Royal Caribbean Blog

Royal Caribbean has issued a new update to guests who are concerned about the status of San Juan, Puerto Rico in the aftermath of damage caused by the 2017 hurricane season.

The cruise line reports that, "tremendous progress has been made with recovery efforts across the island," and that rebuilding tourism and consumer confidence is a top priority.

The Puerto Rico Tourism Company continues to collaborate with government agencies to make strides towards a full recovery. Hotels, communities, and local organizations have focused their efforts on the restoration of tourist areas to ensure guests receive a fantastic vacation experience. Most hotels are fully operational and Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) is fully functional welcoming domestic and international visitors.

Here are some commonly asked questions regarding cruising in or out of San Juan. This information was up to date as of July 24, 2018.

Is the port of San Juan open and fully functional? 

Yes, San Juan Harbor is open and has resumed all 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 functioning, as well. In addition, main transportation companies, as well as taxi drivers, are available and providing ongoing service to visitors

Have hotels reopened?

At this time, most of the hotels are available and fully operational across the island. In addition, over 4,000 restaurants and approximately 200 casinos and other tourist attractions are open.

Has electrical power been restored across the island?

Though some residential communities throughout Puerto Rico remain without power, San Juan has been restored and is fully operational.

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

The capital city of San Juan is currently the best vacation destination in Puerto Rico and is tourist ready. The beaches of San Juan and nearby Isla Verde make it easy to understand why Puerto Rico is referred to as “The Island of Enchantment” and “The Land of a Thousand Blessings”. There are nearly 60 shore excursions available to choose from, including but not limited to the following:

• Old San Juan / Old City shops
• 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?

Tourism plays an instrumental role in the recovery of Puerto Rico’s overall economic status, impacting local jobs and livelihood. Now more than ever, recovering Caribbean islands need you.

Royal Caribbean International was named "Best Cruise Operator, International" and "Best Cruise Operator, Domestic" at the AFTA National Travel Industry Awards 2018. 

The annual event was held on Saturday night, and since 2005, Royal Caribbean has received the Best Cruise Operator award nine times.

“We are so grateful to our travel agent partners for their incredible and unrelenting support, year after year,” said Kathryn Valk, Director of Marketing and Sales, Royal Caribbean International Australia and NZ. “We’ll never stop bringing our guests the industry’s most adventure-packed cruise holidays, with some of the best dining, entertainment and accommodations in the world, and we’ll continue coming up with innovative ways to work seamlessly with our agents.”

Royal Caribbean's new cruise terminal in PortMiami is under construction, and we have a look at the progress being made.

Royal Caribbean Blog reader Lovetocruise2002 took photos of the new Terminal A building while sailing away on a cruise over the weekend.

The new state-of-the-art terminal at PortMiami will be home to Allure of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas. Once completed in October 2018, Royal Caribbean will implement the best technologies to deliver a state-of-the-art guest experience.

Royal Caribbean's Voyager of the Seas made her first visit ever to the capital of the Philippines this past weekend.  Voyager is one of the largest ships to call at any Filipino port.

Photo by Royal Caribbean International

To celebrate the maiden call at Manila, a traditional plaque exchange ceremony was held onboard between Voyager of the Seas’ Captain Sindre Borsheim and local officials namely Mr Francisquiel Mancile, Port Manager of Philippine Ports Authority and Mr Patrick Chan, Vice President for Operations of Asian Terminals Inc.

Voyager of the Seas' visit to Manila was part of a 4-night sailing from Shenzhen.

"Royal Caribbean strives to provide every traveler with the vacation experience they deserve," said Ms Marilen Yaptangco, International Representative of Royal Caribbean International in the Philippines. "This quick stop on Philippine shores is an opportunity for us to showcase the world-class offerings of Voyager of the Seas to Filipinos."

Happy Sunday! We hope you are having a great weekend! Now it’s time to sit back, relax, and catch up on all the Royal Caribbean news from the week!

Royal Caribbean's Gifts website has expanded to offer Royal Caribbean branded souvenirs that can be delivered directly to your home.

Gift items include, but are not limited to T-shirts, Polo Shirts, Sweatshirts, Hats, Visors, Flip Flops, Totes, Tumbler Cups, Glass Mugs, Sunglasses, and Gift Certificates. A wide selection of gift items are fully customizable and ready for purchase.

Royal Caribbean News

• Symphony of the Seas now offers interactive luggage departure forms.
• Here are 10 things you never thought to bring on a cruise, but you totally should.
• Thermal suite passes were spotted on the Cruise Planner site for pre-purchase.
• A review of the Old Havana City sightseeing shore excursion.
• We shared photos of a Junior Suite stateroom on Explorer of the Seas.
• We reviewed the Alaska Sled Dogs & Musher's Camp shore excursion in Juneau, Alaska.
• A look at the progress being made on CocoCay's new pier.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 259th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, where Matt talks about the written and unwritten rules of cruising etiquette.

In this episode, Matt goes over cruising customs that guests should be aware of prior to cruising.

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.

New RCB Video: How to cruise like a Royal Caribbean Pro

Have you subscribed to the Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel? We share some great videos there regularly, all about taking a Royal Caribbean cruise! This week, we are sharing our latest video — 8 Things Royal Caribbean Pros Do, and You Should Too! — and don’t forget to subscribe here.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Mommy for the Win shared the ultimate survival guide to cruising with a baby.

