20 places around the world you can track your progress with.
Different regions of the world Royal Caribbean ships visit are listed, including Bermuda, Perfect Day at CocoCay, Europe, and Mexico.
Not surprisingly, The Caribbean is tops with 4.7 million people with a badge. Perfect Day at CocoCay is a close second with 3.6 million.
The least badges are for South America, with just 14,000 badges out there.
There's no reward or benefit of unlocking new ships. It's really meant to be a fun way for guests to fondly reminisce.
In a statement, Royal Caribbean explained, "These digital rewards celebrate milestones like ships sailed and destinations visited, creating a visual timeline of each guest’s journey. "
How to see your badges
You can view the badges you have in the Royal Caribbean app.
After opening the app, click the person icon in the top right and then look for the "Profile >" link at the very top. It's to the right of your name.
You'll see "Recent Badges" on that screen. Click "View All" to see them.
If you don't see them yet, you might need to wait a bit. Royal Caribbean says badges can take up to 30 days post-cruise to display.
In the app it says if you're missing any, you can make a request to have it manually added as long as it's been within 12 months after the debarkation date of the sailing.
It's available for Celebrity too
The new feature isn't just for Royal Caribbean, as you can track your Celebrity cruises too.
Being sister companies, the two lines share a common app platform and the new feature is available for those ships too.
"It brought a smile to my face today"
Ever since they first appeared in the app, cruisers have quickly taken to admiring the badges as a fun new extra.
"Thank you for posting this, it brought a smile to my face today," wrote DNelson3055 on Reddit.
Reading_and_Cruising quipped, "This is exactly the kind of motivation I didn't need to have, lol."
Time_Slayer_1 added, "This will be the reason I’ll actually book on the older ships now."
One notable missing feature: retired ships
Now that destinations have been added, I hope retired ships are next.
Royal Caribbean cruisers are a proud bunch, and being able to show off they go back many years is just as important as getting on the new ones.
Unfortunately ships like Monarch of the Seas, Sovereign of the Seas, Empress of the Seas, Splendour of the Seas, Song of America, Song of Norway, and the original Legend of the Seas aren't in the app yet.