Barrons interviewed Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd Chief Financial Officer about how Royal Caribbean is leading the industry.

Cruise Fever wrote about a fitness themed cruise that will sail on Mariner of the Seas.

Lots of Royal Caribbean fans relish a stay in a Junior Suite (JS) and today, we have a look at one of the Junior Suites from Explorer of the Seas to give you an idea of what to expect if you book a similar stateroom.

We stayed in this particular room aboard a June 2018 Explorer of the Seas sailing from Seattle, Washington. These photos come from stateroom 9614 on deck 9, which is on the "hump" of the ship.

This type of Junior Suite offers 277 square feet of living space.

A private balcony offers 50 square feet of space outside.

Junior Suite room tour on Explorer of the Seas https://t.co/3VM8CajyaC

— Royal Caribbean Blog (@theRCLblog) June 22, 2018

It appears that guests can now pre-purchase thermal spa access via Royal Caribbean's Cruise Planner site.

Up until now, passes to the thermal spa were only sold onboard the ship.  A new "Relaxation Areas" subcategory has been added to the Spa & Fitness area of the Cruise Planner, with two available options: S.E.A Thermal Wellness Experience Week Pass and S.E.A Thermal Wellness Experience Couples Week Pass. Shoutout to Royal Caribbean Blog reader firebuck for alerting us to this new option.

Only Royal Caribbean's Oasis, Quantum and Radiance Class ships offer a thermal spa, and we have spotted this new option for sale on select Symphony of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas and Brilliance of the Seas sailings.

Select Royal Caribbean ships offer a thermal spa, which is a collection of services that can be enjoyed on your own.  The exact options will depend on your ship, but usually it includes

• hot stone chairs
• rainforest shower room
• infrared sauna
• steam room

This new option may not be available on all ships or sailings, so check the Royal Caribbean Cruise Planner under the Spa & Fitness tab to see if it is available on your upcoming cruise.

Royal Caribbean's Explore More Sale kicks off this weekend, where guests can get 50% off the second guest, Kids Sail Free and up to $200 to spend at sea.

The Explore More Sale is valid on cruises booked between July 20 - 23, 2018 on sailings departing on or after 8/20/18.

Offer includes: 

• 50% off cruise fare of second guest booked in the same stateroom as first full-fare paying guest.
• 25% off cruise fare for third guests and higher booked in the same stateroom as the first two qualified guests.
• Up to $200 onboard credit when booking a non-refundable rate 6 months or more prior to cruise departure, and up to $100 OBC if booking a sailing less than 6 months prior to cruise departure date. Onboard credit is determined by sailing length and category booked:
  • $25 OBC for Interior and Ocean View, $50 OBC for Balcony and $75 OBC for Suite on sailings 5 nights and less.
  • $50 OBC for Interior and Ocean View, $75 OBC for Balcony, and $100 OBC for Suite on sailings 6 nights or longer.
• Kids Sail Free
  • Free cruise fare for 3rd guests and higher who are 12 years old or younger on 4 nights or longer Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Caribbean, CaribNE, Coastal, Europe and Hawaii sailings departing between 8/31/18 – 5/14/19.
  • The Kids Sail Free Bonus excludes sailings between 11/17/18 – 11/23/18, sailings between 12/17/18 – 1/1/19, sailings between 2/15/19 – 2/18/19, sailings between 3/16/19 – 3/30/19 and sailings between 4/13/19 – 4/22/19.

Offer open to residents of US, Canada, Puerto Rico and select countries in the Caribbean. 

Welcome back to Friday Photos, our weekly showcase of Royal Caribbean photos that were taken by readers of this blog.  

Every week, we ask our readers to send us their best Royal Caribbean vacation photos to be considered for this post. We love to feature photos of the ships, excursions, activities onboard and anything else that reminds you of a great time while sailing with Royal Caribbean.

So without further adieu, here is this week's batch of photos.

Our first photo is from LaShawn Harris and it is of Navigator of the Seas docked in Costa Maya.

Here is a shot of Harmony of the Seas docked in Labadee, taken by Mark Pizzo.

Jorge Toache sent in this photo of a cold January night on Anthem of the Seas.

Pascal Everard shared this photo of a local vendor preparing to go home with Harmony of the Seas behind him.

Bonus points for Todd Steinberg representing Royal Caribbean when applying suncreen, although I am not certain this will do much to protect against sun burn.

Marc vanNiekerk took this photo of Empress of the Seas docked in Nassau, Bahamas.

Our final photo this week is by Deb W., taken on Anthem of the Seas.

Thanks to everyone who sent in their photos this week.  Be sure to send your photos in as well by using this form.

Royal Caribbean has rolled out an update to its Royal Gifts site, where guests can purchase items to be delivered to their stateroom.  The new update offers not only a greater array of merchandise, but also introduces the ability to ship directly to guests' homes.

The new update was rolled out on July 17th.  In the past, guests were limited to purchasing items for onboard delivery.  Now, guests have the option of having these items delivered to their homes.

Gift items include, but are not limited to T-shirts, Polo Shirts, Sweatshirts, Hats, Visors, Flip Flops, Totes, Tumbler Cups, Glass Mugs, Sunglasses, and Gift Certificates. A wide selection of gift items are fully customizable and ready for purchase.